Two teams, Leinster and La Rochelle, at very different points in their cycle. Watching the semi-final on Sunday, that is what it very much felt like to me.
I believe this is a Leinster team about to go through a transitional period. It is natural. It is what must happen to all teams when reality bites. Professional rugby is a cyclical turnover of players, a periodic churn.
Some of this squad – Cian Healy, Devin Toner, Scott Fardy – are in the twilight of their careers and that can also bring challenges in that they are no longer able to give the same value of moments. And that is what clutch games like La Rochelle require.
They depend upon “winning moments” all over the pitch and Leinster were unable to consistently turn chances into scoreboard pressure. They did it at the start but were unable to sustain it.
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At the other end of the spectrum there are younger guys – Jordan Larmour, Hugo Keenan, Ryan Baird, Ross Byrne – with not too much experience coming into a heavily pressurised match.
The progress for them, to pluck a positive from defeat, is that in the future they will be expected to deliver more “valuable” moments the next time a European semi-final comes around.
Looking at it more broadly, the balance in Irish teams playing in Europe has always been around getting the best local guys on the pitch and dropping in high-quality international experience.
As my career began to wind down (actually, well before then), I had to change my game. The line breaks dried up. The offloads evaporated. I had to evolve or die
This lovely, symbiotic relationship has historically thrived and does so by distilling confidence through effortlessly doing the simple things brilliantly.
Leinster have done that over the years; Nathan Hines, Isa Nacewa, Felipe Contepomi, Rocky Elsom and Brad Thorn were all central to past success. They brought an X-factor that wasn’t readily available in the squad.
Typically, that X-factor was in the physical stakes, an area Leinster were unable to match or counter against La Rochelle. Creativity has rarely been an issue for Leinster, so Hines, Thorn, Fardy et al bringing an intensity to support natural flair – that has been the secret sauce hiding in plain sight for years.
Local guys
Comparatively, I don’t think this Leinster team is as strong a group of local guys playing at their potential (this is so important, as they are quality players but not at their best) with a high-quality international cohort supporting them as some of the Leinster teams of the past.
In fact, Fardy, the only overseas player picked by Leo Cullen, didn’t play until late in the second half.
But sport is brutal. The household names will become fewer by the season as the age profile drops. Johnny Sexton, Cian Healy, Devin Toner cannot go on forever. The next group have to now push through hard and define themselves.
As my career began to wind down (actually, well before then), I had to change my game. The line breaks dried up. The offloads evaporated. Either my speed vanished or the person opposite me got faster (I know which one). I had to evolve or die.
Footwork gave way to running lines. Work rate became experience. An attacking mindset became defensive – well, an attacking mindset in defence.
The next generation took up the attacking mantle: Johnny Sexton, Rob Kearney, Luke Fitzgerald, Isa Nacewa. The balance was between experience, flair and X-factor. The roles had changed. But the net effect was the same.
Putting young guys in next to established players to learn and win is incredible to watch when it works. But it did not work this time and to rebuild and get it back working can take time.
So, I think Leinster are about to enter a rebuilding phase that we have seen them do before. Michael Cheika was the first coach to overhaul a squad back in 2005-6.
Cullen also managed a huge transition in Leinster in 2015-16, with a notable win against Bath despite finishing bottom of their group. The following season the team reached a semi-final. Most of that team are the players we see today. It is going to be a massive challenge to stay competitive in Europe and, as Cullen often reminds us, get the next group of players to 50-plus caps.
I do think La Rochelle were extremely well coached on both sides of the ball. Their defence was so impressive that although Leinster created chances through Ryan Baird, James Lowe and Jordan Larmour, those chances were so slim it almost didn’t matter. In both kick passes to Lowe and Larmour, the scramble cover from the yellow jerseys was as impressive as the chance created by Leinster.
Fundamentals
Even to just stay in the hunt, Leinster were expending so much energy that their fundamentals began to let them down. Accuracy of passing was down and general errors were up. The normally positive outcomes were down.
The longer the game went on, the more you felt that Leinster would have to create drama, magic, pull a rabbit out of a hat. They resisted the urge to force things, even though they did have an optimistic attack off a restart midway through the first half that ultimately left them looking panicked with ball in hand and that reinforced La Rochelle’s defensive dominance.
The penalty count began to reflect the power that La Rochelle had at their disposal, and this Leinster team is not built to go toe-to-toe. They are at their best playing off quick ball, attacking space with precision and pace. A key point is that attacking at pace is not free but earned from winning the initial contact. The opening 20 minutes aside, winning the initial collision became less and less certain.
Both Leinster and La Rochelle also appeared to be more than the sum of their parts, the main weapon of choice for Leinster since they won in Europe back in 2009
Penalties also began to leak and momentum changed with it. Overall Leinster conceded 14 penalties and a yellow card. Too much. But it is also an expression of the pressure La Rochelle brought to the game.
Both teams were obviously very different, Leinster largely the local side. All 15 that started were eligible to play for Ireland. Conversely, La Rochelle were littered with French and international stars.
I doubt there would be much comparison, either, if budgets were known. This has been part of the great Irish rugby fairytale; going up against European giants and coming out victorious the other side.
Both Leinster and La Rochelle also appeared to be more than the sum of their parts, the main weapon of choice for Leinster since they won in Europe back in 2009. What I mean is that perceived individual weakness are superseded by the combined strength of players complementing each other on the pitch. It is a team-first approach (with very special players within it) and has always been a strength of Irish sides.
In recent memory the traditional French approach has been about superstar individuals, who can change games in seconds but may not hold out for 80 minutes.
Change of attitude
That change of attitude has also appeared in the French national team, who look to be playing more for their country than themselves, and that simple notion has filtered down to clubs. All we have to do is look at Toulouse and La Rochelle and compare them to, say, the other big clubs like Racing and Toulon.
In short, big budgets with big stars don’t always add up to a hill of beans and important elements can go missing. The common ground or common purpose stitched into the attitude of sides like La Rochelle makes them much more effective. The two finalists of Europe have that common purpose and that makes them harder to beat.
Look at the eye-catching contribution Australian Nick Skelton made to La Rochelle as a secondrow and primary ball carrier. He’s a big guy and will eat up yards. Ronan O’Gara had him placed nicely to do real damage to Leinster. How many times have we seen big names, big guys being ineffective?
What was really remarkable is that Skelton had the potential to be a real weakness for La Rochelle if he had been targeted by Leinster. Within the current structure that is not an easy feat. Still, he was slow off the ground. He was not particularly subtle with his running lines.
To truly neutralise him and negate the influence he had on his teammates, he needed to be stopped on or before the gain line. Who did that for Leinster in the past but Hines or Thorn?
Toulouse have looked closer to home, embraced their academy and then supplemented key positions that they can’t fill from within with outside players. The twin peaks, Richie and Rory Arnold, identical twin brothers in the second row, are a good example. Both are enjoying life in the south of France now.
It’s an approach that Ulster would deeply love to adopt. Their lack of depth in the second row and back row was ultimately their undoing against Leicester in the Challenge Cup.
From the outside, it has not been a vintage season for Leinster and it was not a vintage match against La Rochelle. The team did not give a good account of themselves, which I believe is fair. Understanding how much of that was in their control is really important going forward.
There are lots of lessons to take away. Leinster now have another generation coming through and, like history repeating itself, they are again going to have to learn how to beat the “bigger” teams.
