Munster and Leinster will be winging it
NOT long to go now. Five more days and the 10-week wait for European rugby to resume will all be over. A packed Aviva. A packed Thomond. English and French heavyweights on these shores. Bring it on.
‘It’s great. Over this (Six Nations) period it has been fantastic to have this big game to look forward to,’ enthused Leinster boss Leo Cullen, whose team host Wasps in Dublin a few hours before Munster tackle Toulouse in Limerick.
‘The supporters have bought into the occasion as well. Tickets sales are going well. Hopefully we will get pretty close to selling out the Aviva. That’s fantastic. Look at all teams across Europe, there is not many selling out a 50,000seater stadium for a game of this magnitude.’
It would have suited if the 10week wait was 11 instead, the way it used to be, to give teams a three-week gap between the Six Nations conclusion and the resumption in Europe.
Now, though, the window allotted by EPCR is only a fortnight, a reduction that drove Cullen’s successor Matt O’Connor scatty two years ago.
‘It’s tight and it’s very, very important to get them back in a physical and mental state capable of performing,’ said the perplexed Australian at the time, somehow trying to fashion a quarter-final win despite having 13 players involved in the 2015 titleclinching Ireland win over Scotland 14 days earlier.
Undercooked Leinster, unable to field Test front-liners in the warm-up league game versus Glasgow, fell over the line against Bath on an 1815 score.
This same sort of challenge is now the pressing matter on Cullen’s mind. Saturday’s tense onepoint home win over Cardiff was achieved with a Leinster XV featuring just three – Luke McGrath, Cian Healy and Dan Leavy – of the Ireland 10 involved in the Six Nations win over England, a selection approach which means Jack McGrath, Tadhg Furlong, Johnny Sexton, Robbie Henshaw, Garry Ringrose and Devin Toner haven’t played for their province since the January 20.
Sean O’Brien, meanwhile, hasn’t worn blue since January 6. Munster — with eight involved against England — face a similarly tricky assimilation. Andrew Conway, Niall Scannell, John Ryan and Peter O’Mahony did all start the away rout of Zebre; but Keith Earls, Simon Zebo, Donnacha Ryan and CJ Stander (aand injury doubt Conor Murray) haven’t featured in red since the January 21 dismissal of Racing. This lack of on-pitch time has the two provinces winging it next Saturday to a certain extent, but it’s a challenge Cullen feels Leinster had a dry-run at earlier this season.
‘When we came off November it was similar and we came into a Friday game against Northampton, so we have already dealt with it once this year,’ he said.
‘We just need to put in a good week’s preparation. Players know what is at stake because they know the threats Wasps pose.’
Meanwhile, Limerick-bound Toulouse bombed once more at the weekend, losing 11-22 at Bordeaux, the squandering of an eight-point lead pushing them to eighth in the Top 14 table and leaving them with just three away league and cup wins in 14 trips.
It’s whoops-a-daisy form in contrast to Wasps, who beat Worcester 40-33 yesterday to consolidate their Premiership lead. ‘They have gone well during the Six Nations period,’ said Cullen. ‘They have a lot of pace and power and can score points very quickly. We need to be smart how we manage the game.’
Smart and successful. Not long to wait now.