COMPARED TO their semi-final in Toulouse two seasons ago, when they were also the reigning champions, Leinster travel to France this weekend in far better fettle. Not alone are they arguably a better team, and not alone has Mike Ross, a replacement that day, emerged as a the rock around which a more stable scrum has been structured, but outhalf Jonathan Sexton is fit, well and very much in form.
Sexton landed two late penalties to secure an epic 29-28 win over Clermont in the quarter-finals two seasons ago at the RDS when his seven from eight haul of 19 points was in stark contrast to Brock James, who missed five kicks at goal and three drop goal attempts.
Unfortunately, Sexton also suffered a broken jaw that night, and the decision to have a plate inserted the next morning did not result in him making the 26-16 semi-final defeat in Toulouse three weeks later.
“I have bitter sweet memories of two years ago when I got my jaw broken,” he recalled before Leinster’s training session yesterday afternoon at the RDS, though he maintained he couldn’t remember how it happened. “I missed the game after that [semi-final defeat in Toulouse]. It was a great occasion and we were delighted to get a win but I was off to hospital and missed the semis.”
Unbeaten in their last 13 Heineken Cup games since losing in Clermont in last season’s pool stages, and with only one defeat in their last 24 games this season, the suspicion lurks that Leinster may have had things too comfy this last while in readiness for what is assuredly their toughest task of the campaign to date.
Sexton maintained the games against Munster, Cardiff and especially Ulster last Friday have “put us in a good position” but: “We probably haven’t played our best but we know this weekend we will have to be at our best and we’ll have to do it for 80 minutes.
“It’s something we probably haven’t done all season. We’ve had bursts where we’ve put teams away and then not had the ball but defended well. So we’re going to have to be at our best with the ball and then any time they have it we’ll have to be really switched on because they’ve got some fantastic players and strike runners and athletes, so it’s going to be tough.”
Sexton likens Clermont to Toulouse in many ways. “Almost everyone in their squad is an international and a quality player, so no matter who they play or no matter who’s injured they’ve got somebody really good to play and it is like playing Toulouse. They’re probably the two teams in France that really go out and play, try and throw the ball around and play with a bit of tempo.
“A lot of the other teams, they slog it out and they try and bash each other, but these two have got some really good individual players and they try to play. In fairness to their coaches they give them licence to do that, I think.”
David Skrela possibly exploited Sexton’s absence with a try for Toulouse two seasons ago, before joining Clermont this season. The expectation is Skrela might not be sufficiently recovered from the ankle injury sustained in the quarter-final away to Saracens, when James came off the bench as their match-winner.
Then again, Clermont coach Vern Cotter may be mindful of that quarter-final, even if it proved a significant turning point as Morgan Parra assumed place-kicking duties in the French championship run-in, when a semi-final win over Toulon and victory over Perpignan in their 10th final finally delivered Clermont’s first Bouclier de Brennus. “They’re probably slightly different but that’s a good thing to have” ventured Sexton, “that they can mix and match, and if they’re both fit, I’m sure both will play a part this weekend. We know the strengths of both and we’ll have to be aware of them.”
Last weekend was a particularly fruitful one for the Sexton clan, older brother Jonathan landing three from three and a drop goal in Leinster’s 16-8 win in Ravenhill on Friday before he was among the 3,000-plus crowd at Templeville Road on Saturday where brother Mark was the match-winner with two tries off the bench as St Mary’s clinched their second Ulster Bank League title with a 23-19 win over Young Munster.
“He put off an operation to play in these last two games and he was in bits on Saturday. His hip is not great but he’s just delighted he played a part and I was absolutely delighted for him as well, and the club, and Smythie [Peter Smyth] and everyone up there. It’s brilliant.”
Jonathan Sexton has always credited St Mary’s with first launching his senior career and then reviving it during the 2008-09 season, when he effectively slipped to fourth in the Leinster outhalf pecking order before finishing the campaign as their match-winning outhalf in the semi-final against Munster and the final Leicester in Edinburgh.
“I was involved in the pitch invasion afterwards,” he cheerfully admitted. “It was like winning next weekend, or what it would be like. It was great. I’m still close with all the lads . . . Smythie is a good friend of mine, so it was a great day up in the club.”
