LEINSTER’S HEINEKEN CUP exit on Sunday means this past month can officially be called a period of ups and down for Gordon D’Arcy.

Yet while performances, results and the team he represents have been changeable, one factor which must have felt like a constant was his opponent for club and country; Mathieu Bastareaud.

As an outside centre, we normally focus on Bastareaud’s direct match-up with Brian O’Driscoll, but one of the key factors to O’Driscoll’s longevity in the game is his near-telepathic relationship in midfield with D’Arcy.

The inside centre gives a wry smile at the mention the Toulon star’s name, he must surely be a bane to D’Arcy’s proud defensive reputation.

The 34-year-old made 22 tackles without error over the two games against Wales and England in the Six Nations and he missed just one for Leinster between home clashes against Northampton and Ospreys in the Heineken Cup pool stage.

Against Toulon and France, D’Arcy has clocked up six missed tackles (O’Driscoll missed a combined nine in the same fixtures) and while not all of them can be attributed directly to Bastareaud, it is certainly no coincidence.

Source: Donall Farmer/INPHO

“He’s actually at his most dangerous is in those wide open spaces,” said D’Arcy when asked about the formidable centre who Munster coach Rob Penney will surely be examining closely in the coming weeks.

“You don’t really have a hustle and jam – a player either side of you – one on one. He’s not a particularly tall fella either, so when you go low he just drops his body weight. When you try to jump on him he fends you off.

“He is a particularly hard guy to defend. I’d say he’s up there with one of the hardest guys to defend against in the world at the moment. You talk about players who give you a return in a game. He guarantees you five or six solid carries every game. When you can deliver off that, when you can build a platform off that, it is a pretty nice thing to have in your team. To be fair, he is a good defender. He made a few good reads at the weekend. He’s quite an underrated player [defensively].”

Source: Billy Stickland/INPHO

With the French international weighing in at over 110 kilos, some fear that the mould of a small, nimble centre like D’Arcy or O’Driscoll will no longer feature in a game increasingly-obsessed with mass. D’Arcy, however, didn’t have to look further than his last direct opponent to put forward an argument to the contrary.

“There is always going to be space for skill, footwork and acceleration. Matt Giteau did our second defender from the ruck twice at the weekend.

“There has to be a place for guys who control the game. You don’t want it to turn into just a physical front up. You need a little bit of skill, that’s what makes the game a little bit exciting to play and to watch. We have guys here, Noel Reid, who is fantastic with the ball in hand, great stepper and lovely balanced runner. That is as enjoyable as watching Bastareaud or Jamie Roberts going through three, four or five tackles.”