Leinster primed to scalp the Chiefs - again
Cullen’s men capable of winning whatever the weather as European temperature rises
AFTER freezing out Exeter’s power play in dreary Devon last weekend, the expectation is that the sun will shine on a heaving Aviva this afternoon and Leinster’s sunshine boys will come out to play.
A convenient narrative, perhaps, and the expectation that the five points required for virtually assured automatic quarter-final qualification might be Christmas-wrapped come tea-time may be pushing the limits of even boundless optimism.
Leinster, as they proved last weekend, will do whatever it takes to get the win. If that means prompting the Aviva into the distraction of its latest Mexican Wave, so be it.
“Winning is the priority,” says Isa Nacewa, temporarily impersonating a festive Grinch before, like an elf on a shelf, shifting the mood in a teasing manner.
“In fairness, we do like to play at the Aviva, we know the fans turn up to enjoy good rugby, it’s definitely a place we like to impose our game.
“But winning definitely comes first. Whatever it looks like, it looks like. Fingers crossed the conditions stay nice, it’s fresh and cold, the Aviva looks like a hard track. It’s a good track to run on.”
Cold, calculated ruthlessness will accompany the quest whatever the method; the key is Leinster, who too often looked loose and vulnerable last term against superiors, can now combine a variety of winning ways.
And they can even afford, once more, the luxury of omitting their star signing James Lowe from the second successive Champions Cup game.
Signed for a hefty fee – well short, presumably, of the putative half-million euro they were prepared to shell out on Israel Dagg, but not a pittance nonetheless, the temporarily redundant flying wing remains an ace up their sleeve when they go deeper into Europe next year.
“It is what it is,” says head coach Leo Cullen, who can only perm two of Jamison Gibson-Park, Scott Fardy and Lowe in his European squads because of a convoluted overseas players rule.
“It’s a dilemma, or a decision that has to be made. It’s hard to see what you would have done differently just because of the order that the guys came in as well.
“You have to work back. Jamison was here all last season and then we signed James and then we were in the market for another player and Scott became available.
“So it’s not the ideal scenario, we would freely admit that, but we had the opportunity to sign Scott after those other two guys came in.
“There is so much changing of teams that you need depth in all areas. James already brings something different to the group, to the dynamic. It’s really positive and he has come off two long seasons as well.
“If you think that he has played pretty much every Super Rugby game and pretty much every game for Tasman and that both of them got to the play-offs. He had a couple of niggles as well so it is also important that we manage James.”
Leinster are more than adequately equipped with what they have at their disposal, with Josh van der Flier’s introduction for the unfortunately hamstrung Rhys Ruddock the only change, Sean O’Brien shifting to blindside to accommodate the new man.
Ruddock’s surgery will rule him out for several months, it was confirmed by Cullen. On the bench there are two changes with Andrew Porter in line to make his Champions Cup debut should he be introduced, while Dan Leavy has shaken off a hamstring injury to take his place in the match-day 23.
There was further good news yesterday with the word that one of Ireland’s most vulnerable transfer targets, Tadhg Furlong (left), has committed to a new three-year deal with the IRFU.
And, even with Northampton Saints inking Stuart Lancaster near to the top of their shopping list as they seek a replacement for the sacked Jim Mallinder, Cullen is confident that the province’s brains trust will not be disbanded as they seek to return to the top table in Europe. “It’s easier to get from Dublin to Leeds than it is from Northampton,” he smiled.
“Stuart can talk for Stuart. He seems pretty happy and we’re pretty happy with Stuart as well. He has come in and added a huge amount, not just in the coaching part because there are so many other parts to it as well. Hopefully he will be part of the group moving forward.”
That momentum must continue today and it seems likely that it will, for all that Exeter signalled intent this week that they will do their utmost to turn the tables.
Chiefs full-back Lachie Turner replaces the injured Phil Dollman while England international Jack Nowell come in on the wing for James Short, who drops to the bench.
Up front, Ben Moon and Tomas Francis will pack down in the frontrow alongside Luke Cowan-Dickie, while behind Sam Skinner is given the nod at lock ahead of Jonny Hill. Sam Simmonds will don the number eight jersey with Thomas Waldrom named amongst the replacements.
“We have to play better, it’s as simple as that,” said their coach Rob Baxter, whose side may also try to play a wider game in an effort to attack perceived weaknesses on the Leinster edge.
Unlike last week, though, they will need to manage possession much better.
“You can dress things up in all kinds of ways, but at the end of the day we didn’t play well enough to win the game.
PRESSURE
“Not only did we make a number of unforced errors – these can happen in a pressure game like last week – but when we looked at the game in detail, there were quite a lot of areas where we a little bit disjointed, a little bit unfocused, and in a tight game like it was, that can be the difference.
“At the same time, there is no way you can leave Leinster out of the equation because they were hugely in it.
“The way they played and the qualities they showed were part of the reason we found ourselves under pressure and making mistakes.”
Leinster prompted many of those and, before launching their own game, they must first deny Exeter the capacity to play theirs.
“They haven’t altered their plan drastically over the last couple of seasons, they just got better and better at doing it, and teams struggle to stop it,” says Cullen, always mindful of the stunning reverse against Northampton here in 2013, which he played in.
“For us, it’s about tweaking a few things in which we looked vulnerable at the weekend, and how we can improve and tighten up.”