O’Connor content to see which way the wind is blowing in Marseille today
SAME south of France setting, but very different central characters. Almost a year ago to the day, Rob Penney and Damien Varley pulled up a couple of Stade Velodrome chairs 24 hours out from their Heineken Cup semi-final against Toulon, outlining Munster’s hopes and fears ahead of a challenge described as ‘massive but not insurmountable’.
That same aspiration was voiced yesterday, Matt O’Connor and Jamie Heaslip setting the scene as Leinster attempt to do what their arch Irish rivals couldn’t – dethrone the cup holders in what is effectively their back yard, a redeveloped stadium in Marseille situated just 65 kilometres up the Mediterranean coast.
The supposedly neutral ground, only three-quarters built when Munster surrendered 24-16 last year, is now glitteringly fitted out, the perfect Champions Cup stage for O’Connor’s crew to dazzle Toulon and remind everyone of the Irish club’s European titlewinning pedigree.
It follows a season in which performances have often flattered to deceive – and have conspired to heap pressure on the coach nearing the end of his second contracted year of three.
Curiously, just like the Munster duo did pre-match in 2014 following their Velodrome recce, neither O’Connor nor Heaslip dared to mention the W (winning) word – at yesterday’s captain’s run. Their mantra was ‘to be competitive’ and see where that gets them
‘We have worked incredibly hard this week and the lads understand the enormity of the challenge,’ outlined the Australian ahead of what is a gigantic collision between the clubs who between them have been crowned European champions five times in the past six years.
‘Now we have got to aim up and have got to deliver on the things that are important to us to make sure that we stay in the fight as long as we can.
‘It’s going to be an enormous game, going to be a massive challenge for us, and we are going to have to be at the peak of our powers to be in the game.’
Just like O’Connor, Heaslip preferred not to imagine the result, instead insisting the opening minutes were all that was dominating his thinking.
‘A lot of things have to happen to get that (winning) outcome. That is the carrot dangled in front of us, but we’re very much focused on the task at hand, not the ifs, buts and maybes at the end of it.
‘We’re focused on that first five minutes and then what comes after that,’ he said.
All week Leinster had espoused reasons to be positive they can qual- ify for the Twickenham final on May 2, which will be against Clermont Auvergne after the French side narrowly ousted Saracens 13-9 in a hugely-contested struggle in SaintÉtienne.
That optimism was added to on Friday when O’Connor had the rare delight of selecting an unchanged XV from their quarter-final win over Bath.
‘We’ve prepared well, had the luxury we don’t get all that often in pick the same 15 that played against Bath, so there is a bit of continuity and what it says is that the performance was pretty good for large parts of the Bath game.
‘There is a bit of improvement (to make) and we have addressed that over the last two weeks, and the combinations and training time together in that fortnight will be important.’
In contrast, Toulon have spun the wheel, their half-dozen alterations even making redundant all the prematch hype about the danger Steffon Armitage would present at the breakdown.
The Toulon terror will instead ride the pine on the bench as a replacement due to his dodgy knee, leaving O’Connor to reckon it will alter the envisaged dynamic predicted at the breakdown.
‘It changes it a little bit. He [Armitage] is as good as there is over the ball and we have spoken a lot about that, but they have got a lot of other players that are just as dangerous at the ball.
‘Their whole side are very, very good in that regard, so we are going to have to make sure we’re going to recycle and get the tempo in the game, look after the ball and do all the basic things really, really well.
‘The standout thing from their selection would be that quality comes in for quality. They have got a fantastic squad, are very, very deep in every position and they have got a load of world-class players, so it’s not really about who is in or out for them.
‘It’s just about us and making sure we deliver on the things that make us tick and make us stay in the game.’
Stay in it – and then perhaps even mention the W word.