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‘It’s been a tough learning curve ’ – Friend and ‘humble’ Carty agree on Connacht’s need for attitude adjustment

Jack Carty of Connacht is tackled by Ross Molony (left) and Caelan Doris of Leinster during the Champions Cup match at the Aviva Stadium. Photo: Sportsfile Expand

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Jack Carty of Connacht is tackled by Ross Molony (left) and Caelan Doris of Leinster during the Champions Cup match at the Aviva Stadium. Photo: Sportsfile

Jack Carty of Connacht is tackled by Ross Molony (left) and Caelan Doris of Leinster during the Champions Cup match at the Aviva Stadium. Photo: Sportsfile

Jack Carty of Connacht is tackled by Ross Molony (left) and Caelan Doris of Leinster during the Champions Cup match at the Aviva Stadium. Photo: Sportsfile

Cian Tracey Twitter Email

As Andy Friend delivered a withering assessment of Connacht’s need to become more professional in terms of their preparation, his captain Jack Carty sat alongside him nodding in agreement.

Emotions were running high after Connacht were emphatically dumped out of Europe by Leinster, yet Friend and Carty were both very measured in their frank dissection of their side’s shortcomings.

It is clearly something that has been discussed within the squad behind closed doors, and as much as supporters will appreciate the honesty, there will also be concerns.

Friend is nearing the end of his fourth season in charge of Connacht, but the affable Australian publicly pointing to the squad’s professionalism as something that needs to improve is far from ideal at this stage of his tenure.

“Friendy alluded to it, there has definitely been a change in the last two weeks in terms of prep and how fellas went about it,” Carty explained.

“I think if we potentially had that for a longer sustained period of time, that would be a big thing moving forward for us.

“I suppose when Leinster scored, we had a conversation under the sticks but it’s all well and good having conversations underneath the sticks, we need to act on that.

“Look, we restarted, they kicked back to us and we turned (the ball) over. We gave them too easy access and that’s probably the main thing for us.

“We do something poor and then we back it up with a poor action, whereas the top teams cut it there. You never see... even the Irish national team, you never see them go bad to bad to bad.

“You might see bad to bad but they cut it there and it’s always a good. Usually if you end up having three bads back-to-back, you’ll end up underneath your own sticks and I think that’s something we unfortunately had on too many occasions.”

Friend was firm in his belief that Leinster are not better rugby players, but rather they are better professionals than his squad, who flew to South Africa yesterday.

Carty offered some insight into the changes that have already been made in a bid to play catch-up.

“I suppose when you have a couple of lads away with the international team, you have seen them really step forward in terms of Mack (Hansen), Finlay (Bealham) and Bundee (Aki),” Carty said.

“They have really grabbed certain fellas in their positions. Mack or Finlay have a couple of young fellas in their position and they have taken them under their wing.

“I suppose the last two weeks have been a tough learning curve for the front-rows but I don’t think they will come up against a tougher front-row opposition.

“It’s about what (Matthew) Burkey, Adge (Jack Aungier), Denis (Buckley), Heff (Dave Heffernan), (Jonny) Murph, what they can take from that moving forward.”

Friend was quick to praise Carty’s efforts in helping to improve the culture, as the Connacht head coach added:

“Listen, Jack is a humble man, he has also led the charge for us. It’s one of the plusses, we have now got some players who have been up there at national camp.

“Because when you are up there at national camp, you learn what the Leinsters do. In order to stay at that top level, you’ve got to be driving all aspects of your own performance and your own preparation.

“As Jack said, those fellas and Jack as our skipper, they have led that adjustment. To me, it’s really refreshing that it’s started, but my message again is; do not let that loss tell you that that is not the way we should be going.

“We need more of it, to be honest with you. And we can support that as coaches as well. It’s only a small thing but all these small things add up.

“There were too many small things that added up in their (Leinster’s) favour.

“At the end of the day, that does rest with me. If it’s not right then I need to take a look at what I’m doing. So that’s my big focus.”

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