RUGBY:Sharing 10 meetings with five wins apiece, Leinster's record against Leicester reflects their own European odyssey, writes GERRY THORNLEY
NOTHING QUITE defines Leinster’s 15-year history in the Heineken Cup quite like the 10 meetings with Leicester, especially the first and last. They have five wins apiece, dating back to 1996 when Leicester came to Lansdowne Road and won 27-10, and most recently when Leinster reached their Holy Grail in the Murrayfield final two seasons ago.
A mere 3,500 turned up for that initial meeting in the Cup’s second season. Reflecting the flight of the wild geese to England, Eric Miller was playing with Leicester while the London Irish duo of Malcolm O’Kelly and Victor Costello, along with Saracens’ Paul Wallace, were “guesting” for Leinster.
“It was bizarre,” chuckles O’Kelly, who was playing in the first of his seven games against Leicester over 13 seasons. “We were getting beaten up and down England with London Irish, so we couldn’t get out of there fast enough. It was a savage team but it was like a re-union of sorts. We were just drafted in for these matches and there was no Celtic League.”
Miller had won his first Leinster cap the previous year against Northern Transvaal, went to college in England and harboured notions of playing rugby league when the union code turned professional. “Bob Dwyer came and that was it. I had the choice of staying on in college or taking a contract.
“Leicester were definitely at the forefront of professionalism in the UK anyway and were a club very much based on close community; a very in-house club. At Leicester you were just expected to win every game, and in the famous Leicester way then, through the forward pack. One-dimensional, but in saying that we had the best players to do that.”
Costello recalls of those early meetings. “The one thing about Leicester in those days was they played such hard games week-in, week-out and the likes of Martin Johnson, Neil Back and Lewis Moody just hit, and hit, and hit, and eventually broke you down at the breakdown. They were relentless.”
Costello cites Munster’s 49-22 thrashing of high-flying Wasps in that ’96-97 season as a seminal moment for the Irish provinces, and the following season Leinster would beat Leicester 16-9 in front of a capacity 7,000 at Donnybrook.
“They had the Fijian playmaker Waisale Serevi, and we closed him down,” says Costello. “Martin Ridge hit anything that moved that day. Even though Leicester had a huge reputation, perhaps because there are so many connections and because we met them so often, we always raised our game against them.”
Costello also recalls the then Tigers’ hooker Richard Cockerill claiming that, while Leinster may have won that opening meeting, Leicester would qualify. “And he was right,” says Costello.
Revenge would come at Welford Road, when Leicester won 47-22 en route to reaching the final. “That was back in Mike Ruddock’s day, but they had a lot of big names and were much more professional. That was like a revenge match.”
Leinster did the double in the 1999-2000 pool stages, O’Kelly recalling of the Welford Road win (effectively a dead rubber): “We were well ahead, Coyler (Peter Coyle) came on at some stage, we were in the middle of a scrum and he absolutely bust Graham Rowntree.”
Two fairly convincing quarter-final defeats followed. Matt Williams had taken Leinster unbeaten until January, whereupon a rearranged game in Leeds against Newcastle left them with a five-day turnaround before facing Toulouse. Defeat there condemned Leinster to a Welford Road quarter-final, as Leicester went on to complete the only back-to-back Heineken Cups.
“We were always going to come back stronger from that,” says Miller, who was fired up for that return to Welford Road, and the following year Leinster would reach the semi-finals. “I think self-belief was a real stumbling block for us, even though we had the talent.”
A 29-13 beating at Lansdowne Road three years later marked the end of Declan Kidney’s one season in charge. Costello, in his last campaign, was left on the bench.
“That was a very hurtful day for everyone involved,” he admits. “When you have a full house in Lansdowne Road there is a lot of expectation and we felt we let a lot of people down, including ourselves. I’ll be honest, there’s things Deccie has said to me that will stay with me for the rest of my life. He’s a very intelligent man, but sometimes he can be too clever. I could understand what he was trying to do, by not starting Victor, Leicester would not have me predictably running at them, but Leicester are completely predictable, and by the time I came on the game was over. It was a very sorry day, but not the end of the world.”
“They just played very well on the day,” is Miller’s take on it. “It wasn’t that we capitulated. I don’t remember us being frightened of them, I just remember defending for most of it!”
“Lewis Moody had a field day,” says O’Kelly. “Everything went for them. We were miles off and we had just come off a Triple Crown win and thought we were God’s gift. We were the ‘Big Underachievers’ , ‘Typical Leinster’. ‘Bottled it’ and la-la-la. We had a great side but we just weren’t capable of pulling out the big performances on the big day. Our leadership qualities weren’t developed at that stage.”
The sides shared home pool wins in ’07-08, when neither qualified, and by the time Leinster lifted the Cup in 2009 under Michael Cheika, it was fitting that they had to overcome Leicester.
“Guys weren’t taking any more chances,” says O’Kelly. “They weren’t doing anything by half measures any more. ‘This is serious s***, we need to have our A game the whole time.’ I think some of the guys had messed up and lost so many opportunities, certainly the senior guys, that they were driving it. And then you had Leo (Cullen) and Jenno (Shane Jennings) who had been there with Leicester and were mad keen.
“It was a great day,” Costello says of the final. “By then, Leinster had become a machine, and I’m confident the machine will keep rolling.”
EXPERT OPINION
VICTOR COSTELLO
Costello played 127 times for Leinster (he also played for Connacht) as well as winning 39 caps for Ireland. He is now an airline pilot based in London and a pundit for RTÉ television.
What does the Leinster-Leicester rivalry mean to you?For me, it's a good friend of mine, Eric Miller. He was a huge talent and they exploited his talent. There were so many agendas trying to prove yourself against him. There's always been lots of connections and, of course, Martin Johnson, one of the best players ever, and them coming to Dublin to dissect us and our pride in sometimes scalping them."
What are the key areas today?Johnny Sexton and Toby Flood. The O'Gara-Sexton rivalry is phenomenal and Johnny is moving onto the ball well and is more consistent than Flood. Jamie Heaslip v Thomas Waldrom and the backrow battle – there's little to choose between them. But I don't think this is the Leicester of old, nor do they have the coach of old, but as ever with Leicester, they'll be hard to beat.
Who will win?Leicester are regimental and predictable, Leinster are not. They have firepower all over the place . . . and the key was last weekend. Munster had to climb a mountain and Leicester will have to climb that same mountain. I firmly believe Leinster will win.
ERIC MILLER
Miller played 12 times for Leicester and 34 for Leinster in the Heineken Cup and won 48 caps for Ireland. Retired in 2006, and has been coaching and working with his wife’s personal training business.
What does the Leinster-Leicester rivalry mean to you?Always a forward battle. It was all about that, winning the inches, because you knew they weren't going to back off and it was like that playing in Leicester. Leicester have always had decent backs but if they could get on top up front they were very hard to stop. There was that air of confidence about them, whereas with Leinster certain things would have to go right, such as parity up front, for our game to go well.
What are the key areas today?I think the defences will be huge. Leicester try to play a more open game now but I don't think their offloading game has evolved as much as Leinster's. Leinster's defence is excellent and if Leicester are direct I think Leinster can cope with it. If the game breaks up Leinster have that ability under Joe Schmidt to maybe get that crucial try at the right time.
Who will win?The extra adrenalin of the home support might just sway it for Leinster. But if they're 10 or 20 per cent off, they'll be in trouble. If Leinster struggle as they did in the second half last week, Leicester have a great chance.
MALCOLM O’KELLY
O’Kelly played 188 times for Leinster and 92 times for Ireland, and was a two-time Lion. Retired at the end of last season. Still involved with Leinster and a pundit on Newstalk and on www.joe.ie.
What does the Leinster-Leicester rivalry mean to you?Bruising encounters. When I think of Leicester I don't think of a side with flair, but a successful side, and built on over the years, not flash-in-the-pan stuff. They have that ability to grind out victories, they have this consistency, a great history and culture, and that's so vital in rugby. And it's something that Leinster are getting towards but Leicester lead the way. We've had some good wins against them but you can't underestimate them.
What are the key areas today?The half-backs will be pretty key, and the lineout. In the 2009 game we were able to upset them. They didn't have a platform and I would love to see us get at them, because they have forever been the team that are destructive to other teams. I think the scrum will balance itself out. They've a mean defence but Leinster have been able to open up every team they've met.
Who will win?I think Leinster will win ball at the lineout and while Leicester are used to bullying teams, a bit like Munster, I think Leinster will stand up to them and impose their game and lift their intensity. So I think Leinster will win.
So far . . .
Leinster
Pool 2:
Leinster 38, Racing Metro 22
Saracens 23, Leinster 25
Clermont 20, Leinster 13
Leinster 24, Clermont 8
Leinster 43, Saracens 20
Racing Metro 11, Leinster 36.
Leicester
Pool 5:
Treviso 29, Leicester 34
Leicester 46, Scarlets 10
Perpignan 24, Leicester 19
Leicester 22, Perpignan 22
Scarlets 18, Leicester 32
Leicester 62, Treviso 15
