Focus on Leinster:The question of whether Leinster choked was bound to emerge. "Choking" in this context is of course a term of disparagement and is usually levelled after a sequence of losses with a common thread. And at yesterday's weekly press conference Leinster coach Michael Cheika and flanker Keith Gleeson were challenged to explain why Leinster's string of exits from the Heineken European Cup have tended to be emphatic.
In the 2002 quarter-finals they lost 18-29 to Leicester. In 2003, Perpignan won the Lansdowne Road semi-final 21-14. In 2004, Leinster failed to reach the knockout stages, but the following year Leicester again beat them, 29-13, in a quarter-final. Last year Leinster reached the semi-finals but were hammered 30-6 by Munster.
And last Saturday Wasps ran in 35 points to Leinster's 13.
In each instance, Leinster have lost by a converted try or more. Could it be that this team of so many swashbucklers fracture too easily when the pressure mounts in the latter stages of the tournament?
In fairness to Cheika, he has been in the job only two seasons. But the Aussie rarely dodges a question.
"I don't know from previous years; I just know about my time," he says. "I think it's the reverse, to be honest. I think the use of that term 'choking' is far too easy. To say, when a team makes technical errors, 'Oh they're chokers' - choking, I think, is a myth.
"You've got to play the technical part of you game in big matches and have confidence in that . . . In high-pressure situations we've got to be 100 per cent that we've got everything in our kit-bag.
"The whole issue is a matter of perception. Some people might see it like that. I look at it the other way around. And I'm not in denial about this. In the good games the pressure is high so you are more likely to make mistakes if you are not 100 per cent accurate with your technique.
"Poor technique is going to cost us and it happened out here (Donnybrook) against Connacht when they drove us over the line. That was poor technique in a defensive maul. If you want to attribute that to choking . . . what I see as a coach are technical imperfections."
The defeat to Wasps has given Leinster an opportunity to re-evaluate where they stand in Europe. When the din subsided after Saturday's defeat in London, the view became clearer: Leinster stand no better than eighth.
Already Cheika has changed how the team train, and the emphasis now and for next season is on accuracy of execution under pressure. Leinster in the Magners Celtic League have been consistent in that they are winning matches, but as Gleeson points out, the way they win games has been inconsistent.
"We turn it on for 20 or 30 minutes and we've blown teams apart," he says. "Maybe that has hidden some of our deficiencies at times.
"If you look at us, we are the eighth-best business in Europe. That's what professional sport is. We are a business. The key question for us is how we get from eighth to the top four and from there to being in with a chance of holding the trophy.
"The one thing that really hurt us on Saturday was, without a doubt, our defence. All our Heineken Cup success was in being a very tough defensive unit. On the weekend we weren't up to it. We have areas we need to work on . . . we know that."
Brian Blaney, who replaced Bernard Jackman at hooker in the second half, observed he was so consumed with competing he was hardly aware Leinster were chasing the match. A reasonable corollary is that he was too involved in the physical battle to think about nerves or "choking". Nor does Gleeson buy into the choking theme.
"I think choking is going into the last round of the Augusta Masters with a 10-stroke lead and when the pressure comes on your technique goes," says the flanker. "Whether it is golf or rugby, if you have deficiencies in the technical side of your game they'll be exposed. There is a big difference between the top five or six sides in Europe and the rest. We're not as bad as the rest but we are caught between eight and six at the moment and we've got to get past that. In terms of choking, no I don't think we are a choking side."
