LONG GONE ARE the days when Irish provinces traveled to France in trepidation, with Connacht’s win in Toulouse this season providing the most recent and damning evidence of that assertion.
Leinster centre Gordon D’Arcy insists that his province are preparing for their Heineken Cup duel with Castres on Sunday without any negative anticipation. The Top 14 side have lost just three times at the Stade Pierre-Antoine in the last five league seasons, although that success rate has not been matched in Europe.
D’Arcy is of the belief that the much vaunted home supporters in France can, in reality, add pressure to the their teams, and even encourage the opposition if the game isn’t unfolding as planned. Apart from a 39-6 drubbing at the hands of Stade Français in Paris in 1999, D’Arcy says his memories in l’Hexagone are positive.
I like playing in France. The crowd are always an interesting add-on to games over there. They pretty much support whoever is winning. You go over there, you put it up to the home team, and you can sometimes turn the crowd back on the home team.”
From a personal point of view, D’Arcy explains that he has built up a mental preparation system that works for him regardless of the venue of a particular match. The Wexford man’s words underline the importance of mental skills, but also of experience.
“I think I’m just a little bit older, a little bit wiser. I understand the game a little bit more. I understand what my role is a lot more and where my responsibilities lie in the game. It took a few years to build up my match preparation. I’ve done that with Enda McNulty [the motivational coach and performance psychologist].
“I’ve got something that works for me whether it is in France, the Aviva, the RDS or Donnybrook; I’ve something that works for me. It doesn’t really bother me [playing in France]. I know if I bring the two or three things I am good at to the game, if I bring that mental attitude to it, there is very little else that can be left to chance.”
With several Irish players continuing to be linked with French switches next season, the Ireland international centre says encounters like this one with Castres provide the chance to sample what the French league offers. The lasting impressions for D’Arcy have been the physical ones.
It gives you a little taste into what the Top 14 is like, and it’s big and physical. Every time I have played a French team, you walk away and you know you have been in a dog fight really.”
That’s exactly what the 33-year-old is expecting on Sunday afternoon, even though Castres are likely to be without two of their more powerful, confrontational players in Rory Kockott and Antonie Claassen. D’Arcy has been doing his homework on the Top 14 champions, and points out that they have added finesse to their existing power.
“There is pretty much three-quarters of their squad involved who were playing in the Top 14 final last year. They are incredibly talented. They probably break the mould in a slight way with the [rest of the] Top 14. They have that big physical pack but they probably play a little bit more broken field and a loose pass, things like that, is where they thrive. They score a lot off turnovers.
“I think the 10, [Rémi] Talès, and the 15, [Brice] Dulin, they compliment the way they try to approach the game. Talès is getting his look in around the French squad and that is probably reflected in the way they [Castres] are playing.”
