CONNACHT’S HEAVY DEFEAT to the Lions in The Sportsground on Saturday was discussed on today’s Rugby Weekly Extra, the podcast for subscribers to The 42.
Gavan Casey, host of the podcast, said: “38-14, and the way that the Lions ran away with that game, and with 14 men as well which shouldn’t be understated. That does not happen to Connacht at home to Leinster, at home to Munster, at home to Ulster . . . With a full house that does not happen to them against the teams against whom they can kind of generate that guttural, parochial sort of emotion and like, that is an issue, I don’t know if it’s fair to call it an issue of attitude but certainly an issue of mental preparation…”
Bernard Jackman, former Connacht, Leinster and Ireland hooker, said players at the province need to improve their qualities of resilience and “ability to gig in”.
“You test those Connacht players in the gym, you test them on a running track, you compare their skillset to the Leinster players … and there would be very, very little between them but the work on for them is … the reason they’re not more marked in Andy Farrell’s squad is that ability to be consistent or that ability to dig in when they don’t feel like it,” Jackman said.
“Maybe that’s why they were chopped or let go elsewhere younger in their career. And some like Cian Prendergast takes that rejection and brings a level of consistency and performance that will get him on track for a great career, and others will just float . . . and not capitalise on the raw potential they have, the raw talent they have.
“But part of talent is resilience. Resilience and an ability to be sticky and not give up and to fight for lost causes. That’s part of talent we don’t often talk about but that’s the one that they need to figure out.
“I would have struggled with it a good bit probably for most of my career and I think at the end I got a little bit better at it it but it’s in the make-up of a lot of players, and I had it as well, but if you don’t fix it, as a team, you’re never going to have that trust in each other.”
If you are not already a subscriber then sign up here to listen to this podcast and enjoy unlimited access to The 42.
