To dwell too long over the legitimacy or otherwise of the penalty awarded against Stephen Ferris in the last play of Ireland’s Six Nations defeat to Wales on Sunday is to miss the point.
THIS defeat feels every bit asbad as Wellington even if the consequences are not quite as drastic.
1 Can Declan Kidney turn the tactical tide on Warren Gatland?
It doesn’t seem long ago but it’s more than a decade all the same. Paul O’Connell, raw and big-boned, was 21 when I first set eyes on him. It wasn’t long before I wanted to throttle him.
There is a strange sense of Groundhog Day about Ireland’s opening two fixtures in this season’s RBS Six Nations Championship.
IT MUST have been a rather chastened English contingent that arrived for their first get together under Stuart Lancaster at West Park rugby club in Leeds on Monday morning in preparation for the Six Nations championship after a calamitous weekend for their clubs in the Heineken Cup.
AFTER the drama of Friday night when Gloucester and Connacht turned form and expectations on its head by beating Toulouse and Harlequins in Pool 6, you sensed it was going to be one of those dramatic Heineken Cup weekends.
For Shannon, his job was to make life as uncomfortable as possible for me in the lineout by attacking my back, while Ginger McLoughlin was invariably placed in front of me to form a two-pronged assault.
AS weekends go, this one must have been especially tough for Connacht.
PAUL O’CONNELL’S decision to commit to Munster until the end of the 2013/14 season is about the only bit of good news to come the province’s way over the last few weeks.
THE last thing the IRFU court is controversy.
WE may be immersed in the Christmas break but for the players and management of the provincial sides, it represents one of the busiest periods of the year.
CHRISTMAS arrived a week early for the Irish provinces in Europe with Leinster, Munster and Ulster all topping their respective pools, while Connacht were within four minutes of recording a first Heineken Cup victory.
LEINSTER’S drawing power grows bigger and bigger, as evidenced by a crowd of 46,365 who braved the elements on a freezing Saturday night in Dublin.
MUCH has changed since Munster last contested a Heineken Cup pool clash in this part of Wales.
HAD Leinster somehow contrived to lose this one then they need blame nobody but themselves.
LITTLE did I know when addressing the issue of Martin Johnson’s resignation as England manager last Wednesday the calamitous fallout that was about to unfold as English rugby hit a new low.
LAST Wednesday’s announcement that Martin Johnson had stepped down as England head coach/manager was not surprising and closed a horrible few months for English rugby after the fallout from their World Cup campaign.
IT says everything about how competitive the Heineken Cup has become that only one side — English champions Saracens — secured a winning bonus point from the opening round of 12 games with a home victory over Benetton Treviso.
IS IT possible that the Tinkerman will have the last laugh?
AFTER 46 games and a weekend of semi-final action characterised by controversy, drama, incident and passion, the 2011 version of the World Cup has produced a carbon copy of what transpired here at the inaugural event 24 years ago — a final contested by New Zealand and France with Australia and Wales battling for the bronze medal.
I WOKE on Monday morning without a tricolour, an Irish jersey or a Munster top to be seen anywhere.
I ARRIVED in Wellington with the Irish team on Monday morning to be greeted by gale force winds and torrential rain.
I CAN’T be sure if you’re getting the full impact back home but there is something special starting to happen over 12,000 miles away.
ROTORUA was great while it lasted but the smell from the sulphuric geezers is something I am glad to have left behind.
FOR some it’s a match to get out of the way, for others it could be the entirety of their World Cup campaign.
THE World Cup has been turned on its head and Ireland are the talk of New Zealand.
BY the time you read this I will have landed in Auckland after a stifling 36-hour trek with stopovers in London, Bangkok and Sydney.
BEFORE we move onto the mouthwatering prospect of a spectacular season finale in Thomond Park on Saturday, I have to go back to what proved a truly absorbing contest in Cardiff last weekend.
IT IS a measure of the Irish impact on the Heineken Cup that Leinster’s appearance in the decider in Cardiff on Saturday marks the seventh by an Irish side in the competition’s 16-year history.
All eyes are now firmly on the prize as the season reaches its zenith over the next few weeks, writes Donal Lenihan
Donal Lenihan looks at the Irish powerhouses and sees one squad primed to build on European success, while the other requires major surgery as cracks start to show.
IT is hard to believe that four months ago I had to brace myself for a difficult landing with a foot of snow on the edge of the runway at Bristol airport en-route to the Liberty Stadium for Munster’s Heineken Cup game with the Ospreys.
WITH Alan Quinlan, one of the great modern characters and indeed one of the most influential players of the professional era, set to retire from rugby next month it is interesting to take stock of a new trend in the international game and one that is a cause for concern.
FOR some time now, the fortunes of the Irish rugby team can be directly aligned to the wellbeing of Munster and Leinster.
AS ALWAYS with the Heineken Cup, the cream tends to rise to the top when the knockout stages come calling in April.
WITH the likelihood of another passionate full house at Thomond Park on Saturday night, it promises to be another great Munster-Leinster occasion, even if there is every possibility that the two sides will meet again in the knockout stages of the Magners League.
THE 12th season of the RBS 6 Nations championship will not linger long in the memory, with even winners England left feeling flat after leaving Dublin with the championship trophy on board but their reputations bruised.
IN A tournament devoid of any classic encounter to date, last weekend’s penultimate round of Six Nations Championship provided more incident and controversy than the previous three rounds together.
THE similarities between Wales and Ireland in terms of performance and results in this year’s Six Nations are quite startling and suggest there is little to separate the sides ahead of Saturday’s clash in Cardiff.
AS ALL the teams in this year’s Six Nations prepare to negotiate the home straight, my over-riding feeling is that it has been a very strange tournament for Ireland.
NOT one of the four half backs that started for Ireland or Scotland last time out in the Six Nations feature tomorrow at Murrayfield — with only Tomás O’Leary excluded on the grounds of injury.
FOR all the management teams, the Six Nations has now become a three-phase operation, with the key objective to be still in contention for honours when the final round of games are staged.
IT’S the same every year. We loseto France and immediately the reaction seems to be — “and they are not even a great French team”.
1. The Tactical Battle
IRELAND face an entirely different type of challenge to the one encountered last Saturday in Rome.
The Tactics
1. CLEAR STRATEGY
WITH the Irish side made up primarily of Munster and Leinster players — Rory Best the only exception — Declan Kidney must identify a clear playing strategy for today’s Six Nations opener in Rome, given that both provinces are adopting different game plans at present.
IF variety really is the spice of life then the Six Nations, coming as it does so quickly after the thrills and spills of the Heineken Cup, is set to warm the hearts of all rugby enthusiasts over the course of the next seven weeks.
IT WAS always going to be very difficult this year to follow the highs of 2009 and the accompanying silverware that found an Irish home, including a Six Nations Grand Slam, a Heineken Cup for Leinster and a Magners League for Munster.
DESPITE an horrendous eight-hour delay in Clermont Airport last Sunday night, arriving in Dublin at 5am, I am looking forward to next weekend already.
THE contrasting fortunes of Tony McGahan and Joe Schmidt heading into the crucial back-to-back rounds of the Heineken Cup could not be highlighted more forcibly than by the selection dilemmas facing both men this week.
WE HAVE a lot to be grateful to Scotland for. Had they not beaten South Africa in Murrayfield last Saturday week, both the Springboks and New Zealand would return home from their respective tours of the four home unions with a clean sweep.
JUST as Scottish rugby was beginning to feel good about itself again after a string of impressive winning performances against Ireland and a double away to Argentina, the All Blacks came to town.
EVEN Max Clifford would struggle to put a positive spin on Saturday at the Aviva Stadium.
IT IS somewhat unfortunate that the ongoing saga about the IRFU ticketing policy has overshadowed the return of international rugby to its traditional home in Lansdowne Road.
AFTER only a few minutes of Saturday’s Heineken Cup contest at the Madejski Stadium, it became abundantly clear just why we love this tournament so much.
BACK in November 1967 The Beatles released yet another hit album, the Magical Mystery Tour, which summed up precisely where they were at, at that point in time.
NOW THAT the Sam Maguire and Liam MacCarthy cups have found new homes in Munster, the focus of attention within the province switches to those serial achievers that represent Munster rugby.
NOTHING has changed in the land of the long white cloud.
IT’S THE same question every year. As sure as Cork and Kerry will produce a draw in the Munster football championship, we speculate as to who from the home nations is capable of producing any kind of a win on the annual summer sojourns to the southern hemisphere.
NOW that the silverware has been distributed for a variety of tournaments all over Europe a period of quiet reflection and planning will commence for next season.
SATURDAY sees the culmination of the domestic competitions in this part of the world with the Magners League, Guinness Premiership and the French Top 14 championship all up for grabs.
AS with all disappointments, time is a great healer. Travelling home empty handed from the two Heineken Cup semi-finals 10 days ago, even the potential of a Magners league play-off meeting between Leinster and Munster appeared somewhat hollow.
SUCCESS breeds success. Last season Ireland finally delivered an overdue Grand Slam, the foundation of which can be traced back to the prosperity of the provinces in Europe.
IN the not-too-distant past, there was a time when a Heineken Cup fixture on French soil was approached with quivering trepidation.
FIGHTING on two fronts up to last weekend, unbeaten in Europe this season – the only one of the 44 sides that started out in either the Heineken Cup or Amlin Challenge Cup to achieve that feat.
THE BRIEF from the top at ERC was straightforward: “your mission, should you choose to accept, is to select the best European side of the last 15 years comprised of players who played in either the Heineken or Challenge Cup competitions”.
FOUR days on and the sense of excitement and anticipation that filled the masses at Thomond Park is every bit as palpable.
WHAT odds now on Leinster doing the seemingly impossible by becoming only the second side to successfully defend the Heineken Cup? On the evidence of this performance you wouldn’t put your house on it.
IF THE recent Six Nations defeat to Scotland has taught us anything, it’s that despite all the heroics and accumulation of trophies last season, Irish rugby has no divine right to silverware.
AT the final whistle, despite the hostilities of the previous 80 minutes, they shook hands and went their separate ways, safe in the knowledge they had helped each other in their quest to advance to the Heineken Cup semi-finals.
WITH just over a week to go to season-defining quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup for Munster and Leinster, one could surmise Friday’s eagerly-awaited Magners League clash will resonate more with supporters than the players.
IF Declan Kidney’s adage that you learn more in defeat than in victory is correct, then Saturday’s reversal to Scotland could prove the greatest education of all for a side offered the ultimate reality check.
Donal Lenihan reflects on his five most memorable action moments at Ireland's temporary home.
ALL over bar the shouting? Well, unless Martin Johnson can oversee a tactical sea-change of monumental proportions and England finally decide to go out and play, the destination of the 2010 Six Nations championship has already been decided.
EVEN with the prospect of another Triple Crown to play for against Scotland next Saturday – incredibly a potential fifth in seven years – the collective highlight of Ireland’s relocation to Croke Park will remain that epic occasion and clinical performance against England in 2007.
Donal Lenihan offers a fascinating tactical insight into the three key areas that will influence today's Six Nations clash at Croke Park.
THE SIX NATIONS moves into its final phase over the next two weekends but France could all but wrap up the championship this weekend with a comprehensive win over Italy in Paris.
THERE IS no greater remedy for a heavy defeat than going out and winning your next game. More often than not at club level, players and management have that opportunity on a weekly basis. That is not always the case on the international stage, thus disappointment and frustration tend to linger that bit longer.
THIS Irish rugby squad is fast becoming a victim of its own success with expectation levels at home at an all time high coming into this year’s Six Nations. We have also become a treasured scalp for even the top teams. Nothing illustrated this more than the sight of a French side doing a lap of honour after beating Ireland in Paris.
IT’S so long since Ireland lost a game that one had forgotten how bad it feels. Those once familiar pictures of dejected figures in green jerseys at the final whistle had almost faded into sepia-tone. It was inevitable that a reality check would come at some stage and the fact that it occurred in Paris shouldn’t come as a surprise.
WHEN the rival brass bands from various rugby regions of southern France are playing in unison after only 25 minutes, you know you’re in serious trouble.
IF DECLAN KIDNEY is keen to present fresh challenges to his high-achieving national squad, then Saturday’s crunch clash against France fits the bill perfectly. With just a solitary win in the French capital in the past 38 years, conquering the Stade de France this weekend is a potential fast-track to glory.
WE’RE spoiled. After the drama and excitement of the race to reach the last eight of the Heineken Cup, we now have a Six Nations championship to nourish our insatiable appetite for top class rugby.
IT’S 25 years since Ireland entered the RBS Six Nations as reigning champions, and all of 62 years since they defended a Grand Slam.
FOR the Munster players saying their farewells at Thomond Park last Friday night, the scene was reminiscent of classmates leaving boarding school at the end of term. There were handshakes all around as a 12th successive Heineken Cup quarter-final slot was secured.
NO OTHER rugby tournament worldwide can match the drama and excitement of round six of the Heineken Cup. After five intense rounds of competition – encompassing 60 games – only two teams, Biarritz and Toulouse, have officially qualified for the quarter-finals.
WHO would want to be a referee? Well quite a few actually. In fact over the last three years the numbers officiating in Ireland have increased by 25%, from 400 to 500.
FOR A brief period last Sunday, it felt like the good old days of the Celtic Tiger, happy faces everywhere, supporters laden with Christmas presents and the Munster team smashing a quality French outfit away from home.
WITH SO much negativity surrounding rugby at the moment, with the plethora of law changes that favour the team without the ball (and the kickfest that has ensued), how refreshing to see so much positive rugby produced by a whole host of teams in last weekend’s Heineken Cup.
IT was not the type of preparation any of the Irish sides would have wished for last weekend before resuming their respective European journeys, with all four provinces losing in the Magners League.
NINETEEN internationals in a calendar month involving 12 different countries provides a surfeit of information not only on the state of the game but also on the form lines of the main pretenders for honours with the 2011 World Cup now coming into sharp focus.
ONE can only speculate as to the response of the Fijian players when they drew the curtains in their hotel rooms every morning last week to be greeted by rain, rain and more rain.
WHEN big Rocky Elsom touched down last Sunday in the same corner of Croke Park where he had denied Munster’s Ian Dowling an early try in that epic Heineken Cup semi-final earlier this year, you feared the game was up for Ireland.
I have learned through harsh experience that every Australian side will fight to the death.
I LOVE this phase of the season when the big boys from down under come to town and we are treated to a host of quality international rugby.
I HAVE no doubt when Declan Kidney finalised his squad for the autumn internationals last Sunday he was aware the World Cup final in Eden Park, Auckland was exactly two years away to the weekend.
EVEN at this early juncture there is a clarity of purpose about the French in Europe this season that suggests they mean business. Biarritz, Toulouse and Stade Francais are unbeaten at the summit of their respective pools while Clermont Auvergne and Perpignan are well positioned to make up ground when the tournament resumes in December. Brive, with two losses, are the only Gallic side out of the mix.
IT WAS good news on all fronts for Munster and Leinster at the weekend, with convincing wins over Benetton Treviso and Brive respectively further sweetened by outcomes in other pools.
TO borrow a phrase from one of Heineken’s rivals, last weekend’s opening round of the European Cup was probably the best we have seen for some time. Intense action, high-quality performances, buckets of tries, contentious refereeing interpretation and games that went to the wire. An outstanding medley of issues to launch the 15th year of the Heineken Cup.
DESPITE my absence of just over two months from the journalistic front-line, so much has happened since the conclusion of the Lions test series in July that has brought nothing but shame, ridicule and much negative comment to a sport loved by many all over the world.
ONE last stand. After ten months of high octane rugby encompassing Magners League, Guinness Premiership, Heineken Cup, Challenge Cup, Autumn Internationals and the Six Nations those who have survived to this point with willing hearts and minds must summon their reserves of pride and energy for one last effort.
FOUR DAYS on, and that defeat in Pretoria is still pretty hard to take, especially from a smug South African support base who are slow to recognise the limitations within their own set up. Let’s face it; the Lions could have done with winning last Saturday or even in the circumstances holding on for the draw which their herculean efforts over the last two weekends have deserved.
BY MAKING five changes to the starting lineup for tomorrow’s second test, the Lionsmanagement have put their hands up andaccepted they got it wrong last weekend. Nowhere is this more striking than in the make-up of the front five who were pummelled in Durban.
GET SET for a rare treat in modern international rugby — a three-test series. The question on everyone’s lips, however, is how competitive will it be and for how long?
THERE is no doubt in my mind that Paul O’Connell should have been handed the national captaincy by Declan Kidney yesterday after five great years of service from Brian O’Driscoll.
NOT so long ago the prospect that Ireland would have twice as many teams in the Heineken Cup quarter-finals as France was unthinkable.
WITH only three teams already guaranteed qualification to the knockout stages, and just one of those assured a lucrative home draw, there is still so much to play for in this weekend’s final round of Heineken Cup pool games.
IT’S official. Munster’s emphatic bonus-point win against Sale Sharks last night means that they have now qualified for the quarter final of the Heineken Cup — despite seeing Clermont also claim a bonus point against Montauban — for an unprecedented eleventh successive season.
SANDWICHED between a full Magners League festive programme and the onset of the Six Nations championship is two weekends of Heineken Cup pool action which will make or break the season for several clubs all over Europe.
IT WAS difficult to comprehend the contrasting emotions one felt on leaving Thomond Park on Saturday night with those experienced only five weeks earlier after that epic against New Zealand.
THE CONTRASTING fortunes of Munster and Leinster in their respective Heineken Cup pool games last weekend has once again stimulated much debate in the media and among supporters on the respective merits and shortcomings of both sides.
MUNSTER’S quest for further Heineken Cup honours is alive and, improbably, kicking. With four minutes to go in a European classic at Thomond Park on Saturday, the reigning champions seemed destined for one of the most miserable Christmases in years.
THIS year’s Heineken Cup took off in spectacular fashion last weekend with some outstanding contests, surprise results and cracking atmosphere.
OVER the years on his many European odysseys with Munster, Declan Kidney never had any great fortune when it came to the Heineken Cup draws, particularly at the semi final stage.
I WONDER if by this time next week we will be questioning what all the fuss was about.
AFTER THREE successive defeats at the hands of Argentina a win of any kind was most welcome.
BEFORE looking forward to what is the crucial game of the autumn series against Argentina tomorrow, it is important to reflect on New Zealand’s brief but electrically-charged visits to Croke Park and Thomond Park over the course of the last week.
THIS was supposed to be more about the occasion than the game. Yet what transpired was a contest that nobody could have anticipated.
While Munster’s 1978 history-makers still leave off their defeat of the All Blacks 30 years ago, their legacy cast a giant shadow over those who followed. Like Donal Lenihan.
FIRST you had the book, now the DVD. “Axel — Munster’s Heineken Cup Journey” has just been launched and relives the heartache and triumph of Munster’s quest for European glory through the eyes of the central characters, and highlights the immense contribution from its ever-present hero, Anthony Foley.
THE foundations were in place for one of those special days in Irish sport. Croke Park in all its magnificence rocked from the rafters in anticipation of a long overdue date with destiny, a first Irish win over New Zealand.
THERE IS something about the All Black jersey that immediately catches your attention.
FOR Declan Kidney and his new management team, Saturday at Thomond Park was a good day on all fronts. The comprehensive nature of this win by a re-energised Irish team offers a glimpse of the possibilities for the future.
WITH all the hype surrounding Munster’s game against New Zealand, it was interesting to watch their Magners League clash with Ulster on Saturday.
BOTH Tony McGahan and Michael Cheika can enjoy a brief period of positive reflection as the Heineken Cup takes a short hiatus until December. The events of last weekend in particular not only bode well for the two provinces but Irish rugby as a whole.
WITH Declan Kidney set to announce his squad for the autumn internationals on Wednesday, Irish rugby received a timely shot in the arm with two vintage performances from Munster and Leinster that rocked English premiership giants Sale and Wasps over the weekend.
SPEAKING to friends during the week about the appeal of the Heineken Cup, one of our party offered the opinion that the tournament had become a bit predictable and could do with a few surprises in the early rounds.
AN ALL TOO familiar pattern re-emerged last weekend with northern hemisphere hopefuls Ireland, Scotland and Wales losing the opening test of their summer tour.
THERE IS sufficient evidence to suggest that the international game as we know it in the southern hemisphere is under serious threat.
WHILE you tuck into breakfast this morning, a tired but contented group of Munster players prepared to board another plane for one last campaign in what has been an exhausting season.
TWO YEARS ago, I left the Millennium Stadium content I had witnessed a day that would never be surpassed in the history of Munster rugby. I was wrong. Saturday’s victory over Toulouse was even better.
INEVITABILITY turned reality yesterday when the IRFU officially confirmed Declan Kidney’s appointment as Ireland’s head coach.
MUNSTER may have barely prevailed in the tightest of finishes last Sunday but who cares? Having emerged from the most competitive pool in the competition’s history, the latest feat in qualifying for a fourth final in nine seasons is truly remarkable.
AND so we’re left with the Heineken Cup final all neutral rugby fans craved — Europe’s most consistent team against its most successful one. Between them Munster and Toulouse have contested seven finals, with the French side out on their own with three triumphs.
ALL things considered it was a good weekend for Declan Kidney. Apart from the fact he appears a racing certainty to be appointed as the next Ireland coach, Munster — despite starting with only three of his likely Heineken Cup semi-final team — survived a demanding test from a near full-strength Ospreys in the Magners League at Musgrave Park.
ONE of the fundamentals for success in any sport is respect for your opponent. Defeating Saracens by 30-3 only two weeks earlier, Ryan Jones’s Ospreys side overlooked that basic requirement in last Sunday’s Heineken Cup quarter-final.
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