Magners League: Three things to watch

Ahead of another weekend of Magners League action, JOE picks out three things to look out for in the games involving the Irish provinces.

By Conor Heneghan

The form of the Irish out-halves ahead of the November internationals

Coming off the back of the tour of the southern hemisphere in the summer, the Irish number ten jersey looked set to belong to Jonny Sexton for more than the foreseeable future. Ronan O’Gara looked off the pace and disinterested against the All-Blacks, while the introduction of Sexton against New Zealand Maoris and Australia represented a massive improvement.

Sexton has done no wrong since then and since his return from injury, he has been in scintillating form. His kicking in a 25-point personal haul against Saracens was spot on and in that game, but particularly against Racing a week earlier, he orchestrated some beautiful backline moves of the like that have made Leinster so attractive to watch in recent years.

On the basis of his form, then, Sexton would seem a shoo-in to start at out-half against the Springboks in the first of the November Internationals in two weeks time, but it is hard to ignore the claims of Ronan O’Gara given the level of his performances for Munster since the start of the season. O’Gara has returned to the confident, bordering on cocky, presence that pulls the strings for Tony McGahan’s side and makes life so miserable for the opposition with his precision kicking game.

From an Irish supporter's perspective it’s great to have two really pivotal players in such great form with the World Cup edging ever closer. O’Gara, as we saw with Ireland when David Humphreys was still around, relishes a challenge and if, as expected, he will begin as second choice out-half, he will keep Sexton on his toes.

Another thing to consider is that O’Gara’s next game in an Ireland jersey will represent his 100th cap for his country. Although we doubt whether Declan Kidney would be swayed by sentimentality, it would be nice to see the occasion marked by O’Gara leading out his country to a standing ovation against South Africa or one of the bigger teams, rather than coming on as a second half substitute, or - with all due respect to the opposition - leading out the team against Samoa a week later.

The resurrection of Peter Stringer

With all due respect to Tomás O’Leary, his absence through injury since the Leinster game has hardly been noticed due to the performances of his direct replacement, Peter Stringer. The impish out-half has showed in the Heineken Cup games against both London Irish and Toulon why he was Ireland’s regular number nine for the best part of the last decade.

Peter Stringer has flourished for Munster in the absence of Tomás O'Leary

Stringer and O’Leary are almost polar opposites in terms of style of play. O’Leary is physical, abrasive and like an extra back row-forward at times and while Stringer is brave and the master of the ankle tap, he will never be the defender O’Leary is, primarily because of his size.

Where Stringer has the edge on O’Leary, however, is in the speed and quality of his passing. Munster seem far more fluid in attack in recent weeks and while the pack deserve their share of the credit, Stringer’s contribution has been crucial.

Although O’Leary may return before the end of November, it is likely that Stringer will play some part for Ireland next month. Eoin Reddan looks like the prime candidate to start at number nine, more than likely alongside Leinster colleague Jonny Sexton, but Stringer should start against Samoa and a good showing in that game will have him firmly in the frame against the All Blacks and Argentina at the end of the month.

Ulster to steady the ship

Ulster suffered their first defeat of the season against Biarritz last weekend, but in fairness, considering the opposition and the venue, it was hardly a surprise. Many pundits had predicted that Ulster would announce just how far they’ve progressed this campaign with either a shock win or a losing bonus point against last season’s Heineken Cup finalists, but that was based on the potential they have to become a serious outfit rather than on their performances so far this season.

For even though Ulster had been unbeaten – and still are in the Magners League – some of their performances this campaign were distinctly average and they were probably lucky to escape from a couple of them with four or more points. Still, winning while not playing well is not a bad trait to have and it was something that both Brian McLaughlin and Rory Best both identified at the start of the season as something Ulster needed to start doing if they were going to improve on their Magners League and Heineken Cup campaigns of recent years.

Although Ulster aren’t firing on all cylinders performance wise of late, you get the feeling that with the talent in their squad that they will eventually. A win away to Edinburgh - who narrowly lost to Ulster at Ravenhill last month – would not be a massive achievement in the overall scheme of things, but would be a sign of where this Ulster team are going and would help them get back on track following last weekend’s defeat.