Donny B. wrote:Oh please teach me, oh wise one, it's the only way I'll learn.....
You'll never learn, Donny.....
Seriously though, I've been watching Leinster packs of various hues and colours play this season with a fairly mediocre level of intensity, not driving over the ball and not dominating the oppo. Delivery of ball has been pedestrian at times and - when the backs do get the ball - they've been standing still and not running threatening lines. Connacht for the first 50 or 60 minutes was a brilliant example of this. Just because some of the team were less experienced, the way they all played was fairly cack for the first hour. cr@p ball dished to backs who were standing still and looked like they weren't ready for it.
On Sat, we got to see what happens when the pack decide to take on their oppo forwards and to bully a team up front. The pack took up the dirty ball very well, which was less often than normal because we were rucking over it, and the backs actually took on the decent ball at a good depth and line.
It wasn't perfect and there was a lull in the middle. I'm not denying we left a couple of tries out there. Schmidt even said (he's a funny f%~ker) that the team had totally abandoned his carefully thought-out gameplan.
But for the first time in ages we played like we were the HEC champions and Scarlets were an obstacle in our way. Technically, our pack and backs were much better and more cohesive.
That's what I saw, anyway.