Liam Toland: Scrumhalf battle could tilt the balance at Thomond Park

Soon they’ll need to throw Christians to the Lions; how high can emotions soar in Thomond Park? Clearly Pat Lam is feeling the after-effects of Anthony Foley’s loss and so too the whole rugby community.

Glasgow were first to visit Thomond Park and felt it, then the Maoris. In fact, word around the camp fire was that the Maoris were emotionally blown off the park. But Leicester are an entirely different prospect; emotionally.

I've had the pleasure of doing the coin toss with Martin Johnson. He had no interest where he was, what jersey he wore and whether he guessed right. He was all business. How much of that culture remains in Leicester will be what I'm watching tomorrow; that plus Ben Youngs versus Conor Murray.

Emotion is one thing, but in Ben Youngs Leicester have a quality scrumhalf. Of course so too do Munster with Murray. But they are physically and stylistically different. Youngs at times is akin to New Zealand's Aaron Smith and his real value is seen working off breakdown ball.

We saw his try against Australia off really quick tap ball; a reaction flagged here many times but count the recycle ball time and then watch what he does off same.

If the recycle is approaching the five second mark he will hit a fattie to rumble up or he will allow a screen of fatties to mask a cut pass to his deeper first receiver back who will use depth to get outside the onrushing Munster defence who have had the five seconds to get into quality defensive position.

Should the recycle be closer to two seconds then anything is possible; firstly from himself as he’s liable to brutally punish a quick recycle by getting into the unfilled Munster hole; no space is safe.

But his receivers are equally adept at hitting the gainline right on receiving the ball – some skill.

Quick recycles

But it's the pass Youngs selects that is devastating. Off those quick recycles he'll have as many as four looking to receive and invariably he'll pick the one that will do most damage; often the widest one to kill inside defenders.

Eyes up rugby requires much co-ordination but in this small facet of play; fast recycle, unforgiving scrumhalf along with four flat options makes eyes up defence very difficult. So Munster must slow that Leicester recycle.

Adding to all this the Leicester support runner is very good at getting the flowing side breakdown cleared first. This gives Youngs the vision of sight and pass to speed the attack.

Leicester’s pack don’t look anyway as big as, for instance, Montpellier but they’ve got the technical qualities to really challenge Munster’s set piece. And they have a really interesting lineout maul set up when they hit the middle; their tail three get ahead of the catcher to wedge and rotate the defence’s centre of gravity away from the Leicester point of contact.

On balance Munster and Leicester are evenly matched thus making the battle of scrumhalf and the prevailing emotion in Thomond possibly key factors.

Northampton have struggled over recent times. The loss of Alex King early this season is a window into the heart of the Saints. They struggled against Montpellier in winning at home by just two points. But a note of caution; they were down Courtney Lawes and in particular hooker and English captain Dylan Hartley.

Hartley is especially important for his lineout accuracy as Mikey Haywood, who starts tonight, struggles hugely.

Like all professional teams the Saints have a structure of spreading forwards throughout the field but where Louis Picamoles loiters is well worth close inspection this evening.

Leg drive

Off lineouts, the Saints often shorten in attack and have their backrow in midfield. Think Sean O'Brien and multiply when thinking Picamoles as he hits the gainline. He is your classic force multiplier, regardless of whether he gets the ball the entire Leinster midfield defence will fix on him.

And what an offload; but watch his leg drive in contact that supports the offload, best in the business. Kill the lineout; kill Picamoles.

Off scrums and the opposition scrumhalf positioning laws Picamoles’s influence grows. He can pick and go either side where most will go right but Picamoles has that extra yard to pump his legs before contact.

Although Saints do create chances I wonder have they the clinical ability to convert. In contact they are loose and sloppy especially when hitting the deck. We’re spoiled by Joe Schmidt et al and their level of accuracy but Northampton too often spoil work done by work yet to do. Leinster can register an away win!

But my eyes will be on their 10,12 and 13; it’s exciting. At this juncture it is but an instinct from my eyes but I can’t help admire Joey Carbery’s impact on his team-mates. Given a choice, I’d prefer to play with Carbery but of course that doesn’t mean a winning outcome. And yes Paddy Jackson did well in South Africa but, as we’ve suspected for some time, the Springboks are falling apart.

Can Carbery lead his team away from home; especially in maximising the margins?

Finally; to see Saints winger George North lying prone post the clash with Leicester's Adam Thompstone was very troubling. I have no sympathy for the Saints technical team and their real time lack of video footage. It's an outrageous lack of duty of care by Thompstone and worse still by the Saints medics. liamtoland@yahoo.com