Former Ireland midfielder Gordon D\u2019Arcy has identified the area that will decide whether Leinster reach their fourth Investec Champions Cup final in five seasons or lose out at the semi-final stage for the second season in a row.<\/p>\n
Leo Cullen\u2019s side are favourites to win their way through to May\u2019s final in Bilbao when they host Toulon this Saturday in Dublin.<\/p>\n
However, having frustratedly watched his old team get ambushed last weekend in the United Rugby Championship<\/a> at Benetton, D\u2019Arcy believes this week\u2019s tight-five reinforcements \u2013 namely lock duo Joe McCarthy and James Ryan \u2013 must deliver.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a tricky situation for Leinster<\/a>. They responded to last year\u2019s Champions Cup semi-final elimination at home to Northampton<\/a> by winning the URC title, but their form heading into the latter weeks of this season hasn\u2019t been as impressive.<\/p>\n \u2018Home advantage, it matters, it really does\u2026\u2019<\/p>\n Sizing up the Aviva Stadium fixture, D\u2019Arcy was adamant on The Counter Ruck, the rugby podcast on The Irish Times<\/a>, that a fast start would be needed if Leinster are to make home advantage count. \u201cHome advantage, it matters, it really does,\u201d he said. \u201cToulon have got travelling. Are they going to have to come up on a Thursday or Friday? What do they do overnight into it?<\/p>\n \u201cLeinster have to make that advantage count, and that is pressure on the field, got to get points on the board and that will come from the defensive intensity. They can\u2019t get drawn into an arm wrestle with Toulon; they have got to come out of the blocks fast.<\/p>\n \u201cThey also need key players back. They need Joe McCarthy back; they need James Ryan. These are why you want the big guys, the big names for these matches.<\/p>\n \u201cIf it\u2019s not Tadhg Furlong, (Thomas) Clarkson has to put in a serious shift<\/a>. Leinster have the potential to look a little bit light in the tight five and that is a worry against a very big Toulon pack. They need a little bit of fortune to go their way this week.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen Joe McCarthy and James Ryan hit rucks, they move. Now they both have track records of maybe getting their timing a little bit wrong, but the intent is right and that\u2019s the type of physicality they need this week.<\/p>\n Jack Willis on \u2018making peace\u2019 with England career, that Ireland rumour and the Toulouse player who is \u2018the scariest but nicest bloke at the same time\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWhether you like it or not, the tight five predominantly end up doing the heavy lifting in that regard and if they are doing their job, that is when your back row starts to feature a little bit more prominently in the wider channels because your tight five is doing their job.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s what the job remit is, that is what the job spec is, you do the hard work so somebody else thrives. For me, that will be the winning and the losing of the game for Leinster.\u201d<\/p>\n Reflecting on last weekend\u2019s surprise 29-26 league loss in Italy, which left Leinster in fourth place with two rounds of fixtures remaining, D\u2019Arcy said: \u201cThey should have won the game, they should have closed the game out. The game management in the last 10 minutes was embarrassingly naive, but they should have been able to close that game out, even for a draw, take two points and go okay.<\/p>\n \u201cThe last penalty, I would have had words with a few people after that game with the way they gave up that penalty, but it\u2019s gone, it\u2019s done, there\u2019s no point dragging that into this week.<\/p>\n Leinster admit \u2018alarm bells\u2019 ringing over Tadhg Furlong but Ireland back returns after nine weeks on the sidelines<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cFor Leinster, it\u2019s now a piece for them where they have not been able to navigate that game. Over the last four, five years, they would have been able to manage that game and get a result, but they weren\u2019t able to do it this time. That is a big criticism, and how they perform this week will contextualise that loss against Benetton.\u201d<\/p>\n Leinster have played Toulon once before in a Champions Cup<\/a> semi-final and the memory of 2015 is a sore point for D\u2019Arcy as a pass from Ian Madigan that was intended for him was intercepted by Bryan Habana for the decisive extra-time score in Marseille.<\/p>\n \u201cAll he had to do was just pass to the next man, me. We were going around the corner, Ian attacked the line and I didn\u2019t, so he was doing one thing and I was doing another and he just passed into the space into Mr Habana\u2019s hands,\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n Sticking with last weekend\u2019s URC action involving the Irish clubs, D\u2019Arcy paid tribute to the impact made by Munster\u2019s Edwin Edogbo from the bench in their 41-14 win over Ulster. An injury to Jean Kleyn allowed the one-cap Ireland lock an early entry to the fray and he didn\u2019t disappoint in making a lasting impression.<\/p>\n