Leinster-62 Treviso-7

REID ALL ABOUT IT

It may have come against an opposition which had the stuffing long since knocked out of them, but still Leinster saved the best of their nine tries until last in this one-sided affair.

The move began from a Treviso scrum inside the Leinster 22 – not the first time the Italians had been there by a long chalk despite the lop-sided scoreline, but with just the 7 points on the scoreboard they surely wanted to play to the end to at least get into double-digits.

One major problem for them was that after two disappointing away defeats in a row, this was a Leinster side determined to make a statement that their season was far from over. With the clock ticking past 79 the home pack put on a good shove to win the scrum against the head before Jamie Heaslip popped it up to sub scrum-half Luke McGrath, both of whom had crossed the line themselves in the previous five minutes.

The ball then got flung out wide to the far wing, as had been the norm for the Leinster offence on the day, where the recipient was Darragh Fanning, the nominated man-of-the-match (curiously I thought but more on that later). More phases followed but we were still operating on or around our own 22.

It took a neat “Gidley-style” offload from Jimmy Gopperth in the tackle to put Noel Reid into space and with his skipper Jamie Heaslip in support he showed the composure to both pass and keep up with the play to get the ball back and before long he was sauntering over the line as you see in the lead photo to provide the cherry on the icing on the cake for Leinster.

You could forgive me for going into similar detail on the other eight tries which would produce a writeup of a decent enough length but I'm not sure that would properly capture the atmosphere at the RDS on Good Friday.

This certainly wasn't a match for analysing the stat sheet. Besides...if you did, you'd be horribly let down by ESPN's Scrum.com because not for the first time they have published a completely inaccurate set of figures...I'm not sure why they bother if there are to be such mistakes as Gopperth being given 100% placekicking when he missed two and the possession numbers looking like they were made up.

No, this was a match and indeed an occasion for the Leinster fans in attendance to enjoy, and hopefully the vast majority of them did. Not only was there a comfortable home victory but it was a beautiful day, there were eggs hidden everywhere for the kids, and even kegs forbidden elsewhere for the grown-ups.

It was also one of the last remaining chances to appreciate the presence of Brian O'Driscoll gracing a professional rugby pitch, though sadly his best contribution of a superbly-weighted pass on the run to Noel Reid didn't result in one of the nine tries. In fact, it was a rare BOD boo-boo that later led to the only Treviso score but if you don't tell anyone I won't!

OK – let's face it, the visitors weren't exactly up to scratch. This has been their fourth season in the league, and the result hardly shows that they have progressed much, though that would be a tad unfair because Leinster's standards have improved themselves greatly in that same period of time.

Plus whatever gameplan they may have had going into this contest would have gone out the window when their inside centre Christian Loamanu, who had shown some good early touches, fell badly after colliding with Zane Kirchner in mid-air and had to be stretchered off for what looked like a serious injury, though a tweet from the club the next day showed he was ok.

All of this meant that Leinster could only play what was in front of them and with much bigger challenges left in the season, though there would still have been a few things to be named & shamed in the DVD sessions, you'd really want to be a grumpy sod to find negatives in this result.

You may have worked out from my headline that I reckon Noel Reid should have been man-of-the-match. Here are my reasons : 1. two tries including the pick of the bunch 2. on the 1000th anniversary of the Battle of Clontarf it has been a fairytale weekend for his club Clontarf RFC so why not help the celebrations along (plus Brian Boru died on Good Friday) and 3. though Reid was accredited with 3 missed tackles, he did force a key turnover at one stage and don't forget we can ignore the tackling stats given the source!

Not that Fanning hasn't had a fine season and I have noted him several times throughout, but if you're going to pick someone who didn't get on the scoresheet they really would want to have played out of their skins and I reckon he was solid but there were other displays more notable out there, particularly young Luke McGrath off the bench who along with Kieran Marmion over in Galway is helping to create quite a bottleneck in the queue for the Irish 9 jumper.

All this means that with two matches left, I make it that Leinster just need 5 points to clinch first place on the table, which in turn means we can “afford” to lose up in Ravenhill in two weeks unless Edinburgh can upset the form book at the RDS.

That knowledge won't make this upcoming weekend any easier for us, mind you, as we are used to being involved in some kind of European semifinal.

But we are in a British & Irish one don’t forget, and Leinster A can take another step on the road to retaining the Cup as they head to Sardis Park on Saturday to play before what is likely to be a far more passionate home Welsh crowd than the one which showed up for “Judgement Day”.

So as you can see, though we may have thought our 2013/14 season was dead before Good Friday, there's plenty of reasons to believe it can rise again before the campaign is out. Well with the weekend that was in it you couldn't let me get through the writeup without at least one biblical reference, could you? JLP

Click here for post-match reaction on the HarpinOnRugby Facebook page

Also this weekend

Glasgow 27 - 9 Ulster

Zebre 26 - 13 Edinburgh

Connacht 23 - 32 Munster

Cardiff Blues 17 - 13 Scarlets

Dragons 10 - 20 Ospreys

 

	TEAM	PLD	PTS	W	PD	T	PF	TD
1	LEINSTER	20	74	15	198	54	517	26
2	MUNSTER	20	68	15	158	47	466	23
3	ULSTER	20	65	14	151	43	431	20
4	GLASGOW	19	64	15	96	36	355	19
5	OSPREYS	20	60	12	161	50	499	24
6	SCARLETS	20	46	9	-26	36	374	-5
7	CARDIFF BLUES	20	37	7	-108	27	388	-23
8	EDINBURGH	19	35	7	-81	31	338	-12
9	CONNACHT	20	34	6	-106	37	336	-8
10	NG DRAGONS	20	31	6	-90	30	349	-10
11	TREVISO	20	29	5	-192	28	341	-38
12	ZEBRE	20	25	4	-161	32	317	-16

 

Next fixtures

 

Saturday, April 26

 

Glasgow v Edinburgh, 7:05pm

 

Thursday, May 1

 

Zebre v Ospreys, 5pm

 

Friday, May 2

 

Benetton Treviso v Glasgow, 7pm

 

Scarlets v NG Dragons, 7:05pm

 

Ulster v Leinster, 7:30pm

 

Saturday, May 3

 

Connacht v Cardiff Blues, 5pm

 

Edinburgh v Munster, 5pm

Treviso-20 Leinster-21

Click here to watch back on the match via TG4 player

SHOE ON THE OTHER FOOT

Granted it’s a bit of a stretch comparing this match to what went on at the Aviva at the same time, but hear me out - a club well used to success was playing at the home of a team wearing green who ended up on the losing side not for the first time but will feel like they should have won?

OK…maybe it’s more than a bit of a stretch but hopefully I can be forgiven for still having that heart-breaking-yet-epic test match on my mind!

But we’re not here to talk about that; whatever about the insanity of the scheduling, there were Pro12 points to be won at the Stadio di Monigo and Leinster got away with four of them…just.  I am sure you’re in no mood for another long writeup so I have tried to cut my opinions down to some key headings.

THE TRIES

There were four on the day, and none of them were pretty to look at especially if you’re a defensive coach.

Leinster raced into a 12-point lead after just 15 minutes - Lote Tuqiri providing the finish after some good work from Ruddock, Reid and Hudson though it has to be said Treviso full-back Brendan Williams’ attempt to stop our winger going over was flimsy at best.

The defence got worse for the second try..more good work from Ruddock and Dominic Ryan at the breakdown won us the ball in a good position and I honestly couldn’t tell you what the Italian midfield were thinking as Noel Reid literally strolled through to touch down.

Williams made up for things somewhat with a run from his own 22 to hand off to Nitoglia who scored but the Worst Attempted Tackles Of the Day award sadly must go to both John Cooney and Noel Reid as they did so.

The best try was saved until last and it was much more conventional phase play that created the space for Esposito to bring the home side level in the second half but even in this case there were question marks over Tuqiri’s coverage.

SPEAKING OF LOTE…

Word has it an extension is being mooted for Tuqiri with Leinster.  Would that help Leinster?  For me, the answer to that question lies in whether or not we would play him in the Heineken Cup.  The Aussie made some very good runs with the ball during this match, that cannot be denied.  But his coverage and tackling was well off the way I saw it.  Twice in the first half he fluffed tackles after chasing down our own restart.  Even with McFadden injured, Lote would not only be behind D Kearney and Luke as wing options, but also At Mary’s duo Fanning and Hudson for that 23 jumper.  Fanning’s catch of a high ball shortly after having his head accidentally smashed did it for me and would provide with more value for money.

WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT JIMMY

The headlines read “Gopperth penalty wins match for Leinster”.  Some of the previews I read before Sunday suggested he has been “superb” for us so far this season.  I disagree…he has done some superb things, and he did some more in Treviso, but on the day he was out-played by Mat Berquist and made a few errors throughout the match, as he has done at other times when we were fortunate to come out on top.  I’m not saying we should be rid of him by a long, long chalk, and I’m not pro-Madigan on account of his nationality, but I do feel Ian needs to start this weekend AND put in a full 80 if possible to see if he can be in the frame to face Northampton.

THE LEINSTER BACK ROW 2.0

Of course I am praying like everyone else that Sean O’Brien and Jamie Heaslip don’t follow Sexton to France.  What I will say however is that in Rhys Ruddock, Dominic Ryan and Jordi Murphy we may very well have the best second string back row on the continent.  For me, they won us this match, and I would give Man of the Match to Rhys, though Ryan forced several key turnovers and Jordi though a sub, won the penalty which actually put us ahead for good.

ELSEWHERE IN THE PACK

More often than not the scrum was a good platform, though I’m dead set against this practise of rolling the ball in and hoping our shove will bring the ball back…hook the bloody thing!  Roux seems to be coming on as a lineout option, and can I take this opportunity to congratulate Martin Moore for an extremely well-deserved Player of the Month award.

TACTICS

As the wins keep coming it gets harder to question Matt O’Connor but having gotten two early tries in broken play thanks to defensive frailties in the Treviso backline, I have to wonder why we reverted to the bashing every time we got the ball in more controlled circumstances.  At least test the back line first?  Our repeated failure to get over the line (though granted we got damn close a few times) helped give the home side the confidence to first claw back from 12 pts down to 2, then from 8 down to a 2-pt lead.

***

We seemed to do everything we could to give the Italians the chance to pinch this one at the end, and the same can be said for other occasions we have won this season. 

But hey - all things considered, seven wins and one draw from ten matches is a pretty damn good record for Matt O’Connor  to lead off with…here’s hoping he can keep up the pace. JLP

 

Also this weekend…

Ulster 41 - 17 Edinburgh

Glasgow 8 - 23 Dragons

Ospreys 30 - 20 Zebre

Connacht 21 - 24 Scarlets

Cardiff Blues 10 - 31 Munster

	TEAM	PLD	PTS	W	PD	T	PF	TD
1	MUNSTER	8	31	7	75	20	194	13
2	OSPREYS	8	27	5	77	22	228	11
3	LEINSTER	8	26	5	35	17	186	5
4	GLASGOW	8	25	6	11	11	121	6
5	ULSTER	8	25	5	62	18	177	9
6	SCARLETS	8	20	4	5	12	152	-1
7	NG DRAGONS	8	18	4	8	11	149	-2
8	CARDIFF BLUES	8	14	3	-33	10	158	-9
9	EDINBURGH	8	12	3	-87	12	132	-13
10	TREVISO	8	12	2	-22	11	140	-7
11	ZEBRE	8	8	1	-68	14	150	-6
12	CONNACHT	8	7	1	-63	10	117	-6

 

NB - after “matches played”, stats on the table are listed from left to right in order of priority

 

Next matches

Fri 29 Ospreys v Glasgow, Liberty Stadium 19:00

Fri 29 Dragons v Munster, Rodney Parade 19:15

Fri 29 Edinburgh v Connacht, Murrayfield 19:45

Sat 30 Zebre v Ulster, Stadio XXV Aprile 14:00

Sat 30 Benetton Treviso v Cardiff Blues, Stadio Comunale di Monigo 16:00

Sat 30 Leinster v Scarlets, Royal Dublin Society 19:15

Leinster-40 Treviso-5

DOM-INATION

I may have gone over to the “Kidney out” camp since the 2011 World Cup, but I reckon he and I would agree on one thing right now – having Pro12 matches while the Six Nations is in full swing can be a real pain.

Of course, our reasons for thinking that would be different...in my case, it's because for a tournament with a round-robin format it completely skews (screws?) the clubs' abilities to field their best available XVs. Pro12, Premiership & Top14 teams are effectively “punished” for having international players, unless of course you're Italy and your world-class skipper is forced to play risking injury and/or suspension.

Methinks Mr Kidney has other reasons. For someone who more often than not has his starting lineups for test matches picked in his head weeks if not months in advance, provincial contests such as the ones this weekend have the annoying habit of showing the public what kind of form his chosen players are actually in.

So after a Saturday when first Ian Madigan reminded us why he's seen as the natural successor to Jonny Sexton, then Ronan O'Gara reminded us by both his looks & performance of the Lions' second test in Pretoria, Kidney has surprised absolutely no-one with his 29-man squad for Murrayfield.

And in turn he has left a significant amount of Irish fans, even some Munster ones I might add, feeling like little kids who want a puppy.

All of which leaves me on a Monday morning eager to show why it's not so naïve to suggest the 23-year old former Rock boy can start for Ireland when I should be writing about what an enjoyable evening's Leinstertainment I had on a milder-than-expected Saturday evening in the RDS.

I must also make my apologies to the game's hat-trick hero Dominic Ryan...the realities of the European rugby calendar & the Irish coaching ticket force me to leave your memorable achievement until way, way down my write-up. At least I made a pun out of your name for the headline, right?

Now, to Ireland's Six Nations campaign. If we had won last Sunday leaving the Grand Slam on the table and Sexton was still out, I would probably be ok with O'Gara starting next weekend whatever about the way he handled his “much-needed game time” against the Scarlets.  Because much like 2009, wins would be “all” we needed from our remaining three matches.

But as Declan Kidney says himself, we must still consider ourselves in contention to finish atop the table. The way the remaining fixtures are scheduled, if England are to win the Grand Slam and Triple Crown, they must do so by defeating the Welsh in Cardiff, much like we did in 2009, so in other words it certainly won't be easy.

The thing is though...when that match kicks off in the Millennium Stadium on March 16, Ireland's campaign will be finished.

So looking ahead from this point in time right now, all we can do is not only win all our matches, but also do so by improving our points difference by as much as we possibly can so that a narrow-ish Welsh victory can give us the title.

Now...if only there was an Irish province out there who recently had to rack up a decent amount of tries to stay alive in a tournament?

Maybe Leinster did fall short in their quest to reach the last eight of the Heineken Cup, but considering how their season was poised on New Year's Day, they certainly came pretty damn close, warming up with four tries in Murrayfield before securing bonus points in their final two pool matches. And they achieved this by adopting a policy of spurning early penalty chances and kicking for the corner.

It's true that the bulk of those go-for-broke displays were quarter-backed by Sexton. But as he has often done this season, Madigan proved against Treviso that he is more than capable of coming on and getting the same job done.

And if there's one description you certainly couldn't pin on him, it's “one-dimensional”. There were wrap-around plays, missile-type passes that often missed three let alone one, and yes, there were even tactical kicks for territory when it seemed appropriate. 4 out of 5 from the tee was a decent return as well, especially when you compare the one he missed from the touchline to the ones that were going awry in Llanelli.

If you had to level criticism at the Leinster back-line in this encounter, it would be for being TOO eager to entertain. Once or twice a fancy move or pass could have been sacrificed for something more basic and the margin may have been even greater. But still, winning by five converted tries against any opposition in professional rugby isn't half bad.

Of course I'm more than aware that a Treviso side stripped of it's key players in the RDS is a far cry from the full Scottish test side at Murrayfield, but were Madigan to start next Sunday, he'd also have a better standard team around him, even with all the injuries.

So I think it's safe to say we can make a decent case to Daddy Kidney that we're well aware a puppy isn't just for Christmas.

And since he has indicated with his choice of Ireland panel that it is O'Gara and Jackson he prefers for the points-difference-padding task, he has put added pressure on the squad to perform next Sunday, especially if “Mad-dog” puts in another virtuoso performance the night before against the Scarlets.

But that is of course the Ireland coach's choice to make. As a true Irish rugby fan who diligently takes his seat fifteen minutes before kickoff in test matches when I can afford the ticket price, I can only hope he can prove his ever-growing amount of doubters wrong.

Finally, I can talk about this match in isolation. You'd think with the few references I have made to it that it was all about the Leinster backs. A glance at the scoresheet would tell you something different...all six tries were by forwards.

Now it's true, there should be an asterisk beside Dominic Ryan's hat-trick. If Leinster were “playing it safe” and taking their three-point opportunities rather than kicking for the corner, he wouldn't have had a single try to his name.

But on the other hand, I don't see too many asterisks beside Simon Zebo's name for his three tries against a disinterested 14-man Racing Métro side, so I guess it must be okay to lavish praise on the young flanker.

Besides...if there are any coaches out there who want videos of the perfect lineout & maul move, they could pick any one of his three tries. Of course there is a case to be made about the Treviso defence in those situations but to be fair, for the third one they did resist the maul a bit before it got back on track for Ryan to go over yet again.

So from slick backline moves to quick front-foot ball to textbook forward set-piece play, Joe Schmidt's men had the bonus point wrapped up after just 27 minutes to send the message out to the rest of the league that they are still well in the hunt for the trophy.

I was expecting something of a fightback from the Italians to give Leinster “haters” something to moan about; thankfully although they certainly didn't give up, our defence, inspired mostly by the efforts of starting centres Andrew Goodman and Eoin O'Malley, was able to restrict their riposte to just the one five-pointer.

Luke Fitzgerald certainly did enough to impress those like myself who raised an eyebrow at his number 15 jersey, with his deeper role allowing him more chances to remind us of his abilities in open play. The ease with which he coasted through to lay on the first of Sean Cronin's brace was just one example.

Even in the closing stages when our bench-emptying forced us into interesting combinations like having Isaac Boss at inside centre, we seemed to have something to counter it...for example Leo Cullen and Devin Toner positioning themselves side by side in the middle of the park like twin towers the Treviso defence just couldn't handle.

To summarize, when it comes to the Pro12 and indeed the remainder of Leinster's season, it seems they have the wherewithal to produce the goods and I see no reason to change anything in the playbook.

When it comes to the Six Nations, it seems Declan Kidney feels he can produce his own goods while allowing the best of our wherewithal to stay at his province. I already said last week that all is not well with the playbook in the Irish camp, so we can only assume he has something up his sleeve.

We'll see where we are next Monday morning. JLP

UPDATE – Monday Feb 18 7pm – Madigan drafted into Ireland squad as injury cover.  After all I said above, this could be actually WORSE than not selecting him at all because I doubt he’ll usurp ROG or Jackson, but with match away in Edinburgh I hope he’s just there as a precaution and will still be allowed play for Leinster on Saturday night!

Also this weekend…

Dragons 3 - 60 Glasgow

Ulster 26 - 3 Zebre

Edinburgh 16 - 17 Cardiff Blues

Connacht 22 - 10 Ospreys

Scarlets 18 - 10 Munster