In the 38th minute at Croke Park, Leinster used a clever starter play off a lineout to launch Caelan Doris a good five metres over the gain line to generate razor-quick ball. But it was what happened next which perhaps gave an indication of Tyler Bleyendaal’s influence as their new backs coach.
Jamison Gibson-Park ran back to the right, where he had Andrew Porter and both locks as potential receivers, as Ciaran Frawley also switched to that side in behind them. But Max Deegan crossed right-left the other way and Gibson-Park reverse-passed to him. Deegan had another left-right switch option in Liam Turner but opted to take the ball into contact before Josh van der Flier trucked it up.
A couple of phases later Leinster earned a penalty and remained in the attacking zone until RG Snyman scored, but those second and third-phase criss-crossing patterns looked very reminiscent of moves used by the Hurricanes when Tyler Bleyendaal was cutting his teeth as a coach.
Jacques Nienaber famously revealed that it takes 14 weeks to get a new defensive system effectively in place, and probably still regrets saying it. Whatever about that, a new attack takes longer, although Bleyendaal is not ripping up Leinster’s playbook and starting again.
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“I think the thing that might take time is diverting away from what’s happened for a long time,” said Bleyendaal at Leinster’s HPC yesterday. “Guys have habits or have done things a certain way for a certain reason. If my view or our view slightly differs, we’re trying to retrain that; it can take time.
“The structures and patterns, the players pick that up quick, they’re excited around attacking with the ball in hand, but I think we’re also kicking well into space and just trying to get them to see space and the balance between structured play and playing unstructured.
“Like, if you play a team like Munster you don’t get a lot of structure. You get a lot of kick returns, you’ve got to force errors with your defence. If you don’t get errors in, your attack is not structured for a long while.”
Bleyendaal’s reputation preceded him after four seasons with the Hurricanes, so prompting Leo Cullen to make the call. Coaching is, he says, “always” a work in progress.
“We’re working out as a coaching staff to really integrate with each other’s expertise and areas of the game, I guess. From how we kick, to how we counter, to defence, to getting the ball back, all that kind of cycle, then the set-piece and whatnot. So definitely a work in progress. We need to have patience. It’s not going to be immediate. But the players have been great, they’ve a good attitude. They’re challenging themselves. It’s not exactly status quo, comfort zone stuff. It’s been enjoyable.
“They’re extremely diligent. They really enjoy trying to improve and get better. They put the work in off the field. Extremely diligent, and curious as well. They want to try and grow their game. There are some pretty good players there who have played the game at a high level, some for a long time. But they’re not comfortable where they are at. They’re always trying to improve. So Jacques is challenging them, and I’m trying to challenge them in different ways.”
There is fierce competition in Bleyendaal’s former position and he praised Frawley’s performance against Munster.
“We had periods when we were under pressure, but we also scored points. I think ‘Frawls’ is a good threat himself and it’s a real balance. You’ve got to be your own threat, you’ve got to make your own plays as a ‘10′ but you’ve also got to make everyone around you better players, and he’s doing a good job at the moment; kicking, direction, ball in hand. So, he had a pretty good outing.”
Despite being the one player to start all three games on the Emerging Ireland tour, Sam Prendergast is as real option to start against Connacht at the Dexcom Stadium next Saturday (kick-off 7.35pm).
“I asked him: ‘Mate, are you still walking?’ He looked at me and said: ‘Yeah, not a problem,’” joked Bleyendaal.
“He was obviously given the reins to direct that team around for three matches and again he’s shown that he can control a game with his attacking kicking and he’s good with ball in hand when you give him time and space.”
Robbie Henshaw is also back in training and available to face his old province in Galway, while Lee Barron’s ankle injury is being assessed and Ryan Baird is undergoing the return to play protocols. Jack Conan will miss the trip to Galway after picking up a hamstring injury at the weekend.
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