RUGBY/HEINEKEN CUP:SO MUCH for last weekend's quartet of defeats. On another stellar weekend for Irish rugby, for the first time in almost five years all four provinces completed victories in Europe to maintain their hopes of qualifying for the knock-out stages in April.
The last time there was an Irish clean sweep came when Leinster, Munster, Ulster and Connacht beat the Ospreys, Gloucester, Bath and Grenoble (the latter two away) in January 2005.
Saturday evening’s bonus-point win away to the Scarlets utterly vindicated Michael Cheika’s selection policy. As expected, only CJ van der Linde of the team beaten by the Dragons six days before lined up for the kick-off, but Leinster and their vociferous and colourful, 1,000-plus supporters would have gladly traded a pointless trek to Wales in the league for such a bountiful haul there in the Heineken Cup.
There was also a freshness, both physical and mental, to a performance which bore the mark of a well-prepared team who had benefited from additional time on the training paddock.
“We wanted to have a fresh team to come out hard,” said Cheika. “They wanted to get stuck into us and they did. We had to match that physicality and pace and bring a little bit extra. We were fresh and we had good concentration.
“In the first-half, we didn’t worry about the result, we just went through the process. Whereas in the second half, we worried a little too much about the result.”
Perhaps Leinster’s contentment had also been dampened by news of London Irish’s bonus-point win in Brive. In any event, it still looks as if Irish and Leinster are motoring headlong to a last-day shoot-out on the third weekend in January: the champions probably have to win their three matches to top the group and qualify.
Scarlets’ coach Nigel Davies accepted that his team face a mental change for the return game in the RDS next Saturday, but so too do Leinster in a sense.
“If we go back to London Irish, we had a massive win before that game and lost,” said Cheika, in reference to the 30-0 win over Munster which preceded the defeat to Irish six days later. “This gave us five points and that’s all it does. Next week is a new game. I still remember when Scarlets gave us a hiding at home in the league.
“These are the points, they’re good, but it won’t have any bearing on next week. Another final.”
Cheika spoke of the physicality David Lyons and Simon Easterby brought to the occasion (the latter was certainly up for the fight with his old international team-mates, even Brian O’Driscoll), and ventured that the Scarlets will not be inclined to roll over.
“I expect a more attacking game, more attacking players. They’ll be going for everything next week away from home.”
While Davies accepted that the result “doesn’t help”, he maintained that the Scarlets were “still competitive. It’s all to play for. London Irish in the mix still helps us. They (Leinster) have got to go to Irish, who have to come to here and Brive. We’re down but we’re not out.”
Cheika reported a clean bill of health after Leinster’s win, whereas Munster were resigned to being without Jerry Flannery for the return match with Perpignan at Stade Aime Giral next Sunday. The Irish hooker has been playing through the pain barrier all season and now needs surgery on an Achilles’ tendon, which may sideline him up to the Six Nations.
After drawing a blank on Saturday, the French responded yesterday with bonus-point home wins by Clermont over Leicester (40-30) and Biarritz over the Dragons (49-13), with Dimitri Yachvilli scoring 22 points.
His chances of returning to the French team for the Six Nations are likely to be enhanced by a lengthy ban for Julien Dupuy for an apparent gouging of Stephen Ferris in Ulster’s Ian Humphreys-inspired win over Stade Francais.
By comparison, you’d hardly have thought Shane Horgan would have a case to answer for after an off-the-ball contretemps with Daniel Evans at Parc y Scarlets, though in the current climate you never know.
Ulster travel to Brussels for the return match on Saturday joint-top of Pool 4, while the chances of one of the provinces ending up in Galway for an Amlin Challenge Cup quarter-final, should they be re-routed there as one of the Heineken Cup pool runners-up, have shortened after Connacht’s excellent 26-21 win away to Worcester Warriors.
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