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In seasons gone by, regular season league games at this time of year were considered part of the course for Leinster as they strives towards a European final.
All eyes were fixed on the likes of Saracens, La Rochelle and Toulouse. Second stringers, if you can even call them that, were rolled out under the guise of giving deserving players minutes. In the real world, Leinster’s international contingent were being kept on ice, rested to ensure they’re fired on all cylinders for knockout rugby.
That model has resulted in a return of zero out of 6 trophies in the past three years. The definition of madness and that.
This year feels different. The standard is different , it’s on a whole new level. Last season was very much the Jacques Nienaber year, his second stamp was clear for all to see. So much so that there was little to no room for current Ireland and Lions assistant coach to make his own mark. Goodman’s lack of influence could be overlooked in his first and only year as attack coach of the province, but Irelands attack has regressed since Mike Catt left the role. In fact it’s regressed since Johnny Sexton retired, this may be the more influential variable.
However, with Nienabar’s defensive system now embedded in the team,with the heavy lifting already done, it’s paved the way for Tyler Bleynedal to implement his attacking philosophy. The unofficial word from Leinster is that they’ve broken the season down into bite size chunks. A step by step approach, to build on Nienaber’s philosophy and incorporate Bleyendaal’s gameplan.
Since the Six Nations finished, Leinster have taken on their game to a whole new level. The group of players who missed out on Ireland selection continue to look more at home in their domestic coaches gameplan. And it’s a testament to the impact that nienaber has had and how much the Irish contingent have bought in, that they hit the ground running when they returned to Leinster. In fact they looked reinvigorated returning to Leinster.
Bleyendaal has now had time to teach his style of play and his coaching is beginning to come to the fore. Yes, Leinster’s defence was arguably the clearer area to see in their two European knockout games, nulling both harlequins and Glasgow. However it was Leinsters attack that looked to have taken a step forward and most importantly, the connection between defence and attack.
This Leinster team is really beginning to look like they’re playing in the flow state. It’s not quite instinct, but it they understand the why of what they’re doing. This frees the players up to react and adapt on the pitch as opposed to playing out prescribed moves. Worth noting that Andrew Goodman was credited with first phase attack, setting up attacks off of set piece. Leinsters phase play regressed significantly last year and it’s reassuring to see them acknowledge this area of their game, as it’s this area that’s responsible for transitioning between attack and defence.
For the rest of the season, each game is an opportunity to showcase their understanding of the new attacking system and how they transition from attack to defence. We’ve seen several players standout in this regard, players who are now playing their way into the 23 for knockout rugby. Players who are bought in and performing in this aspect are being rewarded and are now being valued at the same level as their international counterparts.
Max Deegan and Tommy O’Brien are two players who come to mind. Diarmuid Mangan is another player who’s impressing in this new regime.
This weekends matchup may feel like a foregone conclusion for fans and pundits alike. And Leinster will never admit that these games are now actually important, but there’s been a shift. Their goals for these games are different than they were last year and they’re all aimed at developing the relationship between Nienaber’s defence and Bleyendaal’s attack.
