Jack Conan is happy. He uses the words “excitement and joy” to describe his feelings about his return to Leinster colours last weekend in the Champions Cup victory over Harlequins, a match in which he chipped in with a try.
Injury kept him out of a proposed United Rugby Championship start against Munster, so his playing bow this season was with Ireland in the November Test series. He explained that last weekend’s game at the Aviva Stadium started in haphazard fashion, untidy and frustrating, but Leinster were gradually able to iron out the kinks.
“The first 20 minutes was real stop-start,” said Conan. “They kick-off, we catch it, we get turned over, they knock it on. I don’t think I touched the ball for the first 18 minutes. I didn’t have a tackle until 20-something minutes. So, it’s kind of hard to get into [a game like that] and it was a bit fragmented.
“It happens. You just have to be patient and then pick your moments well. And then, when the game gets into a bit of flow, make sure you’re ready and you’re not in that kind of waiting period that we had in the first 10-20 minutes.”
Leinster won’t be afforded the latitude to ease their way into the game on Friday night when they visit Welford Road, home of the Leicester Tigers. They’re perennial foes but it’s only hardened a respect for their English hosts.
Conan said: “It’s obviously a very tough place to go. It’s preparing [for] a great club with a great history and a lot of pride. We know it’s a big challenge; we’ve had some great battles over the last few years over there. The lads are very excited.
“It’s a different challenge this week, a tighter pitch, it’s probably going to be a bit wet, a bit boggy. They are pragmatic in their kicking game. In the scrum in particular, [we will have to be] a lot better than we were.”
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He points to specifics, including a requirement for the ruck speed to be quicker.
“You know that physically, you need to be on it. Now, obviously that was a goal last week as well, to be like that, but we weren’t. You’re kicking yourself a little bit, thinking, ’right, that wasn’t good enough last week’.
“[If] we pitch up at the same level of intent, physicality and directness that we did [last] Saturday, you know that the outcome is not going to be the same. That’s one of the areas where there’s huge growth in the squad to get better, especially on our side of the ball.
“How many times did we kick the ball out, or have little knock-ons at the base of a ruck and things like that? Simple things that are not our standard at all; that was disappointing. That’s an area we need to master better.”
Conan doesn’t get bogged down in the weeds of the tournament being devalued by clubs fielding weaker teams. The only thing that concerns him is that he, along with his teammates, try to ensure that Leinster are where they want to be for the knock-out stages of the tournament. Friday night is another stepping stone.
