BOB CASEY'S DIARY:Our defence won us the Munster game, particularly Delon Armitage getting under Tony Buckley's late charge for the line. Pity about the bonus point.
IT WAS 5am on Sunday when I finally drifted off to sleep. I went out on a massive, all-in drinking session to celebrate our victory.
Only joking.
Our morning-after recovery session, and considering we go to the Ospreys this Friday, meant not a drop of alcoholic nectar came near my lips.
I did spoil myself with a tasty all you can eat Chinese after a decent 70 minute shift against Munster. Considering my parents’ Tipperary roots, there was a big crew of friends and family over so we went out after. I left them to it at their hotel singing The Fields with both sets of supporters in full voice.
The pre-game caffeine tablets ensured when I got home around midnight there was very little chance of sleep so I flopped on to the couch, turned on Sky-Plus and watched a bucket load of rugby.
Twelve months ago I went through the euphoric feeling of beating Leinster, as I again experienced on Saturday night, only for us to blow our chances of progress from the Pool by losing to the Scarlets a week later.
Lessons have been learned. There is no way we are going to underestimate a team like the Ospreys who are playing so well and have a full deck, despite dancing-boy Gavin Henson of course, with Jerry Collins looking like the All Black wrecking ball of a few years back again. In contrast, there are concerns about our flanker Declan Danaher with a possible recurrence of a knee injury.
They could so easily have got more than a losing bonus point against the Toulon Galacticos at the Stade Felix Mayol.
It is now Monday and we are travelling to Swansea on Thursday, so there is precious little time for pitch work so this will be a top six inches job.
When I came off on Saturday with 10 minutes remaining and all I could think was: This is Munster, do not give them the bonus point.
We were down in their 22 when we fell asleep for one scrum. Penalty. Then we didn’t secure a re-start. One of the strongest parts of our game, Justin Bishop coaches this area and we had been perfect up to this juncture.
That’s Munster for you in a nutshell. You can be clued-in mentally and physically for 75 minutes but all it takes is two mistakes and they had their precious away point.
We are not going to dwell on it. We are happy with the four points gained.
Hats off to them, they came to play from the kick-off, with Keith Earls’ offload almost breaking us open. The boys quickly realised this was not going to be an up the jumper affair.
Strange to be facing a Munster backrow without David Wallace and Alan Quinlan (I’d say the officials were happy to not have to listen to Quinny!).
Our defence won us the game, particularly Delon Armitage getting under Tony Buckley’s late charge for the line.
It was a great occasion for London Irish members, especially our manager Kieran McCarthy. As a Cork man, he has been waiting 15 years for the Red Army invasion. He had more family over than I did!
We were held in the tunnel for a minute before coming out to AC/DC’s Thunderstruck. Everyone was pumped but the hairs on the back of my neck stood up when boths teams and supporters came together for the minute’s applause for Moss Keane. His picture was up on the big screen. It was a fitting salute to an Irish rugby legend.
The European weekends are special. Throw Munster into that mix and it is simply an unforgettable experience. Week in, week out we play against the same guys in the Premiership. Nine seasons now, twice a year. You know the grounds and the opposition inside out. By now I’m on a first name basis with all the officials.
So the banter is always the same.
And then this amazing tournament rolls around in October.
Just look at the head-to-heads in Leinster v Racing Metro 92: Frans Steyn against Rob Kearney. Chabal against Heaslip.
Everything changes for these weeks. There is a buzz around training. The media attention is ramped up. The analysis of unknown players becomes more complex, as does the need for awareness of how individual referees go about their business.
Rugby officiating of the new laws has not yet been streamlined. Not much has changed in the Magners League and French Top 14, yet the Heineken Cup and English Premiership breakdown interpretation has immediately mirrored the Southern Hemisphere.
We had done our homework on Christopher Berdos and I feel we did a good job keeping him happy.
But Leinster seemed to suffer with Dave Pearson pinging Richardt Strauss, Seán O’Brien and Shane Jennings for doing what comes naturally. It must have been very frustrating for these three natural groundhogs coming from the Magners League where they are allowed get their hands dirty.
Around 50,000 are expected at Wembley next week for Leinster and Saracens. I was there for the U2 concert and it is an amazing place.
Clermont denied Sarries the bonus point on Saturday but they were guilty of playing too much rugby.They went to France and managed to wrestle the majority of possession and better field position but couldn’t make it count.
That neither team secured an extra point suited Leinster perfectly.
Brendan Venter has instilled a serious team spirit – my neighbouring London club work and they die for each other. Add that to an excellent lineout run by Steve Borthwick, a mean scrum with Carlos Nieto at tighthead and the X-factor of David Strettle and Alex Goode out wide. But Leinster can beat them because the Saracens style will suit them. They play quite similar to us – a wide, wide game. If Leinster contest the isolated wide breakdowns, they will get some joy, because Leinster are lethal from turnovers.
If the referee is analysed correctly, that is.
The scrum is another area of concern for me at the moment. It has become a case of “crouch, touch, pause” – have a cup of tea – “engage!”
I understand the logic of trying to ensure scrums are not constantly re-set but there must be a pushing contest. If that is taken out of the game there will be very little use for big props. They will be put out of business by more mobile operators. And that wouldn’t be rugby union anymore.
It would be something else entirely and that would be a real shame.
