Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

O'Driscoll: Verdict on Ross Byrne in post-Sexton era at Leinster

The moment Ross Byrne replaced Johnny Sexton in the 2022 final (Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

Brian O’Driscoll has given his verdict on Ross Byrne as the starting out-half for Leinster in this Saturday’s repeat Heineken Champions Cup final against La Rochelle. Last year in Marseille, Byrne was a 63rd-minute replacement for Johnny Sexton in the decider in Marseille.

ADVERTISEMENT

He was soon scoring a penalty to push Leinster 21-17 clear, but the Irish province came unstuck in that 2022 showpiece through a late converted Arthur Retiere try at the Velodrome.

However, things since then have hugely changed for Byrne. In his previous half-dozen Champions Cup campaigns, the 28-year-old started in just 14 of his 35 appearances and was always viewed as the second choice to the skipper Sexton.

Video Spacer

Wilkinson vs Farrell

Video Spacer

Wilkinson vs Farrell

The veteran’s Leinster career is now over, however, as a Guinness Six Nations injury with Ireland in March sidelined him from getting involved in a Champions Cup campaign where he had already been marked absent from the pool stages over the winter.

That has left the way open for Byrne to take full command and make the No10 Leinster jersey his own, and he is now set to make his eighth successive Champions Cup appearance as their starting out-half.

Related

Ulster, Leicester and Toulouse have been defeated in recent knockout stage weeks with Byrne now starting in the knowledge that Sexton’s provincial career is over – and the legendary O’Driscoll believes that Byrne no longer having to worry about Sexton has been to his benefit. “Yeah, I am sure there is a huge comfort that comes with that in reality,” said O’Driscoll to RugbyPass.

“Having the Leinster captain there looking over your shoulder the whole time, you are just keeping the jersey warm, whereas he now knows he is the man in possession. Johnny hasn’t played a minute of this Champions Cup either so this has very much been Ross and his Leinster team and he has navigated them around the park.

ADVERTISEMENT

“He has kicked his goals brilliantly, he has facilitated others to really perform and he will want to right the wrongs from last year. It probably wasn’t the world’s greatest cameo in the final when Johnny got injured – he looked a little bit nervous.

“But there is a steelier calmness this time around, a year more experienced, the confidence with the kick against Australia (for Ireland last November), and then more opportunity to get himself in the team without anyone looking over his shoulder about what the opportunities are.

“So, it would be terrific for him if he could guide the team and have a big game himself because his rise over the course of the last year has been all-important to Leinster, but also to Ireland in giving them confidence that there will be some form of life without Johnny Sexton.”

BT Sport is home of the Heineken Champions Cup. Watch this year’s final between Leinster and La Rochelle from 4pm, Saturday, May 20, live and exclusively on BT Sport 2. Visit btsport.com/rugby

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

J
JW 3 hours ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Ok, managed to read the full article..

... New Zealand’s has only 14 and the professional season is all over within four months. In France, club governance is the responsibility of an independent organisation [the Ligue Nationale de Rugby or LNR] which is entirely separate from the host union [the Fédération Française de Rugby or FFR]. Down south New Zealand Rugby runs the provincial and the national game.

That is the National Provincial Championship, a competition of 14 representative union based teams run through the SH international window and only semi professional (paid only during it's running). It is run by NZR and goes for two and a half months.


Super Rugby is a competition involving 12 fully professional teams, of which 5 are of New Zealand eligibility, and another joint administered team of Pacific Island eligibility, with NZR involvement. It was a 18 week competition this year, so involved (randomly chosen I believe) extra return fixtures (2 or 3 home and away derbys), and is run by Super Rugby Pacific's own independent Board (or organisation). The teams may or may not be independently run and owned (note, this does not necessarily mean what you think of as 'privately owned').


LNR was setup by FFR and the French Government to administer the professional game in France. In New Zealand, the Players Association and Super Rugby franchises agreed last month to not setup their own governance structure for professional rugby and re-aligned themselves with New Zealand Rugby. They had been proposing to do something like the English model, I'm not sure how closely that would have been aligned to the French system but it did not sound like it would have French union executive representation on it like the LNR does.

In the shaky isles the professional pyramid tapers to a point with the almighty All Blacks. In France the feeling for country is no more important than the sense of fierce local identity spawned at myriad clubs concentrated in the southwest. Progress is achieved by a nonchalant shrug and the wide sweep of nuanced negotiation, rather than driven from the top by a single intense focus.

Yes, it is pretty much a 'representative' selection system at every level, but these union's are having to fight for their existence against the regime that is NZR, and are currently going through their own battle, just as France has recently as I understand it. A single focus, ala the French game, might not be the best outcome for rugby as a whole.


For pure theatre, it is a wonderful article so far. I prefer 'Ntamack New Zealand 2022' though.

The young Crusader still struggles to solve the puzzle posed by the shorter, more compact tight-heads at this level but he had no problem at all with Colombe.

It was interesting to listen to Manny during an interview on Maul or Nothing, he citied that after a bit of banter with the All Black's he no longer wanted one of their jersey's after the game. One of those talks was an eye to eye chat with Tamaiti Williams, there appear to be nothing between the lock and prop, just a lot of give and take. I thought TW angled in and caused Taylor to pop a few times, and that NZ were lucky to be rewarded.

f you have a forward of 6ft 8ins and 145kg, and he is not at all disturbed by a dysfunctional set-piece, you are in business.

He talked about the clarity of the leadership that helped alleviate any need for anxiety at the predicaments unfolding before him. The same cannot be said for New Zealand when they had 5 minutes left to retrieve a match winning penalty, I don't believe. Did the team in black have much of a plan at any point in the game? I don't really call an autonomous 10 vehicle they had as innovative. I think Razor needs to go back to the dealer and get a new game driver on that one.

Vaa’i is no match for his power on the ground. Even in reverse, Meafou is like a tractor motoring backwards in low gear, trampling all in its path.

Vaa'i actually stops him in his tracks. He gets what could have been a dubious 'tackle' on him?

A high-level offence will often try to identify and exploit big forwards who can be slower to reload, and therefore vulnerable to two quick plays run at them consecutively.

Yes he was just standing on his haunches wasn't he? He mentioned that in the interview, saying that not only did you just get up and back into the line to find the opposition was already set and running at you they also hit harder than anything he'd experienced in the Top 14. He was referring to New Zealands ultra-physical, burst-based Super style of course, which he was more than a bit surprised about. I don't blame him for being caught out.


He still sent the obstruction back to the repair yard though!

What wouldn’t the New Zealand rugby public give to see the likes of Mauvaka and Meafou up front..

Common now Nick, don't go there! Meafou showed his Toulouse shirt and promptly got his citizenship, New Zealand can't have him, surely?!?


As I have said before with these subjects, really enjoy your enthusiasm for their contribution on the field and I'd love to see more of their shapes running out for Vern Cotter and the like styled teams.

287 Go to comments
LONG READ
LONG READ 'Steve Borthwick hung his troops out to dry - he should take some blame' 'Steve Borthwick hung his troops out to dry - he should take some blame'
Search