The latest round of URC matches ended in continued frustration for Ulster, whereas the other provinces are bouncing into European action this weekend following their respective league wins.
The atmosphere will change within the camps this week. Everyone knows the difference between a European game and league games.
How do you know? Well, the coach has to select their current first-choice team. That puts everyone on edge.
During the other weekends in the league, there will be an element of sharing game time, squad rotation, internationals being rested by the IRFU protocols and the stakes aren’t as high, usually.
Obviously, when it comes to the business end of the year in the league you will get a similar feeling, but we saw with the recent interprovincial matches that the starting team wasn’t necessarily always the strongest team that was available to the coaches.
I’m always interested in other coaches and how they manage the team environment. How do they deal with the strong squads that they have and managing everyone’s game time? How do they keep everyone happy?
Eddie O'Sullivan and Donal Lenihan discussed Ben Healy's decision to leave Munster for Edinburgh on Against The Head
The last one is possibly a stupid question, you don’t keep everyone happy. That’s evident from the recent news of Ben Healy opting for pastures new. However, by all accounts there is a very amical relationship being left behind in Munster with the group, and particularly with Graham Rowntree.
You would like to be a fly on the wall in the conversations that occur in each of the provincial centres because every coach has a different way of managing the relationships.
If you’re Leo Cullen this week, Johnny Sexton is injured and you have two brothers vying for the same position. One is the predicted incumbent to not only the Leinster number 10 jersey, but for some experts he should also be the long- term replacement for Sexton in green. And his competition is his tried and trusted brother. Someone that has led Leinster through many a European game in Sexton’s absence and will probably do so again this weekend.
Maybe the decision is easier this week because Ross Byrne has been performing better than Harry and has more games under his belt. But it doesn’t make the conversation any easier with Harry if you’re Leo Cullen.
The same is true in the hooker position at Leinster. Dan Sheehan will start but Ronan Kelleher is returning and will want to go back to what he will believe is his rightful position in the pecking order. It takes a long-term management strategy to get this right. It’s one thing to give an answer that all parties will be happy with for one week, but to do so across a season is possibly the hardest part of coaching.
Andy Farrell is a great example of a coach that strikes me as having a credible balance between getting on with his players and having their buy in, yet he is still an authoritative figure when it comes to selection.
The past November series showed more about how Farrell has been managing these relationships. He is a guy that I thought had the players' belief and understanding, but it is increasingly obvious that he’s also a stern standard bearer over what it will take to own a jersey in his environment.
Looking on from the outside, that seems to be the key to managing his high-performing players' expectations. He puts the onus back on the players to almost select themselves through their performances.
If they have performed to a high enough level to keep the jersey then that’s what will happen. If you leave the door open for someone else then you leave yourself open to frustrating changes.
There are many examples of obvious selection headaches in the provinces this weekend. John Hodnett earned the player of the match award last weekend. Yet, when you look at the squad objectively and on past evidence, he will probably lose out to Gavin Coombes, Peter O’ Mahony, Jack O’ Donoghue and Alex Kendellen in the back-row selections, with one of those having to be talked into a bench spot.
If you think the Munster back row selection is tough, Leinster have to drop an Irish international from the starting team. Between world player of the year Josh Van Der Flier, Lion Jack Conan, the outstanding Caelan Doris but also the versatile and most athletic Ryan Baird. You still have to leave someone like Scott Penny out of that selection. How much longer will he be happy to keep Leinster winning league matches without getting the nod for European games in a full selection?
Another difficulty is when Munster have a full-strength back three available. Simon Zebo, Mike Haley, Keith Earls, the in-form duo of Calvin Nash and Shane Daly. Two of those won’t be happy to sit on the bench but arguments could be made for all of them to start. If one of the more experienced players is told to sit it out, how does that conversation go?
Graham Rowntree has a similar demeaner to Andy Farrell. He has the players' buy-in and he’s a people person but he can be a straight shooter as well, which will be needed when you’re potentially deciding on a player’s future career options.
The conversations get more difficult as the year goes on. There will be some contracts still to be decided and those players won’t take kindly to non-selection, should it happen.
Some decisions will be easier than others and won’t require too much of a conversation. For example, Penny can be disappointed to be left out of the Leinster team in a big selection but he is directly behind the current world player of the year.
Sometimes, all the coach can say is to keep doing what you’re doing and the door will open, encourage the hard work that is going on and empathise with the current difficulties for the player.
In other situations, the coach might go more on the front foot and point out where players need to be better. You’d have to imagine that Dan McFarland has a blank team sheet and players will unfortunately have to suck up the decision whatever way it goes because not many will find themselves in a commanding position following their difficult spell of form.
Ahead of an exciting Six Nations squad selection, we will see who is in a dominant position with their club heading into the crucial European action this weekend.
