Henshaw urges Blues to find ruthless edge
ROBBIE HENSHAW has called for Leinster to be more ruthless in their pursuit of silverware as the province prepare for their Champions Cup return clash with Exeter tomorrow. Sunday’s impressively disciplined and dogged performance in beating the Chiefs 18-8 provided the latest evidence that Leinster are a different beast this campaign, as they have looked to mix up their game-plan in an effort to avoid relying on the exciting, attacking style that eventually contributed to their undoing in the semi-finals of both the Champions Cup and the Pro12 last season. And Henshaw (right) believes that the Blues will need to be able to call on that more controlled, attritional side of their game if they are to go one step further this time around. ‘We did what we had to do to secure victory and that’s what we will have to do this season,’ he said. ‘We need to be more ruthless. ‘We look at last year where we came up short and we are going to ensure that doesn’t happen again so we can go a step further. We need to do the best we can in certain situations.’
HIS stint in the Ulster Academy was a short one, so it’s a surprise to see what Jacob Stockdale is wearing when he emerges from Ulster’s indoor training session at Jordanstown.
A few weeks since the coaches started spraying coolant on his red-hot November to ease the load on this rising star of Irish rugby, he cracks a big smile when quizzed about the Academy T-shirt.
‘No, this is not a ploy from Kissy [Les Kiss] Kissy and Jono [Gibbes] to keep my feet on the ground! I guess my housemate won’t be happy. I live with three Academy boys (Adam McBurney, Marcus Rea and Jack Regan) so in the house it is a bit of a smash and grab. You take whatever you can find and then go.’
Sounds like a student’s life, but the 21-year-old has already passed every test going and graduated to the senior ranks with almost indecent haste. His is not a temporary brilliance, but the last few months have been extraordinary.
Since an international debut against the USA in the summer, Stockdale’s game has gone to another level with nine tries this season — three for Ireland, six for Ulster. And he speaks with the determination of someone who intends to stay there.
‘I think it’s easy to get caught up in how good you’re playing, or how successful you’re being.
‘One bad game can turn that around and you’ll have people saying “maybe he isn’t as good as we thought he was”.
‘The guys here make it easy, they keep you firmly grounded. It’s easy when you’re going back into Ulster and having to work hard. You don’t have time to think too much about people saying how good you are.
‘It’s only good performances that can create a bit of a buzz and I’m working hard to get those performances.’
Strength, power, ability to run good lines and speed are attributes which have seen the wonder wing usurp his boyhood heroes, Tommy Bowe and Andrew Trimble, in the Ireland squad, and perhaps even at Ulster too, with Trimble in particular becoming vulnerable.
Bowe has put his fast ascent partly down to the quality of Ulster’s backline and the 6’3’’ specimen has been soaking up information like a human sponge.
‘I’ve been lucky enough to have Tommy, Trimby, Charles [Piutau] and Gilly [Craig Gilroy] around me, who are all vastly experienced in international rugby. ‘It wouldn’t make any sense not to pick their brains and ask them what they think would be best in certain situations. Going down to international camp you get more of that.’
When he was 16, Stockdale wasn’t even making the firsts at Wallace High School in Lisburn. The last four or five years have been a blur. Called into the Ulster Academy in 2014-2015, he made fast work through Ireland Schools, U18s and U20s before making his provincial debut against Benetton Treviso in January 2016.
In less than two years, he’s reached a stage where he feels confident enough to call out team-mates if he doesn’t like what he sees, and admits he found some of Ulster’s poor performances, while he was away on international duty, hard to watch.
‘It’s probably not my place to be doing it but I was coming back in thinking “I’m going to sort everybody out, sort this out, sort that out”.
‘I feel very comfortable with all the guys so if I try to drive standards, I don’t think they’d be going “what’s this 21-year-old doing, he’s only just got here?”’
In a season of such highs, with the promise of a first Six Nations campaign to come, Stockdale also has some targets in mind with Ulster.
His try in Sunday’s Champions Cup win against Harlequins has set up tonight’s return fixture nicely, and they remain in the hunt to get out of Pool 1 behind runaway leaders La Rochelle.
‘I’ve never got to experience knockout rugby and it’s something I’m really keen to do.
‘To get to the quarter-finals in Europe would be massive for us as a team and for me personally, but we won’t by any means expect Harlequins to come over and give us an easy win just because they can’t qualify.’