Donncha O’Callaghan has criticised Leinster’s strategies, and its ramifications for the July Tests in South Africa, after the Irish club’s URC semi-final defeat to the Vodacom Bulls.
Jake White’s charges claimed a 25-20 victory over a star-studded Leinster outfit at Loftus Versfeld last week, and will host a final for the first time in the URC when they face the Glasgow Warriors in Pretoria on Saturday.
The world champions Springboks will cross swords with Six Nations title-holders Ireland in back-to-back Tests next month, and speaking on RTE, O’Callaghan argued that Leinster’s loss highlighted deeper issues within Irish rugby.
The former Ireland lock pointed out that Leo Cullen’s strategy of rotating 50 players and shielding stars from travel has backfired. He also criticised Leinster’s blunt attack, blaming the management for not fostering a cohesive and decisive play style.
“They’ve got it wrong; they’ve got it wrong again,” the 98-Test O’Callaghan said.
“It’s brilliant using 50 players but when it comes to cup final rugby, you need to win it – and you need to have a team.
“And we saw this team, star-studded with internationals, and they were lost on the road because they’re not used to doing it.
“So, that is a flaw from management. I wouldn’t fault these players; they will always go out and give it their all – to be fair to them – but they haven’t had any experience in that [away games].
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“With the Irish model, we want to protect them but sometimes it’s nearly too much.”
He warned that this lack of accountability and exposure to tough conditions would hurt Irish rugby.
“Leinster have been let off over the last few years. They are one of the best-resourced teams, not only in club rugby but in world rugby, and they just have not delivered,” O’Callaghan said.
“People leave them off. Media leave them off. They need to be held accountable, not just for this performance, but for their performances over the last while.
“That will be damaging for Irish rugby. The whole of South Africa is going to jump up and say, ‘Look what our Bulls team did to this national team’. We’re going to pay the price on the summer [July] tour.
“From a Leinster point of view, an absolutely terrible performance, terrible result and one that should really shake the foundations.”
Photo: Gordon Arons/Gallo Images
The post Former star finds ‘flaw’ in Irish system appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Src: sarugbymag.co.za
