‘A happy medium’ the secret behind van der Flier’s form

‘A happy medium’ the secret behind van der Flier’s form

Leinster Rugby flanker Josh van der Flier believes his scintillating recent form is down to finding a balance in his game.

The Ireland international comes into the Heineken Champions Cup final against Stade Rochelais on Saturday on the shortlist for the EPCR European Player of the Year award.

Scoring six tries in seven matches and completing the joint-most tackles (89) of any player in this season’s competition, van der Flier has been superb in attack and defence – an all-round impact he has been seeking in his performances.

“I’ve always tried to develop my game, all areas of it,” he explained. “Whether it’s tackling, ball carrying, work at the ruck.

“This year, there’s a few things I’ve maybe done slightly differently. I’m trying to relax more, trying to demand the ball in attack, try get a few more carries, a few more involvements.


“I’d say in the last two years I’ve probably made more mistakes than I ever have. I’d always been quite strict on myself about doing my role, doing as well as I can, not making mistakes, doing the simple things well.

   
   

“I guess I’ve tried to grow my game a bit, have a bit more of an impact in defence, a bit more of an impact in attack. It seems to have been going well for me.

“There’s been times in games when I might’ve said, ‘I’m going to really focus on my tackling’, and then my tackling might be good and then my attack wasn’t so good, or my ruck work wasn’t so good.

“I’ve managed to find a bit of a happy medium. I find [it] between trying to focus on one thing you’re going to do well in a game but also trying to bring everything up to that level as well.”

Another boost for van der Flier has been the quality and camaraderie among Leinster’s back row options, which he says has benefitted the squad massively.

“All the back rows at Leinster, we all get on really well,” he said. “It’s very, very competitive, there’s a lot of squad depth in the back row.

“It pushes everyone to be better. A lot of the lads who aren’t playing are helping the other lads, helping myself.

“Scott Penny, Will Connors, Dan Leavy, guys like that will be helping me with anything they’ve thought from a number seven’s point of view that might help.

“We’ve got a good relationship in that way. Jack [Conan], Caelan [Doris], myself and Rhys [Ruddock], who were playing in the semi-final, we’ve played together a lot, we know each other well, we’re good friends.

“That all plays a good part, and it helps when the team is going well as well.”

     
     

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