PACK IN THE OLD ROUTINE
Mcbryde relishing chance with Blues after long Wales stint
HE was once declared as Wales’ strongest man and is the current Grand Sword Bearer of the Gorsedd of the British and Irish bards.
Now, after 13 years as Warren Gatland’s scrum coach in the Wales set-up, multi-talented Robin Mcbryde is finding his feet in his latest venture as Leinster’s pack specialist.
“It’s great, everything that goes along with it,” said Mcbryde, who came on board after Wales finished fourth at the World Cup in Japan.
“I was ready for a new challenge. I’ve had great times but I needed something fresh as well. When the initial contact was made I was flattered and it was a no-brainer then.”
Mcbryde admits that, as an outsider looking in, he wondered about Leinster’s secret formula of success given that they have “95% homegrown talent”.
Now the 37-times former Wales hooker finds himself at the heart of the blue machine that has picked up three pool wins in the Champions Cup – with another there to be won in the return game with Northampton on Saturday.
“I’m very fortunate to be part of it, I’m just taking it all in at the moment,” the 49-year-old added. “Obviously the Leinster forwards are doing things right so I’m not going to try and change things.
“I’ll just have a few conversations, with Leo Cullen mainly. I wouldn’t say it’s any different from what I thought – the professionalism, the way everything runs smoothly but, still, everybody’s down to earth.”
Head coach Cullen and senior coach Stuart Lancaster have told Mcbryde to take his time to bed in at the club.
“It’s a different language, the nature of the competitions are different, the nature of the working week is different,” Mcbryde admitted. “There’s a lot of change going on so they don’t want to over-burden me from day one.”
Mcbryde has taken over from John Fogarty, who has moved to the national set-up alongside new boss Andy Farrell. He continued: “Look at how successful Leinster have been both in the PRO14 and in Europe. It’s not a one-off, it’s consistently up there competing for trophies.
“There’s a bit of pressure but I’m here to perform as well. I’m conscious of that, I can’t be in the background all the time.
“I have to step into the breach and take some responsibility and ownership. I’m just introducing them to different ways of thinking and coaching.
“It’s a two-way process, coaching. I’ll talk to players and they’ll come with their own views and out of those discussions we’ll decide on a plan to go forward.”
As for the Saints, who suffered a second half hammering at Franklin’s Gardens, former Scarlets star Mcbryde is expecting a backlash.
“They’re going to smarting a bit from that defeat so they’re going to turn up. I imagine they’re going to play with a little bit more freedom as well in chasing that win because their name is still in the hat at the minute,” he said. “They’re not out of it, they’re really going to come out firing.”