'When I get the clips from the analysts and there's Leinster coming up, it's a worse feeling in the gut'
French is such as romantic language that the word which perfectly describes Lyon’s horror injury situation ahead of Sunday’s Champions Cup match against Leinster is the very poetic ‘hécatombe’.
It translates as ‘carnage’, or ‘slaughter’ – which is pretty much how having 14 unavailable first-team players must seem when you’re preparing to face the four-time European champions who have won every game this season.
The injury situation explains why fullback Jean-Marcellin Buttin has been switched to 10 for the first and only time since Cardiff last year, and why Etienne Oosthuizen, who normally plays in the second row, has moved to the back row with engine room colleague Killian Geraci in a starting XV containing five locks, with another on the bench and only one specialist backrow
Thibault Regard, meanwhile, returns straight from injury to captain the side from centre.
Lock Felix Lambey, who was stood down for three months in October after picking up a third concussion in a 12-month period has been named on the bench. Another absentee, scrum-half Baptiste Couilloud may return in time for the final Champions Cup pool fixture at home to Northampton.
“It’s pretty brutal,” the Top 14 side’s attack coach Kendrick Lynn said of the blood level on Lyon’s infirmary floor. “But everyone gets hit pretty hard this time of year. This is real in-the-trenches time – just getting to the international break is key.”
Fly-half Patricio Fernandez and centre Pierre-Louis Barassi, a poster boy for the new, young face of France, are the club’s latest casualties, both injured in the hard-fought Top 14 win at Agen last weekend.
“We’re are starting to get some guys back,” Lynn said before Lyon flew to Dublin for Sunday’s match. “But we’re hit pretty bad in the loose forwards.
“Gill, Sobelo and Cretin have just been playing and playing and playing because we’re so short in the back row. This week we can’t keep playing all those guys, because if we lose one of them, we’re really going to be in trouble.
“So we’re going to be turning round some of our loosies. We’re going to be using some second rowers who are capable of playing loosie – which we’re want to see anyway – like Oosthuizen – who are capable and are athletes.
But, elsewhere, options are limited. “In some positions, we have no choice,” Lynn said. “At first-five, we’re tight. Jonathan Wisniewski has played a lot, and we’ve lost Patricio and Jean-Marc Doussain.”
But he added there are no plans to recruit a medical joker. “We’re going to try and get through this at 10. Jean-Marcellin Buttin can play 10. He’s a very smart footballer. He’s not played much there but he’s intelligent and has the skillset.”
A long injury list would be bad enough ahead of any match. But this is not just any match. This is a European match in Dublin against unbeaten already-qualified Leinster who are looking for a home quarter final and home-country advantage in the semi-finals.
“When I get the package of clips from the analysts and I see there’s Leinster coming up, it’s a worse feeling in the gut than it is when we’re playing some other teams,” Lynne joked.
Then he turned serious. “Our focus now isn’t the Heineken Cup. Our focus is Top 14 and getting the train back on the rails and going how we want to go and where we want to be going.
“We’re using these games, honestly, to prepare as best we can for what’s coming afterwards.
“Leinster in Leinster – at the moment they’re playing so well, especially at home. I almost felt that game where they came to the Matmut Gerland and just beat us really launched them. Since then they’ve just been punishing teams.”
But, make no mistake, this is not a game that Lyon have written off. “We’ve got some key performance focuses that we can measure ourselves – internal measures that we can see after the game.
“Whatever the result, we can say, ‘this is what we wanted to do, did we achieve it?’, and then do it again next week but even better. We’re just really taking away the result focus.”
While the final result isn’t the focus, pride is also at stake. “It’s never nice to take a fair few – there is that in the back of your mind – but it’s definitely less of a factor for us because we know it’s going to be hard.
“Leinster spank a lot of teams, even ones who come full strength, and we’re pretty hit with injuries and are going to need to turn over a few of our guys.”
Europe has been something of a curse for Lyon this season. They got away to a flier, winning eight of their first nine in the Top 14. But their campaign has stalled since the Champions Cup kicked off. But they’ve been here before
“It’s not a new thing for us,” Lynn said. “We did the same thing the year before, and even a little bit the year before that.
“There always seems be this period where we get off to a flyer in the Top 14 – then Europe comes.
“We’ve been here before and we’ve gone through it again. So we’ve tapped into what we did last year in terms of how we got out of it. We’re trying to strip things right back to basics.
“Instead of trying to add things in, trying to get too complicated, we’re trying to remove as much as we can, as much noise – externally and within our play – to concentrate just on what we do real well.
“We hit that real tough period after Europe started. After we’d lost at Northampton and against Leinster, we went to Montpellier and got turned over really easily there – we had a really poor performance. We had a good hard look and said ‘what do we do well, let’s get back to doing that’.
The slump, in which they lost six of their following eight games, has given them something of a kick in the behind.
“Sometimes being in first place isn’t that good for us, either,” Lynne said. “It’s really nice, but it does set in a little bit, that complacency.
“As much as you don’t like to admit it, it’s true. The guys were just a little less hungry. There’s a great French word for it – exigence – it kind of covers not having that edge and the fact the were in first, that crept in.”
That hunger is back. But Lynn didn’t see it in the 50-pointer win over Bayonne at home a fortnight ago as much as he did in the single-point victory at Agen last weekend.
“It wasn’t the prettiest game to watch – but, for us, that second half was probably meant more to the team and the club winning like that, hard, at Agen than putting 50 on Bayonne at home the week before
“The guys dug deep and got it done. Winning ugly like that can sometimes be a beautiful thing.”
Prop Xavier Chiocci got the all-important score in the dying minutes to give Wisniewski a shot at goal from out wide for the lead.
But Lyon earlier had three touchdowns disallowed in a frantic 10-minute period. “At the time I was a little bit frustrated but I think in every one of the tries the referee had reason to turn them round,” Lynn said, “but it’s really good that the guys kept going after those setbacks of thinking you’ve scored but they get turned around but staying in the moment.
“They found a way to do it at the end, which was awesome. And Wisniewski came on and he’s pretty cool at the moment, calm with his goalkicking, which was key – especially the one from the sidelines to get us in the lead.
“He’s a pretty experienced campaigner. He’s at that stage of his career, he’s coming to the end but he’s just really enjoying himself.
“He’s got a really good mindset, very relaxed in the way he goes about things. He trains hard and prepares well – but it shows there in those situations where there’s a lot of pressure, but he’s in the right mindset, relaxed enough to perform under pressure.”
Leinster :
Larmour – D Kearney, Ringrose, Henshaw, Lowe – Byrne, McGrath – Van der Flier, Deegan, Ruddock – Fardy (cap), Toner – Furlong, Tracy, Healy. Replacements: Cronin, Dooley, Porter, Molony, Doris, Gibson-Park, Frawley, R Kearney.
Lyon :
T Arnold – Mignot, Dumortier, Regard (c), Nakaitaci – Buttin, Pélissié – Oosthuizen, Bruni, Geraci – Roodt, Rolland – Gomez Kodela, Alkhazashvili, Kaabèche. Replacements: Maurouard, Chaume, Yaméogo, Halaifonua, Lambey, Hidalgo-Clyne, Moura, Tuisova.
Comments on RugbyPass
But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.
13 Go to commentsIt could be coincidental or prescient that the All Blacks most dominant period under Steve Hansen was when the Crusaders had their least successful period under Todd Blackadder and then the positions reversed when Razor took over the Crusaders.
13 Go to commentsDefinitely sound read everybodyexpects immediate results these days, I don't think any team would travel well at all having lost three of the most important game changers in the game,compiled with the massive injury list they are now carrying, good to see a different more in depth perspective of a coaches history.
3 Go to commentsSinckler is a really big loss for English rugby.
1 Go to commentsThanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause
13 Go to commentsNo way. If you are trying to picture New Zealand rugby with an All Blacks mindset, there have been two factors instrumental to the decline of NZ rugby to date. Those are the horror that the Blues have become and, probably more so, the fixture that the Crusaders became. I don’t think it was healthy to have one team so dominant for so long, both for lack of proper representation of players from outside that environment and on the over reliance on players from within it. If you are another international side, like Ireland for example, sure. You can copy paste something succinct from one level to the next and experience a huge increase in standards, but ultimately you will not be maximizing it, which is what you need to perform to the level the ABs do. Added to that is the apathy that develops in the whole game as a result of one sides dominance. NZ, Super, and Championship rugby should all experience a boom as a result of things balancing out. That said, there is a lot of bad news happening in NZ rugby recently, and I’m not sure the game can be handled well enough here to postpone the always-there feeling of inevitable decline of rugby.
13 Go to commentsNo SA supporter miss Super Rugby - a product that is experiencing significant head wind in ANZ - the competition from rival codes are intense, match attendance figures are at a historical low and the negativity of commentators such as Kirwan and Wilson have accelerated the downward spiral in NZ. After the next RWC in 2027 sponsors will follow Qantas and start leaving in droves.
2 Go to commentsLike others, I am not seeing the connection between this edition of the Crusaders and the All Blacks future prospects under Razor. I think the analysis of the Crusaders attack recently is helpful because Razor and his coaching team used to be able to slot new guys in to their systems and see them succeed. Several of Razor’s coaches are still there so it would be surprising if the current attack and set piece has been overhauled to a great extent - but based on that analysis, it may have been. Whether it is too many new guys due to injuries or retirement or a failure of current Crusaders systems is the main question to be answered imo. It doesn’t seem relevant for the ABs.
13 Go to commentsharry potter is set in stone. he creates stability and finishes well. exactly what schmidt likes. he’s the ben smith of australian rugby. i think it could quite easily be potter toole and kellaway for the foreseeable future.
5 Go to commentsThis is short sighted from Clayton if you ask me, smacks of too much preseason planning and no adaptability. What if DMac is out for a must win match, are they still only going to bring their best first five and playmaker on late in the game? Trusting the game to someone who wasn’t even part of planning (they would have had Trask pinned in as Jacomb preseason). Perhaps if the Crusaders were better they would not have done this, but either way imo you take this opportunity to play a guy you might need starting in a final rather than having their 12th game getting comfortable coming off the bench.
1 Go to commentsThanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.
21 Go to commentsWhat a load of bollocks. The author has forgotten to mention the fact that the Crusaders have a huge injury toll with top world class players out. Not to mention the fact that they are obviously in a transition period. No this will not spark a slow death for NZ rugby, but it does mean there will be a new Super Rugby champion. Anyone who knows anything about NZ rugby knows that there is some serious talent here, it just isn’t all at the Crusaders.
13 Go to commentsI wouldn’t spend the time on Nawaqanitawase! No point in having him filling in a jersey when he’s committed to leave Union. Give the jersey to a young prospect who will be here in the future.
5 Go to commentsIt was a pleasure to watch those guys playing with such confidence. That trio can all be infuriating for different reasons and I can see why Jones might have decided against them. No way to justify leaving Ikitau out though. Jorgensen and him were both scheduled to return at the same time. Only one of them plays for Randwick and has a dad who is great mates with the national coach though.
53 Go to commentsBrayden Iose and Peter Lakai are very exciting Super Rugby players but are too short and too light to ever be a Test 8 vs South Africa, France, Ireland, and England, Lakai could potentially be a Test player at 7 if he is allowed to focus on 7 for Hurricanes.
7 Go to commentsPencils “Thomas du Toit” into possible 2027 Bok squad.
1 Go to commentsDon’t see why Harrison makes the bench. Jones can play at 10 if needed, and there is a good case for starting her there to begin with if testing combinations. That would leave room for Sing on the bench
1 Go to commentsWhat a load of old bull!
1 Go to commentsOf the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.
29 Go to commentsIrish Rugby CEO be texting Andy Farrell “Andy, i found our next Kiwi Irishman”
5 Go to comments