NO SITTING BACK
Blues need to maintain standards, says Conan
JACK CONAN isn’t long out of an uncomfortable video review session when it’s put to him that, in the grand scheme of things, last Saturday’s 23-21 defeat at Scarlets isn’t such a big deal for the reigning Pro14 champions this early into the new season.
‘To be honest with you, that’s probably the mindset of a smaller club,’ is his quick-fire answer.
‘We walked off the pitch after losing and it felt like we had gone back a few years to where we were losing semi-finals.
‘Yeah, lads were rusty and it showed. But, that is no excuse for us. We have to be better.’
This is the winning mentality that Leo Cullen and Stuart Lancaster have instilled at the province. Conan’s remarks were similar to those of Lancaster’s on Monday when the former England boss stressed that, as Pro14 and European Cup holders, the province need to be setting the bar high and going out to win every game they play.
There is also a sense that coaches are placing extra importance on the early weeks of the Pro14 season. For example, Leinster captain Johnny Sexton is expected to feature when the Dragons pitch up at the RDS this Saturday for the province’s first home game of the campaign. If he does line out, it will be two weeks earlier than his first appearance last season.
It’s a similar story for Ireland tighthead Tadhg Furlong, who started against the Scarlets despite not returning until the end of September last season following his exploits with the Lions.
Part of the reasoning in the earlier return of the big-hitters is the realisation that since the introduction of the new two-conference system last term, the margin for error has been reduced in the league, something which Conan admits the squad have realised.
‘We’re pretty harsh on ourselves. We have to be,’ he continues.
‘We want standards to be high and to drive people and to be better than we were.
‘It is not exactly the most comfortable place on a Monday morning after a loss. We’re critical of each other and what we did wrong and we’re trying to be tough to be kind,’ he said.
‘You’ve got to take it on the chin and put your hand up if you did make a mistake, and you’ve got to learn from it.
‘Hopefully, we will be bringing that to training. To get better at those small margins at which we were off at the weekend.’
Conan himself says that he felt good during his first run-out of the campaign. Having taken on a more senior role last season, given the prolonged absence and eventual retirement of the long-serving Jamie Heaslip, this is first time the Dubliner has started a season as the established firstchoice No 8.
That is not to say he can afford to take his foot off the gas. After years of trying to dislodge a Lions star in the Leinster first team, the competition for his position is now coming from the other end of the spectrum.
There is huge excitement within the province about the potential of 20-year-old Caelan Doris who made his first start in Leinster blue on the opening weekend against Cardiff, while fellow No 8 Max Deegan (21) impressed when given his chance last season.
With the Heineken Champions Cup kicking off in early October, Leinster are facing into a testing run of games with Saturday’s clash with Dragons followed by a home fixture with Edinburgh, a trip west to face Connacht and an Aviva Stadium date with Munster before the first European game against Wasps at the RDS.
These are hugely important weeks for Conan as Joe Schmidt puts his plans in place for Ireland’s November internationals.
‘Look, we’re surrounded by talent [at Leinster]. There’s no back-row in the squad that you go “you’re not good enough”. Everyone is here for a reason because they’re of the standard of Leinster rugby,’ he added. ‘I’m looking forward to fighting it out with him (Doris).
‘We were even talking today about changing it up for the coming weeks and lads are going to be given opportunities so I think the second you take for granted where you are is the moment you’re going to be overtaken by someone else.
‘It has taken me long enough to get here and I definitely won’t be taking a step back and letting lads get ahead of me.
‘We’ve had two games where we’ve put in bit-part performances, and now we’re looking at putting in an 80-minute performance. We’ve lads coming back into the mix and getting game minutes and they’re going to add a different quality and another standard.
‘We just have to better than we were in the last two weeks.’