HEINEKEN CUP FINAL COUNTDOWN: Northampton coach Jim Mallinder believes his men are ready both physically and mentally, writes CIARÁN CRONIN
NORTHAMPTON MAY still be feeling their bumps and bruises a little tenderly following last weekend’s ultra-physical Aviva Premiership semi-final defeat to Leicester, but head coach Jim Mallinder believes his men are both physically and mentally prepared for whatever Leinster unleash on them at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday.
Mallinder was yesterday forced to rule Tom Wood out of contention for the Heineken Cup final after the influential England flanker failed to recover fully from a hairline fracture to his leg suffered in a league game against Gloucester four weeks ago, but the squad’s overall health prognosis is good as the Saints prepare to head for Cardiff.
Chris Ashton, who must have felt as though he performed at Madison Square Garden rather than Welford Road when he awoke last Sunday, is ready for action despite a facial abrasion or two, while the aches and strains of others have all disappeared as the week has gone on.
“Tom was very, very close,” said Mallinder, “and I guess if we were a desperate team, we could have taken a chance with him. It’s not worth it because we’ve got a strong squad. It’s a big blow, but if you had told me at the start of the season we’d be going into the last week of the season with just one player out of contention, I’d have been amazed.
“It was a physical, intense battle on Saturday. But we have a fit squad and they’re used to playing every week. Just watching them train the last few days, you wouldn’t think it’s the end of the season or that they’re tired. We’re in good shape.”
Physically fine then, on the testament of Mallinder, the mental side of Saturday’s game shouldn’t be a problem according to the side’s captain, Dylan Hartley.
“We lost last weekend, which was disappointing, but we were fighting on two fronts at the time,” he said. “At least this week we can say, it’s one game, we can put everything into it.”
On the same theme, one of the many areas where you figure Leinster might have an advantage on Saturday is in the domain of big-game experience. It’s hard to pick out a Leinster player who hasn’t played in front of a 70,000-plus crowd; from a Northampton point of view, the majority of the starting XV will be in virgin territory.
For Hartley, the key will be to up their passion portent without allowing that to distract from the execution of their game-plan. “I think emotionally, you’ve got to up it but in terms of playing, you just stick to doing what you’ve been doing all season. We just do the basics well, we look to gain dominance up front and if Stephen Myler makes the right decisions, puts us in the right areas of the field, we’ll take our chances where we get them.”
Both coach and captain spoke exclusively of Leinster in gushing terms. It might not necessarily be what they are saying to each other in the sanctuary of the dressing room, but in public, they are only too happy to point out Leinster’s strengths, and mock the suggestion that Joe Schmidt’s men possess anything approaching a flaw.
“They’ve got no weaknesses – they’re indestructible,” said Mallinder with a glint of mischief in his eye. “But it will be a completely different challenge to the game against Leicester.
“It’s fairly clear to everybody that Leinster like to play a bit more, they like a quicker tempo. Of course, they’ve got some strong forwards but equally, they’re just as strong out wide. They’re very keen on using their backs, particularly off first phase. We know we’re going to be stretched at times, we know we’re going to be put under pressure but we’ve said that this season against some of the other big sides and we’ve come through.”
Hartley, a hooker by trade, focused his admiration on the Leinster scrum. “I’ve heard they’ve brought in a specialist scrum coach to improve their scrum,” said the England number two. “And you don’t lump into a Heineken Cup final do you? You get there with a solid pack and a good platform to play from. They’ve earned their final spot. They took both Leicester and Toulouse apart, so we’re going to have to be right on Saturday.”
As for Leinster’s injury concerns, most particularly Brian O’Driscoll’s right knee, Mallinder, quite sensibly, wasn’t buying the suggestion that the centre will miss out on Saturday’s game.
“We’ll assume that he’s playing. We all saw that he hobbled off at the weekend but at the back of their coach’s mind when he went off was probably ‘precaution’. We expect the Leinster side to be strong and O’Driscoll to be part of it.”
O'Driscoll's fate to be known today
LEINSTER WILL confirm the status of their injured players today, notably Irish captain Brian O'Driscoll (knee), writes JOHNNY WATTERSON.
There will also be news on Irish scrumhalf Isaac Boss (hamstring) and South African hooker Richardt Strauss (hip) and whether they are fit enough to take part in the Heineken Cup final against Northampton in two days’ time.
The squad held to their traditional weekly routine for a Saturday match and did not train yesterday. Several players were in trouble during Leinster’s Magners League semi-final last Friday night against Ulster, with an update scheduled for lunchtime today.
Millennium roof likely to be closed
THE MILLENNIUM Stadium’s roof is likely to be closed for Saturday’s Heineken Cup final, despite Northampton coach Jim Mallinder not even being aware it was an option.
Mallinder was of the belief yesterday that the final would be open to the elements but that is unlikely to be the case. The ERC confirmed yesterday that it was ultimately up to them to decide – and not the respective coaches – whether the roof would be shut or not, and that a final decision would be made in advance of captains’ runs at the stadium on Friday afternoon.
The last Heineken Cup final held in Cardiff, Munster’s victory over Toulouse in 2008, was played with the roof shut.
