The bite of the interpro’s is back and it’s great to see these games making headlines again.
From Leinster’s point of view it’s for the wrong reasons after an accumulation of misjudgements from some of their top players lead to them playing with 13 and 14 men for the majority of the game.
When teams lose their discipline it can be down to the quality of the opposition and the pressure they are being put under. Unfortunately, I don't think that is an accurate reflection on what happened at Thomond Park.
Leinster’s ill-discipline started early on with Johnny Sexton reacting to a borderline late hit from Bantry man Fineen Wycherley, who looks to play on the edge, but it didn’t seem to take much to get a reaction from the World Player of the Year.
Maybe he’s all too familiar with that hit after drawing defenders to him. Sexton plays right on the gain line, which makes him so effective, but it also means he ships a lot of hits after the ball is gone that will never be classed as a penalty. Rightly so in my opinion.
As a 10 you have to take some of this punishment if you want to put your team-mates away into space.
The reaction came very early in the game, which we might not have expected from Sexton at this stage in his career when everything seems to be going so well for him.
Maybe he was expecting it from Munster at Thomond Park and decided he’s going to deal with it early on.
Or maybe he just reacted without thinking, something that we don’t normally say in the same sentence as Johnny Sexton. He’s always thinking, but he’s human too and he can’t be blamed for that.
The rest of the foul play was very un-Leinster-like.
The wrecking ball Tadhg Furlong doesn’t seem to get in trouble very often despite accelerating into rucks and owning the contact area frequently. In that regard, he's doing damage against the best players in the world.
The famous clip of his encounter with Kieran Read is still doing the rounds on social media but at the weekend he got it very wrong.
Even if he didn’t make contact with Chris Cloete’s head, it was a dangerous bit of play. He charged in to a ruck without full control over his actions and without wrapping his arm.
You’re leaving yourself open to the referee’s judgement if you’re entering the ruck like that which isn’t something that the best players in the world do.
They are nearly always in control of their own actions. Or maybe they get away with borderline actions more often because they are perceived to be the best and referees don’t take as much action.
The same can be said about James Lowe.
Everything seemed to be going well for the unstoppable Kiwi this season and in one moment his night was over because he failed to control his feet to either leave the ground or slow down, which impacted Andrew Conway’s landing.
There’s no doubt that there was no intent from Lowe. Nobody is going out there to cause an injury to another player in the air like that, but the way the laws have changed and referee Frank Murphy had no choice but to end his night prematurely.
Lowe has received a two-week ban, which was reduced from four weeks due to his good record and conduct.
I don’t like to see players punished for extended periods for what can only be described as a mistake so it seems pretty fair. There needs to be some bit of a punishment so players take collisions in the air seriously, but it would be harsh to rule him out for any longer.
Sometimes games go against you and discipline issues creep in.
Leinster didn’t turn up at Thomond Park with the intention of causing trouble, but the early approach resulted in them losing control of the match and points that they would feel were there for the taking.
When they settled down in the second half they played well but they had to chase the game too much and Keith Earls picked off a flat pass in his own 22 to seal the game.
He had a great performance and looked to be out to rectify what happened last time round against Lowe in the Aviva, no better man to run 90 metres in front of his home crowd.
As a player these games happen where you might not be the one involved in the incidents and you’re left wondering why you can’t get into the game.
You can’t get your hands on the ball or you feel you’ve been in your own half for a lot of the first 40 minutes.
When you look back at the game it starts to make sense. It’s almost like you’re just about to find your flow and someone gives away a penalty.
You might survive that attack and then your out-half misses touch with the penalty.
Someone gets sin-binned and you spend the next 10 minutes under pressure. They can be pretty frustrating games because that wasn’t the team’s intention, but it’s certainly something that Leinster have to be focused on for the next few weeks.
Referees speak to each other. They will all be reviewing the game with Murphy, trying to get his opinion, asking how the players were to deal with and anything they should be looking for the next time they are refereeing those teams.
Leinster need to be whiter than white for the next couple of outings to recover their reputation as the cleanest footballing province in Ireland.
