Matt O’Connor says Leinster won’t fall into the complacency trap that Ulster did

Revenge is a nebulous concept. Mike Ross told us as much yesterday and who’s to argue; revenge does lack definite form or limits.

But it most certainly exists and Northampton Saints hope to visit it upon Leinster tomorrow night. Forewarned and forearmed, a sense of foreboding lingers nonetheless.

This festive juncture was where Joe Schmidt’s three-in-a-row target went up in smoke last year. Granted, that was by the sword of the mighty Clermont Auvergne.

Northampton Saints are an inferior opponent, especially considering the absence of their props and fullback, as proved by the 40-7 humiliation at Franklin’s Gardens.

Having stood and listened to Tom Wood in the immediate aftermath of that crushing defeat it is incomprehensible that the English raiders won’t at least spill some Irish blood.

Soul destroying was how the brilliant flanker described the Saints performance. He was ashamed to admit it but he couldn't wait for the final whistle. "We didn't even make mistakes by taking chances."

Verbal abuse
Worst of all their own supporters spat verbal abuse at them as they trudged off the field. "Leinster aren't 40 points better than us," said Wood "We can beat them."

Just as they did Ulster at Ravenhill on this weekend in 2012, while Leinster were shown to be mortal at a nearly packed Aviva Stadium (there are at least 6,000 tickets still on sale). “You’d have to think Ulster were a little bit complacent, wouldn’t you?” mused Matt O’Connor. “That’s what I would take out of it. They played very, very well away and lost a pretty tight game, 10-9, at home. That’s been the blueprint for Northampton all week and we’ll have to make sure that doesn’t repeat itself.”

Ross’ presence at the top table inevitably brought us around to a relevant theme. The damage caused by Cian Healy’s eight-week rehabilitation process, following ankle surgery to repair a syndesmosis injury (the ligaments above the ankle joint), is softened by Jack McGrath’s progress of late.

Still, full recovery, for a normal human being, can take six months. Last June, Healy’s Lions tour ended prematurely due to ankle ligament problems and while it is unknown if there’s a correlation he did “roll” the ankle innocuously enough in training last week.

Marty Moore's progress has allowed Leinster switch Michael Bent across the scrum to be McGrath's understudy.

In the queue
Jack O'Connell, at 23 he's just six months younger than McGrath, is next in the queue.

“I think we are pretty well stocked there,” said Ross.

James Kilcoyne is facing a clear and present danger from James Cronin in Munster and Tom Court remains a consideration, at least until he joins Jamie Hagan at London Irish this summer. Connacht’s Denis Buckley is another 23-year-old deserving of a mention.

“Yeah, I think loosehead is a pretty healthy position at the moment,” Ross continued.

So, while Healy may be considered by McGrath to be the “best loosehead in the world,” the jersey belongs to the St Mary’s man for the foreseeable.

Twickenham in March 2012, when Court was screwed at every scrum by Saints captain Dylan Hartley and currently injured loosehead Alex Corbisero, seems like a lifetime ago now.

"Things have changed since then. Having one prop on the bench is never ideal. Asking a loosehead to play tighthead is a recipe for disaster sometimes," said Ross. "It is not fair to them either. Swapping over, you are not going to look to good. Definitely the rule change made a big difference."

Irish talent
It's not a national concern anymore. An injury to Ross, however, remains just that, even if the depth of Irish talent is evident across the board.

O’Connor raised plenty of eyebrows seven days ago when releasing an all Irish starting XV. Even when Healy and Isaac Boss cried off they were replaced by Bent and John Cooney.

It’s hard to see the Australian veering too far from that side.

“The all Irish thing it’s just how the numbers fall sometimes,” said O’Connor. “The feeling with management was they were the best blokes to get us a result at Northampton.”

Viewing the selection process up to that, Ian Madigan usurping Jimmy Gopperth was unexpected. "Ian was very good against Scarlets and in the Irish environment, when he played more than most of us would've predicted.

“I said it from day one that it was going to be a matter of time for Ian to get his head around what we are trying to do. I thought he was brilliant last week. The accuracy of his game. The way he managed us around the field . . . If he continues to do that he will play a hell of a lot of rugby for us.”

Madigan won't be launching bombs towards Ken Pisi tomorrow. The Northampton Chronicle inferred that Kiwi utility back Glenn Dickson may be parachuted into the Saints back field as Ben Foden and James Wilson are still injured.