If
you ask young rugby fans what kind of player they'd like to be
when they grow up, I doubt there's many who would say their wish was
to be a “quality impact sub”.
Yet
as Sean Cronin demonstrated at the Stade de la Mosson, in the modern
game that can be one of the most important roles in a squad. I would
still select Richardt Strauss over the former Connacht hooker every
time, but his grit and determination to get over the line
showed he has much to offer in that number 16 jumper.
Would
I have been happy with a draw before the match? Absolutely not. But
was I happy with it afterwards? Absolutely so. And although it
wasn't exactly a classic display from the reigning champions, I'm not
as concerned as perhaps I should be.
My
contention is that if your problems lie on the offensive side of the
game, they can be fixed a lot easier than if your defence isn't up to
scratch. And it's hard to argue that we had pretty good control of
things defensively on Saturday.
Just
look at the try Montpellier scored. It happened after a breakdown of
an attack of ours deep in their half when our defence wasn't anywhere
near set. For the rest of the contest, even with the gargantuan
Gorgodzilla in full flow, the French outfit were unable to seriously
threaten our line.
So
what was going wrong on the offensive side of things? Well for one
thing it was hardly Isaac Boss' best outing. It's a shame for him in
that he thoroughly earned his starting position but considering the
quality of his competition you have to think that Reddan will start
next Sunday against Glasgow. The box kicks weren't working, the ball
was going unprotected after the tackle too often, it was just a bad
day at the office for Boss, but he'll be back.
Another
selection that didn't work out was Damien Browne. I understand that
he has experience playing in France but I'm not altogether sure
that's what was needed. Devin Toner has been impressive in the Pro12
and once he came on we absolutely terrorized the Montpellier
line-outs.
Honourable
mention should go to our back three, particularly Luke Fitzgerald.
The Sky commentators fixated on his missed tackle on Nagusa but that
was a harsh way of looking at it – first, the former Ulster winger
was deep in his own 22 plus Luke got enough of him to allow the rest
of the defence to set and he didn't really get much further. Overall
I thought Fitzgerald had a sound display and is well on the road back
to his best.
Brief
paragraph on the ref – many give out about Dave Pearson and it's
true he's hardly the best out there, but I really don't think he
played a part in the actual result, even though the French TV
director seemed to differ with his incessant replays of missed
forward passes. Funny how the replay machine was broken when it
seemed to be a Montpellier transgression!
You
don't think I've forgotten about a certain Mr Sexton I hope! Well
much like his last-minute effort that sealed the draw, I'm going to
deal with him last. The only mark against him the way I saw it was
that he went for the complex back-line manoeuvres a bit too often.
It's a powerful weapon and when used at the right time will do some
serious damage, but it seemed at times that it was confusing our
players as much as it was the opposition, and that can't be good.
But
what about that final kick? Follow this link to see the YouTube clip. As if the pressure from the match situation and the booing of
the crowd wasn't enough, I doubt the sight of his own face on the big
screen perfectly framed by the goalposts didn't help, yet he struck
it true. And let's not forget his conversion of the Cronin try which
was even closer to the touchline. They were all world-class
placekicks and there were even question marks over the one he missed
– we either need to allow coaches request a TMO or just get higher
goalposts in those situations.
All
in all you have to be happy to come away from a French trip with
something, although if Leinster are to be seriously considering a
return to glory in this competiton, they'll need a convicing win next
Sunday to get back on track. If you fancy a flutter, you could do a
lot worse than back Mr Cronin for another try off the bench in the
process.
Elsewhere
in Europe...
All
the mainstream headlines will be taken by “that” finish down at
Thomond, so just for divilment allow me to start this mini-roundup
elsewhere, namely Leinster's Pool Three, where Glasgow delivered a
fairytale ending of their own thanks to the Bath defence falling
asleep after Duncan Weir's last-gasp drop goal effort. For me,
that's a good result for Leinster in that should we defeat the Scots
next weekend at the RDS, given that the French rarely travel well we
could be the only side in the pool with a duck-egg in the loss column
after two games.
And
if the Irish headlines weren't about Munster, they'd probably be
about Connacht instead so again I'm going to be different and offer
props to the Ulstermen at Ravenhill for sticking it to their critics
(myself included) by seeing off their illustrious visitors. It was a
monumental performance and Stephen Ferris showed that had he been
available last April Leinster's Heineken Cup final opponents may well
have been different.
Now
for the Connacht men. Didn't they do themselves proud? Sure, they
gave away too many silly penalties but given the formbook going into
the match for that to be their top complaint is quite the
achievement. I'm telling you, however many stars are on their crest,
Toulouse won't have things their own way in Galway next weekend,
that's for sure!
Let's
not forget the Leinster A lads led by Dominic Ryan, who secured
themselves a comfortable bonus-point win in Esher to kickoff their
B&I Cup campaign. Seemingly outhalf Noel Reid was impressive
with the boot and I'll be looking forward to seeing them in action
next Saturday in Donnybrook against Melrose.
Last
and certainly not least, that amazing finish at Thomond. No doubt my
blue blood will be cited for what I'm about to say, but I really do
believe too much is being made of this “41 phases” craic. In
fact, the way I see it, you're actually doing Munster a dis-service
if you show surprise that they can retain possession that many times
against an opposition that is doing absolutely nothing to compete
after the tackle. For me, the amazing thing about that finish was
the O'Gara drop goal itself – an absolutely heroic effort for sure.
But Tony McGahan's men need to show they can win on the road in
this competition again and when you take the 80 minutes of Saturday evening's match
they'll have their work cut out to get full points from their three
trips in that pool. The final match in January against the Saints in
Milton Keynes could well decide their fate.
Great to have the HCup back, innit? JLP
Great to have the HCup back, innit? JLP
