RUGBY HEINEKEN CUP Brive v Leinster: FITTINGLY ENOUGH, perhaps, Leinster's do-or-die European mission takes them to a town and a club in a valley. Come this evening, Leinster's result in the Limousin region will represent either a vale of tears or the valley of the kings.
Brive have an association with the H Cup unlike any other French club, and with last week’s trek to the Welsh valleys considered a minor incidental, the prospect of their first home game in the competition for a dozen years and against the reigning champions is considered their real return to Europe.
The air is heavy with nostalgia.
Only last Monday, the rugby bible Midi Olympiquegave a full page to this match under the heading "Retour Sur Scene".
Laurent Seigne, coach of the Brive team which won the Cup in 1997 and now team manager, has been ratcheting up this game’s importance. “The team must not have any questions in their minds, and must throw themselves into the adventure full-on.
“We have some good memories of what the European Cup represents for Brive. The day we won, in 1997, people in the town said ‘we can die happy’. Today, there is a pressure and attention on Brive concerning Europe. The people want to relive the unique memories of 12 years ago.”
Thus far, the heavy close-season turnover and investment in nine new players has not met with a marked improvement, but a town expects the region’s main source of identity to put its best foot forward this evening.
Even the 10 English-speaking players in their starting team will be fully cognizant of this. With their core of English players, they’ll be mighty keen to put one over an Irish side who are the reigning champions of Europe.
As Leinster discovered last week, this goes with the territory of their new-found status.
The fervour of the occasion demands cool, experienced heads, and with Shane Jennings suspended, Michael Cheika may well yet take the view that pitching Seán O’Brien and Kevin McLoughlin in together would give their backrow too callow a feel.
Hence, it would be no surprise to see Nathan Hines line up in the backrow, provided Leo Cullen (bruised ankle) is passed fit, and the Leinster skipper was pretty confident that would be the case before their two-hour flight to Limoges and hour-long coach journey to Brive yesterday.
Cheika has also promoted Bernard Jackman and, along with O’Brien, that should inject the pack with more dynamic ballcarrying. Hines’ presence in the backrow gives Leinster plenty of bulk and height to mix it with a Brive pack whose scrum especially can gather up a fair old head of steam at home and for whom Antoine Claessen and their backrow are their main source of go-forward ball.
Rob Kearney also returns, with Isa Nacewa shifting to the wing and Luke Fitzgerald – who has looked razor-sharp this season – to midfield at the expense of Gordon D’Arcy. Good player though Nacewa is, Kearney puts more air on his kicks. Given rugby’s insufferable aerial ping-pong increasingly makes it more like Gaelic football, but also making this area of the game critical, this looks an even wiser decision, all the more so as Andy Goode’s kicking game has been preferred at outhalf for Brive, with the impish running game of Luciano Orquera to spring from the bench.
Most of all, though, Leinster have to rediscover the ruthless efficiency of their work in the collisions and at the breakdown which they demonstrated against Munster, for that is where the game was largely lost against London Irish.
Brive can play a wide-wide game, but not with significant depth – which is something Leinster can target with an aggressive defence – and likewise do not close the space that hard in defence, which ought to see Leinster use their backline more than they were able to against London Irish.
It should help their levels of aggression that Leinster come into this game pretty angry; angry with themselves for losing last week, with a system that has given them a less than ideal run-in to their title defence, with the shocking refereeing of a week ago and then, perhaps most of all, the unfathomable 12-week ban meted out to Shane Jennings.
Angry with the world, basically.
Like most French crowds, this evening’s full house will direct much of their vocal outpourings at the officials. Virtually every decision Leinster are given, even down to put-ins, will be roundly booed. For the promising but relatively inexperienced Welsh official James Jones, it will be a testing evening and, for Leinster’s sake particularly, he needs to be strong.
With Nigel Whitehouse out injured, a French touchjudge, Laurent Valin, has also been called up.
Brive has a mini-climate all of its own, so it is usually quite a few degrees warmer, but the temperatures have begun to drop after a superb autumn in France. The forecast for the south west today is for between six and 15 degrees and sunny, though nearer the former come kick-off, with a light, easterly wind. Allowing for the crowd’s hostility, conditions should be perfect for the kings of Europe.
Previous meetings: None.
Form guide: Brive– lost 12-24 v Scarlets (a). Leinster– lost 9-12 v London Irish (h).
Leading points scorers: Brive– Andy Goode 9. Leinster– Sexton 9.
Leading try scorers: Brive– None. Leinster– None.
Betting (Paddy Powers):7/4 Brive, 20/1 Draw, 4/9 Leinster. Handicap odds (Brive +6pts) 10/11 Brive, 20/1 Draw, 10/11 Leinster.
Forecast: Leinster to win.
