The palpable relish with which every single Leinster player now buys into their Jacques Nienaber-redesigned defence was central to Sunday’s defiant and potentially defining 16-14 win in La Rochelle. So much so that they appear to have been certain in their minds that they could withstand that last 20-phase La Rochelle attack.
They may not be as fluent as they once were but James Ryan, for one, went so far as to suggest: “It’s one we might have lost a couple of years ago but you’ve got to be able to win ugly at times and we’re relieved.”
Ryan could well have had in mind the final in Marseilles three seasons ago, when La Rochelle laid siege to the Leinster line and there was an inevitability about the winning try with the last play of the game by Arthur Retière.
Leinster win in La Rochelle - grit or alarm bells?
“It’s a mixture of things,” said Ryan in explaining the difference from three years ago. “I think our defence has improved and maybe we’re just a little bit more experienced now as a group or a little bit older and we’ve got some guys that have come in and made a real difference like Jordie [Barrett], RG [Snyman] and Rabah [Slimani] coming on.”
This time, admittedly after Josh van der Flier flew off the line to charge down Antoine Hastoy’s drop goal attempt, Leinster kept pushing up hard and tackling with such effectiveness that it felt increasingly likely they’d hold out.
“I thought we defended well and with some big defensive sets, one in the first half and at the end. The main thing was discipline. I didn’t think they’d get in for a try, but I just didn’t want to give them three. We got there in the end,” said Ryan, who even added: “We’re loving it. The lads love the system. They love defending for Leinster.”
What’s more, although they rode their luck a little and the post-match narrative could have been very different, Leinster can take even more belief from that last play stand.
“Yeah, big time. That was the thing, like we defended unbelievably well at the end. We pushed them back five, 10 metres from our try line, then pushed them out of the 22. We take huge belief from that.”
It’s as much a mindset as well as the increasing focus on line speed, pushing up hard on the outside, making double tackle, counter-rucking and contesting everything, while also scrambling and defending their own line with their lives.
“That’s what defence is, it’s all mentality. I thought we had it today,” added Ryan, who credited Nienaber for providing “very good clarity around the defensive system. When you’re nice and clear going to a game in terms of what’s expected of you and you can focus on bringing the sort of intent piece, the big part of this is clarity.”
As you’d expect, Nienaber delivers his messages forcefully too.
“Yeah, he’s good at that,” said Ryan with a knowing smile. “He’s got a very good feel for the group and what the group needs.”
But, of course, this win will only be defining if Leinster back it up against Premiership leaders Bath, Finn Russell et al, in the Aviva next Saturday (kick-off 5.30pm).
“Exactly. Six-day turnarounds are always tricky,” admitted Ryan, adding: “They’ve been going very well. We talked about this block of La Rochelle and Bath as being a big one for us, Bath are one of the form teams in Europe.”
What’s more, they’ll be coming up against Ross Molony and if anyone has insider information on the Leinster lineout, it is Ryan’s former secondrow partner.
“Ross? Yeah,” Ryan said with a smile. “We’ll have to think about that and have a plan in place.”
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