Talk of bubble bursting way off mark – O'Connor paving way for bright new era

It is a view I most certainly do not share. In the Heineken Cup quarter-final Leinster deserved to lose, but the real damage was done not in deepest France but at Lansdowne Road three months before.

I count myself as being one of the very privileged to be present at Franklin's Gardens in early December when the province produced the most complete team performance by any Irish team on the Heineken Cup road and I don't make that assertion lightly.

What transpired in the Aviva a week later was quite extraordinary as Northampton turned the tables entirely.

So much in rugby is psychological and locked in the top two inches. How often in times past have we seen our international elite, following a disappointing Test window, return to their provinces and reinvent themselves individually and collectively.

I'm not too sure it works the other way though.

Certainly for Leinster, the number of players they've had involved in this Six Nations championship has been talked about a lot. What was achieved in going to Paris and eking out the win to take the title in the final game ranked alongside that World Cup victory over Australia in New Zealand in 2011 as the greatest by an Irish team in my book. Not for its quality, but for the sheer enormity of the task and the depth of the response delivered.

So, while the game may have changed beyond recognition – and it has – travelling to France on St Patrick's weekend and then back again to take on the Toulon Globetrotters three weeks later represented a psychological hurdle too high. Fitter, stronger, more skilled and more powerful they may be, but upstairs players are as humanly brittle and potentially fragile as ever.

Leinster, just like Munster against Toulouse, wanted that French scalp badly, but on the day, when it came to the mental battle, they trailed a distant second.

It was psychological fatigue – a case of going to that mental well once too often. Whether it was Ian Madigan or Jimmy Gopperth pulling the blue strings made not a whit of difference.

Kicking the coach is another of these modern game bugbears. Considering the shoes he was appointed to fill, I think we can all agree that at this point in time Matt O'Connor is making a fair fist of what is a pretty unenviable task.

As to the bubble bursting, well for the fickle few who bothered to go to Donnybrook to witness a masterclass from Leinster 'A' in the B&I Cup quarter-final against great rivals Munster, I suggest their take might be a little different.

From what I've seen at first hand coming through the underage system, and specifically the schools, Leinster Rugby is in a very good place and set fair to meet the challenge of a different European Cup, one in which the euro will talk louder by the year.

Of course it is essential they continue to attract the occasional marquee signing, which I have no doubt O'Connor and Leinster will, but if anything, under the new European Champions Cup arrangement, the gap between the haves and have-nots in terms of quick-fix signings is going to get even wider.

But, do I fear for Leinster? Not a bit. The key is keeping the best of our emerging talent at home and the IRFU is firmly focused on doing that.

That said, I also believe it's extremely positive when young and emerging players such as Darren Hudson, Jack O'Connell and Conor Gilsenan make the decision to go elsewhere to further their careers when clearly the route to first-team exposure is blocked at home.

Players out of sight must never be out of mind; having open access to as many top players as possible makes life easier for Joe Schmidt and whoever else might follow as Irish head coach in years to come.

There will be more Johnny Sextons, of that there is no doubt, but such movement is part and parcel of this increasingly professional game.

But what is noticeable about Leinster rugby from underage through 'A' to Pro12 and European Cup level is that there is an ingrained way of playing – a Leinster way at that.

Whether it is Noel McNamara, Girvan Dempsey or O'Connor calling the shots the tempo and style essentially stays the same. It is easy on the eye and by and large every bit as effective on the scoreboard.

Already we have seen Jack McGrath, Marty Moore, Jordi Murphy, Jack Conan, Ben Marshall, John Cooney and Noel Reid make the leap, while others like Brian and Ed Byrne, Ross Molony, Sean O'Brien (the other tank), Cathal Marsh, Luke McGrath, Steve Crosbie and Dan Leavy are on the cusp.

Watch too for some serious emerging talent in the guise of Fergal Cleary, Jeremy Loughman, Stephen McVeigh, Harrison Brewer and most particularly Billy Dardis.

The conveyor belts are working quite proficiently in the other three provinces, too, but Leinster at this point in time are further ahead.

There is no room for complacency and there won't be any given. O'Connor looks like a man who does not suffer fools gladly. When you consider this exciting new partnership with the Irish Independent, it's safe to say Leinster Rugby is in good hands.