I cannot wait to renew rivalry with world-class Pienaar, says McGrath
GIVEN the nature of their position, scrum-halves don’t quite engage in head-to-head battles. They co-exist on the pitch and rarely come into direct contact, but their battle for influence on a game is crucial nonetheless.
Now an established starter at Leinster, Luke McGrath relishes the days when he comes up against one of the market leaders in his position.
Last week he edged Conor Murray at the Aviva Stadium and, on Saturday, Ruan Pienaar comes to the RDS Arena.
Like Murray, Pienaar is a familiar foe who has added his personal brand of control to the Montpellier backline. Put the former Ulster No.9 — who was forced to leave Kingspan Stadium over the summer as the IRFU wouldn’t sanction a new contract — behind a large French pack and place Aaron Cruden alongside him and you have quite a combination.
“He is one of the best scrumhalves I’ve played against,” the 24-year-old Ireland international said. “Every single time I play against him I look forward to the challenge. You are only going to better yourself against this calibre of player.
“You focus on your own game because you don’t come into contact too many times.
“What Ruan does so well is every time he is running to the ruck he is scanning the backfield because he is such a good kicking option. You could be on your halfway line defending him, the next thing you know you are five metres from your own line. He is such a world-class player.”
The ability to see the game in advance and read the play is something McGrath has tried to add to his game having watched Pienaar (below) closely.
“He is just so smart and he has played at No.10 as well. He’s got that natural ability,” he said. “His length of pass is good. He always seems to choose the right option. Even you see him often now, whenever they get a penalty, he takes a quick one. He doesn’t even let the wingers get set. He just keeps the momentum rolling. It is just those smart little details which make him one of the best.”
McGrath says a good start based on limiting errors is key. He added: “One way to beat them is not to have many mistakes. Pienaar and Cruden will try to run their game. If we want to beat them, we are going to have to put pressure on those two.”