Jordan Larmour compared to All Black by Stuart Lancaster
Stuart Lancaster has been working at Leinster for two years now and has witnessed first-hand the amount of talent churning through the academy system at the Irish province. He has astute judgement when it comes to young players, having also worked with Leeds Academy and as the RFU Head of Elite Player Development.
One player who has stood out in Lancaster’s time at the club is Jordan Larmour.
The versatile back only turned 21 in June and is just 12 months into his senior career, but Larmour already has a Grand Slam with Ireland and a 2-1 series win in Australia under his belt, along with Champions Cup and PRO14 winner’s medals. And the former England head coach feels Ireland and Leinster have their own version of prodigiously talented All Black Damian McKenzie.
“Whether he is in the 15 shirt or any shirt really, he reminds me of the threat that Damian McKenzie brings for the All Blacks, so you don’t know what he is going to do and when he is going to do it and that unpredictability sets Jordan apart from other players I have coached recently, so what you’ll find is at 15 he is a really good option, because if you kick to him then something is liable to happen,” Lancaster said.
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“Interesting speaking to James Lowe who played with Damian McKenzie, I think he sparks off that type of player. I think the combination works well for us.”
Larmour made 22 appearances in an outstanding breakout season for Leinster, scoring eight tries. He was picked on the wing for both finals, marking him out as one of their key men. When told of Lancaster’s comparison to the Chiefs playmaker, the humble Larmour said “He hasn’t told me that!”
Larmour, who has played most of his rugby on the wing or fullback, is also comfortable slotting in at centre and while not a “nerd of the game” as he describes some of his teammates, he says he’s picking up things by analysing others, including the aforementioned McKenzie, who predominantly plays at 10 or 15.
“I think it’s important to be open-minded and see how other players play, how they operate. Damian McKenzie is an unbelievable player, so trying to add a few things off him, new ideas might help my game a bit. I definitely think it’s important to be open-minded.
“Earlsy (Ireland and Munster player Keith Earls), for me, I like to watch him a lot and see how he goes about his business. He’s an unbelievable player, so you’re trying to get better and improve. Anything that will help that, you want to incorporate into your game somehow.”
Larmour is still far from the finished product and struggled on his Six Nations debut against Italy when Ireland shipped a few late tries. And while not name-checked by Ireland defence coach Andy Farrell in the aftermath, his pointed comment that “some young lads who hadn’t got vast amounts of experience might have been getting carried away with themselves”, may have hit home.
Larmour speaks of the “high risk/high reward” that is part of his natural game and there were a few times against the Scarlets in the PRO14 last weekend where he found himself in difficulty, but asked whether Larmour ironing out mistakes will come with maturity or if some players never mature Lancaster was emphatic.
“Yeah you are right, some players never do and then they ultimately don’t get picked in the big games, but I don’t get that sense with Jordan,” Leinster’s senior coach said.
“He is a very quick learner and he’s not that type of player that will just run and run and run, because people pay him more attention now. I mean he’s already got more attention this year than he did last year, people didn’t know who he was.
“Suddenly he scores tries, well he came on against Ulster, he scored that try against Munster and actually I was reviewing the game of the Dragons last year and he played very well in the home game against the Dragons last year. He has got more attention and that happens as a young player – you are on this upward curve and then people give you more attention and sometimes they plateau a bit, but the best ones kick on again.”
COURTESY: Leinster Rugby
Certainly Larmour isn’t resting on his laurels and asked what his targets for the season he said:
“Probably just to grow more as a player, watching more rugby and trying to understand it more. The things in my game that need work, I want to try and bring them up and be more of a rounded player, a better one overall.
“I’m doing a lot of work on my high ball, with my kicking, my defending… it’s kind of just trying to bring those areas up. Those are the main targets I’d have, just to grow as a player and to try to talk more, be more dominant.”
One journalist stepped in with another goal suggestion – don’t get shouted at by Johnny Sexton (as he did against the Scarlets in the Champions Cup semi-final last April).
“Definitely. Ah, he only did it once, but you never want it to be you!
“I suppose sometimes you need that, you know? You need a barking, a kick up the ass really.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Dagg is still trying to get enough headlines to make himself relevant enough to get a job. The Crusaders went back to square one at all levels. Shelve this season and nail the next one.
4 Go to commentsHe was in such great form. Sad for him but only a short term injury and it will be great to see him back for the finals.
1 Go to commentsAfter their 5/0 start, I had the Crusaders to finish Top 4 only…they lost the plot in Perth but will reload and back themselves vs 4th placed Rebels…
3 Go to commentsBoth nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
3 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
3 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
37 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
3 Go to comments