Marcus Rashford’s recent Rip van Winkle moment in which he overslept and missed a team meeting in advance of Manchester United’s Premiership game against Wolves reminded me that discipline comes in many forms in professional sport.
Rashford atoned for the mini lapse – he was dropped to the bench for the game – by coming on and scoring the winning goal. It got me thinking about my own shortcomings on the discipline front. On December 15th, 2001, Leinster beat Munster in a Celtic League final, defying the odds following Eric Miller’s early red card to hold off our opponents.
It was a gritty, hard-nosed performance, technically our first bit of silverware as a group of players and the climax to a tournament that had begun and run through from the previous August. We celebrated with gusto to the point that we lost the trophy and required a Garda message “to return the missing item if found”.
It did turn up and we laughed about it rather than being embarrassed about how such an event had come to pass. Perhaps it was this moment that inspired our then coach Matt Williams to assemble the squad on New Year’s Eve in the ballroom of Old Belvedere rugby club.
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He set up a flip chart in the middle of the room and asked everyone to write down how many times they had been out socialising in the previous two weeks. There was a choice: you could sign your initials to the figure, or choose anonymity.
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I racked up an impressive tally of 12 nights out of a possible 14 – brilliant if you were a social diarist but not quite so praiseworthy for a professional rugby player. It earned me the moniker “common denominator”, as I religiously showed up to any social call. My laughter covered the awkward realisation that I was on a pathway that would only lead to one place.
It was hugely uncomfortable to see my behaviour laid bare in the cold light of day, and, while I was far from alone, the only person who could change me was me. Matty could have come in shouting, taking everyone to task, but instead challenged each player to look in the mirror and appraise whether our lifestyles were conducive to giving our best.
Our season unravelled shortly afterwards, a humiliation at the hands of Toulouse, followed by a physical pummelling by the Leicester Tigers. For those not involved with Ireland the remainder of the season consisted of a couple of soft-focus interprovincials.
To try to ensure that we would never repeat those excesses, Matty coined a mantra for the following year: DNFUJ (do not f*** up January). Discipline comes in many forms: a collective issue, as it was for us all those years ago, and sometimes, as in Rashford’s case, down to individual responsibility.
That mixture of the collective and individual responsibility and discipline sprang to mind when watching the game between Ulster and Munster in Belfast. Ben Healy’s late try and conversion allowed Munster to pickpocket their hosts, but it doesn’t remotely paper over performance shortcomings.
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Both teams relied heavily on penalties – they each conceded 10 – for access into the game in an attacking capacity. Winning informs the review to a point, so Munster can point to the victory, and the fact it also allows a little breathing space when it comes to addressing the blemishes. The key is to take the lessons and apply them and not to repeat the mistakes.
That applies to the team but also to the individual. Jack Crowley created the field position for the match-winning try with some lovely footwork, but his overall performance lacked maturity. Since the November Test series, where his stellar rise was deservedly recognised in winning his first Ireland cap, he has tried to be all things to all people on a pitch.
To borrow an Eddie O’Sullivan analogy, “Crowley’s running around with his hair on fire.” No player should, and certainly not the orchestrator-in-chief of a team. An outhalf must manage a game, put shape on patterns, know when to apply structure, dictate the tempo and be able to choose the right option from the menu of possibilities.
Crowley is still playing far too much on instinct, and the recent run of matches has done little to change my view on this. His opening moment when moving into outhalf against Leinster was to miss a penalty kick to touch; at the weekend in Belfast, it was to give away a penalty for a neck roll at a time when Ulster were down to 14 players and Munster were enjoying prime real estate in the home side’s 22.
There is a time when the number on the back of your jersey doesn’t matter, when you’re required to hit a ruck or chase a kick, but that wasn’t one of them, and it is symptomatic of the impetuousness that is evident in his game at the moment.
Antoine Frisch carried in contact, Crowley chased the ruck, rather than trusting Jack O’Donoghue to be able to clear out. What ensued was worse in terms of decision-making from Crowley’s perspective, hitting a ruck after three of his team-mates and then neck-rolling a player.
There is always that temptation to muck in on behalf of the team, but when you are the playmaker you only do it when it is strictly necessary. Why? Because you are the fulcrum for the attack. Had Crowley bided his time, O’Donoghue would have ensured quick ruck ball in the first instance.
Instead, Ulster outhalf Billy Burns, as the last defender, shut down Paddy Patterson in what should have been a simple catch-and-pass for Crowley to put Shane Daly over in the corner. For the neck-roll incident, his presence again was not required at the ruck. While it may seem a tad harsh on a young player, it highlights the maturity required to play such a pivotal position.
There is no doubt that Crowley needs more time and that with his talent he should grow into the position given sufficient opportunity. The theory that there is loads of time for young players to begin to deliver on potential isn’t always substantiated in practice. Occasionally, when needs must, a young player must display the capacity to shorten that timeframe appreciably.
Johnny Sexton’s injury at the weekend and the likelihood that he might miss the first couple of Six Nations matches means that the pecking order at outhalf underneath the Ireland captain will once again come into sharp focus, starting this weekend.
Should Harry Byrne steer Leinster to a win against the Ospreys with a mature, disciplined performance, he may just catch Farrell’s gaze in a way that Crowley failed to do in the last couple of weeks
Crowley may be rested this week given the number of matches he’s played recently, while Harry Byrne’s return to the Leinster colours would seem opportune, especially if he is chosen to start against the Ospreys in Swansea at the weekend.
Ireland head coach Andy Farrell has the safety net of being able to call upon Joey Carbery for the opening Six Nations match should Sexton not be available. The two Byrnes, Ross and Harry, and Crowley will be vying to earn a seat on the bench in Cardiff.
Should Harry Byrne steer Leinster to a win against the Ospreys with a mature, disciplined performance, he may just catch Farrell’s gaze in a way that Crowley failed to do in the last couple of weeks.
Since half-time in the RDS on December 3rd, all four wheels have come off the Ulster wagon. The loss to Munster should not in any way be a surprise to the Ulster faithful. The lack of fight and cohesion from the northern players, Kieran Treadwell aside, has been unfortunate to watch. There has been no backlash of note or substance, just a series of lacklustre displays.
While Ulster lie third in the URC (United Rugby Championship) table purely on how they started the season, it is very hard to see how they can begin to turn this ship around. The next four matches will offer a telling insight to the attitude within this squad, and if they have enough individual responsibility to find a way to deliver a higher standard of performances.
The weakness within the tight five in Ulster has been laid bare in the last number of weeks; the chaotic selections and lack of signings in the last three years have all pointed towards this eventuality. The question is: can they change the current narrative?
Ulster head coach Dan McFarland was scathing in his post-match debrief, which was not a surprise, but of more relevance is not what’s said but what’s done. Ulster’s opponents next weekend, Benetton, are a tougher proposition at home, but the Irish province must find a way to win.
This is a test of McFarland’s management skills and whether his voice can galvanise the changing room sufficiently to climb out of the recent performance slump. Champions Cup ambitions are a pipedream realistically, so it’s all about the URC, but their hopes there will quickly recede unless they can rediscover some form.
