Dutch football great Johan Cruyff once suggested that “every disadvantage has its advantage”, a mindset that Leinster have tried to exude this season. Enforced squad rotation initially provided a formidable obstacle to performance and results, but the province has won the last seven matches on the bounce in all competitions.
Adversity provided a tempering process. In seasons past Leinster have escaped their pursuers from the get-go, but in this campaign losing three of their first four games put the squeeze on to improve, and quickly.
It is something that forwards coach Robin McBryde touched on in a freewheeling chat about Saturday’s Champions Cup pool match against perennial foes La Rochelle at the Aviva Stadium, a match for which about 35,000 tickets have already been sold.
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“It’s been different territory right from the word go when you look at the season. I think it’s put us in a better place if anything, having to scrape through narrow wins, not getting everything your own way. That game down in Munster was nip and tuck the whole way. A lot of these players wouldn’t have experienced those types of games from the start of the season.
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“Sometimes you’ll see us winning and getting the points on the board, etc. It hasn’t been the case this year. We haven’t had it our own way, which is good, because it makes you look at yourself with regards to ‘we need to get better at this’. Improving week on week, not taking anything for granted, and putting a lot of emphasis on our training habits.
“The players, in fairness, they’ve driven that amongst themselves. It’s great to hear them talking. Europe is consistently where we measure ourselves. La Rochelle at home, it’s a huge game for us. There’s no getting away from it.”
Garry Ringrose and RG Snyman, both sidelined since the Harlequins game in the first week in December, trained fully with the squad yesterday and will be assessed to establish their physical readiness, a situation that also applies to outhalf Harry Byrne and prop Rabah Slimani, both of whom were late withdrawals from last weekend’s URC victory over Connacht. Robbie Henshaw is available after recovering from a finger injury he sustained against Munster.
McBryde explained Slimani has provided detailed intel into the minutiae of the La Rochelle scrum. “[He’s been] invaluable really with regards to having some inside knowledge. He’s obviously very familiar with most, if not all the French props we come up against, either during his time playing against them or if they’ve been involved in a national squad at the same time as him.
“I’m so lucky to be in this environment when you look at the experience in the group, especially from a front row point of view, it’s great.”
Not that Leinster need much familiarisation with the challenge that Ronan O’Gara’s French club will pose, given the frequency with which these sides have squared off in Europe and the tight nature of those contests.
La Rochelle warmed up for Saturday’s game by thrashing a Toulon team – they play Munster in the Stade Felix Mayol next Sunday – that included 10 Espoirs or academy players 66-0 at the Stade Marcel Deflandre on Sunday night. Will Skelton came off the bench to score a try in his first match since November. There’d be precious few nuggets for McBryde to mine, but he won’t be short of footage.
“Well, they’ve got a big set-piece game, haven’t they? They drive very effectively [in the lineout maul], which wins them penalties, wins them field position. Similar in the scrum as well. You’ve got [Uini] Atonio, who is effective as a tighthead, Will Skelton with the threats that he poses, not only from an attack but from a defensive point of view. He’s pretty good at taking care of any mauls towards the front of the lineout; those types of threats.
“And going on past experiences as well, some of the close encounters that we’ve had against them, they’ve been physical battles up front. So that’s what we’re expecting again.”
McBryde was asked about Paddy McCarthy’s impact in a relatively short time frame. “He’s just continually growing. I think there’s still quite a bit of growth to go again before he hits the ceiling. Physically, he’s a handful.
“Along with his brother [Joe McCarthy], you can see how effective they both are in all aspects of the game. I think Paddy’s been great. From a scrummaging point of view in particular as well, he’s very hard to scrummage against. It’ll be great to see him, hopefully on the weekend, up against a good scrummaging team.”
The Leinster and La Rochelle teams will be announced on Friday lunchtime.
