RUGBY/ HEINEKEN CUP: THE HEAVYWEIGHT collisions were elsewhere on the European map, but the last two Irish winners of the Heineken Cup were content enough to get their campaigns back on some kind of even keel with Munster's 41-10 win over Treviso and Leinster's 36-13 away victory over Brive.
That said, Munster’s Jekyll and Hyde victory may have come at a cost.
They lost both props through injury, which adds to the mounting frontrow problems for the Ireland coaching ticket as the first game of the autumn window looms against Australia in four weeks. But Munster’s concern is the more immediate and pressing.
A debilitated Marcus Horan was detained in hospital overnight for further tests on what could be a virus-linked illness, while Tony Buckley will have a scan today on his calf injury. But the initial prognosis is Buckley will be sidelined for two to four weeks, and Horan for two weeks, thus ruling them out of the Magners League holders’ next games away to Edinburgh on Friday and at home to Ulster on Saturday week.
With John Hayes suspended and development prop Dave Ryan out for three months after an operation last week on a dislocated elbow, Munster are down to the bare bones of French prop Julien Brugnaut, Darragh Hurley (who made his first Munster outing of the season on Saturday) and their academy prop Stephen Archer.
Furthermore, Doug Howlett tweaked a hamstring and is doubtful for the Edinburgh game.
The form of Cian Healy was providing the Ireland management with a livewire alternative for loosehead prop in any case. However, with Jerry Flannery touch-and-go for the Australia game, Rory Best hors de combat for the season and Hayes suspended until a week before that game, alternatives at hooker and tighthead haven’t exactly been thrusting themselves forward.
Leinster’s Bernard Jackman entered the equation with his performance in Brive, and coach Michael Cheika did not seem too concerned by the injury which ended his involvement after 47 minutes.
“Jackman took a knock on his leg and that was the first game he played this season, so I wouldn’t say he has the match fitness.”
Results elsewhere in their pools probably went in favour of the Irish sides.
Perpignan’s win over Northampton on Friday night did not feature bonus points for either side, leaving Munster top of Pool One, albeit on only six points.
“That’s the lowest of any of the six pool leaders, which shows you what a competitive pool it is,” said coach Tony McGahan. “With Northampton playing Treviso home and away, you’d have to think there’ll be a big swing toward them then, while our two games against Perpignan will be very interesting.”
No one in the Leinster camp was expecting the Scarlets’ win over London Irish at Majedski Stadium in Pool Six. While grateful their conquerors of round one had been pegged back, the Scarlets’ two wins from two makes the back-to-back meetings with the Welsh side in December assume an even greater importance.
“It certainly makes it a bit of a battlefield now, doesn’t it?” said Cheika. “But now we go back to our domestic league with a couple of big games ahead (away to Ulster and at home to Cardiff), and then we’re going to have to manage that first trip to the Scarlets, which will be the first game and very important.”
“We’ve been dealt a nasty little draw because we’ve got a Magners League game on the Sunday in Wales (against the Dragons) the week before, so it’s all about management, and then attitude when we go down there, because they (the Scarlets) are going to have their tails up and they’re going to be very difficult to beat.”
Had Leinster the confidence of a win in round one they might have chased a bonus point sooner on Saturday, but given the Sword of Damacles was hanging over them in the build-up to this match, there was scarcely a trace of regret about the four-point haul.
“No. Just get a win, have respect for the opposition and then get on to the next team,” Cheika maintained, “because we started off in a real bad position, now we’re a little bit better and if we can beat the next team we’ll be a little better, and we go from there.”
Cheika also confirmed Leinster intend to appeal Shane Jennngs’ 12-week ban. Asked was he shocked by the disciplinary panel’s judgment, Cheika said: “Yeah, I’d say I was, honestly. I can comfortably say that I was very shocked. We’ll just have to see what plays out next week to see how we feel after the appeal, if we get the time to do it.”
The one Irish blemish on the weekend was Ulster’s defeat in Edinburgh, and they now face a buoyant Stade Français side back-to-back in December in Ravenhill and Brussels. Yesterday Stade succeeded at Bath where earlier Clermont failed at the Ospreys when scrumhalf Julien Dupuy completed a 29-27 comeback win for the Parisians with an 80th-minute penalty.
It also completed four wins for Top 14 sides in the four Anglo-French meetings in round two.
