Leinster's shattered invincibility was bruising wake-up call after PRO14 cakewalk
It’s a good job that Dublin was in lockdown this weekend with its pubs shut due to the Irish capital city’s latest pandemic restrictions. Otherwise, Alex Goode might have been tempted to make a mighty fine time of it after Saracens’ latest Champions Cup victory over Leinster.
Sixteen months ago there was no stopping his liquid festivities after the Champions Cup final win in Newcastle. Bum bag, boots, full match kit and lashings of Guinness. He famously partied for days.
Now, fresh from scoring 19 of his team’s 25 points in an assured display that made light the absence of the suspended Owen Farrell, Goode would have been more than deserving of a celebratory tipple and another few lively nights on the tiles.
That bender will have to wait, though. Aside from the Dublin vintners forcibly having had to shut up shop under governmental health diktat, there was the small matter of Goode now having a semi-final to prepare for in Paris next weekend.
Racing vs Saracens under the La Defense Arena roof is the Champions Cup fixture no one anticipated materialising. Leinster and Clermont were instead expected to rendezvous at the Aviva Stadium, but that duo now have a free week to chastised themselves as to why they didn’t progress and set-up a repeat of their 2017 last-four encounter.
"The whole rugby infrastructure built over the last 150 years is under threat"
– Dire warning coming out of Dublin about the health of Irish rugby's bottom line https://t.co/1vQpEgbrdZ
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 18, 2020
It’s said that a week is a long time in politics – and the bungling Irish coalition understands this very well as they have stumbled from one virus PR disaster to another in recent days. But that time measurement is just as applicable to Irish rugby.
Last weekend Leinster invincibly stood tall as the greatest team the PRO14 had ever seem, their comfortable win over Ulster wrapping up an unprecedented third title on the bounce. But now this Champions Cup post-mortem will be brutal on so many levels for Leinster and, by extension, Irish rugby.
Down on their uppers, they would have hoped some European prize money would help alleviate the penury attested to on Friday when claiming these behind close doors matches for their provinces (a situation that is also coming down the line for their Test team) were sucking them dry of the revenue needed to pay monthly bills of up to €5million
It all sounded a bit dramatic, the IRFU even suggesting that rugby as a professional sport in Ireland could be a dead duck by 2021 if crowds weren’t allowed to soon return in significant numbers. Now they also have navel-gazing to do about the calibre of the product on the pitch as Saturday illustrated how the maligned PRO14 isn’t intense enough to fully tool its teams up for European combat.
Leinster had done well in recent times, their presence in the last two Champions Cup finals interrupting the Anglo-French dominance that had seen three France clubs (Toulon 3, Clermont 3, Racing 2) and one English (Saracens 4) dominate the list of teams who reached the past seven showpiece deciders.
The hope was that winning a league title in recent weeks would have gotten Leinster up to the necessary European mark but their first-half passiveness against Saracens shone a blinding light on how the cobbled together five-nation PRO14 doesn’t sufficiently deliver on a week to week basis.
With this in mind, how apt was it that just over an hour before kick-off that it emerged the Southern Kings, the pub team-like South African franchise that had won just four of its 55 games, had gone bust. That’s hardly a positive reflection on the credibility of the PRO14 and how it compares to its Premiership and Top 14 rivals.
Playing activities were suspended in August, now they have gone bust! https://t.co/9hMkcf1p7f
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 19, 2020
Television pictures didn’t do justice to the impenetrable moving wall Saracens confronted Leinster with. Watching from the media box, their line speed movement was like a squeezebox playing sweet English music, their players connected and stepping forward and back in unison that was a defensive masterclass in how to win collisions, indomitable players like Maro Itoje timing interventions to perfection.
Their starting forwards contributed a whopping 126 tackles, Itoje topping that chart on 19, while their midfield partnership added another 32 for good measure, repeatedly snuffing out Leinster coming down the channels.
Then there was the scrum, Saracens winning seven penalties from their dozen put-ins. Rather than just simply lay the blame squarely at the hips of combustible props, though, Leinster must wind the tape back further and sift through the reasons why they gave the opposition that amount of set-piece in the first place.
They won’t like what they find. Leinster, who conceded an unusually high total of 15 penalties, were spooked from the off, Jack Conan sloppily spilling the first catch, and the errors continued from there. Jordan Larmour was unreliable under box kicks, knocking on two, and he was then guilty of forcing a second-half pass instead of going to ground and calmly recycling the ball.
Their sacked maul gave up three possessions in the red zone while the sight of Johnny Sexton horribly scuffing a restart kick that didn’t go the requisite ten metres was quite horrific, resulting in another penalty scoring scrum just seconds after Elliot Daly had just knocked one over from another wilting set-piece.
You can say what you like about Saracens' achievements in the Premiership, but their European legacy will live on, undiminished.
– writes @alexshawsport ???https://t.co/hHZHLWeJEr
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 20, 2020
It was the scrum that contributed to Leinster being 16 points behind to Northampton at the break in the 2011 final, an issue which their then scrum coach Greg Feek fixed on the fly during the interval. Mike Ross was tighthead that day and he tweeted around the half-hour mark in Saturday match, “Leinster back rows need to stay stuck to the scrum, creating a 6 vs 8 situation.”
The fact that Caelan Doris was penalised on 78 minutes for breaking his bind and allowing Goode to seal the result was indicative of how these necessary on-field adjustments to solidify a wounding area of weakness didn’t happen and it will be an uncomfortable few days for current scrum coach Robin McBryde, who arrived in after last year’s World Cup with Wales.
Not since last November’s South Africa vs England decider had the scrum been so influential to a result, but here was a bruising Aviva Stadium reminder that the eight-man shove remains of such vital importance.
That’s twice in a row now that Leinster have been smothered by Saracens in different ways in the Champions Cup. In May 2019 they failed to cling on to a ten-point lead in Newcastle. Here they didn’t have the necessary composure to finish the job after cutting the 19-point interval margin to five with 17 minutes left.
“We need to be better, we need to figure out how to we can be better,” rued Leo Cullen in the aftermath. “It’s frustrating.” Sure was. From league champions to European also-rans… a week is definitely a long time in Irish rugby.
Barnstorming game at the Aviva! https://t.co/WGeWO27biy
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 19, 2020
Comments on RugbyPass
“But with an exceptional pass accuracy rating “ Which apart from Roigard is not a feature of any of the other 9s in NZ. Kind of basic for a Black 9 dont.you. think? Yet we keep seeing FC and TJ being rated ahead of him? Weird if it’s seen as vital to get our backline beating in your face defences.
1 Go to commentsThanks BeeMc! Looks like many teams need extra time to settle from the quadrennial northern migration. I think generally the quality of the Rugby has held up. Fiji has been fantastic and fun to watch
13 Go to commentsLets compare apples with apples. Lyon sent weak team the week before, but nobody raised an eyebrow. Give the South African teams a few years to build their depth, then you will be moaning that the teams are too strong.
41 Go to commentsDid footballs agents also perform the scout role at some time? I’m surprised more high profile players haven’t taken up the occupation, great way to remain in the game and use all that experience without really requiring a lot of specific expertise?
1 Go to commentsSuper rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
11 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
9 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
11 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
22 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
9 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
35 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
35 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
17 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
5 Go to comments