It was hailed as a sign of progressive times – a potential new coach met, and screened by, a cadre of senior Leinster players. Matt O’Connor was effectively interviewed by the men he is now coaching. He had to make the good impression first
Following the short-lived tenures of Declan Kidney and Gary Ella, Leinster struck gold twice in five years as they appointed unheralded yet hungry, astute coaches from the Southern Hemisphere. By the time Matt O’Connor stepped up from his role as Richard Cockerill’s right-hand man, at Leicester, to the Leinster top job, the province had claimed three Heineken Cups, a Challenge Cup and two league titles between 2009 and 2013.
Michael Cheika and Joe Schmidt, who also had to meet the players in 2010 before he got the job, left the newcomer with a bar set extremely high. Meeting senior players such as Sean O’Brien and Rob Kearney was portrayed as a positive but, in my view, it undermined the Australian from the start.
O’Connor had to start his first season without Isa Nacewa’s sublime services and with Johnny Sexton residing in Paris. He then lost Eoin O’Malley to injury and both Brian O’Driscoll and Leo Cullen to retirement. Over the course of two seasons, for prolonged periods, he has been without Sean O’Brien, Luke Fitzgerald, Fergus McFadden, Cian Healy and Richardt Strauss. Those five are tip of a sizeable iceberg.
Regardless, Leinster have regressed from the grind that signified O’Connor’s first season at the helm. The backline – apart from home romps against fallow Welsh opposition – has looked flat and only Sean Cronin has emerged as a genuine, gainline-breaking option from the forwards.
Centre Luke Fitzgerald told RTE today, ‘We’ve just had so many bad injuries, it’s been a tough time for Matt. He’s had a real tough time, I feel bad for him. He’s a brilliant coach, a really bright guy, so hopefully we can put in a couple of good performance. There’s a lot of respect for him among the player group, so we owe him a couple of big ones.’
Fitzgerald is correct – the players do owe O’Connor but do they truly believe O’Connor is the man to lead the club to another European Cup? I doubt it.
Word on O’Connor is that he is well regarded by the wider playing staff but he does not strike fear, or impose himself, on his men. Both Cheika and Schmidt were meticulous and driven but had no problem getting their point across to their players. O’Connor is amiable and has some nice ideas on how he wants to play the game but he is lacking in ruthlessness and invention.
Another worrying snippet came from captain Jamie Heaslip three weeks ago when, in defending O’Connor, he suggested the team was less “robotic” under the Australian than under Schmidt. Leinster supporters would love to have some of that robotic style – like the one that destroyed Ulster 42-14 in the 2012 Heineken Cup final – back.
Schmidt was famed for his forensic analysis of opposition weak points. Nacewa’s tries from cross-field kicks (against Ospreys in 2011/12 and Scarlets in 2012/13) and Jamie Heaslip’s try against Biarritz in the Challenge Cup (after a cleverly worked line-out) may be seen as trick plays but they were effective and have been sorely absent during O’Connor’s tenure.
One look at Leinster’s coaching staff gives an insight into the team’s lack of a cutting edge. There is no dedicated backs coach. The brain-trust is O’Connor, Marco Caputo (a former hooker), Leo Cullen (lock) and Richie Murphy (out-half).
O’Connor was a centre in his playing days but the game has moved on since his peak – a Test cap in 1994 – and Welford Road, Leicester is a breeding ground for forwards rather than incisive backline moves.
Leinster surely dangled a coach job at Brian O’Driscoll ahead of his retirement but they should take another pass in the summer. Whether or not O’Connor is there for 2015/16 may well depend on a huge four games in 21 days, starting with Ulster on Saturday and ending with a trip to Coventry on 24 January.
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