Joe Schmidt knows Racing Metro will be tough
Leinster coach Joe Schmidt believes that his side will face a tough test in Saturday’s Heineken Cup match against Racing Metro.
The French side lead their domestic league and Schmidt knows how good they are. Schmidt moved from French side Clermont Auvergne at the end of last season to take up the position of coach at Leinster.
Asked if Racing Metro would attack the Leinster pack, Schmidt said, “Yeah, Racing will just bully you and they’ve got the sort of clientele that are very effective at bullying. Lionel Nallet and Sebastien Chabal are the household names. But they’ve also
got some very – how you term “cute players” in Ireland.”
Schmidt also highlighted the importance of New Zealander Johnny Leo’o to Racing. The Leinster coach said, “Leo’o is a very good player and a really pivotal guy to organise them defensively and slow ball down. He’s a very effective player.”
“They also then can switch and play with a fair bit of quality in their counter-attack – I think they’ve shown that with Francois Steyn, Benjamin Fall and Sireli Bobo. They have some real quality in their back three,” added Schmidt.
The Leinster coach admitted that they will face a massive test against the French team. Schmidt said, “It doesn’t matter who they bring. I have a feeling they rested players against Toulouse last weekend and they brought a few of them on towards the end
and almost swung it back, and they got a bonus point.”
“Going to Toulouse and swinging a game around to almost get up and win it, those players fresh and rested will really be, as I said, formidable.”
Leinster will go into the game with confidence after beating Munster, but players like Brian O’Driscoll and Jamie Heaslip will have to be at their very best as they face their toughest test this season.
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