PLAYERS NEED TO play and their talent needs to be nurtured.
That is the job of coaches and managers.
Playing people consistently out of position, picking people at the wrong time or putting them in academies where they get precious little game time are all concerns that need to be constantly addressed in a professional team sport.
Small margins make huge differences at the very top of anything. In yesterday’s Heineken cup final the selection of Paddy Jackson and Kevin Mcloughlin were the two key selections.
McLoughlin was selected because he gave Joe Schmidt’s men line-out options against an Ulster side that had the edge in this area. This meant that he picked Sean O’Brien at openside and left out Jennings. O’Brien is an exceptional rugby player but not a number seven.
The only reason he was able to get away with it was because ulster didn’t have a true No.7 in their ranks either.
I know everybody raved about Chris Henry in Thomond Park but that was against two very inexperienced backrow and a declining Munster team. As is the case with O’Brien he is not a true seven. The last time I remember O’Brien successfully playing there at the top was against Australia in the World Cup.
That day Australia were missing Pocock who was their specialist in the position, of course.
Sean O’Brien celebrates with his partner. Pic: INPHO/Colm O’Neil
We saw the difference against Wales in the quarter-final where they had a true openside flanker. The lines of running and the positions taken up by an openside flanker are different to 6 & 8. His instincts are different. His job is different.
If you want a player to switch position you must put him there and immerse him in it. When Australia moved Larkham from full back to outhalf they didn’t keep switching him back when it suited them.
I say this because I think O’Brien has the ability to be world-class. However if we persist with the idea he is a seven we could ruin an unbelievable talent. For the occasion and based on the opposition Schmidt was obviously right yesterday. That doesn’t mean that that is O’Brien’s natural position. He is a six and a damn fine one, but he needs to play there in order to become the great that he could be.
‘Management must make a judgement call and be totally committed’
On the other hand if you want to make him a number seven you need to put him there, teach him about the position and leave him there. Management must make a judgement call and be totally committed. The second selection was not such a success. Paddy Jackson did not have the experience to run a game of yesterday’s magnitude. He is clearly a very talented young man but that talent needs to be nurtured in order to bring it through. Would Alex Ferguson have played him? I think not.
He would have known whether he had given him enough exposure and therefore if he was ready.
I feel for him today and I hope the experience will not have dented his inner belief. Ulster needed to play a much narrower game if they wanted to compete with this Leinster side. Jackson didn’t have the experience to orchestrate that. If they had given him a lot more game time earlier in the season they would have known if he was up to the task and he would have been better prepared.
With New Zealand on the horizon, I hope Declan Kidney has his own mind right on these basic but vital issues.
Emmet O’Rafferty is a former second-row forward with Leinster.