Stuart Lancaster's very good reason to ignore hype about Leinster going entire 32-game season unbeaten
Stuart Lancaster was spot on jinking his way clear of the hype. There was the former England boss on the first Monday of 2020 being quizzed if Leinster can sweep all before them and remain unbeaten this season. Madness.
Fourteen matches might have been already won on the bounce since the curtain was raised on September 28, but there is a heck of a long road still to travel before trophies are handed out.
A possible 13 matches remain in the Guinness PRO14. Another five in the Heineken Champions Cup, starting Sunday when Lyon pitch up at the Dublin RDS. No wonder Lancaster wasn’t losing any sleep about the notion of them finishing it out as invincibles. There is way too much rugby to be played yet.
“No, no. It’s not something that I think any team would ever go and be that arrogant that you say we are going to go through the season unbeaten when you know the games that you have got to come around the corner,” he deflected the other day to Irish media.
Rightly so. As much as people are salivating over the momentum Leo Cullen’s squad have generated in registering ten wins in succession in the league and clinching their European pool with four straight triumphs in that tournament, their express train-like start to the season isn’t even the best in their club’s history.
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RugbyPass went behind the scenes when Leinster won the 2018 Guinness PRO14 final in Dublin
Way back in 2001/02, when the Celtic League first came into being, a Leinster side under Matt Williams galloped all the way through to 15 successive victories.
At a time when the league only required a half-season to complete, they had become the inaugural winners of that tournament, defeating Munster in a rip-roaring December showpiece at the old Lansdowne Road. But the hype that they would go on and seamlessly double up was crushed at precisely this same juncture of the European season the class of 2019/20 are now ready to embrace.
Logistics did for them back in the day. Inclement weather twice cancelled their round five match at Newcastle, a fixture that eventually went ahead at a deserted Headingley in Leeds on a Tuesday night. A fraught 17-15 win was secured in front of a paltry 1,146 attendance and rather than head back to Dublin, with preparation time now in short supply they instead went direct from England to France where they dramatically imploded.
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Leinster is already up 26-0 here but after the Munster-Leinster clash was also starved of stars, have to think something is going on here. Is Irish Rugby sandbagging for the 2020 Six Nations after their disappointing World Cup? ??#irishrugby #leinster #connacht #sixnations #6nations #ireland #ulsterrugby #munsterrugby
Toulouse trounced them 43-7, leaving them with an away quarter-final at Leicester a fortnight later and not a home game in Dublin. They were duly eliminated and while 18 years have since passed, the abrupt way that 15-match winning streak was shattered remains a sharp reminder that things don’t always run smoothly in rugby, even when it looks like you are at the top of your game.
Leinster have clearly been ahead of the curve so far this term in so many ways. Whereas the league leaders in England and France – Exeter and Bordeaux – have each lost twice in the respective Gallagher Premiership and Top 14 competitions, Leinster have been supreme in marrying the demands of the PRO14 with their European ambitions in a World Cup season.
Fifty players have been utilised in negotiating their schedule, 43 as match starters, but they know well there is still work to be done even though they are way ahead of so many past campaigns.
Starting brightly has traditionally been a fraught Leinster problem. In ten of the 18 seasons since that 2001/02 benchmark, they were beaten in the first match of the season so there was never much of a chance to reprise that type of an all-conquering run.
Even in their majestic double-winning season of 2017/18, they were picked off in just their fourth outing that term, losing down at Cheetahs in the league, and while they can now take great pride in already being qualified for this season’s European quarter-finals, they can’t really take their eye off the wheel either.
It was during the Williams era that Leinster memorably came up with DNFUJ, a ‘Do Not F*** Up January’ acronym that used to adorn their dressing room walls.
"Strong scrum, strong lineout, well-coached, great on the counter-attack."
Stuart Lancaster runs through the strengths of the @LeLOURugby side we face this Sunday at the RDS Arena (KO 1pm) in the #ChampionsCup. ??#LEIvLOU #JoinTheRoar pic.twitter.com/si6ubiLg5x
— Leinster Rugby (@leinsterrugby) January 7, 2020
Its importance hasn’t lessened in any way in the interim, Lancaster posting a reminder the other day about how an unexpected round six draw at Castres in 2017 saw them tumble from No1 to No4 in the knockout stage rankings.
That failing cost them home semi-final advantage and resulted in them being beaten by Clermont in Lyon, the city whose team are now ironically Dublin-bound this weekend.
That was the type of harsh lesson which is keeping soarway Leinster honest, ensuring talk about an unbeaten season just doesn’t merit being entertained in any way just yet.
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Comments on RugbyPass
This 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.
2 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.
4 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 commentsI certainly don’t miss drinking beers at 8am in the morning watching rugby games being played in NZ.
1 Go to commentsThis looks like a damage limitation exercise for Wales, keeping back some of their more effective players for the last 20/25 minutes to try and counter England’s fresh legs so the Red Roses don’t rack up a big score.
1 Go to commentsVery unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
5 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
2 Go to comments