Donal Lenihan: Reset button hit, rugby crouches and prepares to re-engage

The domestic season couldn’t have enjoyed a better start than the brilliant, if admittedly flawed, URC opener between Munster and Connacht at Thomond Park which delivered a 10-try attacking fest with the hosts stumbling over the line 35-33.

For once it was great to see a contest defined by attacking intent over an impregnable defensive blanket. Those tasked with that responsibility in the Munster and Connacht coaching boxes may not agree but as a means of attracting bums on seats and new audiences to the game the positivity on show was refreshing.

Within a week Munster’s defensive frailties came home to roost when Zebre finally broke a 20-game losing streak against Graham Rowntree’s men with a first-ever win over the province. The fragility that first surfaced in the pre-season friendly against Gloucester in Musgrave Park and replicated against Connacht, resulted in the concession of 11 tries and 75 points in the opening two URC games.

To put that in context, Munster only conceded 38 tries in their regular 18 URC league games last season. The post-Zebre debrief was both honest and intense but elicited the desired response when holding the Ospreys try less in Cork last weekend. With Leinster next up and a two game sojourn to South Africa against the Stormers and Sharks to follow, that’s just as well.

On the broader stage, with the 30th anniversary of the advent of professionalism on the horizon, the game in all countries is still coming to terms with the financial challenges of staying afloat. Australia are looking to garner support from World Rugby to keep solvent before the British and Irish Lions ride to the rescue next summer.

An independent financial report published a few weeks ago in England revealed that in 2022/23, seven of the 10 Gallagher Premiership clubs were balance sheet insolvent and had accumulated debts of £30million (€35m) in that season alone. It’s estimated that the accumulated net losses of the clubs over the years stands in excess of £311m (€371m).

It’s a matter of considerable pride that the game in this country is held up worldwide as a model of professional practice. The RFU has finally recognised this with their desire to follow the IRFU by introducing centralised contracts for their top 25 international players. That structure still has a way to go before the head coaches of the Premiership clubs and their England counterpart Steve Borthwick establish common ground.

His Irish equivalent Andy Farrell has a busy period ahead of him as he negotiates Ireland’s first steps on the road to the 2027 World Cup in Australia before heading on sabbatical in December to lead the British and Irish Lions next summer.

His last hands-on involvement with Ireland this season comes with a heavy autumn schedule of tests against New Zealand, Argentina, new Pacific Nations champions Fiji with a fourth, against Joe Schmidt’s Wallabies, added to mark the 150th anniversary of the IRFU. Springboks apart, that sequence of games is about as tough as it comes.

Under newly-appointed head coach Felipe Contepomi, Argentina enjoyed victories over New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa in a single Rugby Championship campaign for the first time over the summer, a magnificent achievement. Next month he returns to the familiar surrounds of Dublin 4 on a mission to add Ireland to that impressive list of notable scalps in his first stint at the helm.

Having enjoyed unprecedented success in Super Rugby as coach of the Crusaders, the impressive Scott Robertson is coming to terms with the unrelenting scrutiny attached to leading the All Blacks.

The New Zealand rugby public are a highly critical audience as Ian Foster discovered in his four years in charge. The pressure on Foster when Farrell led Ireland to an unprecedented 2-1 series win over the All Blacks on the 2022 tour Down Under was both vicious and unrelenting.

To his credit, Foster used that series defeat to hit the reset button and, despite the nature of the vitriol he received, he oversaw a quarter final win over Ireland at the World Cup before losing out to the Springboks by a single point in the final despite having his captain Sam Cane sent off in the 29th minute.

Despite rotating his side heavily throughout the Rugby Championship - a big factor in their 29-28 defeat to Los Pumas in Santa Fe - Rassie Erasmus not only won the tournament for the first time since 2019, but has stolen a march on all his international rivals in terms of identifying new talent in his quest to lead South Africa to an unprecedented three World Cups in a row in 2027.

The addition of former All Black Tony Brown to lead the Springbok attack has proved inspired and transformative. That new attacking mindset, working in tandem with their traditional explosive set piece, breakdown power and defensive nous is adding an entirely new dimension to South African rugby.

Their current superiority is aptly reflected by the fact they won the Rugby Championship by a clear eight points ahead of second placed New Zealand. Right now they’re exhilarating to watch and, despite what the world rankings say, are the number one team in the game.

Farrell’s first steps towards the next World Cup come courtesy of the Emerging Ireland tour to South Africa which concludes against the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein Wednesday. Two years ago, current Ireland out half Jack Crowley headed off on that trek in third place behind Joey Carbery and Ben Healy in the Munster pecking order, harbouring doubts about his future in the province.

Such was his impact on tour that within a month of returning home he not only made his international debut off the bench against Fiji but started in the pivotal role against Australia when Johnny Sexton was forced to pull out prior to kick off. Within six months he was back in South Africa, steering Munster to an incredible URC final win over the Stormers in Cape Town.

That tour dramatically altered the trajectory of the west Cork man’s career. He, along with Calvin Nash and Joe McCarthy, proved the big winners from that trek having made a big impression on the Irish coaching ticket. It will be interesting to see who emerges from left field on this tour to catch the eye.

With the opening autumn test against New Zealand now only four weeks away, all the main contenders to start are back on URC duty with many set to feature in what should prove a highly informative derby between Leinster and Munster in front of a massive audience at Croke Park on Saturday.

Without silverware for three seasons, the pressure on Leo Cullen and co to deliver a trophy has reached unprecedented levels. If anything the addition of a combined 159 caps of international pedigree secured with the impressive signings of All Black Jordie Barrett, double Springbok World Cup winning second row RG Snyman and French tight head prop Rabah Slimani leaves Leinster with little or no excuses, especially when it comes to winning the URC.

In a season where the IRFU have set a requirement for the provinces to contribute 30% of the annual salary of players on a central contract, overnight Leinster’s playing budget has been impacted by in excess of €1.2m. To be able to absorb that and still go to market for such a stellar international trio reflects well on their finance department.

With over 70,000 tickets sold for Saturday’s clash at GAA headquarters, Leinster look set to recoup a sizeable portion of that additional outlay in one fell swoop. Not for the first time the provinces bean counters have utilised this fixture to capitalise on the broad Munster fan base living in the greater Dublin area to swell their coffers.