IT’S AN UNFORTUNATE fact that when you’re checking results in the Champions Cup, it’s essential to read on and examine how each team approached the game.
On any given weekend in the pool stages a chunk of results should be accompanied by an asterisk. So, an out of sorts La Rochelle put 39 points on Leicester on Saturday, but this was a younger Tigers team than the one you might think could go get a result in France.
What about Saracens 47-10 against Clermont? You guessed it, the French side changed more than half of the side they fielded in last weekend’s Top 14 win over Stade Francais for their trip to London.
Harlequins lost by 17 in Dublin. Not too bad considering their 62-0 thumping in Croke Park last year. Take a closer look. Leinster’s team was along a similar line, Harlequins’ significantly weaker. Or so it seemed. Quins had many of their internationals on rest, and still delivered an admirably spirited performance which saw them hit their hosts for four tries. Coming to the hour Leinster’s cushion was just three points, but a yellow card for Quins’ out-half Jarrod Evans was ruthlessly punished with three unanswered tries. Game over.
Expectations around the game had been dampened when Harlequins’ team news came through on Friday. Remember, this is a Leinster team yet to hit their stride this season. A Leinster who could, potentially, be knocked by a strong visiting team. Watching a messy, open encounter unfold on Saturday evening, you couldn’t but wonder what might have been playing out if Harlequins had thrown everything at it. Imagine the frustration for a visiting fan who forked out for a December weekend in Dublin – they don’t come cheap. Or maybe they get it. Maybe they feel a team sitting eighth in the Prem were right to put out the big hitters for a league game at Gloucester, if that meant rolling the dice against one of the Champions Cup favourites.
Harlequins head coach Jason Gilmore was able to see both sides of the argument. Post-game he was asked straight out if he had any regrets about his selection. That’s not to downtalk the effort his side delivered in Dublin, but more to ponder the questions a stronger Quins side may have been able to pose.
“Yes and no,” he replied.
Gilmore laid it out in black and white. Within the first three weeks of returning from international duty, his Test players have to be given a rest week. Gilmore decided to play them all against Gloucester in last weekend’s Prem fixture, rest half for the Leinster game, and will rest another half at home to Bayonne in round two.
“It’s almost a forced situation, so they’re difficult decisions, they take a lot of time, and we’ve had that strategy since the pre-season.”
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Harlequins' head coach Jason Gilmore Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
It’s not exclusively a Harlequins problem, far from it, but across the board it’s a frustration for anyone who wants to see more high-quality, full-on contests in the early rounds of this competition. And a frustration for those tasked with making those calls.
“Yeah, massively, because the boys want to play as well,” Gilmore added.
“I get the welfare and the 30 games in the year and all that type of stuff and, look coming from outside this region, obviously from down south (Australia), we grew up on watching the Heineken Cup and Champions Cup and there’s such a buzz around the competition and the boys generally get excited to play in Europe, so when they don’t get an opportunity to play in it they get frustrated. But like I said, if they’re the rules, they’re the rules at the moment, but whether you push Champions Cup back a little bit when everyone’s been rested, that might be a way to do it.
“But look, it’s for people that get paid a lot more money than me to decide competition structures.”
Leinster boss Leo Cullen, for his part, was less keen to engage in the debate.
“It’s case by case, club by club, isn’t it?” was his final point in a more detailed response.
Cullen has his own issues to worry about. Even with most of his internationals available this was far from convincing by a team who hope to be playing in the Bilbao final next May. After a seven-try, bonus point win to launch their latest Champions Cup charge, Cullen was left fielding questions about a mixed, scattered display. There were some excellent moments – Sam Prendergast’s gorgeous crossfield, Tommy O’Brien’s clever solo finish – but the breakdown and discipline proved sources of frustration along with poor moments defensively. Still, a seven-try win is a seven-try win. Cullen half-joked expectations might be a touch too high.
“I know you all want the perfect thing, win by 100 points, but that’s not realistic, because the opposition turn up, don’t they?”
Leinster's Tadhg Furlong, Jack Boyle and Joe McCarthy. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
The smile was gone as he put forward the reasons why his team are missing some rhythm.
“Watching us training, we’re not quite there yet, when will we get there? That’s the question,” he said.
“So, (this was) Joe McCarthy’s first game of the season, Paddy McCarthy’s first game in the Champions Cup. Jack Conan’s first game for Leinster this season, Caelan Dorris’ first game for Leinster this season, Rieko Ioane’s first game for Leinster ever, so we’re not up and running really, are we yet, but we are up and running now and we’ll be better (next week), I think.
“But we’ll only get better if we have the right mindset in terms of how we apply ourselves preparing for the next game. So recover well from this game, enjoy the moment, we’ve won, we’ve scored seven tries at home, and it’s another step on our way.
“It’s such an unusual season, isn’t it? Like it’s December, and when you roll off that list of firsts, it’s very unusual, but that’s just the way the game has gone. International season and the way it’s going towards later (in the year), which means obviously the season starts later, so obviously finishes later as well.
“The big thing is trying to get the points to get you into the next phase, and that’s the bit for us for this week ahead. We just need to battle out for points away from home in a very, very tough place to get points.”
Maybe now it can all start to fall into place. James Ryan is back from suspension this week having completed tackle school, while there will be updates on Jordan Larmour, Garry Ringrose and RG Snyman – all injured against Harlequins – later today. Larmour appeared the more concerning of those three.
Then it’s on to the Tigers’ den on Friday. We wait to see how many of Leicester’s cubs are retained from defeat to La Rochelle, but be sure Leinster won’t be holding back as they look to add some energy to their stuttering season.
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Leinster up and running in Europe but Quins left with mixed feelings over rotation
IT’S AN UNFORTUNATE fact that when you’re checking results in the Champions Cup, it’s essential to read on and examine how each team approached the game.
On any given weekend in the pool stages a chunk of results should be accompanied by an asterisk. So, an out of sorts La Rochelle put 39 points on Leicester on Saturday, but this was a younger Tigers team than the one you might think could go get a result in France.
What about Saracens 47-10 against Clermont? You guessed it, the French side changed more than half of the side they fielded in last weekend’s Top 14 win over Stade Francais for their trip to London.
Harlequins lost by 17 in Dublin. Not too bad considering their 62-0 thumping in Croke Park last year. Take a closer look. Leinster’s team was along a similar line, Harlequins’ significantly weaker. Or so it seemed. Quins had many of their internationals on rest, and still delivered an admirably spirited performance which saw them hit their hosts for four tries. Coming to the hour Leinster’s cushion was just three points, but a yellow card for Quins’ out-half Jarrod Evans was ruthlessly punished with three unanswered tries. Game over.
Expectations around the game had been dampened when Harlequins’ team news came through on Friday. Remember, this is a Leinster team yet to hit their stride this season. A Leinster who could, potentially, be knocked by a strong visiting team. Watching a messy, open encounter unfold on Saturday evening, you couldn’t but wonder what might have been playing out if Harlequins had thrown everything at it. Imagine the frustration for a visiting fan who forked out for a December weekend in Dublin – they don’t come cheap. Or maybe they get it. Maybe they feel a team sitting eighth in the Prem were right to put out the big hitters for a league game at Gloucester, if that meant rolling the dice against one of the Champions Cup favourites.
Harlequins head coach Jason Gilmore was able to see both sides of the argument. Post-game he was asked straight out if he had any regrets about his selection. That’s not to downtalk the effort his side delivered in Dublin, but more to ponder the questions a stronger Quins side may have been able to pose.
“Yes and no,” he replied.
Gilmore laid it out in black and white. Within the first three weeks of returning from international duty, his Test players have to be given a rest week. Gilmore decided to play them all against Gloucester in last weekend’s Prem fixture, rest half for the Leinster game, and will rest another half at home to Bayonne in round two.
“It’s almost a forced situation, so they’re difficult decisions, they take a lot of time, and we’ve had that strategy since the pre-season.”
It’s not exclusively a Harlequins problem, far from it, but across the board it’s a frustration for anyone who wants to see more high-quality, full-on contests in the early rounds of this competition. And a frustration for those tasked with making those calls.
“Yeah, massively, because the boys want to play as well,” Gilmore added.
“I get the welfare and the 30 games in the year and all that type of stuff and, look coming from outside this region, obviously from down south (Australia), we grew up on watching the Heineken Cup and Champions Cup and there’s such a buzz around the competition and the boys generally get excited to play in Europe, so when they don’t get an opportunity to play in it they get frustrated. But like I said, if they’re the rules, they’re the rules at the moment, but whether you push Champions Cup back a little bit when everyone’s been rested, that might be a way to do it.
“But look, it’s for people that get paid a lot more money than me to decide competition structures.”
Leinster boss Leo Cullen, for his part, was less keen to engage in the debate.
“It’s case by case, club by club, isn’t it?” was his final point in a more detailed response.
Cullen has his own issues to worry about. Even with most of his internationals available this was far from convincing by a team who hope to be playing in the Bilbao final next May. After a seven-try, bonus point win to launch their latest Champions Cup charge, Cullen was left fielding questions about a mixed, scattered display. There were some excellent moments – Sam Prendergast’s gorgeous crossfield, Tommy O’Brien’s clever solo finish – but the breakdown and discipline proved sources of frustration along with poor moments defensively. Still, a seven-try win is a seven-try win. Cullen half-joked expectations might be a touch too high.
“I know you all want the perfect thing, win by 100 points, but that’s not realistic, because the opposition turn up, don’t they?”
The smile was gone as he put forward the reasons why his team are missing some rhythm.
“Watching us training, we’re not quite there yet, when will we get there? That’s the question,” he said.
“So, (this was) Joe McCarthy’s first game of the season, Paddy McCarthy’s first game in the Champions Cup. Jack Conan’s first game for Leinster this season, Caelan Dorris’ first game for Leinster this season, Rieko Ioane’s first game for Leinster ever, so we’re not up and running really, are we yet, but we are up and running now and we’ll be better (next week), I think.
“But we’ll only get better if we have the right mindset in terms of how we apply ourselves preparing for the next game. So recover well from this game, enjoy the moment, we’ve won, we’ve scored seven tries at home, and it’s another step on our way.
“It’s such an unusual season, isn’t it? Like it’s December, and when you roll off that list of firsts, it’s very unusual, but that’s just the way the game has gone. International season and the way it’s going towards later (in the year), which means obviously the season starts later, so obviously finishes later as well.
“The big thing is trying to get the points to get you into the next phase, and that’s the bit for us for this week ahead. We just need to battle out for points away from home in a very, very tough place to get points.”
Maybe now it can all start to fall into place. James Ryan is back from suspension this week having completed tackle school, while there will be updates on Jordan Larmour, Garry Ringrose and RG Snyman – all injured against Harlequins – later today. Larmour appeared the more concerning of those three.
Then it’s on to the Tigers’ den on Friday. We wait to see how many of Leicester’s cubs are retained from defeat to La Rochelle, but be sure Leinster won’t be holding back as they look to add some energy to their stuttering season.
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Champions Cup Job Done Leinster Rugby Leicester Tigers