Coaches must plan for a phased approach

League campaigns restart: Gavan Cummiskeytalks to provincial coaches about coping with a disjointed season

This November three Southern Hemisphere coaches trudged into the damp surroundings of Lansdowne Road's media centre. As the wind howled and the Dart battered past South Africa's Jake White, Australia's John Connolly and Pacific Islands' Pat Lam all paid tribute to the IRFU pyramid system.

In the coming weeks a downside becomes evident as the provinces attempt to restart their respective campaigns.

Not to dampen the spirits during these heady days but the elite player management policy leaves no time for a hangover with crucial Magners Celtic League encounters taking place this weekend. Leinster up in Ravenhill, Connacht down in Thomond Park.

After that it's full steam into season-defining Heineken European Cup rounds three and four before another double dose of Interprovincials over the festive period.

"We are now prepared for this structure as it occurs three times a year with our internationals unavailable in the pre-season, in November and during the Six Nations," noted Leinster coach Michael Cheika.

Cheika, Munster's Declan Kidney, Ulster's Mark McCall and Connacht's Michael Bradley are part of this successful system and are all well tuned to playing second fiddle to the Irish management when it comes to player availability. The key is to ensure the foundations laid in September and October are maintained.

"The fixture list is the challenge of Northern Hemisphere rugby," says Kidney. "Both the international and provincial fixture lists are due to tradition. Once the game went professional the ERC were first in there and they were followed by the Magners League. The challenge now is television drives everything. It means the season is broken into six or seven phases.

"It's more difficult for the player. He may be hearing 80 per cent of the same information at provincial and international level but he then must adapt to the different calls."

Bradley is in a different position to the other coaches as none of his squad are involved in Eddie O'Sullivan's plans, although he did take charge of Ireland A against Australia A with three of his own players involved just three days before a league game against Cardiff, which Connacht subsequently lost.

"We found a way around the break. We played an A game against Ulster and held several practice matches among ourselves. The first week was actually a welcome break because we had played 11 straight weeks up to that point, so we were due the rest. The second week there was the Cardiff game and an A match, then another A game in the third week so we have been ticking over."

Munster played once since the internationals went into camp four weeks ago, while the other three provinces have had two games.

The returning front liners are mercifully given a break until the latter part of this week.

"We feel it is more beneficial to give them time off," explains Cheika. "They will all come back on Thursday but until then we feel they are mature enough players to make their own decision. They need to get themselves right mentally after weeks of intensive camp where their lives have been dominated by rugby. Sometimes being away from the game makes for a better player. As much as we need to keep working, sometimes less is more. With Jamie Heaslip and Luke Fitzgerald, again, it was up to them but they are already back in training as they had a break."

Another concern is the non-international professional who is largely kicking their heals during international weekends. Ditto the third-tier player. No All-Ireland league fixtures for three weeks stymies momentum and denies club's the use of their provincial stars, some of whom could do with a run out.

"I think they (IRFU) should be playing off club footie during the period. I'm not telling them how to run the game but if the timing is right they could get extra crowds to these matches. Most importantly it means the other (professional) guys could be playing during this period. Still, we know the schedule and play around it," says Cheika.

Such an assertion carries more weight by the fact Ireland played two games on a Sunday.

Kidney has a slightly different take on it.

"If players go off and play AIL, the provincial coach has no one to train during the second part of the week. There are just hot spots in the season where players play more games than at other periods.

"There is room for tinkering within the current system but I don't thing anyone at international or provincial level are resting on their laurels. It must also be recognised that the clubs and schools remain the foundation for our game."

Miraculously, no Irish player sustained a serious injury during the recent period with Andrew Trimble expected to shake off a hamstring strain before Ulster's trip to London Irish on Saturday week, while Girvan Dempsey was given a clean bill of health yesterday despite losing consciousness after a blow to the cheek again the Pacific Islands.

Alas, Argentina's hugely impressive tour of England, Italy and France ended with Felipe Contepomi sustaining a grade-two medial ligament tear. Cheika does not possess another player with remotely similar kicking statistics.

"Girvan has no fracture so we will let him decide if he is available to start against Ulster. He is also the replacement kicker. It's not an opportune time but we will just have to dig into our squad. Rob Kearney has been doing extra kicking practice recently. We'll try and find the right (team) configuration first and worry about the kicking after."

Hitting the ground running becomes easier this weekend as an opportunity presents itself for international team-mates, and rivals, to go to war against one another.

One imagines Ireland caoch Eddie O'Sullivan will be the most uncomfortable person in the stands of Belfast and Limerick.