WE WON’T DROP OFF
Jord vows no Burns-style mishaps
CHASE everything is Jordan Larmour’s mantra - and one Leinster have adopted in their back-to-back bid in Europe.
Larmour admits there’s no chance that he will repeat the mistake made by Bath’s Freddie Burns last Saturday.
Burns was shocked at The Rec when he took a moment to celebrate scoring what would have been the winning try against Toulouse.
But before the out-half grounded the ball, it was slapped out of his hands by French international Maxime Medard.
No try – and Bath lost by two points in the end.
“It was unfortunate,” reflected Larmour. “Just score the try and celebrate. Ultimately, that’s the basic lesson. But it’s never over until it’s over, just keep chasing everything back.
“I think it was Johnny Sexton two years ago when we played Wasps in the Aviva, he chased Willie Le Roux back and he knocked it on. Just don’t give up, chase everything.”
Rob Kearney claimed last week that the moment Sexton put the Champions Cup trophy on display at the tournament’s launch, Leinster gave up their status as champions.
It’s a message that the players took in during the build-up to the rout of Wasps last Friday. If they are to win two in a row, they must approach the European campaign exactly as they did last year.
“We talked about it last week, about not being complacent,” Larmour said.
“Some teams might think that if they won last year, then they’re defending the title whereas we’re thinking that we’re going to go get it.
“We know how hard that is. You have to take all your chances and you can’t just be complacent.”
Larmour only turned 21 in June but is already a double winner with the province and a Grand Slam winner with Ireland.
He was just 13 when Leinster last played Toulouse, who back then were European club royalty.
That status has slipped in more recent times but they are climbing again, having won the Challenge Cup last season.
“Every team is on their game in Europe,” gifted winger Larmour said. “I don’t think France is the ultimate, I think all the games are level.
“But playing in France is always special. It’s tough to beat a French team at their home, they really feed off the crowd.
“We just have to be on point. Ultimately a fast start is what we need, so we can keep them quiet.”
Meanwhile, Lawrence Dallaglio has claimed Leinster are now operating at levels akin to the All Blacks.
But Larmour insisted: “There’s a lot more in this team. We showed some parts of what we can do on Friday night, then other times we were quite vulnerable and we need to sort that out.
“We need to keep building, keep getting better and hopefully we can win the double again.
“It’s exciting. We know that we have a target on our back and that teams are out to get us but we’re up for every challenge.”
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RACING 92 v ULSTER SATURDAY 5.30 MARTY MOORE is glad to be finally showing the Ulster fans what he can do after an injuryravaged start to his Ulster career.
The arrival of the ex-leinster and Wasps front-rower in the summer generated a lot of excitement but a minor calf injury picked up in pre-season kept him out until coming off the bench in last week’s big European win over Leicester.
He’s poised to make his first start in Paris against Racing 92 and the 27-year-old said: “To finally get out there and put on a show was great. Hopefully I can showcase more of what I can do.
“Racing’s pack probably won’t be hugely different from what we saw against Leicester.”