THE DIFFERENCE between Ireland’s and Leinster’s defeats against England at Twickenham, and the Ospreys at the RDS last Friday, is Leinster had a get-out-of-jail-free card. They didn’t use it.
With only one prop replacement available at international level, Tom Court, a loosehead by trade, was mangled by the English frontrow when Mike Ross’ neck/stinger flared up.
Last Friday at the RDS was different because when an already struggling Nathan White (confirmed as Connacht-bound next season) went off with a cheekbone/facial injury, Jamie Hagan, a tighthead, came on. Not that Hagan solidified matters.
On 58 minutes the Balbriggan man was carted off with rib cartilage damage, caused by Paul James’ early engagement at a scrum. It looked nasty but the 24-year-old could be available for bench duty against Cardiff on Saturday week at the Aviva Stadium.
Anyway, on losing both tighthead props, just as Lions and Wales number three Adam Jones arrived on the field, Leinster could have called for uncontested scrums. Instead, they put Jack McGrath, the 22-year-old academy graduate, in the same situation Court experienced in London; a loosehead trying to survive on the tight side. McGrath, it is generally accepted, struggled badly.
“We were unfortunate with two tightheads coming off and poor Jack thrown into the deep end,” said Leinster hooker Richardt Strauss yesterday but in the same breath added: “Our scrum, for some reason, didn’t function well, at all, from the start. We were never comfortable and they kept putting us under pressure and it was the difference at the end.”
That’s surprising considering the debut of Brad Thorn and return of Leo Cullen. “We could have gone for uncontested scrums but we guts it out there with Jack,” said Cullen. “Jack hasn’t played tighthead at this level before and maybe in hindsight we could have gone for uncontested but that was a call from the sideline. We have a lot of faith in our guys but it was a tough ask on Jack.”
It seemed like an ethical decision by coach Joe Schmidt. If Leinster, as European champions and with two props in reserve, opt for uncontested scrums when both tightheads are injured then it provides other teams with a precedent. Instead, they took their beating as, ultimately, the Ospreys scrum won them the game or at the very least denied Leinster the platform to orchestrate a late drop goal attempt. Cullen gives credit to his old Leicester Tigers team-mate Graham Rowntree for England’s strides at scrum-time. Rowntree, or “Wig”, is expected to be on Warren Gatland’s Lions coaching ticket next year in Australia.
“I played with Wig in Leicester and it is something they have focused a lot on. Dan Cole has come through really well and it is something we have maybe been a bit guilty in the past here but it is something (Leinster) have targeted since that Heineken semi-final against Toulouse over there a couple of years ago.
“Feeky (Greg Feek) has come in since and we have been able to manage our way through games a lot better. It’s well documented in the Heineken Cup final against Northampton last year we got dished up in the first half but we addressed it at half-time.”
You can bank on one thing this Saturday at Thomond Park; there will be scrums. “Knowing BJ (Botha) from South Africa, he really applies himself,” said Strauss. “Along with Wian (du Preez), they are big men. I think they felt a bit vulnerable in the scrum the previous season when they came up short once or twice. They have made a massive difference. They actually gave us a lesson in the Aviva in the first game so hopefully we can get one back on them.”
Cullen and Brian O’Driscoll have shown no recurring problems from recent lay-offs while the internationals, including Ross, are all due to feature in Limerick. That means Cian Healy, Gordon D’Arcy (200th cap), Jamie Heaslip, Rob Kearney, Seán O’Brien, Eoin Reddan and Jonathan Sexton will return to the 23-man squad.
