THE FOURTH AND final instalment of our provincial report-card series looked like the toughest on paper: what more could be said about Leinster, whose pre-coronavirus win streak pointed towards another incredible — and perhaps even unprecedented — season for the men in blue?
Still quite a lot, it turns out. Particularly with Andy Dunne and Murray Kinsella joining Gavan Casey to run the rule over the eastern province: their coaching staff, including the somewhat unsung heroes beyond the Leo Cullen-Stuart Lancaster tandem; the changes they implemented in the aftermath to their Heineken Champions Cup final defeat to Saracens last season; their conveyor belt of talent and the potential challenges associated with having such a plethora of up-and-comers on their books; and, as discussed with Mike Sherry about Munster, Bernard Jackman about Connacht and Darren Cave about Ulster, the areas in which Leinster can still improve upon rugby’s resumption.
Regarding the latter, both Andy and Murray stressed that they were splitting hairs in pinpointing facets of Leinster’s game which, while conspicuously effective, could to their minds still be tweaked to bear even more fruit whenever Cullen’s men return to the field of play.
But the two lads love nothing more than to split a hair or two, and so off they went.
You can listen back to the podcast in full at the link below, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get yours. But below is a snippet from today’s episode in written form.
Andy: “It’s tricky to zone in on an area of potential weakness. There’s certainly not any really obvious part of their overall game or their units — from front row, second row, back row, half-backs, centres, back three; there’s no real weakness in their depth at all, or their management of Leinster Rugby from grassroots all the way through to the senior team. And similarly, the diversity of thought, the strength of character that runs through their management team. So, if you look at all that, it’s very difficult to find an area in which they can improve.
“But for me, when I look at Leinster play, Murray had some brilliant insights there on the stats [Leinster offload less than Munster and Ulster, and score more tries after seven or more phases than any other team in the Pro14 and Champions Cup]; they’re not high up [the rankings] on offloads and they don’t need to be because they’re able to convert so well after six, seven phases of play. They’ve become a possession-dominant team.
“What I think has happened over the course of 20 years in rugby is that holding onto possession for longer periods, as you go higher up in the level of challenge that you face, is not necessarily of great value. What it can do is exhaust your own efforts. I think we saw that with the Joe Schmidt model [with Ireland] for about 18 months: it worked up until it didn’t, when everyone realised we were a possession side.
And Leinster’s swashbuckling style has been somewhat dampened in a bid to hold on to possession and create more control. I think that’s just one area that they may look at and focus on. For example, when they come up against the likes of Saracens in Europe: will possession and holding on for seven, eight, nine phases be as effective against the brilliant Saracens and their defence as it would be against a not-so-brilliant Edinburgh defence? In order to win Heineken [Champions] Cups — and that’s probably their focus; they probably want to make a legacy and build a dynasty and win three or four of them in the next 10 years — I think they possibly need to facilitate their game going into fifth gear a bit more often; higher-risk, a couple more offloads that are chosen at the right time but are actually functional.
“I think they’ve a really interesting situation in the management of James Lowe because he really represents that kind of brand in that he’s not the type of player who’s ever going to be in second gear or third gear. He’s in fourth or fifth gear and he accelerates everything that Leinster do. He creates so much and all of the support players around him want to be close to James Lowe when he’s got the ball; each individual around him realises they’re going to gain from being in his proximity because he’s going to offload at the right time with high quality and they’re going to be able to add something onto the ball and be in a bit more space. If Leinster can allow that to be a mindset that runs through different positions on the field and through different personnel, I think that’s something that can make them really dangerous.
At the moment, there’s a slight tendency towards safety and making sure they execute brilliantly. And the likes of Hugh Hogan being a specialist contact-skills coach and a breakdown coach… I’ve always thought, being great at your breakdown means you’re in second and third gear all of the time; the engine’s running but it doesn’t mean it’s purring! So, I think the likes of James Lowe helps them purr, and that engine goes into fifth gear. And just an allowance of more of that in their overall play is something that could improve them. And again, that’s really nitpicking — they’re an outstanding side across the board. It’s just an area I think they could look at in order to break down the top European defences.
Murray: “The thing about Leinster is that they’re an extremely self-aware team. As I mentioned earlier on, quite a lot of the time their reviews are…not negative, but very self-critical. And they’re very aware of how other teams see them. [Stuart] Lancaster, Johnny Sexton, et cetera, are going to be using this time to plot ahead. I can be certain that they’ll come out with a few new strings to their bow.
Lancaster talked about this thing called the ‘performance clock’ in terms of players, where change is part of a high-performance culture: you need to have that change, and often you need to change before change is actually necessary. So, you’re thinking ahead: ‘Which player is going to be in decline [at a point in the future]?’ And they’ve maybe done a bit of that: Sean O’Brien leaving, Jack McGrath going off to Ulster — they felt they could go a different way than that. And I think the same applies to their tactics.
“I would say they definitely have that freedom, and Lancaster encourages players to make decisions, and they do score some stunning tries — and they play some stunning attacking rugby when they do that. But often, the best way for them to win is to be that little more direct, get into the 22′ and grind you down. And that works, and that’s winning rugby. But I think they’ll definitely be aware of the trends in the game.
Certainly, the thing that sticks out for me at the moment — and again, you’re nitpicking, really — but I think their kicking game can improve. I think that’s a massive part of rugby now and has only grown as a trend over the last year or so. You look at what England are doing with the ball, with their four kickers; one at 15 in Elliot Daly, the 10-12 combo, and Ben Youngs being exceptional at it. I would imagine a lot of coaches are probably looking at that and thinking, ‘This is the way the game is going to go.’ Even more so if we get the 50:22 law trial at higher levels, which looks like it’s going to happen. I think Leinster will be looking, and have been looking, at ways of improving that side of their game.
“They have lots of brilliant kickers — we should say that: Ross Byrne is king of the kick-pass, really. Johnny Sexton obviously has it in his armoury as do all their 10s, really. But I think they can grow the kicking ability across their backline just in terms of having different options with which to attack teams.
“It’s interesting: they have the fewest kicks on average out of any team in the Pro14, and very similar in the Champions Cup; they do tend to cling onto the ball. But I think we’re seeing other teams in the world — France kicked a hell of a lot in the Six Nations this year and that was a massive part of their revival. So, I think Leinster will be cognisant of that, self-aware of where their game is and where it’s going.
“I’m definitely excited to see what strings they add to their bow in this down period.”
In the fourth and final episode of the provincial report-card series, Andy Dunne joins Murray and Gavan to run the rule over the might-have-been invincible Leinster, and where they can still improve when rugby returns.
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