Donal Lenihan: If Leinster's squad runs deep, so do Munster's problems

The star-studded nature of the bench they introduced to transform their opening round game against Bristol Bears attracted attention from far and wide with much comment emanating from France despite the superior budgets enjoyed by a number of their Top 14 clubs.

Given that Clermont Auvergne, currently third in the league, were given little chance of causing an upset by their own traveling media in advance of Saturday’s contest in Dublin, it was refreshing to see the three-time beaten finalists turn the clock back to the days when they were one of Europe’s leading clubs.

Despite making eight changes to the side that secured a bonus point win over Benetton in round one, the manner in which Clermont carried the fight to Leinster from the opening minute to the last helped restore one’s faith in a tournament that has lost much of its allure over the last few years.

A remarkable opening sequence of non-stop action that bounced from one try line to the other had everyone in the Aviva Stadium at the edge of their seats from the outset. The sheer quality and intensity of both the attacking and defensive elements being unleashed by incredibly committed teams managed to engage the entire Aviva Stadium.

Given the Top 14 tends to be more of a set piece slugfest with less ball in play time than a free-flowing attacking fare, my first impressions from what transpired in the opening half of scintillating rugby was that Clermont would likely run out of steam, especially when Leinster set their sights on lifting the pace even more with the introduction of yet another hugely impactful bench stacked with six internationals.

While that proved to be the case Clermont, with a similarly impactful if less heralded bench, managed to stay the pace and defend like dervishes to mark a brilliant European contest. It did help their cause that conditions deteriorated significantly as the second half progressed.

The difference in the end was the excellence brought to bear by key personnel from Leinster. Up front Andrew Porter put in yet another massive 75 minute shift where his set piece excellence, work rate at the breakdown and some superb defensive endeavour helped turn the tide.

Behind the scrum Leinster had aces in new signing Jordie Barrett, who has now scored a try in each of his two appearances to date along with the impressive Sam Prendergast who, despite missing two kicks to touch, had a hand on all of Leinster’s scores.

The thing that held Leinster back most was a malfunctioning line out that failed to deliver any semblance of decent attacking ball. A horrendous 50% return from their eight first half deliveries proved massively frustrating and was the main reason why the hosts only enjoyed a five-point lead at the break.

As the game progressed things got even worse with a final return of 56% reflective of seven lost line outs over the 80 minutes. As a result Leinster were restricted to a measly return of three points, courtesy of a penalty manufactured and converted by Prendergast, over the course of a scrappy second half that will have alarm bells ringing in the Leinster set up.

With so much emphasis placed by Jacques Nienaber on their blitz defence, Leinster’s once famed attacking game is nowhere near where it needs to be if they wish to banish the pain of losing three consecutive European finals in a row. Leinster have work to do to break that European hoodoo.

Elsewhere, notwithstanding encouraging signs of improvement of late, Munster remain a long way off the level required to make serious inroads in Europe while Ulster, despite giving another French Top 14 contender in Bordeaux-Begles a run for their money for long periods in Belfast, also lack the depth required to make any serious impact in the knockout phase should they advance that far.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the first ever Heineken Cup won, you guessed it, by Toulouse in Cardiff. Much has changed since the game turned professional in that 1995/96 season apart from one pretty basic constant. The old French edict of “no scrum, no win” rings as true today as it did back then.

When analysing Munster’s disappointing performance on Friday night against a Castres side forced to play 30 minutes of the game reduced to 14 players, courtesy of three yellow cards, Munster’s error count was far too high to capitalise.

If Leinster’s line out proved their achilles heel in Dublin, it was the failure of Munster’s scrum to cope with the power of the Castres front five, especially after losing their impressive short term signing at loose head prop, Dian Bleuler, to injury on 22 minutes.

Given his replacement Dave Kilcoyne hadn’t bagged any game time for a year after serious injury, he was the last player the Munster management wanted to spring from the bench so early on. As the game progressed, Castres identified every scrum as a clear penalty opportunity which referee Christophe Ridley was quick to oblige.

The annoying thing from a Munster perspective was, outside the scrum, the hosts had very little to offer. Munster had more than enough opportunities in attack to penetrate but were let down too often by a series of unforced handling errors or being too lateral which made it so much easier for Castres to defend.

On the back of a retreating pack, Jack Crowley had a day to forget. With all the noise surrounding the occupancy of the No 10 shirt for the forthcoming Six Nations, Crowley appears to be making the classic mistake of just trying too hard.

Winning on the road in France is never easy but Munster, despite being nowhere near their best, had ample opportunities to sneak this one, especially with Castres leaving a number of kickable points behind them from placed balls. For Munster to play as badly as they did and only lose by two points was proof positive of that.

If the journey home wasn’t bad enough, having to facilitate a full sick bay on the flight due to nasty looking injuries to Craig Casey, Thaakir Abrahams, Peter O'Mahony and Diarmuid Barron along with Bleuler will have done nothing to create a festive mood.

With a selection that all but conceded defeat to Toulouse in advance of traveling to the south of France for the opening round, Ulster coach Richie Murphy took the calculated gamble to save the core of his first choice team for the visit of Bordeaux-Begles.

Despite conceding a converted try to the visitors within three minutes of the kick off, Murphy’s strategy appeared to pay dividends when Ulster, powered by a totally revamped pack with seven Irish internationals on board, contested with such menace that the potential for a shock result was still a possibility entering the final quarter with a five-point lead.

Just like Leinster in Bristol when registering three tries in six second half minutes, the French visitors scored four superb tries over the final quarter to power to victory. What the opening two rounds has highlighted most is the strength in depth available to the top teams which enables them close out games with units as powerful and explosive as their starting combinations.

That’s why they’ll be among those still left standing when the big knockout games come around next April. For Munster and Ulster that journey has just become a whole lot trickier.