STUART LANCASTER HAD seen this story before. Leinster in full flow, putting a team to the sword and notching up a massive score. But this time was different. This time, he was involved with the team on the receiving end.
The Connacht boss spent seven years coaching Leinster but last night he was sat in the away coaching box as he watched his team come through a competitive first half – trailing 19-17 – before being ripped apart in the second on their way to a 52-17 URC defeat.
It was a difficult experience for all involved. Connacht were missing a host of key players and while they can take pride in their spirited first half effort, in the second 40 they were completely dominated as Leinster ran in five unanswered tries.
“I thought we had a slow start to be honest, obviously (conceding) two tries wasn’t the ideal plan but after that 10 minute period I thought we settled into the game well,” Lancaster said.
“We kept possession well, we stuck to the game plan well, we executed it well and we went from 14-0 to 17-14, the sucker punch was the try at half time, not dissimilar from the Ulster situation, exactly same as the Ulster one really.
“So that was a real sucker punch, but we went into half time with confidence that we competed and competed well. And one thing we’ve talked a lot about recently is those minutes pre and post half time and clearly we’ve still got work to do in that area, because as soon as you fall behind against Leinster who are obviously a very good team, then you start to chase the game and your game starts to unravel, you just give them more and more opportunities to attack against you.
No matter how well you defend on occasions, you can’t give them offloads, knock-ons, set-piece ball which allows them to build pressure and ultimately points.
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“Very disappointed in the second half, there’s a lot of young lads getting experience out there, there’s some pretty good lads sat home in Galway at the moment who we miss, to be honest, whether it’s Caolin Blade, Dave Heffernan, Shayne Bolton, Mack Hansen, some good players who are experienced.
“We’re still developing our young players, the young players like Billy Bohan, Fiachna Barrett, Harry West, it’s probably one of the first few times they’ve ever been to the Aviva to play a game of rugby. I’m throwing them in the deep end. So, disappointing, but I know the lads well and I know we’ll use the Europe window well, which we need to, because the next (URC) game is Leinster at the Dexcom Stadium when it opens.
“And I also know that the season is never won and lost on one game, you stay in the fight and our fight is to come in the top eight and so the next block of games will be Leinster at home, Zebre away, we’ve then got the Glasgow game, the Scarlets game to catch up on, they become pivotal games in the second half of the season.”
The defeat was Connacht’s third on the bounce – following losses to Ulster and the Dragons – leaving the province 11th in the URC table, having won just two from eight in total.
Connacht's Sean Jansen dejected after the match. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
“I don’t detect a lack of belief, obviously this will take some working through, but when I first came to Leinster in my first year it wasn’t like the team went unbeaten the whole time, so we’ll go back to working hard, training under pressure to try and replicate the pressure that’s going to come our way in the next Leinster game.
“Obviously the Montpellier and Montauban (Challenge Cup) games as well, and then hold ourselves more accountable to those standards because that’s the only way you can do it.
“You can’t wave a magic wand and take a team from here to here without the correct fundamentals within training and if I go back to my time at Leinster, that’s what we did, we worked hard and we made mistakes and we trained under pressure… so that’s what I’ll do. I’ll just double down on training with intensity under pressure and making sure the skill set holds under pressure.”
After Lancaster contrasted his current project with Connacht to the start of his time with Leinster, he reiterated his commitment to building something with the western province.
“When I went to sleep last night I was hoping we’d play like we did for that 30 minute period for the 80 minutes, but we didn’t, and I’m fully committed to what I’m doing at Connacht.
“I know it’s a different project, it’s a completely different project, Connacht should be applauded for what they’ve done off the field in terms of building a new High Performance Centre, building a new stand and when I’m coaching the young lads at Connacht they’re not at the same level as the development of these Leinster lads like Charlie Tector, Hugh Cooney… they were training with the senior squad three years ago when I was there.
“So they’ve had three more years of experience whereas I’m four months in, five months in coaching Billy Bohan or Fiachna Barrett or Harry West or all these lads and I’ll do everything I can to pass on what I’ve learned from my Leinster period.
“But it was painful today but I still love the place, I still love the people but I’ll be even more determined to try and get it right for the home game for sure.”
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Connacht won't lose belief after 'painful' loss to Leinster - Lancaster
STUART LANCASTER HAD seen this story before. Leinster in full flow, putting a team to the sword and notching up a massive score. But this time was different. This time, he was involved with the team on the receiving end.
The Connacht boss spent seven years coaching Leinster but last night he was sat in the away coaching box as he watched his team come through a competitive first half – trailing 19-17 – before being ripped apart in the second on their way to a 52-17 URC defeat.
It was a difficult experience for all involved. Connacht were missing a host of key players and while they can take pride in their spirited first half effort, in the second 40 they were completely dominated as Leinster ran in five unanswered tries.
“I thought we had a slow start to be honest, obviously (conceding) two tries wasn’t the ideal plan but after that 10 minute period I thought we settled into the game well,” Lancaster said.
“We kept possession well, we stuck to the game plan well, we executed it well and we went from 14-0 to 17-14, the sucker punch was the try at half time, not dissimilar from the Ulster situation, exactly same as the Ulster one really.
“So that was a real sucker punch, but we went into half time with confidence that we competed and competed well. And one thing we’ve talked a lot about recently is those minutes pre and post half time and clearly we’ve still got work to do in that area, because as soon as you fall behind against Leinster who are obviously a very good team, then you start to chase the game and your game starts to unravel, you just give them more and more opportunities to attack against you.
“Very disappointed in the second half, there’s a lot of young lads getting experience out there, there’s some pretty good lads sat home in Galway at the moment who we miss, to be honest, whether it’s Caolin Blade, Dave Heffernan, Shayne Bolton, Mack Hansen, some good players who are experienced.
“We’re still developing our young players, the young players like Billy Bohan, Fiachna Barrett, Harry West, it’s probably one of the first few times they’ve ever been to the Aviva to play a game of rugby. I’m throwing them in the deep end. So, disappointing, but I know the lads well and I know we’ll use the Europe window well, which we need to, because the next (URC) game is Leinster at the Dexcom Stadium when it opens.
“And I also know that the season is never won and lost on one game, you stay in the fight and our fight is to come in the top eight and so the next block of games will be Leinster at home, Zebre away, we’ve then got the Glasgow game, the Scarlets game to catch up on, they become pivotal games in the second half of the season.”
The defeat was Connacht’s third on the bounce – following losses to Ulster and the Dragons – leaving the province 11th in the URC table, having won just two from eight in total.
“I don’t detect a lack of belief, obviously this will take some working through, but when I first came to Leinster in my first year it wasn’t like the team went unbeaten the whole time, so we’ll go back to working hard, training under pressure to try and replicate the pressure that’s going to come our way in the next Leinster game.
“Obviously the Montpellier and Montauban (Challenge Cup) games as well, and then hold ourselves more accountable to those standards because that’s the only way you can do it.
“You can’t wave a magic wand and take a team from here to here without the correct fundamentals within training and if I go back to my time at Leinster, that’s what we did, we worked hard and we made mistakes and we trained under pressure… so that’s what I’ll do. I’ll just double down on training with intensity under pressure and making sure the skill set holds under pressure.”
After Lancaster contrasted his current project with Connacht to the start of his time with Leinster, he reiterated his commitment to building something with the western province.
“When I went to sleep last night I was hoping we’d play like we did for that 30 minute period for the 80 minutes, but we didn’t, and I’m fully committed to what I’m doing at Connacht.
“I know it’s a different project, it’s a completely different project, Connacht should be applauded for what they’ve done off the field in terms of building a new High Performance Centre, building a new stand and when I’m coaching the young lads at Connacht they’re not at the same level as the development of these Leinster lads like Charlie Tector, Hugh Cooney… they were training with the senior squad three years ago when I was there.
“So they’ve had three more years of experience whereas I’m four months in, five months in coaching Billy Bohan or Fiachna Barrett or Harry West or all these lads and I’ll do everything I can to pass on what I’ve learned from my Leinster period.
“But it was painful today but I still love the place, I still love the people but I’ll be even more determined to try and get it right for the home game for sure.”
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Connacht Reaction Rugby Stuart Lancaster URC