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“It would be criminal now to allow your standards to slip or to make that one mistake that means you failed a test and you are unavailable for the biggest game of the season.”
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So here it is, Sunday evening and normally this is the time I pen a 2000-word piece about either Leinster or Ireland’s match from the weekend. Unfortunately as the Champions Cup semifinals were the only rugby at that level on offer, I’m at a bit of a loose end so I was going to leave it for the week in preparation for the new Pro 14 campaign which kicks off next Friday.
Then I saw this…
Translation : "When you squint your eyes and tilt your head, you'll see that what Saracens did was actually for the good of rugby."
Never mind the fact that the EPCR itself already exists because of changes made due to perceived injustices towards English clubs. https://t.co/FyJvBnMR3M
What annoyed me most about Sonja’s observation was the timing.
Seven days earlier I was bending myself into a pretzel to avoid factoring my thoughts on Saracens’ off field antics into my assessment of the Champions Cup quarterfinal at the Aviva Stadium. This was for two reasons; first and foremost it was meant to be a match writeup so I needed to focus on the 50 players & officials involved in the 80 minutes on the day. More importantly however, I avoided the whole salary cap thing because given how the match went, it would look like I was a sore loser.
Now I don’t know what Premiership club Sonja McLaughlan follows, but given her statement referred to “English sides” and was posted shortly after full time in the Racing v Sarries semifinal, how could it be viewed as anything but sour grapes? And so I took aim with my reply, and I stand by it.
Let’s be clear. The English have always had a complicated relationship with Europe’s biggest club competition. Ulster fans won’t thank me for saying this, but the Premiership didn’t feature at all in the 1999 version yet they still won 6 of the first 12 finals, spread among 4 different clubs.
But then from 2007-2015, there was no English success at all. Can’t be having that, can we? Thus began a war of words in the media and concerted pressure from Prem clubs, with passive aggressive support from the Top14 ones, which saw an overhaul for the 2014-15 season and beyond. Since then, Saracens have won 3 of the 5 titles.
Now it will be at least two years before they can win again, and although we have Exeter keeping Premiership interest alive in this year’s final, any call for change from English shores is utterly ludicrous given the history. If change is to happen, it certainly can’t be done because they’re not winning it. At least not again.
But here’s the twist in my argument. I actually agree with McLaughlan a bit, at least in principle. WHAAAAAT? You might say. Let me just take my Leinster/Ireland hat off for a brief moment.
That leaves me as a sports fan. Of course I want everyone competing in a tournament following the same rules. That should be a no brainer.
And while many are talking about the necessity to create something called a “British & Irish League” I think that would make an absolute mockery of the Heineken Champions Cup since it would basically involve a merger between only two leagues, one of which spans 5 nations and the other just 1.
For me, if format reform is to be done I’d want to go the whole hog and create a European Super League. I’ve actually been harping on that for over a decade. Week in, week out clashes involving Leinster, Munster, Ulster, Toulouse, Racing, Bristol, Exeter, Scarlets, Edinburgh, Toulon - and yes, even Saracens once their penance is done (apols to anyone I left out, just going on recent form here) - with maybe regional lower leagues for everyone else feeding into it, possibly providing a path for the Georgias and Russias to take part as well.
What would become of the three senior domestic competitions as we know them? They could still exist, just as the Mitre10 Cup, Currie Cup & NRC still do in the SH. The TV revenue might be less for those after the change, but the hope would be that it would be a lot more for the top level.
So the good news for Leinster in this scenario would be that we’d have a much tougher schedule throughout the campaign, with all due respects to our current crop of opponents. The “bad” news, however, is that for this top level competition to exist there would surely have to be some kind of universal rules regarding squad composition and reimbursement. This is what I think Sonja was getting at, poor though her timing may have been.
The IRFU would need to weigh their options very carefully before agreeing to something like this, though I should add those options would probably be the same for a British & Irish League. Also, if the four Irish provinces played at different levels of a pyramid structure, there would be pressure on those in the lower tiers to give up their best players. So when the Leinster/Ireland hat goes back on, things get complicated once more.
But like I said, a solution should not be one that is designed to make just one nation happy. That’s kind of how compromise works. I guess European Rugby needs to come together and ask itself if a level playing field is worth giving up home comforts for. In fact, as I’m typing this it has dawned on me that what I’m suggesting is that the English actually JOIN a pan-European venture!!! "Br-enter"? What was I thinking???
All of a sudden the 2020/21 Pro 14 season, starting as it does with only 12 clubs, still in two conferences and with perhaps a couple of South African sides still playing some part from January, doesn’t seem all that complicated any more. Maybe I’ll just knuckle down and focus on that instead. Check out our podcast this week I’ll be discussing just that with some fellow Leinster fans. JLP
Start your day with five eye-catching egg-chasing quotes & links from around the ruggersphere.
Translation : "When you squint your eyes and tilt your head, you'll see that what Saracens did was actually for the good of rugby."
Never mind the fact that the EPCR itself already exists because of changes made due to perceived injustices towards English clubs. https://t.co/FyJvBnMR3M
"Ultimately, our view was the easiest way to avoid the situation that the All Blacks possibly face was to stick to the 6th December dates for games..."
Feel free to share any interesting links you spot yourself about t’internet by email, Twitter, Facebook, blog comment or carrier pigeon – whatever works for you. JLP
Note - views expressed in "Front Five" links do not necessarily reflect those of HarpinOnRugby
Start your day with five eye-catching egg-chasing quotes & links from around the ruggersphere.
Looks like I've gotten the final I wanted this morning, mostly for the "guaranteed first star" thing. As for last Saturday morning, maybe not so much... 😉#HeinekenChampionsCup
Three naturalized Japanese citizens found themselves on the wrong side of a decision that essentially restricts their ability to work as professional rugby players in their adopted homeland.
Feel free to share any interesting links you spot yourself about t’internet by email, Twitter, Facebook, blog comment or carrier pigeon – whatever works for you. JLP
Note - views expressed in "Front Five" links do not necessarily reflect those of HarpinOnRugby
Feel free to share any interesting links you spot yourself about t’internet by email, Twitter, Facebook, blog comment or carrier pigeon – whatever works for you. JLP
Note - views expressed in "Front Five" links do not necessarily reflect those of HarpinOnRugby
No matter what way you look at it the quarter final defeat to a depleted Saracens was a bitter pill to swallow for Leinster fans. It took the gloss of what had been up to then an excellent season. The manner of the defeat, beaten up by a large English pack, was tough to take. However, the over reaction to the defeat was every bit as big as the over reaction to the undefeated Pro14 season.
Before the match most commentators had Leinster as clear favourites especially as Sarries had lost Farrell. I urged caution to anyone who would listen on social media as this was still a team that contained the Vunipola brothers and the irrepressible Maro Itoje who were well capable of wining the game on their own. It was also, despite the loss of personnel, a battle -hardened Mark McCall team who had targeted this match for months. The manner of the defeat was painful with the ever physical Sarries dominating all over the field. The scrum was a shambles. What exactly is Robyn McBryde being paid for? I also felt that for once Leo and Stuart got the team selection wrong. As many have pointed out the balance of the backrow looked off and I would have stuck with Kelleher over an undercooked Cronin at Hooker. Maybe having such a big squad forces the coaches to over think things at times?
On one level I was not surprised with the defeat. Leinster had not come back from lockdown in great form. There was two unimpressive wins against Munster where set price problems were again to the fore. There was a good win against another out of form team in Ulster but this did nothing to ease my mind that Leinster were out not playing with the same fluidity and confidence they showed earlier in the season. If JJ had kicked his penalties who knows what might have happened. Of course wining the Pro14 with an unbeaten season should not be diminished as an achievement, however the Sarries defeat left meant the season was a bitter sweet one for me.
Despite the Quarter Final set back I still feel Leinster rugby is in good shape. Last season saw the introduction of the next generation of players. It was a real breakthrough year for Doris, Connors, Keenan and Kelleher. Baird greatly impressed towards the end of the season and showed what a talent he is going to be. These guys along with the likes of Furlong, Porter, Ryan, Laramour, the Byrne brothers and hopefully Dan Leavy will drive Leinster on over the next few seasons. There’s really not too much to change really. Yes, they lacked aggression against Sarries but for me that was a once off, though I would like to see the likes of Ryan play with more edge especially in big games like European Quarter Finals.
There are some areas of concern going into next season. Cian Healy has been a true warrior for Leinster but he has looked off the pace a bit after coming back from injury. The back-ups Byrne, Dooley and Milne, whilst fine players in their own right, have yet to convince at top European levels. Scrum-half too is an area lacking true quality. I would have had Gibson Park on earlier against Sarries as McGrath was below par with his erratic passing to the fore again. Outside these two the depth at nine is relatively untired and un-tested. You also have to look at the set piece and hop the coaches get to grips with the prevailing issues next season. Denis Fogarty has been a big loss!
It must not be forgotten though, that there has been a big transition over the last number of seasons with significant players like Isa Nacewa, Sean O’Brien and now McFadden and the great Rob Kearney leaving Leinster. These guys were experienced battle-hardened winners who drove standards at the club. Leinster is now a relatively young squad and its up to the new breed to drive the club on. There’s no doubt in my mind that the ability is there. It’s now up to the players to re-group and hit the ground running in the up-coming season. As a team, Leinster has taken hard knocks before and bounced back and I’m sure they will again.
Kevin O’Brien (@kmjob73) : Rugby mad Leinster man exiled in Connaught. Father of 3 with wife who hates sport but tolerates rugby.
*****
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"...we are committed to accelerating development of women in rugby through diversifying and normalising women in leadership positions, both on and off the field."
Feel free to share any interesting links you spot yourself about t’internet by email, Twitter, Facebook, blog comment or carrier pigeon – whatever works for you. JLP
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In total, 14 Monday night fixtures will take place between Rounds 3 and 8, with Munster hosting Cardiff Blues at Thomond Park on October 26 in the first
Having...Molloy available again is a huge fillip for Ireland especially with forwards Edel McMahon, Claire McLaughlin and Aoife McDermott already ruled out
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Note - views expressed in "Front Five" links do not necessarily reflect those of HarpinOnRugby
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Well you won’t need me to remind you that last weekend didn’t exactly go to plan for Leinster fans, and joining me on the pod this week to find the positives is Neil ‘Keego’ Keegan who shared some thoughts from his own writeup which can be found over at TheCouchPunditIreland.com. We also discuss whether or not Leinster’s season as a whole was defined by this result as well as a brief look ahead to the rest of the Champions Cup as well as the Six Nations.
