Satisfying day at the office for Schmidt

Leinster 25 Montpellier 3IN CONTRAST to the end-game drama that unfolded in the three matches involving the other Irish provinces, this was a somewhat predictable bloodless coup for Leinster as the champions copperfastened a home quarter-final.

Scoring at a point a minute in the first 17 minutes, and three tries to the good within three minutes of the restart, Joe Schmidt was not remotely displeased about the failure to press on for a bonus point, maintaining this was all about the win and managing players.

Following on from Dave Kearney last week, given Ian Madigan and Jamie Hagan made their first Heineken Cup starts, and the performances of Damien Browne and Rhys Ruddock also underlined Leinster’s improved strength in depth this season, this was another satisfying day at the office for Schmidt and co.

“Yeah,” admitted the Leinster coach, “that was very much a pleasing factor in today’s performance in that Rhys Ruddock started and showed the powerhouse that he can be, Ian Madigan started and he showed that he’ll benefit from the experience and at the same time Isa was a massive help to him.”

“He (Isa) was backing up 10 if he (Madigan) needed to go there obviously because we didn’t have a 10 on the bench. Isa was giving him a few calls and helping him through and as was Gordon D’Arcy who’s got that massive experience behind him. So it’s a great opportunity for a young man to be in between Isaac Boss or Eoin Reddan, Gordon D’Arcy, Isa Nacewa making those calls.”

By contrast, Schmidt admitted that it had been a tough day at the office for Jamie Hagan. “(Na’ama) Leleimalefaga is a very strong man and he tends to angle in and there’s a couple of times he got Jamie in and Jamie ended up pretty horizontal but it’s part of trying to invest some time in him.”

In Leinster’s uber-demanding world, the coach also highlighted Hagan’s lapses in the “chase line” but commended his defensive work around the fringes and at ruck time. Indeed, it was Hagan’s steal which eventually ended the near 15 minute siege on their line when Leinster were reduced to 14 men by the binning of Browne.

The ex-Connacht lock is a strong scrummager, which is perhaps why he had been picked to pack down behind Hagan in the absence of Ross. In his absence, Leo Cullen switched from the loosehead side to behind Hagan, with Ruddock moving into the secondrow and Nacewa to the blindside of the backrow.

“I think he’s got some work to do there,” smiled Schmidt. “I think he needs a few pies and a few pints to really get enough power and to give Cian (Healy) a little more of a hand, I thought Cian was having to do a fair bit of that job himself but I suppose that’s one of the things that we appreciate; that versatility that Isa gives us.”

When questioned afterwards, Schmidt spoke of how the presence of three provinces in the last eight for the first time ever reflected the rude health of the Irish game and politely expressed the hope that the union and provinces reach some sort of compromise regarding the former’s diktats on foreign players.

Schmidt, as ever, was again doing his bit for the Irish team a fortnight before the Six Nations. Not only would the most numerous Irish contingent turn up for camp in Limerick today buoyed by qualification for the last eight by dint of an unbeaten pool campaign, but Jonathan Sexton was not risked after turning his ankle last weekend, Mike Ross was kept on the bench for 80 minutes and at the first hint of injury Cian Healy, Leo Cullen, Seán O’Brien and Rob Kearney were all withdrawn from the fray.

The Leinster management could hardly have done more for their Irish counterparts, which is another reason why they should be treated with a bit more respect than having a knee-jerk ruling enforced upon them.

Fabien Galthie had rested many of his front-liners before recalling the likes of Francois Trinh-Duc, Fulgence Ouedraogo and Mamuka Gorgodze for this game but Montpellier were blown away by Leinster’s whirlwind start and then couldn’t turn a one-man advantage for virtually 10 minutes on the Leinster line while Damien Browne was in the bin when never once going to Trinh-Duc and the backs.

Instead, their scrum pressure and unrelenting one-off drives were repelled by the superb Leinster defence and by the time Browne was returning Madigan was in the process of winning that segment of the game by three points to make it 20-0 at the break.

No one encapsulated Montpellier’s lack of interest or fire in the belly than their fullback Jean-Baptiste Peyras, a late replacement for Lucas Amorosino. He scarcely wafted at Rob Kearney as his counterpart bypassed him for a try, and at the start of the second half allowed an up-and-under to land in front of him. He didn’t look as if he wanted to be there and not before long he appeared to have company in the shape of Trinh-Duc. His array of awful restarts were compounded by a few desultory attempts at intercepts.

“I am very disappointed and frustrated,” admitted Galthie afterwards. “We could not compete. Leinster were at a different level to us. We were left under no illusions that they are more talented than we are.”

SCORING SEQUENCE: 9 mins: O'Brien try, McFadden con 7-0; 13: McFadden pen 10-0; 16: Kearney try, McFadden con 17-0; 40: McFadden pen 20-0; (half-time 20-0); 42: Healy try 25-0; 68: Fernandez pen 25-3.

LEINSTER: R Kearney; F McFadden, E O'Malley, G D'Arcy, I Nacewa; I Madigan, I Boss; C Healy, R Strauss, J Hagan, L Cullen (capt), D Browne, R Ruddock, S O'Brien, J Heaslip. Replacements: H Van der Merwe for Healy (48 mins), D Toner for Cullen, S Jennings for O'Brien (both 55 mins), S Cronin for Strauss, E Reddan for Boss (both 57 mins), F Carr for R Kearney (65 mins). Not used: M Ross, D Kearney. Sin binned: Browne (28-38 mins).

MONTPELLIER: J-B Peyras; T Nagusa, Y Audrin, P Bosch, M Bustos Moyano; F Trinh-Duc, J Tomas; N Leleimalefaga, A Creevy, G Jgenti, D Hancke, J Tuineau, F Ouedraogo (capt), M Gorgodze, A Tulou. Replacements: R van Vuuren for Creevy, M Bustos for Jgenti, T Comerzou for Peyras (all 55 mins), M Demarco for Tuineau, S Fernandez for Trinh-Duc (both 57 mins), J Figallo for Leleimalefaga (60 mins), V Bost for Demarco (67 mins), B Paillaugue for Tomas (77 mins).

Referee: Neil Paterson (Scotland).