Back row problems mount up

When Aaron Dundon came on for Leo Auva’a (how cool a name is that, by the way?) with 15 minutes or so remaining on Saturday evening, it got me thinking.

Aaron was on the bench ostensibly as back-up to Richardt Strauss, at hooker. Kevin McLaughlin, himself normally a back row player, was playing in the second row, and was cruelly and painfully removed from the pitch on a modified golf-buggy-type stretcher a couple of minutes earlier.

Leinster had already brought on rookie back row player Jordi Murphy for captain Dom Ryan, and were left with little alternative than to play Dundon out of position, when other choices included Jack McGrath (a prop) and Darren Hudson (an academy winger).

With Jamie Heaslip, Sean O’Brien and Shane Jennings all in New Zealand with Ireland’s world cup squad; McLaughlin and Ryan now facing possible long term injuries; and following the retirement of Stephen Keogh and Trevor Hogan (though normally a second row) the most talented pool of back row players at any one team in Ireland has been reduced to a small puddle of academy players, supplemented by out-of-position first team regulars.

It reminded me of the Magners League final 16 months ago against the Ospreys, when Leinster finished with a back row of Heaslip, Strauss and Hogan, or the couple of occasions when Eric Miller and Brian Blaney ended up filling in at centre.

None of those went well.

As a sometime former back row player, I’m nearly tempted bring my boots to the next match!

Sexton rewarded for fine form with a well-earned rest

Declan Kidney (or ‘Deccie’, as a number of the ever-so-comfortable Munster contingent seem happy to call him in interviews) revealed his Irish team today, resting Jonny Sexton and picking Ronan O’Gara to face Scotland on Sunday.

The Irish back three once the necessary changes have been made to bring Paddy Wallace on for Tommy Bowe

The sheer bafflement at many of the calls on a number of forums is probably justified. Paddy Wallace will sit on the bench beside Jonny Sexton, ensuring a surfeit of cover for O’Gara should he have to come off. He can also cover for Gordon D’Arcy at 12, and – at a real push – Luke Fitzgerald at 15…however, any injury at 11, 12, 13 or 14 would probably involve a number of backline changes. It got me thinking (for about a nanosecond): who has been the outstanding utility back in Ireland this season? Who has played all four of those positions in the past 2 months? Who made his international debut last month, scored his first international try last week, and might have his confidence shattered by being dropped from the 22 entirely this weekend? Yep, sorry Ferg, but I’ll see you in the 3 Sisters before the match, maybe.

Although it’s probably good from a Leinster point of view that Sexton is on the bench, it’s a bit annoying for me personally. I’ve shelled out a lot of money to go to this game, and now I’ll be subjected to a snorefest of a kicking competition between Ronan O’Gara and Chris (Cheeky Girl Mrs.) Paterson.

Perhaps the most annoying thing about this selection is at scrum half. O’Gara’s going to look class because he’s playing with Reddan (I believe him and Sexton have played 13 minutes together for Ireland in the 6 Nations, ever*) as well as his personal minder, David Wallace. Therefore Wallace won’t bind in the scrum and Ireland will concede penalties there against an 8 man Scoittish shove. Who gets the blame? Healy and Ross, of course.

However, I’ve realised that my annoyance is not unique among rugby fans. For example, on the Comments section in Jamie Heaslip’s Irish Times blog, the following have been posted by irate rugby fans:

Thanks for that Jamie,

Wonderful to get an insight into the true life of a modern professional rugby player and the stresses you face during such an intense campaign.

I would, however, like to highlight one quick point in this particular piece. There is absolutely no mention of Ronan O’Gara whatsoever. Clearly this is an issue that needs to be addressed immediately. ROG should not be playing international (or even high-level club) rugby. He lacks the physical prowess to stand up to even the lightest of breezes. I realise this may not be the ideal place to voice my concerns, but, then again, it is one of the few outlets to which I can gain access. For the sake of Irish rugby, I urge you to ensure that ROG’s career is ended as soon as possible, by whatever means necessary.

I look forward to further support from my peers on this issue.

Regards,

Spenno

Comment by Spencer Mitton

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Dear Spenno,

Spot on! The sooner the Irish team is rid of all those Munster inbreds the better! Ronan “Turnstile” O’Gara has got to go. In fairness though he’s going to be a big hit for Munster in the Challenged Cup against the like of Dubrovnik RFC or whoever!

Regards,

Deccie

Comment by Declan Gibney

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Oh god O’Gara’s starting against Scotland. Jamie, I sympathise with you because now you’re going to have to spend most of the game protecting the 10 channel instead of doing what you do best. Shame.

Comment by Nelly

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*In his thirteen caps, Jonny Sexton has played with Eoin Reddan for a total of 142 minutes, 55 minutes v Fiji (21/11/09), 11 minutes v France (13/2/10), 10 mins v New Zealand (12/6/10), 64 mins v New Zealand (20/11/10) and 2 minutes v Italy (5/2/11)

Quarter Final calculator

Someone, French by the looks of it, has put together a Heineken Cup Quarter Final calculator (or calculatrice for the Francophones).

The inventor displays his new creation

Frankly, it’s brilliant.

Click on the link below, fill out your predictions.

I got Perpignan at home for Leinster…I’d settle for that!

http://aulus.pagesperso-orange.fr/hcup.html

Edit: I had predicted a tight, non-bonus point win for the Boys in Blue (rather than the boys in Blue and White hoops), i.e. 1-4 in group points. When I reversed the score (i.e. 4-1 to Racing Metro) cet. par. we got Ulster away. A 4-0, 5-0, 5-1 or 5-2 group points win for Racing Metro or a draw also gave the same result, whereas a 4-0, 4-1, 5-1 or 5-2 win for Leinster also got us Perpignan at home.

For the record, the scores I went for were:

Contepomi to return to Leinster?

This weekend’s results have left open the mouthwatering prospect of Dr. Phil returning to the RDS/Lansdowne Road with his Toulon side, fresh from a handy win against an ageing, ill-tempered and ultimately clueless Munster side.

As things stand, Leinster are ranked third among the teams that would qualify for the last 8, with Toulon in 6th, meaning that the sides would play each other in a match that would surely be played at Lansdowne Road after the 6 Nations.

The teams currently occupying the top eight spots are:

1. Toulouse
2. Northampton
3. Leinster
4. Perpignan
5. Biarritz
6. Toulon
7. Leicester
8. Ulster

Other teams still in with a shout of either winning their group or finishing among the best runners up are Clermont, Bath (though very unlikely), Scarlets and Wasps.

It’s a pretty stellar cast of the best teams in Europe, with all bar three of those 12 having previously contested a European final, and seven having previously won the competition. Further, the three non-finalists are Toulon, Clermont and Scarlets, none of which would be an easy proposition for Leinster.

New Leo and the schooling of Gavin

Just arrived back in the door from the RDS. What an incredible performance from the boys in blue!

My accumulator on Leinster, Ulster, Toulon, the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers is being ambushed by Biarritz, but after watching Sean O’Brien (or am I required under Irish media law to refer to him as “Tullow native Sean O’Brien”?!) play like that I don’t mind donating a fiver to the Paddy Power benevolent fund!

However, despite the sterling efforts of 22 men in blue (poor Heinke didn’t get a run) there was an impostor wearing blue prancing around the sideline…just who is the new Leo the Lion? Could someone please teach him the following fundamentals of being Leo?:

– There are 4 elements to the gun show, the Arnie, the Usain Bolt, the double fist-pump and the single fist-pump (wrist backwards)

– You never EVER give up mid-gun show because the crowd are not joining in

– It is compulsory to carry (and use) a Bodhran

I did, however, enjoy his  high-fiving of Jared Saunders as the Sarries replacement came back from the half time break.
All that being said, if the 15 on the pitch are going to play like that every week, I don’t care what Leo’s at on the sideline!

As a final note, it was good to see Gavin Henson come back…come back to bench having left it earlier in the match…is there any greater insult than being subbed on, then off again? Perhaps there is: such as when he got dump tackled by Cian Healy; imagine being dumped by a (DJ) Church for the second time in 12 months!

P.S. Since writing this, the Ulstermen have pulled through and kept my bet alive…waheyyyyyy!!!

OLSC Bar at the RDS – The Laighin Out

Fantastic news from the OLSC, as that band of die-hards is set to provide this band of diehards with a spanking new bar within the confines of the RDS.

“The Laighin Out” will – in contrast to the existing supporter’s bar – have 4 walls, be more than 4 yards wide, and will be the new home of supporters’ match-day events.

Located between the two parade rings (isn’t that where the Abra and Eddie’s vans vie for our drunken business?) and will be open to Season Ticket Holders. However, this exclusivity will deny The Laighin Out from being able to serve those most enjoyable of drinks: The ones that can be shared with opposition Munster fans as we say ‘yeah, but we really should have scored a fourth for a bonus point’…or with opposition Clermont fans as we swap our brother’s jerseys (you know who you are…).

The bar will debut this Saturday evening, open before and after the Edinburgh game. During the game, another debut is possible in the form of Clint Newland, who, according to this evidence is both a propping master and a punching maestro:

Racey Racing pair ruled out

images.google.com is a handy one for anyone in the “blogosphere”. Try putting in Juan-Martin Hernandez. Cripes!

Anyway, he won’t be showing that torso in the RDS on Saturday, after injuring himself in Racing Metro’s failed fightback against Toulouse in the top-14 at the weekend.

And that’s not the end of the good injury news, as Malouda lookalike Benjamin Fall will also miss the tie, while Jonny Sexton and Gordon D’Arcy are both expected to be fit for selection.

Racing Metro and Chelsea winger, Benjamin Fall-ouda

Weekend prospects

There are few things more scary than being compared to Liverpool FC these days.

Gerry Thornley managed it in today’s IT…the comparators? None other than Leinster.

Oh.

Crap.

However, it was also positioned beside an article by Gavin Cummiskey that provided a litany of excuses on which Leinster can fall back, before neatly surmising: “Munster don’t care”. It’s true. They don’t. Munster have revenge, league points, local pride and the knowledge that all of Athenry will be behind, urm, Connacht this weekend. But most importantly, they have a defensive coach.

Most importantly for Leinster, this defensive coach is Anthony Foley.

In summary, Munster have a handy record at neutral grounds against teams everyone expects them to beat.

Further, nobody beats Munster twice, three, no four…five times in a row, do they?

Paddy Power is calling this as even as any match, offering a scratch spread and both teams at 10/11. What do you think? Any hope for Leinster?

Check out the new poll on the right.

Ospreys, ospreys, ospreys

An Osprey

An Osprey!

An Osprey?

I don’t believe I’ve ever cheered for Munster before. Sure, I’ve sat with bland indifference while all around me rediscovered aunties from Tipp and grannies from Athenry (!) in order to shout on Munster in Heineken Cup finals.

That ends this weekend.

See, I used to like the Ospreys too. I went to Swansea for a Leinster match 3 years ago and shared a couple of beers with a fella from Swansea who hated the Ospreys because they represented not only Swansea, but that town’s bitter inland rivals, Neath. It gave me an impression of what this club has had to do just to exist. Sure, it helps that the local football club have a nice new stadium you can play in, that the WRU are willing to throw money at you, and that your PR people have found a seemingly bottomless pit of money in new sponsors for new player signings. It also helps that you come into existence at a time when Wales is developing its best group of young players in thirty years. I liked the Ospreys, and now I don’t. I’ve even posted about it here, here, here and here.

The reasons have been stated here again and again since last spring, when the Ospreys failed to fulfill a match against Ulster, claiming to have a lack of frontrow options. It later emerged that the squad had been given the week off and that many went on holidays. This came on the back of an incident in the Heineken Cup when they fielded a team that contained an improperly-signed player, and played for a period with 16 players. At the root of this, there is a nagging feeling that they will do whatever they can to win cups.

The cup they did win last season was won with honest endeavour and an incredible skill level in a final against Leinster away. They were terrific, and I almost didn’t mind that Leinster lost, except that the Ospreys never should have been in the final.

The week before that match, and three months after the events outlined above the authorities in the Celtic League finally assembled a disciplinary hearing and fined the Ospreys £100,000 and gave them a four point deduction; only the four point deduction wasn’t to apply until this season, and not the one in which the offence had occurred. Had the deduction been applied properly they would have had an away semi in Glasgow rather than a home one to the same opposition.

Finally, late last week, buried under a lot of news in relation to the new season, an appeals committee met and suspended the points deduction for 2 years. When one considers that the fine is more than covered by the non-payment of Gavin Henson, the Ospreys have seemingly cheated and got away with it, thanks largely to the incompetence of the Celtic League, an issue that has reared its head once again this week, with some harsh words for the league in relation to officiating in the league by Gerry Thornley in the Irish Times.

Finally, I may have the last laugh, as the suspension means that the Ospreys now have to avoid bending the rules for 2 years, which is a big ask.

So, what would be adequate punishment? Losing those four points in what is really a quite simple task away in Thomond…

Teams named for Wasps clash

Isn’t it great to see “L Fitzgerald” and “S O’Brien” on any team sheet?

Interestingly, Luke is named at 15, as Isa Nacewa keeps his place on the left wing. Perhaps this is an indication of the way in which Joe Schmidt plans to set up his back three in the future? They provide the only real experience in a back-line that otherwise has fewer than twenty first team appearances between them, but gives an opportunity for Ian Madigan to convert his undoubted talent into first team form at 10.

In the pack, a debut for Hank the Tank (van der Merwe), and an interesting selection of Richardt (Mr T) Strauss are the main points of note, apart that is, from the return of Carlow’s favourite first team member, Sean O’Brien as captain (sorry Bernard, your time is up, but thanks!).

The Leinster bench contains – among ten (!) others – new Argentinean second/back row Marian Galarza, who has been variously described as 6’3” (Babbling Brook) and 6’8” (The Irish Times). That’s about the difference between Sean Wright Philips and Emanuel Adebayor.

The Wasps bench has gone one better than Leinster’s, by naming an incredible 12 players as substitutes, containing new signing Riki Flutey alongside old timers Simon Shaw and Mark van Gisbergen. The other pensioners on the books – Tim Vickery and Serge Betsen – are named in an otherwise largely-inexperienced starting lineup that contains – much to the delight of Shay Given – one “J Hart” at number 8, and – much to the disappointment of anyone who likes  a good laugh, Andy Poowell.

See you all in the ‘Brook tomorrow.

Leinster: 15 L Fitzgerald; 14 D Kearney, 13 E O’Malley, 12 E Sheridan, 11 I Nacewa; 10 I Madigan, 9 P O’Donohoe; 1 H van der Merwe, 2 R Strauss, 3 M Ross; 4 T Hogan, 5 D Toner; 6 E Sheriff, 7 P Ryan, 8 S O’Brien. Replacements: J Harris-Wright, J McGrath, S Wright, M Galarza, D Ryan, I Boss, I McKinley, F McFadden, B Marshall, M Keating, N Morris

Wasps: 15 J Wallace, 14 R Haughton, 13 B Jacobs, 12 D Waldouck, 11 T Varndell, 10 D Walder, 9 N Berry, 1 Z Taulafo, 2 T Lindsay, 3 P Vickery, 4 M Veale, 5 R Birkett, 6 W Matthews, 7 S Betsen, 8 J Hart. Replacements: R Webber, T Payne, B Broster, J Cannon, T Rees, J Simpson, R Flutey, C Wade, S Shaw, S Jones, E Daly, M Van Gisbergen.