Rónan Kelleher will his first appearance since September and Harry Byrne is in line for his first outing of the season off the bench when leinster host the Glasgow Warriors in the United Rugby Championship on Saturday in the RDS Arena (kick-off 3.15pm, live on RTÉ Sport and URC TV).
Kelleher is named to start at hooker in one of just three changes from the side that won 35-5 away to the Scarlets four weeks ago, with Jamie Osborne coming in at fullback and the new Ireland cap Joe McCarthy starting in the secondrow. Ryan Baird also returns in the replacements.
“Rónan has obviously been very unlucky with his injury but he’s coming back now and he’ll be fresh coming into this big block of games coming up. You’ll hear that from every coach in the next while I’m sure, they’re huge,” said Leo Cullen in reference to Leinster’s upcoming block of ten consecutive games, which feature four Champions Cup pool games as well six URC clashes, including three derbies.
“It’s good to have those guys back in. Rónan played an early round and picked up what seemed like something innocuous at the time but he did a bit more damage. The other guys have been careful in managing him back in. Harry was due to play a club match before November and then he had a set-back. But he is back now and it is huge for the two lads who can hopefully play a part in the next ten weeks.”
In addition to Saturday’s replacement tighthead Vakh Abdaladze, who made his debut for Georgia during the November window, McCarthy and Jimmy O’Brien also come back into the Leinster set-up as newly fledged internationals.
[ Leinster’s Vakh Abdaladze makes his family proud with first Georgia capOpens in new window ]
“Jaypers, if you think back to this time last year, I was watching Joe [McCarthy] play with Trinity against Lansdowne last November. Trinity had a big win against Lansdowne that day and Tom Clarkson, who’s starting at tighthead this weekend, was playing as well.”
“That’s the rise in how quickly it can happen. It doesn’t always happen like that but for young guys coming in, that’s the thing. They’re that close to it.
“He [McCarthy] made his debut for us in the Six Nations window against Cardiff - a game we lost if you remember. Him and Dev, a lot of caps between the two of them that day; Joe his first and Dev his 270th or whatever it was.”
After hailing O’Brien’s performances in playing all three tests for Ireland during the Nations Series, Cullen said: “But it’s no real surprise to us because we’ve seen Jimmy for the last number of years here with us and he’s a great footballer; versatility, he’s played pretty much every position for us across the backline.
“It’s great for those guys. Two very different stories but it’s great for the two of them.”
Over 16,000 tickets have been sold but tickets for the game are still on sale.
The victorious Heineken Cup winning squads of 2011 and 2012 will be celebrated and will be introduced to the crowd at half-time and there will also be a special post-match Q&A in the new fanzone, the Laighin Den.
“It’ll be good to see some faces,” said Cullen, who captained those sides. “I’m sure everyone will be a little bit nervous, there’s a WhatsApp group going around. People are still slagging each other, so you don’t want to be too sensitive with some of those individuals in there.
“There’s a great camaraderie and there’s a bond there that will hopefully last a lifetime, and that’s what you want. The players at the moment, each season it’s about trying to make memories for the group.
“We have a group playing against Glasgow that want to play in the biggest games coming up, they want to be in the European games, they want to be there for the Six Nations.
“You see the likes of Ross Byrne, training with us on the Monday last week, and was kicking the match-winning penalty at the end of the week for Ireland. That’s how quickly things change. Everybody needs to be ready to take the opportunity.
Turning to the game against Glasgow, who were beaten 76-14 at the RDS when the sides last met in a quarter-final in June, Cullen added: “Glasgow are a very, very tough opponent that we’ve struggled with in the past. People will talk about the last time Glasgow came here, but it’s a totally different time now. Conditions this time of year are tricky so we need to manage them well on the day, and it’ll be a tough battle for us.
“This generation of players are trying to do something special, so in the future they’ll be here, wheeled out at half-time. It’ll be great to see some of those faces from a very, very happy time in my life.”
Leinster: Jamie Osborne; Rob Russell, Liam Turner, Charlie Ngatai, Dave Kearney; Ross Byrne, Luke McGrath; Ed Byrne, Rónan Kelleher, Thomas Clarkson; Ross Molony, Joe McCarthy; Rhys Ruddock (captain); Scott Penny, Max Deegan.
Replacements: John McKee, Michael Milne, Vakh Abdaladze, Jason Jenkins, Ryan Baird, Cormac Foley, Harry Byrne, Chris Cosgrave.
