Jordan Larmour did a double take when informed that last season was his most lucrative from a try-scoring perspective in Leinster colours, having crossed for 10, six in the United Rugby Championship and four in the Champions Cup.
The 27-year-old has 44 tries in 109 appearances for his province, a strike-rate of one every 2.47 matches, while in 32 caps for Ireland he has crossed the line on seven occasions (4.57). Few back-three players – Larmour has also played fullback – wouldn’t be able to rattle off a few try-scoring statistics, a stock in which they trade.
Larmour, who got his season off to a perfect start with a try in last weekend’s victory in Edinburgh, prefers to focus on the substance of his contribution, working hard “to help the team out in any way I can”. Scoring tries, while enjoyable, is not the number one metric of whether he’s played well or otherwise.
“I suppose my points of difference would be taking players on one-on-one, trying to find space, making half-breaks, making line breaks, setting things up. That’s what I’m always trying to do in attack. Sometimes, like at the weekend, I just got Sam’s [Prendergast] tip [on pass] and walked it in.
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“Sometimes you have to work a bit harder for them. Last season I was just really focused on taking any opportunity I got with both hands. Not trying to go looking for things was a big thing, in the past where I would be thinking, ‘I’ve got to go make something happen here’ and then you’re chasing. That’s when you make a mistake.
“I’m trying to see the game out in front of me and if an opportunity comes, take it. That comes with backing myself. When I got to play those big games and back-to-back performances, that’s when the confidence is up and you’re like, ‘yeah, give me the ball, I’ll do it.’”
The last sentiment refers to reclaiming the right wing role in Leinster’s run to the European final.
He said: “When you start stacking up games and you’re having good performances, that always helps with your confidence. Staying injury-free last season gave me that opportunity to start big games, and that definitely got my confidence up.
“I was back playing with a smile on my face, loving every second. Hopefully, it’s the same this season. Overall, it was disappointing not to come away with anything, but from a personal level it was good to get back playing those big games, those big occasions. It would make it sweeter if we came away with something.”
The term ‘reset’ is often bandied about when a team has had to endure disappointment and Leinster have suffered appreciably over the last three seasons. Larmour spoke about the frustration that lingered for a little while in the aftermath of the most recent campaign, all that effort only to finally come away empty-handed.
It can galvanise but only if there is a material improvement in output, cutting out the mistakes, the missteps. It also places a premium on learning lessons and identifying from where those incremental adjustments need to come.
Leinster’s new backs’ coach Tyler Bleyendaal will bring his own wrinkles to the shape of Leinster’s attack. So, what’s Larmour’s first impression of his new boss?
“I haven’t seen him flustered yet,” he laughed. “He’s very chilled.
“He has been brilliant so far, bringing great energy around the place. We’ve all loved having him in. He has brought a few more ideas in attack which you’ll hopefully see on the weekend [when they play the Dragons at the Aviva Stadium on Friday]. He has been great so far.”
What those subtleties are will be revealed as Leinster crank up their attack over the next few weeks, especially aided by the returning Ireland internationals. For now, Larmour adds a more generic overview.
“It’s [the attack] quite similar, just a few different ideas. We’re still doing everything we were trying to do last season but there’s a big emphasis on scanning, seeing where the space is, and trying to play to space early. That’s one of the things and it has been great scouting teams and seeing where we can attack them, then coming up with plays for that.”
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