One game at a time: Joe Schmidt
Leinster head coach Joe Schmidt insists the defending Heineken Cup champions have not let their focus shift beyond the pool stage of this season's competition.
Despite the Irish team's impressive European record, being draw with French heavyweights Clermont Auvergne (again!), seasoned campaigners the Scarlets and impressive tournament newcomers Exeter, means that the champions cannot take play-off qualification for granted.
Leinster are the bookmakers' favourites to claim a third successive Heineken Cup title but Schmidt is taking it one game at a time, starting with Chiefs in Dublin this weekend.
"Right now, our sole initial target is to get out of the group," said Schmidt.
"It is such a competitive pool that I think only one team will qualify for the quarter-finals, so I am not thinking about anything beyond our first match against Exeter.
"We have not played Exeter before but we are fully expecting them to be both extremely combative and expansive.
"They are a really positive outfit and in Ignacio Mieres they have a fine fly-half who can vary the team's game as necessary.
"Centre Jason Shoemark is another in top form and Wallaby Dean Mumm - a very athletic lock and genuine international-class player - has now arrived at the club and is sure to be a big player for them.
"Their coach Rob Baxter has done a great job in first getting them promoted and then taking them storming through the English league and into the Heineken Cup for the first time."
"While we do not know that much about Exeter, we do know the Scarlets pretty well," added Schmidt.
"In our last meeting on the opening day of this season they put 45 points on us.
"They have quality across the board with a back-line packed with internationals like George North, Jonathan Davies and Rhys Priestland, and a back-row trio of Josh Turnbull, Aaron Shingler and Rob McCusker at the top of their individual and collective game."
"Clermont are not my preference as group opponents," said the former coach of 2010 French champions.
"I would really would like to see the back of them because they are a super team and so well coached.
"They do not really have a first-choice XV. They have 30 top-class players who they can mix and match and that makes them extremely difficult opponents.
"They had a couple of injuries ahead of last season's semi-final in Bordeaux, and then lost Lee Byrne and Julien Malzieu during the game, so perhaps we had a bit of good fortune on that occasion."
Comments
Ferdie says...
leinster_goy - my report on Michael Bent who joins Leinster soon - he's had a superb (and injury-free) ITM Cup season for Taranaki who are through to the semi-finals, one more match of open play will decide who gets the home semis, so he has two, hopefully three more matches for the 'amber and blacks' before heading to Ireland..
Posted 23:41 10th October 2012
papachinzo says...
Clermont again! indeed... I think both sets of fans are sick of each other at this point.
Same goes for Ospreys Toulouse and Leicester !
Posted 19:27 10th October 2012
leinster_goy says...
given the injury list, the indifferent start to the season and the competitiveness of this group, getting out of it is no foregone conclusion
i expect us to get the four tries on saturday, but the game in llanelli in two weeks time is going to be crucial. to win this group, Leinster need at least 9 points going into the clermont double-header
PR: poor choice of photo. Schmidty is a cool cat. cool as a cucumber. cooler than the other side of a pillow
Posted 19:20 10th October 2012
3in4 says...
@BackingLeinster
No good fortune - D'arcy made the brilliant tackle that forced Fofana onto his back. As for Fofana himself...maybe he'll be doing a few less bicep curls in the gym these days, after what happened!
@PlanetRugby A bit of an understatement to call Leinster's European record "impressive" isn't it...
Posted 19:12 10th October 2012
BackingLeinster says...
"good fortune"
Understatement of the year after Fofana dropped the ball.
Posted 17:31 10th October 2012
ArmchairGeneral says...
He's picking out individuals from Exeter which says he's missed the point about them. They're a 15, no super stars, who play as one for each other. I think Exeter will upset one of the teams and earn respect from all. Here's hoping they do more than that rather than simply being to their HC pool what Argentina was in the RC.
Posted 17:19 10th October 2012