AFTER TWO TESTING weekends on the road with Leinster, second row Mike McCarthy is looking forward to home comforts on Friday evening.
The province welcome Treviso to the RDS for a 5.00pm kick-off with outright focus on returning to winning ways following the defeats to Toulon and the Ospreys.
“It’s going to be nice for us to be back home at the RDS and we’re looking forward to that. We’re under no illusions though, Treviso are playing some good rugby at the moment. We’ve got massive respect for Treviso, they’ve got big, strong players. They had a great win against Dragons at the weekend.”
McCarthy says the frustration of exiting the Heineken Cup has “definitely not” faded yet, and underlines that he and his teammates are “hurting even more now” after the subsequent loss against the Ospreys.
Despite that recent haze of negativity, Matt O’Connor’s side remain four points clear at that top of the Pro12, and McCarthy insists that winning this competition means everything to the players.
It certainly doesn’t soften the blow [of exiting Europe], but it is still in our own hands. We’re in a good place looking at the table, but we know it’s like knock-out rugby now. Any more slip-ups and that could be the season over for us.
“We need to cement that top place and try to get the home semi-final and home final. We know we’re going to have to improve. I suppose getting knocked out of the Heineken Cup has given us one focus; it’s so important going forward. We want to be winning it.”
There have been changes aplenty at the province this season, nowhere more obviously on the pitch than in Leinster’s more aggressive habits in getting off the defensive line. McCarthy is among the players who have been enjoying that new element.
“I think Matt’s brought in more line speed, which is obviously a good thing. I don’t think we’ve conceded many tries, so the defence has been pretty good but there’s always little bits that you can improve on.”
Like those missed tackles in Toulon?
“That’s down to individual stuff. After the games, individuals will know if they’ve missed tackles. That’s something for them to work on individually outside of the squad training times.”
Having joined Leinster at the start of the current season, McCarthy never played for the province under Joe Schmidt. He does recognise the subtle changes in approach for the province, but stresses that he has enjoyed working under the Australian so far.
Obviously with a new coach coming in, there are slight differences, but Matt’s been great. He’s a real positive influence and the stuff we’re doing in training is great. We know that it’s never going to be perfect and there are always going to be things to work on, so hopefully we’ll get back on track this week.”
On a more personal note, McCarthy missed out on Ireland game time during the Six Nations this season despite being part of the wider squad. Having been “delighted to see the lads winning,” he now wants to “put my hand up for the tour to Argentina”.
Like so many other Irish players, McCarthy has had his detailed chat with head coach Joe Schmidt and is aware of how he can stake his claim.
“I went and spoke to Joe and he spoke to me. He’s very honest and positive at the same time. He gives you good feedback and told me a few things I need to work on in my own game to put myself in a position going forward.”
