Forget the ladyboys: Leinster are the darlings of Europe
They have sealed back to back Heineken Cups. They are on the verge of an unprecedented double. Yet it doesn't seem long ago since Leinster Rugby was a laughing stock.
When Leicester Tigers and Wasps were winning (respectively) consecutive Heineken Cups and a double, Leinster were floating conspicuously beneath the necessary standard.
The giants of English rugby powered their way to titles, mercilessly arm-wrestling opponents into submission and following big ball carriers into contact. Leinster, were floundering, bereft of consistency and all too easily found out when up against a team eager to make the game a dogfight.
These days, Ireland's eastern province are the darlings of Europe, but they employ a more artistic approach to dominance, this is total rugby.
When they were labelled as 'ladyboys' for failing to match-up to the Munster machismo, they had plenty going for them behind the scrum, but it took Rocky Elsom - along with the return from Leicester of Shane Jennings and Leo Cullen - to lay a platform.
Former coach, Michael Cheika, devoted the bestyears of his life to setting that base. By the time he seen off Harlequins in a dour quarter final (now known only as Bloodgate) people began to recognise more substance inside those royal blue jerseys.
A year after a first Heineken Cup in the bag, Brian O'Driscoll welcomed in Joe Schmidt. A match made in heaven. O'Driscoll may not have officially held the province's captaincy for some time, but he has and will always be a leader of any team he plays in - in Leinster, he is a cult figure.
What Schmidt gives, and O'Driscoll enforces, at Leinster is focus. Many managers and coaches across various codes speak in terms of 'one game at a time' but this Kiwi lives it. Week after week he will laugh off questions about an upcoming bout with Munster or a Heineken Cup fixture and reply 'well we're fully concentrated on facing the Dragons'.
It doesn't make for an interesting story, but spread across a season, or two, it's a fascinating trend. Schmidt will, of course, resist playing many of his first team in a Pro12 game in the weeks around a European tie, but he has helped himself do this by creating the most competitive squad in the league.
For Sunday's Pro12 final, many feel he could make around five changes to the side which recorded a record victory in the Heineken Cup final, without weakening the team. But he has only made four.
Close to 50 players have worn the Leinster jersey this season, and thanks to Schmidt's insistence on getting the basics right every time, they grind out the hard yards and seek to entertain no matter what the names on the team sheet are.
Every Monday (after a Friday fixture) or Tuesday morning the video analysts pull up players on what they can do better. Since his arrival from Clermont, Schmidt's mantra has been continuous improvement.
Yesterday, whilst deflecting away questions about the prospect of him joining the Auckland Blues, Schmidt denied that Leinster 2012 was an improved team from 2011. "We've just got three areas identified for improvement going in against Ospreys."
It may not make for entertaining reading, but it amounts to incredible rugby. Those of us without an allegiance to Leinster think of Ireland and whether we would be better off with Schmidt at the helm than Declan Kidney. Though both are employed by the same organisation, we are dreaming.
Schmidt will leave Leinster once he sees out his three-year contract. He will be welcomed home to Auckland like the prodigal son. And if NZ Rugby have any wits about them, he'll be coaching the All Blacks before 2016. He has moulded a once erratic province into their image.
We're lucky to be in his presence, but there is no magic involved in Schmidt's method: only hard work, attention to detail and an absolute refusal to accept 'ok' when brilliant, great and the best ever are all achievable standards.
@SeanFarrell_12
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3 commenti:
ragazzi questo non è un articolo di rugby è una goduriaaaa !!! grazie del regalo, roba da palati fini
ed io modestamente lo nacqui
Prego. E noi apprezziamo l'autoironia :)
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