IN FOCUS: THE MUNSTER-LEINSTER RIVALRY: GERRY THORNLEYtalks to Leinster's Michael Cheika and Munster's Tony McGahan on how the provinces can cope as the golden era nears an end
FOR THE third time in just five years Leinster and Munster are bumping into each other at the semi-final stages of a major tournament. Considering they set the standard by meeting in the inaugural Celtic League final eight seasons ago, and play-offs in the Magners League have only been reintroduced this season, that is a remarkable testimony to the strength of Ireland’s two standard-bearers. But will they meet again in the knock-out stages of either tournament any time soon? Will they even be in a position to do so?
Such sobering thoughts have risen to the surface in the wake of both teams’ exits at the same stage in Europe two weeks ago. Admittedly, in addition to being drawn away, both teams suffered a mounting injury crisis going into the Heineken Cup semi-finals weekend, with Luke Fitzgerald, Paul O’Connell, Jonathan Sexton, Denis Leamy, Seán O’Brien, Doug Howlett and Ian Dowling all hors de combat, on top of which Shane Jennings and Jamie Heaslip shipped knocks during Leinster’s defeat in Toulouse.
Cheika points to all the English, French and Welsh clubs who didn’t make the semi-finals or even the quarter-finals, cites the presence of Munster and Leinster amongst the top three ranked sides in the ERC’s rankings over the last five years and their respective Magners League form in that timespan (Leinster have never been outside the top three) as well as Ulster’s league success five seasons ago.
Munster coach Tony McGahan concurs. “I find it baffling. You look at Manchester United, they won their first European Cup in 1968, and had to wait until 1999 for their next one, and their third in 2008. And they’re one of the biggest clubs ever. It’s not as if there are five or six trophies on offer every year, and it’s so difficult to navigate your way through the pool stages.
“You need a lot of things to go your own way with luck, decisions and injuries, and to play well to get to a semi-final. In our case we probably lost the (semi-final) more than Biarritz won it, and that’s the disappointing thing. But you just have to be careful that people aren’t too greedy.”
Each squad retains half a dozen players from those squads of eight seasons ago, but as the recently-announced retirements of Leinster’s Girvan Dempsey and Malcolm O’Kelly underline, the golden generation which has sustained these two teams in particular through the bountiful noughties is coming to an end.
Leinster’s transitional, rebuilding phase has already begun when you think the likes of Reggie Corrigan, Shane Byrne, Victor Costello, Keith Gleeson and Denis Hickie have retired in recent times. Munster face the bigger rebuilding phase within the next year or two given their age profile. That is what happens when a great team grows old together. They keep the young tyros at bay before departing almost simultaneously.
That in part explains why the Leinster Academy appears to have been more productive in recent times, simply because there have been more avenues into the team. Even so, in Munster they privately concede their academy is catching up and evidence of this is the promotion of six players to development contracts next season.
“That’s the cycle that we’re in at this point in time,” admits McGahan. “We’ve had once-in-a-generation players all together for a long period of time, and some of those players are in their last 12 months, some are in their last 24 months of their careers. Once you get to the back end of such a cycle you need to make sure you’re integrating the next group of players at the professional environment.”
To that end, Munster have made their academy more closely aligned to their senior squad in the last two seasons, both in terms of strength and conditioning, and in the skills programmes that also filter down to sub-academy and schools. They have used a dozen academy or sub-academy players this season – all told they have used 51 players in their 18-game Magners League campaign.
As a golden generation comes to an end, McGahan admits Munster are in a slightly different position from Leinster. “They’ve got four or five guys, like the Kearneys, Fitzgeralds and Heaslip, who have not only proved themselves at provincial level but on the international stage and a Lions tour. We’re at the doorstep now of those young players coming through and providing them with a platform to perform on the provincial stage and we hope they go on to the international stage. In the last couple of years those guys have pushed their way into the Leinster side whereas our guys are right at the doorstep and they need to charge through it.”
At least McGahan has signed a two-year contract extension and the vast majority of the squad remain in situ, save for Jean de Villiers, Jeremy Manning, Nick Williams and Julien Brugnaut. In Leinster, not alone are Dempsey and O’Kelly moving on, but so too is CJ van der Linde, and most probably Bernard Jackman and Chris Keane.
Furthermore, after five years at the helm, so is Cheika, along with defensive coach Kurt McQuilkin (who is returning to New Zealand), backs coach Alan Gaffney (who is concentrating on Ireland) and team manager Chris Whitaker (who is joining Cheika at Stade Francais). Thus far, only new head coach Joe Schmidt and Jonno Gibbes as forwards coach are in place for next season.
Even so, despite all this, Cheika firmly believes Leinster are in good health. “Because if you look at the age profile of the team, it’s actually very good. I don’t know it off by heart but I would have to guess the average of the team is probably around 27. That’s a really good age group as far as the competitiveness of the side is concerned. If you look at Healy, Toner, O’Brien, Heaslip, who is probably at the top of that as the oldest of that group, McLaughlin, Sexton, Fitzgerald, Kearney, McFadden, you’ve got a good spine of the team that you can start to build around.”
He also cites younger players like Jack McGrath, Rhys Ruddock, Ian Madigan and Stuart Maguire as further evidence of Leinster’s future good health but, in referenced to the IRFU’s Player Advisory Group which rubberstamps all signings, warns: “I think there’s a few too many restrictions being put on to the provinces as far as their recruitment policy is concerned, and their ability to grow within themselves as autonomous units.
“There’s too much of a sinister thought that we’re trying to cheat the system, or that we’d prefer to give foreign players a run more than Irish players. It’s definitely not true. I think the genuine intent is we just want to have a really good team and obviously development is part of a centrally-contracted system, and anyone who is brought to do that job, as the coach, is given that (duty) clearly and then should be trusted to get on with that. But I’d be pretty happy with the shape it’s in. Really happy actually.”
To the credit of Cheika and Leinster, they have played their part in the development of indigenous players. This season the Ireland team has featured a raft of players who had not even made their debuts for Leinster when Cheika arrived – Rob Kearney, Fitzgerald, Cian Healy, Heaslip, Sexton, Seán O’Brien and Kevin McLaughlin.
Maintaining and marrying this pattern with successful provincial sides as well as a winning Irish one is, according to Cheika “totally up to” the IRFU, “because they’re commanding how many players – who, where, what, so it’s really not in the hands of the provinces at this stage. What we’re doing is working within the rules and restrictions they’re giving us and I think, personally, that’s a credit to the players of Leinster and Munster in particular because they’ve done really well with that.”
Then again, you can understand the Irish management and the IRFU wanting to see more home-grown props, for example, playing for the provinces rather than, say, the likes of CJ van der Linde, Stanley Wright and BJ Botha packing down most weeks.
Cheika points out Leinster have brought through Cian Healy, and brought Mike Ross home, but maintains there has to be a longer-term strategy to develop props rather than limiting the number of imports. “What do you do, do you let the rest of the group suffer for that? It’s about balance.” Cheika cites the two games when Leinster were obliged to field young, inexperienced sides heavily drawn from their academy this season away to the Dragons and Glasgow, which they lost 30-14 and 30-6. “You’ve got to remember you’ll be competing against some teams who have the same restrictions, but others who don’t.”
Next season’s World Cup will further limit the number of matches the front-liners play for their provinces to a maximum of 10 out of 22 in the expanded league (with Leinster and Munster the bulk suppliers and liable to have around 10 or 12 in that category).
To compensate for this, Cheika believes Leinster’s number of full-timers should be increased further (next season they will have two additional full-time contracts to the 35 they had this season), and as the academy and development-contracted players are already in the system, that this would also include upping the number of five overseas players to at least seven.
For what it’s worth Cheika has no doubts either there’s sufficient talent coming through Munster as well to ensure their continuing strength. “They’ve got a culture that makes them come through.”
Leinster and Munster have been good for each other too, each setting the bar higher for the other. “Without a doubt,” says McGahan. “Both sides push each other. I’m sure Leinster would have been looking at Munster winning a couple of Heineken Cups and they would have been driven on by that, and likewise for us last year. Both organisations are pushing each other to be the best they can and with such a small population that’s terrific.”
Cheika agrees, albeit adding with a smile, “They’ve been bad for us too. We’re not afraid to say we wanted to try and get up and match them. That’s a compliment to them but it’s also a compliment to us, that we’re not too proud to say we used them as a target and we’ve got to try and keep using them as a target.”
Following his retirement, the late, great Bill Shankly was asked what were the highlights of his time as Liverpool manager. Shankly pondered this for no more than a second or two, and despite all the trophies and European nights, through gritted teeth, Shankly said: “The games with Leeds.”
One imagines Cheika will miss the games with Munster. “They’ve been brilliant. The emotional roller-coaster that goes on with them. I’ve learned a lot from them, how to manage the big-match environment differently all the time, because they happen quite regularly. They have been highlights and hopefully there’ll be one more.”
And plenty more after this one too.
