It was McLaughlin himself, of course, who stepped into the breach
when Elsom departed for home four years ago. From a time when his future
at Leinster seemed so precarious that he had explored an opening at the
now-defunct Anglo Irish Bank, McLaughlin has helped the province to
three major titles, although success hasn't conferred the gift of
complacency. Reminders that he has come to prominence at a time when the
Irish back-row production line has never been busier are never far from
any discussion.
"It's the one area where we never have to
recruit a foreigner," he says. "Since Rocky left, we've had no foreign
back-row players here. Ireland just seems to be a factory for young
back-row players. In some ways it's difficult because opportunities,
especially at international level, don't come along as often as you'd
like. On the other hand it means you constantly have to move forward. If
you're not improving, you lose your place.
"I felt like I
played better last year than at any stage in my career. But I still feel
if I don't improve again this season . . . Like, there's no point in
playing this sport if you're not trying to improve. That's how I look at
it. There's no reason for standing still.
"That's the way
rugby has gone as a whole. Even from 10 years ago, the standard has gone
through the roof. The skill levels, the power and strength, are all
phenomenal now compared to what they were."
McLaughlin doesn't
buy the theory that because Leinster have lost some big-name players and
a prized coach along with it, their ambitions will be necessarily
limited this season. The idea that they are somehow a team in transition
sounds too much like a handy cop-out for a group of players who
have grown used to winning consistently. As an excuse for coming up
short, McLaughlin can't imagine anything lazier or more self-indulgent.
And who knows? Maybe change will reinvigorate them.
"Like I
said, Jonny's a huge loss. Nobody would dispute that. But I'd say Ian
[Madigan] might have started 50 per cent of our games at outhalf last
season. In the Rabo, he was pretty much at 10 the whole year. On the
wing, Isa [Nacewa] will be a hard guy to replace. But we've always
managed to fill boots and we will again. We're positive going into the
season. We've a new coach and training's been going really well. Matt
O'Connor has exciting ideas about the way we're going to play the
game."
He has mixed feelings about Schmidt's departure to
the national job. Schmidt understood his game and knew instinctively
when to play him and when he needed a break and he'll miss their daily
interaction on the training ground. And yet, he figures it can't do
his prospects of adding to the six caps he's won much harm. Not that
he's expecting any soft favours. Just that Schmidt knows what he can
bring to the table. It's not a disadvantage anyway.
"Like I
said, Jonny's a huge loss. Nobody would dispute that. But I'd say Ian
[Madigan] might have started 50 per cent of our games at outhalf last
season. In the Rabo, he was pretty much at 10 the whole year. On the
wing, Isa [Nacewa] will be a hard guy to replace. But we've always
managed to fill boots and we will again. We're positive going into the
season. We've a new coach and training's been going really well. Matt
O'Connor has exciting ideas about the way we're going to play the game."
He
has mixed feelings about Schmidt's departure to the national job.
Schmidt understood his game and knew instinctively when to play him and
when he needed a break and he'll miss their daily interaction on the
training ground. And yet, he figures it can't do his prospects of adding
to the six caps he's won much harm. Not that he's expecting any soft
favours. Just that Schmidt knows what he can bring to the table. It's
not a disadvantage anyway.
And so far he's been
encouraged by what he's seen of O'Connor around the Leinster set-up.
More like Schmidt than not, he thinks.Are you still hesitating about
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The same all-consuming passion for the game, the same precious clarity
about what he expects from his players, the same focus on skills and
keeping ball in hand. As seamless a change as any of them could have
anticipated or dared to hope for.
"I think all in all we've been
pretty lucky with our coaches," McLaughlin says. "I got a lot from Joe.
I think we all did. He was always very clear about what he expected
from you and that's what guys want going into a game. They like to know
where they stand. And Matt has continued on that theme. He's definitely
the right guy to bring us along."
It excites him too to think of
guys like Schmidt and O'Connor and the other provincial coaches C "real
rugby heads" C working in tandem for the common cause of the national
team. "I think Joe working closely with the provinces will be a great
thing. So that when guys come into the Ireland camp, they don't have
completely different ideas in terms of attack and defence. Hopefully,
all four provinces play good rugby and that'll translate into good
international performances as well."
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On Friday, Northampton, old and current rivals, dropped into Donnybrook
for a ding-dong confrontation that had the moniker pre-season friendly
only in name. A week on will see them in Cardiff for their opening
League match against Cardiff, the first skirmishes in Europe not far
beyond that.
Because Leinster didn't progress beyond a tough
pool stage last season, there was a temptation to feel they had endured
an underachieving and frustrating time, but McLaughlin has no truck with
that sentiment. He recalls the lovely day in late May when they
hosted Ulster in front a packed house in the Pro12 final at the RDS and
thinking that nothing C not two Heineken Cup winner's medals, not his
Ireland debut against Italy in 2011 C could match the magic of that
balmy evening.
"That win is probably the high point of my
career," he says. "Because we'd lost three finals in the previous four
years and the fact it was in the RDS, even though it was Ulster's home
game and half the crowd were Ulster supporters, it was a special
occasion. Just the heartbreak of the Ospreys game last year: I don't
think we really got over that all season. Ask anyone who played in
that game. It really hurt. The nature of the way we lost. It felt so
good to be able to put that right. The thought of losing to Ulster in
the RDS was too much, especially as we'd lost to them two weeks before
that."
For McLaughlin, it represented a storming end to another fine season for Leinster. He felt slightly frustrated that Schmidt
opted to rest him for the Amlin Cup final against Stade Francais, but
he understood too. A week earlier he'd had a massive game against
Glasgow in the Pro12 semi-final and that had taken its toll. If a week's
rest meant he'd be ready for the joust against Ulster, then he couldn't
complain about the deal.
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