Exeter have just gone top of the Premiership

Continuity is really valuable, and conversely changes at the top can cause immediate regression and even long-tail organizational trauma. New coaching brings new emphases, new game plans, new structures, new coaching assistants, new selections and a new culture. All of those may or may not be positive, but they are certain to be more or less disruptive, at least for a while.

Conversely, the really successful teams have had stable coaching over many years, with robust grooming of successors, retention of institutional knowledge, etc. The solution for Leinster may be to make some adjustments. And that should be rigorously considered before reaching for the ejector button.

Leinster delivered extraordinary victories in the two previous games. There were no calls for resignations. Had the ref allowed the disallowed Leinster try in this game there would have been no calls for resignations. To me it feels like there are millimeters between hero and zero in this case.

It just beggars belief that Leinster did not go for the penalty attempt at the death. Also beggars belief they started the game without either Jordie Barrett, Andrew Porter or Jack Conan on the field. I listened to a very good podcast on the two semis during last week, and one view expressed was that Northampton would start well, and be capable of scoring then…first 15 mins or so. That was when Leinster needed their best XV on the field.

I just don’t see how Andy Farrell can now pick Sam Prendergast for this Lions tour. Surely the Fin(n)s are the two top 10 picks now, and I would think Marcus should go as well as a utility/10. That loss has hurt the chances of a swathe of Leinster players. Going to an interesting day, this Thursday !

Forget anything else that happened in the game … top teams convert that. They rise to the moment, reduce errors, maintain discipline, increase their energy, and sharpen their focus for those moments that matter. And the question for fans is simply one of why their team could not do this, patiently and accurately retaining possession while creating a scoring opportunity.

Different teams would have done different things with that penalty. A dominant scrumming team might have called the scrum, a successful mauling team might have gone for the lineout, a team with a rock star kicker and a sense of late game superiority might have taken the kick for goal, and a another team might have set a Rassie-esque midfield maul to allow an easy dropped goal. You pick what you have confidence in.

So Leinster picking the tap is not wrong, as long as that is a banker play for them. But don’t pick an option involving forwards smashing into gainline tackles if you have less than 100% confidence in your ball retention.

In the end it all came down to whether Leinster could convert that penalty to points. The stage was set, they held all the cards, and it was time for the killer blow (to mix a few metaphors). This is when giants impose themselves.

The coaching team need to stare at those few minutes of tape 1,000 times, and ask themselves why the team could not land that winning blow. Its not about selections, or replacements, or refereeing, or skillsets, or technique. It is a question of attitude and Big Match Temperament. It’s about imposing your will. Why was it not in evidence?