Obsession.
In the build-up to Saturday's return meeting with Toulon, it will be Leinster's mantra. At yesterday morning's forwards meeting, their recently retired captain Kevin McLaughlin, who has continued in an advisory role, recalled his obsessive desire for improvement with his team-mates in weeks like this.
Maintaining the theme, scrum coach John Fogarty used the words 'obsessive' or 'obsession' nine times in his media briefing.
Reflecting on the disappointment and frustration of “15 turnovers, 17 penalties and three yellow-cards” in last Sunday’s 24-9 defeat, Fogarty revealed: “We had one of our previews today, a set-piece preview. Kevin McLaughlin spoke about being obsessed when he was a player to improve with his mates. We need to be obsessed about doing things well every day.”
Saturday’s rendezvous with the three-in-a-row defending champions at the Aviva Stadium will most probably be Leinster’s last shot at European redemption of sorts this season, although they haven’t entirely given up on their slim hope of advancing to the last eight.
Handling drills
“I don’t think it’s just about pride,” said Fogarty. “We can still come out of this group, believe it or not, but right now it’s about making sure that we are obsessed about doing things well; the small parts with our ruck, in our handling drills, when we do our attack plays, that we’re executing those plays.
“We want that performance for these supporters, 42,000 people in the Aviva. We genuinely want to have that. The players want that as well.”
The surfeit of handling errors from a team whose passing and skills was a hallmark of their halcyon days suggests either a lack of confidence and/or an example of trying too hard. But Fogarty maintained: “I think there’s that smartness and cuteness in them. I think the nature of the lads is to work hard. They’ll continue to do that. The standard of training needs to be right up there. That confidence comes from that. We build that through the week.”
Key to it all is Johnny Sexton, whose mixed bag of a performance has been singled out for attention and drew almost gleeful criticism from l'Equipe.
To the notion that Sexton could be protected more in defence, Fogarty maintained he was well served by Josh van der Flier (19 tackles in Sunday’s first game) on his inside, and besides which Sexton will unflinchingly and almost literally stand his ground – witness his dozen tackles.
Technical “Johnny wants to be up there making those tackles and [
Ma’a] Nonu ran at him straight away so he’s going to have to make those tackles. When [Mathieu] Bastareaud carries, he’s going to have to make those tackles.
“I think he does a good job. [He’s] a little bit high in the tackle if you’re to be technical on it. He’s kind of leading in with his chest, but aside from that he’s a strong part of our defence and we’ve no issue with him in the tackle and he got great assistance from Josh.”
Seán O’Brien would be a welcome addition but the position regarding the Lions and Irish flanker, who hasn’t played since sustaining concussion against Wasps five weeks ago, is no clearer.
O’Brien has been suffering from a vestibular impairment which is affecting his balance.
"Sean O'Brien is seeing a specialist on Thursday," said Fogarty. "Basically that inner ear, there's an issue with dizziness, but according to the specialist we feel that he's close to being back on the field. As far as concussion, and all those protocols, he passed them."
Richardt Strauss passed his head injury assessment at pitchside last Sunday and has shown no signs of concussion.
