WITH LEINSTER HITTING form at the business end of the season, many pundits are once again describing them as one of the top two sides in Europe — Clermont being the other.
Veteran centre Gordon D’Arcy insists the mid-season fanfare, or castigations, mean nothing to the Leinster squad. Trophies are hard currency for the three-time Heineken Cup winners.
“You don’t want to be that side that plays that great brand of rugby but has nothing to show for it at the end,” he declared at this afternoon’s press conference.
D’Arcy added, “Being involved with Leinster, personally, for so many years when you weren’t within a sniff of a trophy, we’ve been quite lucky in the last four years that we’ve been involved in the business end and won a few trophies. Joe [Schmidt] has really kicked this team on to higher standards.”
With Schmidt moving on to the head coaching role with Ireland during the summer, D’Arcy is targeting the Pro12 and Amlin Challenge Cup titles as a fitting send-off. The Wexford native declares Schmidt’s much talked of switch from provincial to national level has not diminished the Leinster focus. He said:
One thing I’ve always talked about in my career is honesty and he was clear from the start about that. He gave us information when he felt we needed it but, as I’ve said, it didn’t effect us for one minute or his ability around the squad… we wish him all the best and hope to send him on his way with a couple of trophies.”
Word of mouth, says D’Arcy, from guys in Leicester about in-coming coach Matt O’Connor is positive. He added, “Matt seems to be in the same mould as Joe and that is the greatest compliment you can give any coach. He has that continuity with Jono [Gibbes] and the staff staying on so everything is in place for him to move in seamlessly.”
Gibbes was pleased to announce that Jamie Heaslip will be fit to play Glasgow Warriors at the RDS on Saturday as he has recovered from a nasty stamp on the leg from Benoit August. Dave Kearney, who had his caged rattled by Paul O’Connell last month, has passed the post-concussion cognitive tests but this weekend’s semi-final ‘is a game too early’.
D’Arcy admitted that the slog in the Scotstoun mud last November ‘wasn’t the prettiest to watch’ but Leinster, as they narrowly did at the RDS last month, got the win when it mattered. However, the centre has warned that Warriors are in a rich vein of form where they are scoring ‘three or four tries every game’ and credits coach Gregor Townsend for imbibing his team with an attacking spirit.
D’Arcy reasoned, “The thing about it is you can’t say you didn’t know what was coming and have ‘what ifs’ afterwards.”
