RUGBY:ALL FOUR Irish provinces return to European action this weekend, and such is the nature of the group stages three of them face probably must win games. Admittedly, this applies for both Ulster and their opponents Bath in Ravenhill this afternoon, while as they know better than anyone, the onus is very much on Heineken Cup stalwarts Munster to beat the Ospreys at Thomond Park in the first of a televised Irish triple header tomorrow.
Similarly, Connacht have left themselves little or no elbow room for a further defeat away to Harlequins tomorrow evening in the Amlin Challenge Cup. That Leinster have the most leeway after winning their opening two games is probably just as well, given their patchwork appearance for tomorrow’s daunting assignment away to French champions Clermont, a game which will be televised on Sky Sports interactive (red button).
Paul O’Connell remains on the bench for Munster, for whom Paul Warwick, Doug Howlett, Tomás O’Leary and David Wallace return to the side, while Tony McGahan also prefers James Coughlan at blindside to Alan Quinlan.
Leinster cleared off the artificial pitch in Belfield to train yesterday and so will fly out today as originally scheduled. With the weather having undermined their training plans this past fortnight, missing their three marquee casualties from the November Tests and welcoming back the likes of Jamie Heaslip and Nathan Hines for their first starts since October, coach Joe Schmidt admits they are a little “glued together, and it’s quite possible a bit of sticky tape will show at some stage”, he added good-naturedly.
Hines, Heaslip, Shane Jennings and Isaac Boss return, meaning the latter edges out Eoin Reddan, who joins two other starting Ireland players from the November series, Cian Healy and Devin Toner, on the bench. Schmidt described it as a “horses for courses” selection at scrumhalf, particularly mindful of the dynamic, offloading dimension which All Blacks backrower Sione Lauaki adds to Clermont’s potent mix.
Schmidt played down his own return to the club where he was assistant/backs coach to his friend Vern Cotter for three years. “I’m just a little bit frustrated that we are a little underdone with not being able to train over the last couple of weeks. I’ve seen their team and I think it’s about as strong as they could make it.”
Indeed, by contrast, all of Clermont’s walking wounded – Aurelien Rougerie, Brock James, Mario Ledesma and Thibauld Private – have been passed fit, although Ledesma is on the bench as Samoan hooker Ti’i Paulo starts. To put this in further context, James is the only non-international in their 23-man match-day squad, whereas Leinster have eight players who fall into that category.
Schmidt coached all of this Clermont team except Lauaki and Paulo. “I coached him in New Zealand schoolboys, many, many moons ago. I do know Ti’i anyway, and my daughter baby-sat his little fella Cooper the other day, so it’s not like he’s completely unknown to me.
“When he was over here (Dublin) playing for Samoa against Ireland, she was baby-sitting Gavin Williams’ little fella Blake and Ti’i was in the same hotel at the same time so she baby-sat them both while the wives went to the game and the after-match. Rugby is a fairly tight-knit community. really.”
Another Samoan, Gavin Williams, will face a late fitness test, but Schmidt interprets the selection of the strong-tackling, straight-running ex-Connacht man as a signal of Clermont’s intent.
“With Rougerie 104kg and Gav 102-103kg, it means, I think, they’re just going to try to bully us. We’ve got a couple of 90kg midfielders so I think that’s a statement of their intent.”
With Leinster departing straight after the game due to the six-day turnaround and both clubs facing big domestic games the following week, it leaves little time for renewing old acquaintances.
There’s also only so much insider information Schmidt can pass on, though he admits: “It’s a little bit of an advantage because I know what the (Clermont) players don’t like having thrown at them.
“I know some things that maybe they hesitate about, but to be honest, by this stage of the week the planning and the work has been done, and I don’t feel like it’s a massive advantage. And they know as much about me.”
The last time he spoke to Cotter was about two or three weeks ago. “He rang just to have a chat regarding what they were doing. It was anything but our fixture that we chatted about.”
Rugby doesn’t really do Christmas. “Unfortunately not,” agreed Schmidt, “and there are certainly no gifts on the field.”
