Well, I didn't see the game, but the results over the past three weeks haven't surprised me. I'm not bitter any any means, and fair dues to Clermont and Ulster, but from a Leinster perspective we do have to acknowledge the fact that this team is reaching the end of a cycle.This is the first chance I've had to get a good long post out in a while, so I feel I should say a few things I've felt about Leinster over the past few months. At the end of last season most of us probably knew that we had reached our zenith. We'd been only the second team in the history of the Heineken Cup to achieve a two in a row and had done so playing some scintillating rugby along the way. I have more fond memories from the last four years than I could write about. The comeback against Northampton, the never say die refusal to get beaten against Montpellier away, the downing of Toulouse, Leicester, Clermont, Bath, Quins, Munster, and Ulster on our way to glory have been nothing short of a miracle and its been a privilege to witness.Going into the start of this season the signs that the team was at a serious juncture were all there to bee seen. While we still had a core of top class internationals a large part of the starting squad was also well into their thirties. The failure to find a serious top class lock was once again a problem, the back three looked pretty thin after the front liners, and the summer signings were less than stellar. A tough Heineken Cup draw meant that we would essentially need to be at full strength for the Clermont game, and hopefully for the two games beforehand too. Of course that's not how it turned out. When you've had a squad as long on the road as ours you're always likely to hit injury patches and this year our relative luck on that front ran out. Injury after injury to front line players made finding continuity in the early part of the season difficult, and left the guys seriously lacking match time for the big games in Europe. However it wasn't the big name losses that hurt the most in my mind. Usually when we start a season we can look to the likes of Nacewa, Strauss and Boss to lead the league campaign, ably abetted by Rhys Ruddock, Eoin O'Malley, Dom Ryan, Dave Kearney and some other serious talent bubbling just under the first fifteen. All but one of those guys were missing for large parts of the early season and the likes of HVDM and Leo Auva'a failed utterly to fill the leadership void left in their wake as a team of kids were thought some tough lessons, like away to Llanelli. It didn't help that our two more experience summer signings, Goodman and Bent, who would have been invaluable in those early months, were still plugging away at the ITM.In such a state we went into the Heineken Cup, and boy did it show. God knows how, but we came away with two wins from two after the opening weekend, have been utterly unimpressive. However, we were still hanging in there. Munster were beaten on the domestic front, and if we could build some continuity the season could still be very, very good. Alas, we lost Brian, Fitzgerald and O'Malley still were nowhere to be seen and Clermont were able to expose our lack of depth with two pretty impressive wins. Ulster, much improved on last season, were able to do the same this weekend. Bah!However, all isn't lost yet by any means. There's still a league campaign to fight for and a spot in the Amlin that we should try our hardest to get. Winning is a habit and one I'm not content with giving up. As I mentioned earlier we're at a critical point in terms of how competitive Leinster are to be over the next three or four seasons. There are some major areas we need to look at fixing over the summer and the next season. We've managed to get our hands on a top class lock, much needed. We should target another player in that department too. Ryan Caldwell is out of contract at the end of the season and his tenacity would do no harm whatsoever. Having a front five that's mean and nasty is no bad thing, and with Leo likely to be off in the summer we'll need all the help we can get in that department. Devin Toner clearly isn't up to it it pains me to say. Worth keeping around the squad? Possibly. But a luxury we can ill afford against a team with a decent scrum. Mark Flanagan remains a prospect, and I for one cannot wait to see him come back from injury in the new year. By the sounds of things he's bulked up considerably so he could be an asset. If we go into next season with McCathy, another high quality lock - be it Caldwell, Roux, or someone else, and what we have now minus Leo we should be set in that department. Anything else and it's still and area of concern we can ill afford.Loose head prop is now an issue we'll have to deal with. Our success over the past few years has been built on being able to bring different qualities and styles to different games as is required. Losing HVDM, as I believe we will, would be a huge loss, as I don't think Jack McGrath is ever likely to be a good enough player for the Heineken Cup. We may have to consider using an NIQ spot. Here. Similarly, we can ill afford to lose either of our hookers. Neither of them should have any real reason to go, but doubt remains over Cronin's future at the province. He's still a good way ahead of anything Munster would have in that department so a move back home may be appealing to him. I pray he stays.Scrum half too presents challenges. We've got two international class guys both coming up to the end of their careers. Their contrast in styles has been of huge value to Leinster over the past two or three years and they'll be tough to replace. Fortunately this is a department where I believe we have all the talent we need within the province. In McGrath and Cooney we have a 9 and replacement that would do for pretty much any team in Europe should be be able to maximize their potential. We've got to look at blooding the hell out of the pair of them over this season and the next, as McGrath in particular is one of the best talents we've seen in the province in years.Our centres too are an issue. We're not going to be able to replace Brian O'Driscoll and Gordon D'arcy over night, simple as. In O'Malley and McFadden we have a capable 12 -13 combination, but it's hardly stellar. I still hold out hope that wen Fitzgerald eventually makes it back he'll finally be given the run in the centre he deserves as that's where his best talents lie. Ian Madigan also has a lot of potential to be a very high quality 12, as the weaknesses in his game that are exposed at 10, namely his inability to manage a game, are less important inside. I do think we need an import here, someone like Richard Kahui would fit the bill perfectly. We should look to keep Goodman too.Finally, we should aim to get ourselves someone to cover the back three. If everyone is fit and available we're set in this department, but far too often over the past two seasons that hasn't been the case. Unfortunatley our hands may be somewhat tied by the IRFU here.So in summation, if we lose HVDM and Quinn Roux in the off season we'll have 3 of our 4 NIQ spots available. We need to plug a gap in the centres, find a winger, and probably bring in a new LHP. If we can do that, we should be set for the next two or three years while home grown talent gets a chance to grow up beside the imports. If not, we may not be competing at the very top for a while yet.The scrum half spot is
