'He's such a big, strong physical man. It's so hard to stop a man that size'
Irish powerhouse Leinster were almost shocked by a South African-laden Zebre on Saturday, but had the highlight of Springbok Jason Jenkins making an impressive debut for the side.
Jenkins was one of Leinster’s try scorers as they held on to win 33-29 in an exceptionally entertaining opening round of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship this weekend.
“It’s a win, we’ll move on now. We had a couple of guys making their Leinster debuts – particularly Charlie Ngatai and Jason Jenkins – hopefully they’ll come on for that game and go on to play a lot of games for Leinster,” Coach Leo Cullen said afterwards, quickly moving on from a game that they looked less than impressive.
Jenkins (6’8, 124kg) debut was different, as he was as physical as he was when he was at the Bulls and was one of Leinster’s try scorers on the day.
“He’s such a big, strong physical man,” Cullen said. “He had some very, very good stuff in the tight and did very well for his try. It’s so hard to stop a man that size. Charlie as well showed lots of good touches.
“You’re trying to build a cohesion in the side. It’s a start, it’s a win. Lots of good stuff in the first half, pretty ugly things taking place in the second half.”
Those ugly things included impressive games for South Africans MJ Pelser, Richard Kriel and Franco Smith junior, all who signed for Zebre in the off-season in the bid to make them a lot more competitive.
It was a good weekend for Italian sides all-round, as Benetton kicked off the weekend with a big win over a poor Glasgow Warriors side, coached by former Italian coach Franco Smith, the father of the Zebre centre.
Cullen knows Leinster will have to take a step up in their second Italian clash this coming weekend.
“We watched Benetton have a real strong performance against Glasgow last night when we were at the hotel. So it’ll be a big game and hopefully we get a big crowd at the RDS next week,” Cullen said.
“Early in the season you’re always searching for that consistency. We were definitely inconsistent in some of our actions there today. That’s the challenge, just for us to be better now. Lots of good stuff in the first half.
“We’ll be trying to make sure we impose ourselves on the game next week and we have a better 80-minute performance – particularly on the defensive end.
“Five tries each there today and it’s come down to conversions scored to see how the game is decided – not ideal from our point of view.”
Edinburgh opened their account with a massive 44-6 win over the Dragons, with the Welsh side set for another tough season.
“We took a little bit of time to acclimatise to the ref, we got on the wrong side of him early on and it took us a while to adjust to him which put us on the back foot,” said Blair.
“The sin-binning of the tighthead was a big moment as it allowed us to bring WP Nel and Pierre Scheoman on while they had the yellow card.”
The two South African-born Scottish internationals made a huge difference to the Edinburgh pack as they demolished the Dragons with opposition coach Dean Ryan vowing some tough conversations after the opening defeat.
“We need to hold some hard conversations about how that can happen in the first game of the season,” he said.
“For the start of the season, after some of the quality we’ve shown in pre-season, that is not where we need to be.
“I thought we looked nervous in the first 20 minutes when we had some opportunities and couldn’t hold onto the ball.
“The second half is not good enough. Too many basic mistakes and if we’re going to get better, we need to hold some hard conversations about why these things keep turning up.
“We can’t afford to let a side score from their own 22 from a kick-off.
“We’ve got supposed talent in that side, but I don’t see it at the moment.
“It is going to be interesting to see where players take it,” he added.
“There’s a lot of people talking now, it’ll be interesting to see what they do about it.
“I think there is a point when senior players need to come together and take it in a strong direction.
“I don’t think this is about tactically what we’re doing the middle third or anything else, this is about some key fundamentals that we’re not getting right. We need to discuss those internally.”
The Dragons must now regroup before back-to-back home games with Munster and Cell C Sharks at Rodney Parade. Edinburgh head to South Africa now for two games.
Meanwhile one of last season’s top teams, Ulster started off with a big 36-10 win over fellow Irish side Connacht in Belfast, making coach Dan McFarland a happy man.
“I thought we built gradually through the game,” McFarland said. “We came out in the second-half and we were a bit more direct, a bit more physical.
“I thought it was important that we ground it out. I was pleased that we didn’t lose our composure when we weren’t executing. We were down there [the 22] quite a lot but repeatedly in that first 20 minutes we weren’t getting points on the board.
“But we didn’t lose our composure and I was pleased with that. I think we always felt if we could get down there and get our maul going we’d cause them problems and that’s what happened.
“Obviously any time we get a win in an interpro we’re happy and a bonus-point win is very pleasing. Connacht are a good team and you don’t need me to tell you that they’ve caused us trouble in the past, particularly around the breakdown and their physicality off the line disrupting our attacking game.”
Connacht director of rugby Andy Friend blamed his side’s poor discipline on the night for the loss.
“We gave away five penalties in eight minutes and that’s the game right there,” the Australian said. “They got two scores and we were trying to force things at that stage.
“I thought Ulster were more clinical than we were, without a doubt, and so when we gave them the opportunity, they took it. They deserved that victory and that scoreline. The frustrating things for us is we made it too easy for them.”
Connacht depart for South Africa on Monday, with games against the Stormers and Bulls.
Meanwhile in other matches Cardiff gave new Munster coach Graham Rowntree his first defeat in charge with a 20-13 victory, while Scarlets and Ospreys played to a 23-all draw in their Welsh derby.
In round two both the Sharks and Lions will head abroad for their first overseas games, while the Stormers and Bulls will host overseas opposition locally.
Comments on RugbyPass
We had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
7 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
55 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
7 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
60 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
60 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
7 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
60 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
55 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
60 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
60 Go to comments