Journalist Brendan Grehan reckons a few light ales could cure Leinster’s current ails…
ON MY way into the snorefest that was last Saturday's Heineken Cup game between Leinster and England, I was scuttling along Anglesea Road when I spotted two Exeter fans in front of me. They were looking for some pre-match sustenance. I suggested a burger bar inside the ground. One of the lads turned out to be former Bath, England and Lions player Gareth Chilcott (pic). I'm sure Mr Chilcott enjoyed the Irish hospitality as indeed did all our visitors from England's south-west which is a great heartland of the union code in England.
I don't know if there is a problem in the Leinster camp but I do know that it is not Joe Schmidt's fault. Rugby is a team sport and there should be little room for showboaters or fancy dans in any team. Getting back to Mr Chilcott. He was part of a Bath team in the 80's and 90's that spearheaded the revival of English rugby that led to a slew of grand slams and ultimately the World Cup in 2003.
I read Chilcott's biography recently. It is a short tome but it does have some pearls of wisdom within its pages. Chilcott was from Bristol and was from quite a humble background and when he moved to Bath, he found it hard to fit in with the Bath players. After matches, he would go home and drink with his mates in Bristol, instead of his team-mates in Bath.
That all changed when the team went on tour to the USA and Chilcott and two of his team-mates, both ex-public schoolboys, had a day off. They had a choice of white-water rafting, kayaking or going to a local bar and getting sozzled. Guess what option they chose and as they shoved the best things that have come out of Milwaukee and Lynchburg down their gullets, team bonds were formed and Chilcott was a Bath man from then on in.
Maybe Leinster need to take themselves off for a few light ales some time soon.
All the great coaches in all sports have to know their players and some times coaches need to be quasi psychiatrists, to get inside their players to motivate them.
Warren Gatland is a motivator par excellence. Former Bristol, Wasps, England and Lions player Josh Lewsey recounts in his autobiography "One Chance" that if you reached the required level of fitness, Gatland and his coaching team in Wasps encouraged players "go get away from rugby and celebrate whenever possible".
Lewsey writes: "Whether it's hearsay or not, in the 2008 Six Nations, after Wales had beaten Italy at home with a stunning display of running intensity, Warren explained that he didn't mind the boys going out, but told them to remember that they had a bigger, tougher game the following week:'Lads if you are to have a drink, just leave off the shots....use the pint glasses instead!'"
I do think it is important to treat a defeat with a smile and young players should be mindful of that.
It was heartening to see Brian O'Driscoll on the pitch after being trounced 60-0 by the All Blacks having a laugh with his pitch-side interviewer. The journalist asked O'Driscoll if he would ever be back in New Zealand again. O'Driscoll replied: "I might be back for a ferg burger". I am told that it is a gourmet burger restaurant in Queenstown.
An essential part of the game is japery. Back in 1987, Wales had just lost 49-6 to New Zealand in the semi-final of the inaugural World Cup.
Alison Kervin in her sublime "Thirty Bullies" recounts how Mark Ring bet Richard Moriarty, Chairman of the RWC 1987 Organising committee, that he could pinch John Kendall-Carpenter' handkerchief while the former England International and IRB official was making his after-match speech.
The Welsh players had observed that Kendall-Carpenter always had the handkerchief in his top pocket and Ring went to the salad bar, picked up a pair of tongs and sneaked behind Kendall-Carpenter. Moriarty had given Ring 6-1 odds but just as Ring pulled out the handkerchief, he realised it was sewn in.
That Welsh defeat was also famous for their second-row, Huw Richards, being sent off after he punched New Zealand second-row Gary Whetton. Richards was on the receiving end of a haymaker from Wayne "Buck" Shelford.
A few years later, Shelford was playing for Northampton and they played a friendly against Bective Rangers F.C. in Donnybrook. What Shelford hadn't counted on was that he would come up against one of the original tyros of the Irish rugby scene of the late 80's, scrum-half Jonny Kenny. Shelford, legend has it, was so taken with the spirit and tenacity of the scrum-half that he complimented him after the game.
On another gargle-related topic, I will always remember former BBC Rugby commentator's line just as Ireland were beating England in Lansdowne Road with a North Kerryman's famous try. As full-time approached, Starmer-Smith quipped: "I trust the barrels are full".
I shall finish where I started with my beloved Leinster. Would it be cheeky of me to suggest to Mickey Dawson and Joe Schmidt that they take the lads out for a few cold ones during the week away from the glare of both the old and new media for some much needed team-building. Sometimes the old ways are the best. You can always run it off in the morning!
Brendan Grehan is a journalist twitter: @brendanxavier Facebook: Brendan Grehan
