Outside of Leinster, qualification for a sixth Champions Cup semi-final in a row is almost taken as read. It may even be viewed like that among some of their own supporters. Anything less than a place in the last four would be construed as a disaster of almost biblical proportions.
That, of course, is faintly ridiculous. Saturday’s quarter-final at the Aviva Stadium (kick-off 5.30pm) against a free-hitting Sale Sharks is Leinster’s biggest game of the season by a distance. As forwards coach Robin McBryde acknowledges, the memory of last season’s semi-final ought to serve as a reminder of the need to be mentally on it.
“This is huge. The game last weekend was huge for us. I say in my head, ‘right okay, don’t take anything for granted’. We’re all aware of what happened last year,” said McBryde in reference to the scarring 37-34 loss to Northampton at the Aviva Stadium.
“If we’re honest with ourselves, as good as Northampton were,” added McBryde, pausing to choose the right words. “Listen, we didn’t get it right on the day. There were a lot of things said after that game that hurt and still hurt.
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“When you re-enter that Champions Cup knock-out stage, this is only a quarter-final, but I’m seeing a lot of similarities in the approach that Sale have got to Northampton Saints last year. So, I think it’s an opportunity for us to get excited and meet this challenge head on.”
McBryde believes that Leinster can use the painful memory of that Northampton loss as “fuel” this week.
“We’ve been far from perfect this season. We’ve had to grind out a few wins, maybe uncharacteristically to where you’ve seen Leinster in the past. But I’m still convinced it’s put us in a better place than we were last season because of having to work a little harder to get those results. And there is not that much of a disparity – anybody can beat anybody on their day.
“If you’re not quite on it mentally, you’ll get found out. Sale are full of quality players, well coached and they’ll come here with a spring in their step. They probably would have been encouraged by Northampton Saints last year in coming here and winning, so it just makes our work that much harder. We’ve just got to rise to the occasion, simple as that.”
Last Sunday’s loose-as-a-goose 49-31 win over Edinburgh also serves as “a warning” according to McBryde. “That was a shot across the bows last week, really.”
While he was unable to shed any light on the doubtful trio of Andrew Porter, James Ryan and Garry Ringrose, McBryde did stress the positives of Ryan Baird’s 70-minute return after six months out due to a fractured tibia.
He said: “I remember Ryan saying in one of his first competitive lineout sessions he didn’t feel as sharp as he should be then. It’s the same as anything, isn’t it? If you’re a craftsman, you lay down your tools for a while and when you pick them up, things don’t happen as naturally as what they did before.
“But in fairness to him, we’ve got a group of forwards that look after the lineout and he’s one of the main ones in there. It’s great to come back and find that level of performance straight away, because he was on form before he got injured. I thought he was excellent.”
Baird’s return is particularly timely given the loss of RG Snyman.
“Yeah, he has got a point of difference and it comes through in the way that he plays. He’s very forceful. He’s different from the majority of players and he’s very single-minded, and I like that about him.
“He’s very honest. He speaks up in meetings. He’s more than comfortable being vulnerable in some of the questions he asks and challenging coaches and you don’t see that a lot. I think that’s a great strength of his.”
In contrast to last Sunday’s dozen-try jamboree, McBryde acknowledges that Sale will be an altogether different challenge.
“If you look at the Sale game against Harlequins last weekend, I think they played championship rugby, really – Test rugby. With George Ford there at 10, he just kept the scoreboard ticking over – three-six-nine. So, they’ll obviously be in their own mindset, really.”
Leinster’s scrum went well against Edinburgh and like the other provinces, they have acquired a counter-scrum machine this season.
“It’s a concept from South Africa. We’re not the only ones who have got the machine. RG, [it was] on his recommendation, because he found it good with the Springboks. We managed to get one of those machines.
“It just makes you focus more on your individual profile when you’re working with the machine. If you don’t get your profile right, the machine doesn’t move; it gives instant feedback, which is the best kind of feedback to get.”
Leinster’s scrum is likely to face a sterner test this Saturday and there’s also no doubting the potency of Sale’s renowned lineout maul, off which they scored both their tries in their 26-17 win away to Harlequins.
“It’s in their DNA. They said after the game they’re really comfortable [in their maul]. Kings of the north and you can see the way they went about their business against Harlequins. I’m not sure what the ratio of lineout mauls were to lineouts, but the majority of them were mauls.
“So again, very set-piece orientated and that’s part of the challenge for us this week. It definitely focuses you a little bit more from a forward point of view when you see a team getting that much ascendancy in those facets of play.”
