World Cup hangover avoidance - All 4 Irish provinces vetted ahead of Europe
Irish rugby will look to move past their latest World Cup disappointment when the Heineken Champions Cup kicks off this weekend, but the memories of a European horror show four years ago still linger.
As a battered and bruised Ireland team returned from the 2015 World Cup following another quarter-final defeat, the malaise crept back into the provinces as they struggled in Europe. For the first time since 1997/98, no Irish team qualified for the quarter-finals of the Champions Cup.
Will history repeat itself this time around?
Here, we take a look at how the four Irish provinces are shaping up ahead of the return of the Champions Cup, and whether or not they are better equipped to deal with an Irish Rugby World Cup hangover compared to this time four years ago.
CONNACHT
There is often a hint of something about to happen in Connacht. Optimism was high heading into the first inter-provincial derby of the season last week, but Connacht were truly abysmal against Leinster on Friday. Any comments about how their defence held up in the second half don’t hide the fact that they were completely ripped apart in the opening half hour. It goes without saying that they will not survive in Europe unless they tighten up that defence.
The return of Bundee Aki will bolster Connacht’s midfield, but the fact that both Aki and scrum-half Kieran Marmion are being linked with moves away could threaten to derail Connacht’s season.
Four years ago they were able to deal with the World Cup in a positive way. They only lost two players to the Ireland World Cup squad – the same number as this year – and so while others were dealing with the absence of key men Connacht were able to build some momentum and embark on an impressive winning run that set them up nicely for the second half of the season. They went on to win the Pro12, securing a first trophy in their 131-year history.
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They also won their Challenge Cup pool before a one point defeat to Grenoble in the quarter-finals. This year’s Champions Cup will prove a much sterner challenge, as they return to the competition for the first time since the 2016/17 season. Connacht’s progress regressed under Pat Lam’s successor, Kieran Keane, but Andy Friend has managed to steady the ship since his arrival last year, encouraging the same type of open, attacking game which Lam preached.
There were a number of positives in Friend’s first season in charge, but they need to step things up a level again. With a number of frontline players currently injured – there are questions surrounding Finlay Bealham, Sean O’Brien, Quinn Roux, Gavin Thorbury and Ultan Dillane – qualifying from a pool that includes Gloucester, Montpellier and Toulouse looks an onerous task.
LEINSTER
While 2015/16 could have felt like the end of an era for Leinster, it in fact became the start of a new golden period of success. Having contributed a total of 17 players to Ireland’s 2015 World Cup squad, it was perhaps no surprise that they looked sluggish in Europe that year.
It was also Leo Cullen’s first season as Leinster head coach, and the early indications were that he was struggling to get to grips with his new role. Having been forced to wait to work with nearly all of his first choice XV, Leinster only won one game in a pool stage that saw them play Wasps, Toulon and Bath. It is almost hard to imagine now, but that campaign saw Leinster thrashed 33-6 and 51-10 home and away by Wasps. It was clear that something needed to change, or Leinster were in danger of getting left behind.
Stuart Lancaster was brought in as a senior coach the following season, and Cullen began to place more emphasis on bringing through players from the Leinster Academy, while also encouraging a more open, unstructured attacking game. The results have been stunning and saw Leinster return to Europe’s top table as they won a fourth European Cup in 2018, before last season’s final defeat to Saracens. After that game, Cullen conceded that his team simply couldn’t live with Saracens physicality, and that is an issue for which there is no quick fix. We saw the same thing happen to Ireland against England in the Six Nations New Zealand at the World Cup. As good as Leinster are in defence and attack, they don’t have the sheer brute strength of some of the other top European teams.
As always, their biggest attribute remains the number of high quality players they continue to produce. 21-year-old hooker Ronan Kelleher, who scored two tries against Connacht last Friday, has really stood out in the early stages of the Guinness Pro14, and will push for inclusion in the European starting XV.
Even if they choose to ease their internationals back into action, Leinster will qualify from a group that contains Benetton, Lyon and Northampton Saints, and will be there or thereabouts come the business end of the season. A vastly different outfit to the one that crashed and burned four years ago.
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MUNSTER
Johann van Graan’s side are perhaps facing the most difficult task of all the Irish provinces, having been pitted alongside Ospreys, Racing and Saracens in Pool 4 this year.
Four years ago, they failed to make it beyond a pool stage that saw them play Leicester Tigers, Stade Francais and Benetton Treviso, with the province only winning three games from six. Chief among their problems that year was a lack of cutting edge in attack. Anthony Foley’s team only scored 15 tries in their six pool games, and eight of those came in the two outings against Treviso. Improvements were made under Rassie Erasmus and current coach Johann van Graan, but the attacking side of the game has remained an issue for Munster, particularly in the knock-out stages of the competition.
Former Australia fly-half Stephen Larkham has been brought in as senior coach and has outlines his aim to add more line-breaks to Munster’s game, but the continued absence of Joey Carbery serves as a major blow to their creativity, while a hamstring injury to JJ Hanrahan means they are set to begin their European campaign with only one fit senior out-half, Tyler Bleyendaal.
They are a better team than they were four years ago, even if they have struggled to replace Simon Zebo’s tries, but they need to get off to a strong start if they are to qualify from the ‘Group of Death.’ They also need players like Conor Murray and Keith Earls to rediscover the form that deserted them in Japan.
The province haven’t reached a Champions Cup final since 2008, losing six semi-finals since. It is difficult to see them bettering that this season.
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ULSTER
It’s more or less the same old story with Ulster. The promise is there, but the province have failed to live up to the billing far too often.
They actually enjoyed a decent European campaign in 2015/16, and finished second in their pool but failed to qualify for the knock-out stages after suffering home and away defeats to eventual champions Saracens. At the time, there was a sense that Ulster were getting closer to the level they needed to be at. Four years on, not much has changed, which is a problem in itself. At some stage, Ulster need to back up all the talk of progress and take that next step.
Last year they saved their best performances for Europe and pushed Leinster close in a thrilling quarter-final. They need to at least match that this year, but they face a number of challenges to do so.
The absence of Rory Best’s leadership will require others to step up. There is also plenty of promising homegrown talent, not least versatile back Robert Baloucoune, but head coach Dan McFarland will be concerned by the lack of impact his internationals made on their return to action against Munster this weekend. His senior men need to set the platform for the younger players to shine.
Inconsistincy is their biggest enemy, and in a pool that will see them play Clermont, Bath and Harelquins, they can’t afford any slip-ups.
Don’t be surprised if it all comes to nothing, again.
Watch: Siya Kolisi delivers another brilliant speech in Cape Town
Comments on RugbyPass
No question they were the better team. But that is the beauty of sport isn’t it!
95 Go to commentsEveryone is into Hurling in Ireland according to Porter, but only 11 of Ireland's 32 counties enter a team into the national competition. Same old blarney.
1 Go to commentsLet’s be honest. The draw and scheduling in the World Cup was a joke but South Africa found a way after having to go the hard (nearly impossible) way to the Cup Final via France and England. NZ had a hard game against France (lost) and had 5 weeks to prepare for the Quarter, 3 weeks knowing it was Ireland. NZ theerfore had to win one big game against an Irish team who played SA and then Scotland 7 days before. They won and it was de facto a semi final because they were playing a relatively weak Argentina team and it was a walk over. In the final a very rested NZ team was playing a very tired SA team and still lost. They couldn’t score more than 11 points. Put another way SA had to find a way to win while tired and they achieved that. NZ should thank their lucky stars that they fixed the scheduling in 2015 otherwise they would be dealing with a Bok treble.
95 Go to commentsPerhaps if Bongi wasn’t targeted and removed from the game in the first 3 minutes it would have been quite a different game. Maybe if NZ also faced the same competition the Boks faced to their win NZ would have looked quite different. The final score shows who outplayed who.
95 Go to commentsRubbish article! Abuladze played most of Exeters matches when fit. He got injured against Glasgow a while ago and is out for the rest of the season, thats why he hasnt played for Exeter and Georgia recently. Do some proper research next time!
1 Go to commentsGotta love it when kids throw their toys out the pram and can’t hack it with the grown ups debate. Here’s looking at you turlough! 😉🤣
148 Go to commentsThey lost the game period move on
95 Go to commentsSpringboks won! Stop winging. You can change the game however much you and your rugby colonizing IRB want to and the Springboks will win you at that too. Your mind is colonized my friend get a life
95 Go to commentsBen, nobody gets fooled anymore by selective and biased data to support an hypothesis. Games are decided on such small margins these days that you win some and lose some, and dominance is a thing of the rugby past. Look at the RWC circle of fortune…. Ireland beats SA who beat France who beat NZ who beat Ireland. And so it goes on. Match officials help to eliminate real indiscretions. If they had been with us years before, no doubt results would have been different. Remember Andy Haden’s dive from a lineout in 1978 for which a match-wining penalty was awarded? Wales should have beaten the ABs that day. They took the loss like the gentlemen they were.
95 Go to commentsWith all the analysis and how good the all blacks were.The fundamental mistake with the ABs is that this is a test match and not an exhibition.There is no better team(country) in world rugby than the Boks that knows how to win a test match(we are post masters at this).We know our rules, we have the discipline, we tackle like beasts, we take our points and we never give up.I now have educated the ABs supporters(at least say thank you).Please stop “bitching” , accept what the outcome is and move along swiftly.
95 Go to commentsAnd they came from behind to win two big games before the final. No one can say what would have happened. Had the boks gone behind the game plan changes and the result may changes. Ifs and ands are irrelevant. The boks won. Neutral critics enjoyed the games they played. Its not a popularity contest. Get over it and move on.
95 Go to commentsI'm happy for the people of SA to get a second WC. And I mean that. I was very disappointed with this man's “stand on the hand” incident with Josh Van Der Flyer (Ireland). Ireland's downfall in the last WC was they did not rotate their first 15 as the head coach probably should have. That said, I'm happy for SA and genuinely hope it lifts the mood in their country. Ireland did beat them in the first match of the tournament. And before the trolls start trolling ….. please don't bother. Etzbeth said recently that the Irish players said after the match “see you in the final”…..this was actually wishing the SA team the best of luck in the rest, the Irish team were not dismissing the AB’s. This is what Etzbeth was implying. But he was wrong. I no longer live in Ireland. But I hope to see them lift that cup before I pass. Anyway, congratulations SA. 👍
12 Go to commentsMore bloody click bait. Dan Carter has said absolutely nothing. As he should do. Poor journalism again from a site that should know better
9 Go to commentsOh god please help these loosers get over it!!!! You lost. Doesn't matter how many times you dummies are gonna analyse the game, you still lost and we are still Rygby World Champions….get over it, you lost.
95 Go to commentsThe next Willie le Roux. SA are made not to use him.
3 Go to commentsDan has always been as controversial as tea with milk so we were never going to get any definitive answer. So DMac for the win.
9 Go to commentsGoodness. When are the All Blacks and New Zealand commentators going to stop complaining about how they could have won and just try to win next time 😂. In South Africa if you lose you get up and try again. Get over it.
95 Go to commentsHonestly, it doesn’t matter a whole lot. RSA has a ton of experienced talent in its leadership group. I am more interested in who is the new 8 man/8 men and the younger props. The captain may change but the system does not
1 Go to commentsBen, you are one of the most arrogant and self opionated rugby critics I have ever come across (next to Keohane). I hoped that after SA beating the best ranked teams in the world on their way to the WC (something not done before) that you might have the grace to admit that this is a special team that deserved the accolades coming their way. You have no humility and as has been been already pointed out, merely a troll to attract audience numbers. Count me out in the future.
95 Go to comments‘War of independence’. Such a grand name for a few skirmishes. Where were all the great battles of this ‘war’ ? Smith got goosebumps as he was being emotionally manipulated, another mushroom.
1 Go to comments