Centres and secondrows have been occupying Matt O’Connor’s mind. The
Leinster
coach has been in talks with 6ft 6in Australian lock Kane Douglas but nothing yet, he says, has been finalised, while the search for Brian O’Driscoll’s replacement continues. That, too, has not been resolved although Gordon D’Arcy believes that Leinster have the players to grow into the 13 shirt.
Douglas (24), who has played 14 times for Australia since debuting in 2012, is not yet cemented into Leinster’s playing roster for next season, which is expected to be announced today. There are a number of front-line players on the squad including D’Arcy and Rhys Ruddock who have yet to finalise contracts.
“[Douglas] is a guy we have identified,” said O’Connor yesterday. “The deal hasn’t been done. If that gets across the line it would be positive for us. He fits the profile of what we were looking at and we’ll have an announcement in the next couple of weeks hopefully.”
O'Connor added that Fergus McFadden might be fit enough to play this weekend against Edinburgh where a win would seal a home league final for them, if they win their semi-final. Leinster came through the fractious weekend in Belfast in good health with no players reporting injury problems. But the ongoing problem surrounding Luke Fitzgerald's frustrating injury is also exasperating Leinster
'Bangs or bruises'
"We came out quite well from the weekend. There are no bangs or bruises that are going to cost blokes a game," said O'Connor.
“You know we are pretty confident where we are, probably with 28/30 players as opposed to 23. Fergus is very close to playing this week, he has progressed very well. You know he will put himself in the frame, hopefully this week.”
When it was suggested that the international winger see someone different in Europe or America, the answer arrived in a mildly rebuking tone. “He can’t see any more!” said O’Connor. “He has been all over the place.”
It's more frustrating for the player as Fitzgerald along with Brendan Macken can play at 13 and so can D'Arcy himself. With Noel Reid coming on strongly at inside centre there are options although there is a general recognition that regardless of player's ability, few can bring the galvanising effect that O'Driscoll did.
“There seems to be talk of a secondrow coming and how that’s going to affect who we can sign for next year,” said D’Arcy. “It may have to come from within our ranks. We may have to use players a bit more across the board.
“Lukey can play a bit at 13. I can. We’ve got Brendan Macken here. It might need more of a squad effort to fill that position until somebody kind of slips in there and makes a real play for it.”
Pointing out that players can be transformed over a short period of time, Reid has been catching the eye in recent outings. D'Arcy's international career went from missing out on the World Cup in 2003 to starting in the Six Nations six months later.
Outhalf Reid has moved to centre and has thrived. Making a quantum leap while the international players were involved in the international windows, he’s brought his 10 skills to centre with effect.
“He is the best passer in our squad. His distribution is fantastic,” said D’Arcy. “I know that is something Matt likes. His all-round play has come really, really good. Each game he’s playing he’s getting better and better. He’s hitting that age now where it’s really make-or-break. He is 23-24.
“You’re not a young guy anymore. You’re starting to come into it. You’ve got two-three more years to really hit the ground running.
“At 25-26, you want to see him being the star player week-in, week-out.”
