There’s a whole lot of rugby being played at the moment. In the south, the Super Rugby tournament is entering the final lap leading in to the play-off series. In the north, the Aviva and Magners premierships have played their semi-finals and the European finals – both the Amlin Challenge and the Heineken Cup – were both played on this weekend. Some weeks ago, I decided to focus on the Heineken final – this is the world’s premier club competition, in my view – and boy, am I glad that I did.
The Heineken Cup is a great championship. I was lucky enough to be involved in it during my time with Leicester Tigers, way back in the infancy of the title. In the first year of English participation, my Tigers team defeated the mighty Toulouse in the semi, only to be soundly defeated by Brive in a final. It was watched then by an estimated TV audience of 35 million – and it’s grown hugely since! This is a truly great competition, and this year’s was a truly great final.
Leinster were favourites after winning their way through a difficult pool series and then defeating Toulouse in the semi-final. Northampton had suffered the toughest of lead-up matches – last weekend, against Leicester Tigers, in the Aviva Premiership – and most judges thought that this might just be ‘one match too far’ for them. But they had other ideas.
The Saints fairly fired out of the blocks and pounded Leinster for almost three minutes of ball-in-hand rugby. Leinster were back on their heels and, when Jonny Sexton’s huge clearing kick went fully 70 metres into touch in-goal, the Northampton assault continued unabated. From the scrum, Northampton attacked the blindside and their back row pressed on for the try to Phil Dowson. Myler’s conversion from touch made it 7-0 after only six minutes.
The lead-in to that first try set the tone for most of the first half. Northampton’s scrum was on top and this ascendancy grew to be dominant as the half progressed. Leinster’s scrum imploded on more than a few occasions and the penalties followed.
There was no respite for the Leinster defence, and what little opportunity they had in possession was wasted with poor execution. Their ambition for the off-loads and urgency that had characterised their play all season was admirable, but ambition without technique will never succeed under such pressure. Support was over-anxious and too flat, the pass too hard; these faults often go together. At 7–3, Reddan made one of his many breaks, this time down the blindside, and gave Horgan half a chance. Horgan put Strauss clear and the speedy hooker could have continued to the tryline, but this was one of those too-hard passes and the chance was lost. And so it went, for the rest of the first 40.
Stuart Barnes noted that the Saints were finding easy gaps with their ‘unders’ lines and this brought their eager support runners onto the ball, in behind the Leinster defence. Those easy yards added to their scrum domination and, in the words of Jonny Sexton, “we were shell-shocked!” Foden, Lawes and Hartley were prominent in support of Tonga’uiha’s scrum effort and, by the break, they had scored three tries and led by 22 points to Leinster’s 6. The half-time whistle couldn’t come too soon for Leinster.
What happened at the break? Inside the players’ heads, that is. Who knows? In terms of performance, it was as though the teams had swapped jerseys. Leinster began as Northampton had 50 minutes earlier. They were positive and precise and O’Driscoll showed them the way when he appeared behind the tackle for a pick-and-drive that threatened the Saints’ line. From the urgent recycle, Sexton easily rounded the defending prop – and they had taken back seven points in four minutes.
Sexton, and those outside him, have profited all season from his second touches, and with the increased accuracy of Leinster’s play these began to reappear. From one such move, Sexton crossed again in the 53rd minute – although Jamie Heaslip’s continued run (after delivering the loop pass) clearly obstructed a defender. A few minutes later, a Sexton penalty put Leinster in the lead. After just 17 minutes of the second half, Northampton’s commanding lead had been wiped out – and they had no chance of another 10-minute break to regroup!
From here on, Leinster were not to be denied. Their big guns had come out after the break and raised the ante. O’Driscoll had uncharacteristically fallen off a couple of tackles in the first half, but he was now full of intent, confidence and determination. O’Brien had been unusually quiet but was now back to his rampaging best. Nacewa had put a couple of difficult high balls down but was now dominant. Leinster’s scrum had been righted – indeed to such an extent that they monstered the Northampton pack to earn a Sexton penalty shot that gave them the lead. Everything that had been wrong for them in the first half was now spot-on — and the reverse was true for Northampton.
For the losers, Foden showed his real class and Tonga’uiha had put his team in pole position with his dominant scrummaging, but in fact they had all played well. They are a good side who are very well coached. They do the easy things well. I’m sure that there was truth in the words of their coach, Jim Mallinder, when he said that they tired badly after their very tough match the previous weekend.
For the winners, Sexton was a deserved man-of-the-match, but Reddan’s constant sniping gave them a lot of front-foot ball. O’Driscoll’s pick-and-go early in the second half gave his team their first real sniff. With this triumph, Leinster join the greats by winning the title a second time. Leicester, Munster & Wasps also have two, while Toulouse have four.
I rate Jim Mallinder and I rate Joe Schmidt – and you won’t hear such comment often from me. It interests me greatly to hear them praise their assistants, something you don’t hear often from coaches. Mallinder rates his forwards coach, Dorian West, and so do I. Schmidt gave great praise to his scrum coach, Greg Feek, for his half-time efforts. Without reversing their form in that area, Leinster could not have won.
I have not changed my rating of Romain Poite. Hartley bores upwards on opposition ball, every week – for England and Northampton. Tonga’uiha was allowed to scrummage on the angle all day, at least until Greg Feek came to the rescue. Non-release of the ball-carrier was the order of the day, as was offside around the tackle. I pity the teams who will have to suffer Poite at the World Cup.
I did rate the game. I just loved it.
