Toulon will not sugar-coat their assault on Leinster’s beleaguered defence.
Steffon Armitage, Mathieu Bastareaud, Chris Masoe are coming and they will barge straight through the middle.
Leinster will be expected to go toe-to-toe with the European champions, at the Stade Velodrome, on Sunday. Few teams can live with Toulon ever since they reached the pinnacle of European rugby, in 2013. Leicester beat them at Welford Road, in December, only to suffer tortuous strangulation at Stade Felix Mayol the following weekend.
Toulon score tries for fun yet leak them too. They put 60 points on Ulster, in January, but coach Bernard Laporte was forced to apologise as he side conceded four tries.
Leinster made 27 tackles of 114 attempted, last season, as they were dominated, and knocked out of Europe, by Toulon. The Top 14 side sliced Leinster apart in the second-half, after wearing them down in the first.
As Matt O’Connor’s side wilted, they upped the ante – their players gained a staggering 504 metres with ball-in-hand. The Leinster midfield was the most guilty of having their page punched. Gordon D’Arcy and Brian O’Driscoll attempted 18 tackles against Toulon. They landed 10 and missed eight.
O’Driscoll’s defence was starting to fray around the edges in his final two seasons but the numbers for D’Arcy – five tackles, three missed – were surprising. The centre transformed his game after his comeback from a broken arm, in 2009. He is usually solid.
No longer in possession of game-breaking pace, D’Arcy shored up his defensive game and imposed himself on his games as an extra loose forward. Choke tackle, ruck clearing and poaching all improved. The tries began to dry up but, for three seasons, he was virtually undroppable.
Then, seeking to shake up his backline, Declan Kidney dropped him for Ireland’s First Test against New Zealand, in 2012. Ireland were filleted, at Eden Park, and D’Arcy returned to repel the All Black advances, in Christchurch. Reputation intact as injury forced him out of the 60-0 walloping.
Surplus
In 2013/14, O’Connor often deployed him as an outside centre and midfield partner to Ian Madigan. The tactic worked well and D’Arcy seemed set for his fifth World Cup finals appearance. This season, however, has punctured any forward momentum.
He finds himself, now, as a centre-in-waiting. O’Connor has stuck with Madigan and Ben Te’o in recent, big matches.
There is no getting past Te’o; not in one piece anyway. The rugby league convert has yet to find top form as an attacking force, but showed glimpses with two tries against Dragons.
In the quarter final against Bath, Te’o landed all five tackles. Madian’s defence was patchy.
He made a couple of big hits but missed five tackles [of 15 attempted], including two in the space of 25 seconds.
D’Arcy and Te’o would represent a defensively reliable midfield but – and this must be O’Connor’s concern – they may prove too predictable in attack.
My preference would be to go with D’Arcy-Te’o and move Madigan up to out-half. It negates the Toulon ram-raid yet provides the Leinster backs with quicker ball and a 10 that likes to spread the play wide and press the line. They cannot hope to ride the storm and win on penalties.
However, O’Connor has nailed his colours to the mast. Already facing questions about is future, he is unlikely to shake up his backline, no matter how many tackles they miss or scoring opportunities they pass us.
It will be a backline of Boss, Madigan, Fitzgerald, Madigan, Te’o, McFadden and R. Kearney.
A good unit to take into a European Cup semi-final but Toulon will not fear it one bit.
Toulon will target Madigan. Ready and willing; Leinster fans will hope he is able.
