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The fates have aligned rather nicely for Andy Farrell. It is not necessarily coincidence that Investec Champions Cup semi-final weekend falls a matter of days before the British and Irish Lions boss picks his squad on 8 May, but a meeting of Leinster and Northampton is precisely the sort of fixture he would have wanted on the docket with selection looming.
Of course, most of the thinking has already been done, perhaps a bit of tinkering at the edges still to take place but the bulk of the squad pencilled in. It would be wrong to misrepresent these final games as anything other than trivialities in an exceptionally large dataset. Yet for Northampton’s crop of contenders, this weekend could promise plenty – having pushed Leinster close in Dublin at this stage last year, another statement showing could well increase their representation on the plane.
Alex Mitchell and Tommy Freeman feel like safe bets to tour but how the sparky and spunky Henry Pollock, already an arch antagonist, fares up against a fearsome back five containing three likely Lions will perhaps be of greater interest. And what about at 10, where Fin Smith and Sam Prendergast will go head-to-head? With Owen Farrell and Finn Russell in Challenge Cup action, four of the six realistic fly half possibilities will have one last chance to display their wares ahead of a fascinating selection shake-up.
“I am always looking at other 10s and seeing if I can learn bits and bobs. I have got huge respect and admiration for him,” Northampton playmaker Smith said this week of Prendergast, revealing that two calm, considered characters had been “loosely in touch” over the last few years.
“The way he has carried himself in such a calm manner and been incredibly unfazed, particularly with some of the madness the Irish media have chucked to the (Jack) Crowley-Prendergast debate, has been impressive.
“He has got a real box of tricks with the variety of his kicking and some of his late passing at the line.”
Perhaps sensibly, Smith and his Saints chums are confronting the Lions question head on: “Everyone will give you the bog-standard answer of ‘No, I just want to focus on my game’.
“But at the same time, I am fully aware this is a big game under the microscope which is probably the last chance I’ve got to put my best foot forward before selection happens. It won’t hopefully change too much in terms of what I am trying to do, but I definitely want to go out there and play well with that (Lions) being one of many incentives.”
Little feels certain at fly half days out from the squad naming, with George Ford in delicious recent touch and Marcus Smith’s versatility and variety sure to keep him in the frame. Even the presumed banker in Russell may not be quite such a certain bet given the addition of Johnny Sexton to the coaching team – placing too much stock in the former Ireland 10’s dismissive assessment of Russell last November in an interview with The Times would perhaps be foolish, but Sexton’s comments do maybe reflect a philosophical schism between two high-class fly halves.
One still feels the Scot will make it, though there has been developing steam behind Owen Farrell, the Lions head coach not at all coming close to ruling his son out of contention. If there are plenty of questions to be answered – a grumbly knee; Farrell Jr’s ongoing England sabbatical; the noise that would surround such a selection – the fact that they are still being asked shows the stature in which the Racing 92 playmaker is held.
He will not be the only French-based player in contention. Blair Kinghorn’s ill-timed injury imperils his chances but Jack Willis gets another chance to strut his stuff for Toulouse in what promises to be an enthralling encounter with Bordeaux-Begles. Down the divisions, Courtney Lawes is making no secret of his desire to tour, too: a Friday night top-of-the-table clash between Brive and Grenoble may lack the glamour of the European final-four flings but displays the ProD2’s unique charms and qualities.
It is on Lawes’s former teammates that most of the focus will fall, though. Northampton have clearly missed both he and Lewis Ludlam in their stuttering defence of the Premiership title, with the departure of Alex Waller and leaving a leadership room in need of repair. George Furbank’s concerning arm injury – the full-back will miss this game after a suffering a set-back following a rapid return – creates yet more of a vacuum as Saints take on one of the sport’s most testing current tasks. For Pollock, Smith and the rest, this may have to be a day where they swell in size, as they did in Pretoria in December and in this fixture last year.
Yet even that sort of performance may not be enough to stay with a new and improved Leinster. Back-to-back nillings in the knockout rounds of two vibrant attacking sides in Harlequins and Glasgow have rather served as a reminder of the sheer strength of an outfit that adds South African might and Kiwi class to a squad otherwise almost entirely formed of Irish internationals. While RG Snyman has signed on for more – much to the chagrin, rightfully, of some Munster fans – the weeks are running short for Jordie Barrett’s time in Dublin; the capture of regular All Blacks midfield partner Rieko Ioane as a replacement really is a case of the rich getting richer.
Yet while Snyman and Barrett’s impact is obvious, perhaps Leinster’s most consequential overseas addition in recent years is Jacques Nienaber, who has begun to craft the sort of suffocating blitz defence that took the Springboks to the top of the world. It is a unit good enough to put the squeeze even on the exceptionally highly-regarded Northampton attack; Smith may have more than a slingshot in his armoury but fell the Leinster goliath and the fly half really will look a Lion in waiting.
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