Finding right mix the mark of champions
THERE were many intriguing facets to Leinster’s Champions Cup campaign, but key among them was the Blues’ ability to adapt and change as the tournament progressed.
At the centre of that has been the incredible volume of young talent coming through the ranks, with the ease of transition into the top level of club rugby simply astonishing.
Of the starting 15 selected by Leo Cullen for the opening Champions Cup tie against Montpelier in October, only six started Saturday’s decider against Racing.
Some of that change was inevitable — Johnny Sexton, for example, was always going to walk back in and take the No10 shirt for the business end of the season — although for the most part Leinster’s young guns have simply stepped up and taken their chances with aplomb.
In that thrilling 24-17 win over the French side on the opening weekend, James Ryan was rushed in for his first Champions Cup appearance after Scott Fardy’s wife went into labour that morning. Ryan went on to be named man of the match in the Blues’ biggest game of the year.
Over the course of the campaign, Leinster have been struck by an injury list that would leave most clubs looking for the groundsmen to dust off their boots.
They arrived in Bilbao with no Seán O’Brien or Dave Kearney, while at previous key stages of the season they have had to deal with long-term injuries to Jack Conan, Joey Carbery, Robbie Henshaw, Garry Ringrose, Rhys Ruddock, Fergus McFadden, Luke McGrath and Josh van der Flier, as well as the early retirement of back-row stalwart Jamie Heaslip.
As a result, the starting 15 that made history in Bilbao would have been impossible to predict at the start of the season. At that stage, Jordan Larmour — who is still not listed on Leinster’s senior squad on their own website — had only made his debut for the province a month previously.
However, it is the transition in the Leinster back-row that has been most impressive as they juggled that heavy casualty list.
Dan Leavy, who has matched Ryan and Sexton in terms of his importance to Leinster’s success this season, was still considered third-choice flanker behind O’Brien and Van der Flier as the campaign began, while Jordi Murphy was finding game-time so difficult to come across that by December it was announced that from the 2018/19 season he would be lining out at Ulster.
Then there is Fardy. Signed as a second-row, the veteran Australian was shifted into the back-row — where his played most of his rugby prior to signing for the province — to accommodate for the low numbers post-Six Nations.
The Fardy-Leavy-Murphy trio started together for the first time in the superb quarter-final defeat of Saracens, with their successful combination continuing for the equally impressive semi-final win over Scarlets and Saturday’s final at the San Mamés Stadium.
While those players all took full advantage of the opportunities presented to them during the season, there have also been many unsung heroes in this Leinster team that were denied their chance to shine over the last number of weeks.
Take for example Ross Byrne, surely one of the most underrated players in the Irish system. When Sexton was forced off for a HIA just two minutes into the Round 4 clash with Exeter, it was Byrne who stepped in to help claw back a 14-point deficit to win 22-17, delivering a confident and assured performance even though kicking duties were left to Isa Nacewa.
In Bilbao, Byrne spent the day wearing a bib and acting as Sexton’s personal assistant, running on with the kicking tee and bottles of water, missing out on a place in the match-day 23 as the more versatile Joey Carbery got the nod.
Then you have Adam Byrne, who came into the season with realistic hopes of nailing down a spot on the Leinster wing. Having played his part in the pool stages, while his teammates were getting used to the surroundings of the Sam Mamés Stadium last weekend, Byrne was lining out in West London as Leinster lost the British and Irish Cup final 22-7 to Ealing Trailfinders.
Then you have the in-house battles that have helped make this current Leinster squad such a fearsome and determined outfit.
Having seen his direct rival, Jack McGrath tour with the Lions last summer, Cian Healy has responded by delivering one of the strongest seasons in his career, reaching a level of performance that many thought were now behind him.
The same can be said for Devin Toner, who has seemed reinvigorated by the challenge presented by his young counterpart, Ryan, 10 years his junior. McFadden, who suffered an season-ending injury when dotting down against Scarlets in the semi-final, also deserves a mention for his contributions, making sure the Blues never missed the live-wire presence of James Lowe as the competition’s rules on Antipodean players squeezed him out of the picture for the final, with Larmour and Nacewa getting the vote on the wings in Spain. It was only Larmour’s third start of the season on the wing, and Nacewa’s fifth.
It all boils down to a highly competitive unit that can shift and shuffle in order to overcome whatever challenge in laid in their path.
And that, truly, is the mark of champions.