Rugby Daily | Rocky Elsom on "unjust" conviction in France, Montpellier's Drogheda-born centre on life in Top 14
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Football on Off the Ball. But it's really interesting because I think they're philosophically poles apart. When he did that Rabona, Guardiola talked about Messi, didn't he? He said, Messi just did the simple stuff. That's why he was so good. And the Cherokee did an interview a couple of weeks ago with France Football, and he said, I don't know if he was thinking specifically about this, but he said, the worst thing somebody could say about me is that I do the simple thing.
Join in the obsession. Subscribe now at offtheball.com forward slash join. Off the Balls, Rugby Daily. With Bank of Ireland, a proud sponsor of Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster Rugby. Never stop competing. You're very welcome along to Wednesday's Rugby Daily. I'm Cameron Hill. Now coming up for you today, Leinster hope to put the 2015 ghosts to bed against Toulon in the Investec Champions Cup this weekend. The draw had a man currently plying his trade with top 14 side Montpellier and Rocky Elsom breaks his silence with an international warrant for his arrest. Still outstanding. First up today, Leinster are gearing up for a massive Investec Champions Cup semi-final at home to Toulon on Saturday afternoon.
Leo Cullen's side are hoping to reach their fourth final in five years as they chase a first European crown since 2018. The province of course came undone in last season's semi-final at the Aviva Stadium, losing by 37 points to 34 to Northampton Saints. They also lost a last four clash against Toulon in Marseille back in 2015 as they marched on to claim their third successive title with the win over Clermont at Twickenham in the final. Leinster winger Tommy O'Brien remembers watching as Brian Habana scored an intercept try in extra time to see off the province, then under the tutelage of Matt O'Connor.
I remember the intercept, unfortunately. Ian Madigan probably won't be loving the whole build-up this week. I'm sure that'll come up a couple of times. But yeah, I think I remember watching any of those games. They were an unbelievable two-long side. I remember Leinster kind of always put it up to them and maybe fell short a couple of times. But every moment is going to be huge. You talk about winning as many duels as you can. So as a winger, that might be a lot of high ball stuff, chasing kicks, receiving kicks, something that you're obviously going to put a massive emphasis on because the way the game has gone at the moment now, sometimes those contested kicks can bounce one way and it can be bouncing into someone's hand and that can be the deciding of a game.
So we know that as wingers in these pressure games, those semifinals, as you said, There's a lot of onus on us, but that's obviously something very exciting as well, that you can be the one that can create something special.
Former Leinster and Ireland hooker James Tracy joined Ciarán Gilroy and Colm Boohig on yesterday's off-the-ball breakfast. They discussed Leinster's tendency in recent years to lose the game immediately preceding the Investec Champions Cup semi-finals. in the wake of Saturday's disappointing defeat to Benetton. They posed the question, is it not natural for players to raise their game for bigger occasions and not quite hit the same heights week in, week out?
I do think that there's something about these games that there's a psychological aspect to it's your final warm-up game, it's Benetton, that decision-making isn't quite on point. I don't know what that is. I don't know why the decision-making will be better this weekend, but I just take it as a... matter of fact that it will be that like they won't try the thing that isn't on that somebody will make the run a little faster a little sharper because it's a bigger game it doesn't make sense you're supposed to fall back to the level of your practice as opposed to rise to the occasion but there's just so many times that these guys play big games that they do actually rise to the occasion right yeah i think there's a
an intangible element in sport where the magnitude of the occasion suits certain players and if you look at Peter O'Mahony for example, I know he's Finnish but
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