FRENCH RUGBY’S perception of European competition may or may not be changing but Toulouse see the Heineken Cup as this season’s priority – well, this week’s anyway. Priorities are in the head and can change week to week. In France a good championship can ease the burden of a poor Heineken Cup. This week’s priority can easily become next week’s motivation.
But in the past the French championship competed with the European Cup for club priority and it was not beyond teams to sacrifice a Heineken Cup match to be better prepared for a domestic league match the following week.
Nathan Hines, the Australian-born former rugby league player and current Leinster secondrow spent several seasons in Perpignan. Hines knows the mood of the French South West as well as anyone and Toulouse are like most top sides in France – ambitious and moneyed enough to chase dreams. According to Hines, their form at home this weekend should be no different from when they play away.
“They are not much different at all (at home or away),” he says. “When they came here, Toulouse, Clermont and Perpignan to a degree . . . all those French teams are playing well away from home. Pretty much perform whether they are at home or away.”
What might help Leinster somewhat is the unforgiving French public’s ability to inject expectation and pressure into their players. The home matches are under more local scrutiny than a game in Belfast on a wet Friday night.
“It’s always difficult for a rugby team in France, especially teams like Toulouse,” adds Hines. “They do feel a lot of pressure from the community. I remember when I was playing with Perpignan the game had just finished. We’d been beaten by Bourgoin, I think, and we had Toulouse the next week. Already they were saying straight after the game that you should win the game the next week. So yes, there’s always a bit of pressure. I don’t know what (pressure) they’re under now. They are through to the latter stages of the Top 14. They’ve Castres at home but I think they will be putting everything they can into this weekend.”
But even last year’s champions concede they cannot match French resources. Yesterday Leinster coach Michael Cheika made a good fist of claiming his side would not be overly concerned if Jonathan Sexton cannot play. He sat alone on that. He feels Shaun Berne coming in will rest comfortably with the team and their ability to perform. It’s a typical coach’s take.
“I think they (Toulouse) were the first team to say that they want to win every game, whether it’s home or away,” says Hines. “They want to win every competition they are in . . . but they have the squad to do that. They can prioritise the competitions and still have the players to back up in other competitions. Pretty much two first teams, not a first and second team.”
One aspect of Leinster’s game that needs to improve is not under a shadow of doubt. The opening stages of their match against Clermont was fraught with a combination of nerves and needing the time to adjust to a different style and tempo of rugby. That Leinster survived that mauling is testament to their ability but there are few in the Dublin camp who wish to see the same thing happen against Toulouse. The Heineken Cup is not really a second bite competition.
“I think we were caught out a little bit in the first couple of minutes against Clermont,” concedes the lock. “We weren’t ready enough, weren’t prepared enough for what happened. That’s good for us. We had that exposure to their style of rugby and hopefully we won’t get caught out again.
“But in my experience, the approach is exactly the same. You’ve just got to prepare well, make sure everyone knows their job. If you get that done everything should fall into place on the day. That’s it in a nutshell.”
No one is arguing and Hines appears unruffled about the task. A mix of aggression and pride, a semi-final in a ground he has never played in should fire him up. After all he did come in for Rocky Elsom.
