URC: Leinster v Bulls, RDS, Friday, 7.35pm (Live TG4, Premier Sports)
With 12 internationals, 11 of whom played with Ireland in the Six Nations Championship winning side, Leinster head coach Leo Cullen has assembled his 23-man squad with the URC semi-final of two years ago in mind. Okay, perhaps Cullen really doesn’t want to go to that well to draw from as the Bulls stunned Leinster with a one-point win.
Nonetheless, it’s as strong a Leinster side as we’ve seen for some time with even Josh van der Flier and Robbie Henshaw drawn into service. Henshaw, in cracking form at Test level, played for 80 minutes in four of Ireland ’s matches and for 63 minutes against Italy. Flanker Van der Flier also appeared five times for Andy Farrell but with not as many minutes in his legs. Both players start against the South African side.
James Lowe, who has been handed a starting place, played for the full 80 minutes in all five Six Nations matches. Still, as Cullen said, the players have had a blowout and Henshaw’s recent wedding in Cashel would have provided a platform for that. With Dan Sheehan, Caelan Doris, Jamison Gibson-Park and Tadhg Furlong also included for replacement impact, the fully loaded Leinster bench is a statement from Cullen of what he expects of Jake White’s side.
White has had plenty of encouraging things to say about Leinster in a charm offensive this week, with Cullen hoping the change to Leinster colours and something of a fresh start will have shaken his players out of the tired looking shape they were in against Scotland in their last Six Nations match.
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That was mental as much as physical and with the Champions Cup following next weekend, this block of URC matches will be completed very much with Leicester and the Aviva Stadium in mind. It is a juggling act with which Cullen is familiar, with Rob Russell, Jamie Osborne and Ross Molony rewarded for the ‘unseen’ shifts conducted during the Six Nations, Moloney the only survivor of seven changes in the pack. Leinster have also gone with the traditional 5-3 split on the bench.
“It’s a proper game for us, first against second in the league,” said Cullen. “Last week was a good opportunity for the guys that have been involved in the Six Nations to have a break and a bit of a blowout just to release that pressure that’s there over the previous couple of months.
“On the flip side of that, we have had a young group mixed with some experienced guys that have managed to play three games during the Six Nations window and pick up 15 points, so they couldn’t have done any more.”
Those wins came against Parma, Cardiff and Benetton, with Leinster’s last defeat at the beginning of January, a one-point loss to Ulster in the RDS.
The Bulls also have their Springboks, with Willie le Roux at 15, Kurt-Lee Arendse on the right wing and Canan Moodie in midfield.
Johan Goosen at outhalf has also been a reliable kicker for the Bulls this season with Leinster discipline at the breakdown likely to be tested. They will also remember number eight Marcell Coetzee from his time in Ulster, the province’s player of the year the season he left to return to South Africa.
But you would have to back the Leinster pack to deal with whatever comes at them, with a backrow of Van der Flier, Ryan Baird and Jack Conan at number eight, the latter two used largely as impact players by Farrell.
White rightly sees it as a benchmark game for his side and he has asked for his players to fire shots against a very effective system-based Leinster side, anything to knock them out of rhythm.
“The most important thing is we must at least give ourselves a chance. We don’t want to come here and not fire a shot, so that would be one message to our players,” said White.
“We are going to have to match them in areas where they are really good, and we are going to have to stop them from doing what they want to do as well. When they get the game flowing and the rhythm of the way they want to play, they are as good as any team we have played if not better than any team we have played.”
LEINSTER: J Larmour; R Russell, R Henshaw, J Osborne, J Lowe; H Byrne, L McGrath (capt); C Healy, R Kelleher, M Ala’alatoa; R Molony, J McCarthy; R Baird, J van der Flier, J Conan.
Replacements: D Sheehan, M Milne, T Furlong, J Jenkins, C Doris, J Gibson-Park, R Byrne, L Turner
BULLS: W le Roux: K Lee-Arendse, C Moodie, D Kriel, D Williams; J Goosen, E Papier; G Steencamp, A van der Merwe, W Louw; R Vermaak, R Nortje; M Van Staden, E Louw, M Coetzee (capt).
Replacements: J Grobbelaar, S Matanzima, M Smith, R Ludwig, M Gumede, Z Burger, C Smith, H Vorster
Referee: Craig Evans (WRU).
