The Offload: Jordan Larmour’s mental resilience as impressive as physical quality

In watching Jordan Larmour in full flight against Glasgow Warriors on Saturday the simple joy of playing was etched on his features. He didn’t overthink, just trusted his instincts and played accordingly. He was aware of his support runners and unselfish in putting others in space. It was quite the all-round display.

The 24-year-old has had to add resilience to his physical gifts over the past 18 months or so. He started Andy Farrell’s first three matches in charge in the 2020 Six Nations but since then has only won six caps, four off the bench, and the last against Japan last summer.

Injuries and a dip in form have conspired to test that resolve but Larmour has shown impressive mental strength. Despite a hip flexor problem which sidelined him from March until May, since the start of the year he has scored six tries in six games, a superb strike-rate, but it his performance in general in which he is excelling once again.

Leinster head coach Leo Cullen said after his man-of-the-match display against Glasgow: “He was unlucky to miss out on selection last week [for La Rochelle]. It is great to see him go well because he was excellent in that Munster game. It was a hard call, him missing out last week, but it had been his first game in a while, and the magnitude of the game, so it was good to see him go well.”

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It will be even harder for Cullen to consider leaving his young wing out of next Friday’s semi-final against the Blues at the RDS irrespective of whether Hugo Keenan and James Lowe recover from injury in time.

Larmour was pushed through a difficult time and it is to his credit the manner in which he has worked hard to see his way out the other side.

Number: 14

The number of tries that they Stormers have scored from counterattacks in the United Rugby Championship. No other team has scored more than 10 tries in that fashion and it accounts for 23 per cent of all tries scored by the South African side, who will host Ulster in the (URC) semi-final next Saturday.

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“We’ve got to own that as a group, we came here to win, and we were a long way short. The message is we as a group have got to own it and take accountability for it. Look, our fans have been phenomenal. They stick with us through thick and thin but if we perform like that it’s not good enough.” The outgoing Munster head coach Johann van Graan on his last game in charge.

McFadden wanders his way into first senior coaching role

The former Ireland and Leinster player Fergus McFadden will take his first steps in senior coaching with Wanderers having agreed to the position of backs coach with the senior squad having worked with the under-20s this season. He will join a coaching team headed by Eoin Sheriff.

The 35-year-old enjoyed a 13-year professional rugby career, won 34 Ireland caps, and made 188 appearances for Leinster, scoring 444 points. He will bring his experience of having played under Michael Cheika, Joe Schmidt and Stuart Lancaster. He won six Pro12/14 titles, three Heineken Champions Cups and two Six Nations Championships.

He played his final game for Leinster against the Glasgow Warriors in February 2020. Sheriff who briefly played with McFadden at Leinster, said: “I’m delighted to welcome Fergus on board as an assistant coach and backs coach for the senior squad.

“Wanderers has huge ambitions, both on and off the pitch, and the appointment of someone with Fergus’s rugby experience to this role is a clear indication of that ambition. I’d like to thank our outgoing coach Tommy Ellard for his service to the club over the past 10 years, he’s been a great support to me and had a huge impact on the club.”

Lukewarm French reaction to South African teams in Europe

The decision by EPCR to admit South African teams into next season’s Heineken Champions Cup and Challenge Cup competitions has met a lukewarm reaction from some of the French clubs, but not from Rene Bouscatel, president of the LNR (League Nationale de Rugby), the umbrella organisation for the French Top 14 clubs.

He suggested: “It is in everyone’s interest, including the players, to play against teams they have never met. It will raise the level of our domestic competitions, including the Top 14, and it will bring, in fact, a plus for our France team. The advantage is to raise the level of the European Cup by raising the level of the domestic championships. It will rebalance the forces.”

His view is in marked contrast to several other opinions about the South African sides joining the tournament. La Rochelle president Vincent Merling suggested that “it would represent a loss of identity for the competition”.

Agence France-Presse also canvassed several players on their views. Racing 92 centre Henry Chavancy said: “It risks distorting the interest, the history of this competition a little bit. Personally, I find it a bit weird.”

Stade Francais’ Pierre-Henri Azagoh said: “The trips are going to be a bit long. The advantage is that there is no jet lag, but it will be tough all the same. We have to see how the matches are going to be set in relation to the Top 14 schedule.