artaneboy wrote:Underhill and Louw obviously caused us a lot of bother at the breakdown yesterday. It was a collective effort by Bath, but the two boys were the hardened spearhead of that effort.
I think this was a timely reminder of the importance of Sean O’Brien (remember him) to the squad. I’m a big fan of all the alternatives in what they offer- Josh and Dan in particular, but not one of them (yet) offers the combination of controlled ferocity, pace and precision at the the breakdown. VdeF gets there very quickly- maybe before Seanie, but also probably, with less impact; Leavy delivers robust and spiky challenge when he gets there- but not always with the necessary accuracy. Neither offers the package that SOB provides to us.
Even in his suboptimal performances this season, he still offered the game to neutralise the likes of the Bath open-sides at the breakdown. That may matter more, if and when we progress to the playoffs. Not pining for him- but when’s he due back...?
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Was struck by very similar points in watching yesterday but also in watching Ulster performance on Friday.
Despite fielding a fully international pack, we had some roles which we lacked, notably the sort of contribution that Best, Henderson and CJ perform, almost hidden from view, at international level. The clearing-out, latching-on and pure being awkward in support of ball carriers is a vital contribution on days like yesterday. As we did to NZ, so Bath tried to do to us. Possibly from our perspective, the biggest shortcoming was game time together for our pack and the absence of players to follow or even latch on the ball carriers, so that they would not become isolated. I concur with your analysis of JvDF and Leavy attributes, but we could certainly have done with Fardy yesterday for the nuts and bolts work of support and clear-out.
Its in games like this that we really miss Jamie and all of this sort of work he did tirelessly. I have total confidence that Leo, Stuart and Fogs assessed exactly what we would be facing in the Bath pack, but think they under-estimated the effect of ground conditions and weather, both of which made it impossible to get the tempo into our game that we needed to be able to play so close to the gain line. In those conditions, against such opposition, it is essential that the ball is being given to players with momentum, so that they can utilise their footwork to avoid being chopped by the first tackle. As in Bilbao last May, we were only provided with slow ball, partially because of the work of opponents and our short-comings in getting support to our ball carriers, but also because of the conditions. Although it can sometimes feel like we have been made to alter our style, and therefore we resist the need to change, it is vital to have our carriers lie slightly deeper and our scrum half pass slightly deeper, so that the carrier and supporters have momentum before the tackler(s) arrives.
As mentioned previously, the Referee and his Assistants yesterday were never concerned about the offside line at the breakdown and a re-watching confirms this. No team can play on the gain-line in such circumstances and even the "diamond option" doesn't work effectively under these conditions.
Deprived of speedy ball and facing a very aggressive defensive line are two of the most effective ways of stopping Leinster dominating the game. Combine these with difficult ground and weather conditions and you get a performance like yesterday. Yes, we could have picked and gone down the middle more often. Maybe, we could have lined slightly deeper. But above all, we should have been more cohesive in our support of each other and not allowed the "poachers" access to our ball. Each of these aspects will obviously be the subject of detailed examination over the next 36 hours and will be improved by next Saturday. However, we are in the fortunate position that we are seeking to pinpoint these deficiencies in the aftermath of a win, not a loss. With three games played we have 10 points, facing into home fixtures against Bath and then Toulouse and the final away game against a team with no further participation in the competition possible.
We've faced a lot worse many times in the past and come through to a home Q/F. That's the bottom line. Progress through a Season is not linear, not even incremental. What would have concerned me a lot more was if our players had appeared disinterested in the end result of a win, as we entered the final quarter. because a large number of them have used a lot of emotional energy (desire) from their banks over the past 5/6 weeks. The last 20 minutes proved to me that they have reserves left in the tank for the period ahead and the desire to use them in Leinster's cause.
