Jake White

And the reason was they got plays around the front, they got plays around the back, they got plays where they hold the ball for a couple of seconds in the mall and then they move it or they make two passes and they're literally in the 13 channel.

You know, they got Gibson Park makes a massive pass to the midfield and then there's another one.

you know, to the outside backs.

And before you know it, if you want two yards too slow off the back of the, in other words, in the back line, not closing that space, you end up giving them gain line.

And the gain line comes all over the place because all of a sudden the hooker comes around and plays the 12 short or plays the wing out the back and

So if you think about it, if you have a week to prepare all the defensive roles you have from every line-out lens they have, you're under the pump.

You just don't have enough time in a week.

So one of the key things we did is we said, we're not going to give them line-outs.

We're going to kick and we're going to make them have no starter plays to actually get their rhythm going.

So it was one thing.

non-negotiable um but it comes at a risk because you're going to have to defend for long periods of time without going off sides or falling on the wrong side of the rack so it's a you know it's a dilemma that you have to but you talk about it and you make sure players are fully aware that the discipline of staying on side and not falling over the ball or not going into a jackal when it's not on is the thing you because then you get an entry into the 22 and then you i mean you know and i know those 20 those five meter plays from length are unbelievable you know

So that was one area.

And the other area was just to stay in the game as long as you can, because inevitably at Leinster, they are a crowd that are used to seeing the team get into a 14-0 start and then the game becomes catch-up and then they can almost keep their foot on your throat and the crowd stays in the game.

If it's 24-21,

and there's 18 minutes left to go, you can automatically feel that the crowd starts to disappear.

They start to go, here we go again.

And there's no doubt that that's what knockout rugby does.

You've seen it in all these games, Bernard, you've played in them.

The one way you've got to get the home crowd is you've got to take them out of the game as quickly as possible.

Those would be the messages I spoke.