Sport

Cup progress would help fuel Six Nations ambitions

ON RUGBY: Were Leinster, Munster and Ulster to make the Heineken Cup knock-out stages, the psychological benefits for the Ireland…

Tue Jan 17 2012 - 00:00

ON RUGBY:Were Leinster, Munster and Ulster to make the Heineken Cup knock-out stages, the psychological benefits for the Ireland squads would be immeasurable, writes GERRY THORNLEY

TOMORROW DECLAN Kidney will announce a squad of 30 or so players who will go into camp for four days in Limerick next Monday evening, along with a 23-man Wolfhounds’ squad for their match against the Saxons, one or two of whom could force their way into the squad to face Wales in the Six Nations seven days later. For the first time, an Irish head coach names a squad with three Irish provinces looking down on the rest in their Heineken Cup pools.

Were Leinster, Munster and Ulster, for the first time, to progress to the knock-out stages, the psychological benefits when those Irish squads meet would be immeasurable.

Think back to the largely barren 1990s, especially the 1996-97 and 1997-98 seasons, when Irish squads assembled for the Six Nations on the back of fruitless pool campaigns. In those two seasons, Leinster, Munster and Ulster played 30 matches, winning 10 and losing 20. There were virtually no foreign players in the provinces in those days. But in both of the ensuing Five Nations campaigns, Ireland finished with the wooden spoon. In 1996-97, they won one match (where else but Cardiff!), losing 32-15 at home to France and by a record 46-6 at home to England, as well as losing 38-10 in Murrayfield. The following season, though more competitive, Ireland lost all four games.

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All changed with Ulster’s Heineken Cup success in 1999 and Munster reaching the final in 2000, before Munster and then Leinster took standards on to a new level by winning four of the last six Heineken Cups. In the noughties, Ireland’s winning ratio also rose to undreamed of heights, winning 36 of 50 matches (equalled only by France), in the midst of which they won the Grand Slam in 2009 as well as three Triple Crowns.

This wouldn’t have been possible without the successes of the provinces.

The IRFU deserve immense credit for that, but amongst the myriad of factors were undoubtedly an influx of high-quality overseas’ imports, both players and coaches.

In truth, despite the Magners League triumph of 2005-06 Ulster fell away for much of the noughties, and the Irish team was largely drawn from Munster and Leinster. But, on foot of David Humphreys becoming Ulster’s operations director and Shane Logan coming aboard as the new CEO, as well as a new coaching ticket headed by Brian McLaughlin, they are on the rise again.

With Logan running a much tighter ship (as opposed to false rumours of private investment from a benefactor such as Rory McIlroy) Johann Muller, Ruan Pienaar, BJ Botha, Pedrie Wannenburg and Jared Payne were brought in, with John Afoa signed this season to replace Botha and Stefan Terblanche signed as a short-term replacement for the injured Payne.

Afoa’s impact has been similar to that of Botha, both at Ulster and now Munster. Alas, Afoa missed the pool game away to Leicester due to Jerome Kaino’s wedding, for in the eight games the All Blacks’ tighthead has played for Ulster they have won them all. Likewise, in Terblanche’s five games, Ulster have won the lot, and team-mates are blown away by the 37-year-old’s professionalism.

Having reached the Heineken Cup quarter-finals for the first time since 1999 last season (also the league semi-finals) last Friday’s 41-7 dismantling of Leicester was their most complete and eye-catching display since Toulouse and Stade Francais were beaten in Belfast en route to that 1999 triumph and has made their visit to Clermont on Saturday the match of the weekend. As an aside, Leicester had 10 non-English qualified players in their match-day squad compared to Ulster’s five non-Irish qualified.

À la Leinster and Munster, Ulster will have a rebuilt, 18,000-capacity Ravenhill in 18 months’ time. No less than Leinster and Munster, to fill it, and thus make more money while also producing more viable contenders for the Irish team, Ulster simply have to be competitive in both Europe and the league.

Besides, not only are Andrew Trimble, Stephen Ferris and Rory Best looking certainties for the Irish starting XV, but Dan Tuohy, Darren Cave and Paul Marshall are more viable contenders for the Six Nations than ever. Tuohy’s lineout work has clearly come on immensely from training and playing alongside Muller. Likewise Marshall’s passing, kicking and all-round game have clearly benefited from working with Pienaar.

While Ireland are probably more likely to consider a slightly unnatural fit in place of Brian O’Driscoll – be it, most likely, Keith Earls or Tommy Bowe – it’s worth noting Cave, the under-20 Grand Slam winning outside centre of 2007, is a specialist 13 who is now playing the best rugby of his career. Chris Henry and Craig Gilroy must be pushing for Wolfhounds spots. Ulster have also begun to bring through more academy products, Paddy Jackson, Luke Marshall, Paddy McAllister and others all making strides this season.

Leinster, Munster and Ulster have played 15 matches in the Heineken Cup this season, winning 13, drawing one and losing just one. The odds, realistically, are still against Ulster reaching the last eight. Next Saturday at the 18,000-capacity Stade Marcel Michelin, Ulster will be seeking their first win in France in 14 attempts, while Clermont haven’t lost in 36 games dating back to November 2009.

Ulster will take an acute interest in events at the Sportsground and Kingsholm on Friday night, where a win for either Connacht or Gloucester over Harlequins or Toulouse, would ensure Ulster progress as one of the best two runners-up before they kick-off in Clermont, and they could conceivably play Leinster at the Aviva Stadium. Failing that, were Harlequins to win without a bonus point, a bonus-point defeat would put Ulster through as best runners-up with a superior try count.

There’s also a scenario whereby they could qualify as pool winners with a losing bonus point, provided they score the same number of tries as Clermont and lose by less than five points. If they take nothing from the Clermont game, they will be left clinging to the unlikely hope that Cardiff or Edinburgh slip up at home to Racing or London Irish on Sunday.

Realistically too, the odds are probably against Munster obtaining a home quarter-final unless they beat a vengeful Northampton at Stadium.mk on Saturday evening, so things might not look as rosy Sunday tea-time. But, in the heel of the hunt, if all three were to progress, it could only be good for Ireland’s Six Nations campaign.