WHILE SOME OF their fans will surely continue to worry that Leinster’s performances remain patchy, the coaches and players themselves are seeing the sticky situations they’ve found themselves in over recent weeks as a big positive.
Against Leicester and Ulster, they had to overcome half-time deficits, while Munster made Leo Cullen’s men dig deep defensively at Thomond Park. Saturday night in Dublin required an even greater show of composure from Leinster as they twice came from behind in the last quarter, winning with the last kick of the game.
One of the question marks over this Leinster team is how they handle pressure and how they deal with being put into tricky spots. And while this obviously hasn’t been knock-out rugby, Leinster have been happy to show a bit of grit over the last while.
“Hopefully, it’ll stand to us as we go on,” said captain Caelan Doris after the 25-24 win over La Rochelle.
“We’ve had a few now, a few tighter games, a few games we’ve been behind at half time. I think the togetherness we’re showing out there, there’s not a whole lot of panic, it’s quite calm and action-focused, next-moment focused.
“Hopefully, we can take confidence and belief from that and take that into the latter stages.”
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Doris said the final quarter against La Rochelle had been all about “trying to stay in the present.” The chats between himself and other leaders like Sam Prendergast, Harry Byrne, and James Ryan were calm and precise, according to the Leinster skipper.
“We’re getting practice at it,” said Doris.
“Obviously, some of that is coming from not delivering on some of the stuff as well as we’d like to. But equally, it’s good for us.”
Leo Cullen with Joe McCarthy. Morgan Treacy / INPHO
Morgan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO
The bonus point win against La Rochelle leaves Leinster nicely poised to grab a strong seeding for the knock-out stages, having now confirmed their Round of 16 qualification ahead of Saturday’s visit to Bayonne in their final pool game.
As things stand, Bordeaux and Glasgow are the two top seeds on 15 match points apiece, but they have challenging final pool games ahead, with the French side visiting in-form Bristol and Glasgow welcoming a Saracens team who beat Toulouse yesterday.
Leinster are on 14 match points – as are Bristol – and the Irish province seem to have the most favourable final pool fixture.
Bayonne are a seriously proud team on home soil and Cullen said on Saturday evening that they had the best home record in the Top 14 last season.
Yet, they have lost all three of their Champions Cup pool games so far, including at home to Stormers last month, and so are already out of the running for the knock-out stages. With a huge home Top 14 game against Castres on 24 January, they have something more important to worry about now.
“We’ll control what we can during the week, which is preparing as well as we possibly can, and try and go after a big performance, get a good performance so you can take some of the opportunities,” said Cullen of what lies ahead.
“Let’s start at the beginning again, that’s the important bit, and get ready to go again and do what we need to do.”
Whatever way things pan out for Leinster in the knock-out stages, they know they need to keep improving.
The fact that Toulouse, who have lost to both Glasgow and Saracens in the pool stages, won’t be one of the top seeds and therefore will prove a fiendishly draw shows that there are lots of threats ahead.
Jack Conan after the La Rochelle game. Morgan Treacy / INPHO
Morgan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO
So though Leinster squeezed to a win against La Rochelle in what was a thrilling game, they’re realistic about the need for improvement.
“When you pull the game apart, as we always will, it was far from perfect out there,” said Cullen.
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“We need to get better because there are quality teams in the competition.
“I know people want to keep giving out about the competition but it was an amazing game out there for people to watch. I’d rather go with the positive.”
Cullen confirmed that fullback Ciarán Frawley suffered an ankle injury early in the game, while loosehead prop Paddy McCarthy was forced off with a foot issue soon after half time. Both of those injuries will also be concerns for Ireland boss Andy Farrell.
But happily for Leinster, they’re due to welcome back Tadhg Furlong, Garry Ringrose, RG Snyman, and possibly a few others for the trip to Bayonne this weekend.
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'We need to get better' - Leinster well positioned ahead of Bayonne trip
WHILE SOME OF their fans will surely continue to worry that Leinster’s performances remain patchy, the coaches and players themselves are seeing the sticky situations they’ve found themselves in over recent weeks as a big positive.
Against Leicester and Ulster, they had to overcome half-time deficits, while Munster made Leo Cullen’s men dig deep defensively at Thomond Park. Saturday night in Dublin required an even greater show of composure from Leinster as they twice came from behind in the last quarter, winning with the last kick of the game.
One of the question marks over this Leinster team is how they handle pressure and how they deal with being put into tricky spots. And while this obviously hasn’t been knock-out rugby, Leinster have been happy to show a bit of grit over the last while.
“Hopefully, it’ll stand to us as we go on,” said captain Caelan Doris after the 25-24 win over La Rochelle.
“We’ve had a few now, a few tighter games, a few games we’ve been behind at half time. I think the togetherness we’re showing out there, there’s not a whole lot of panic, it’s quite calm and action-focused, next-moment focused.
“Hopefully, we can take confidence and belief from that and take that into the latter stages.”
Doris said the final quarter against La Rochelle had been all about “trying to stay in the present.” The chats between himself and other leaders like Sam Prendergast, Harry Byrne, and James Ryan were calm and precise, according to the Leinster skipper.
“We’re getting practice at it,” said Doris.
“Obviously, some of that is coming from not delivering on some of the stuff as well as we’d like to. But equally, it’s good for us.”
The bonus point win against La Rochelle leaves Leinster nicely poised to grab a strong seeding for the knock-out stages, having now confirmed their Round of 16 qualification ahead of Saturday’s visit to Bayonne in their final pool game.
As things stand, Bordeaux and Glasgow are the two top seeds on 15 match points apiece, but they have challenging final pool games ahead, with the French side visiting in-form Bristol and Glasgow welcoming a Saracens team who beat Toulouse yesterday.
Leinster are on 14 match points – as are Bristol – and the Irish province seem to have the most favourable final pool fixture.
Bayonne are a seriously proud team on home soil and Cullen said on Saturday evening that they had the best home record in the Top 14 last season.
Yet, they have lost all three of their Champions Cup pool games so far, including at home to Stormers last month, and so are already out of the running for the knock-out stages. With a huge home Top 14 game against Castres on 24 January, they have something more important to worry about now.
“We’ll control what we can during the week, which is preparing as well as we possibly can, and try and go after a big performance, get a good performance so you can take some of the opportunities,” said Cullen of what lies ahead.
“Let’s start at the beginning again, that’s the important bit, and get ready to go again and do what we need to do.”
Whatever way things pan out for Leinster in the knock-out stages, they know they need to keep improving.
The fact that Toulouse, who have lost to both Glasgow and Saracens in the pool stages, won’t be one of the top seeds and therefore will prove a fiendishly draw shows that there are lots of threats ahead.
So though Leinster squeezed to a win against La Rochelle in what was a thrilling game, they’re realistic about the need for improvement.
“When you pull the game apart, as we always will, it was far from perfect out there,” said Cullen.
“We need to get better because there are quality teams in the competition.
“I know people want to keep giving out about the competition but it was an amazing game out there for people to watch. I’d rather go with the positive.”
Cullen confirmed that fullback Ciarán Frawley suffered an ankle injury early in the game, while loosehead prop Paddy McCarthy was forced off with a foot issue soon after half time. Both of those injuries will also be concerns for Ireland boss Andy Farrell.
But happily for Leinster, they’re due to welcome back Tadhg Furlong, Garry Ringrose, RG Snyman, and possibly a few others for the trip to Bayonne this weekend.
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Champions Cup Knock-Outs la rochelle Leinster Leo Cullen On a Roll