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Is it Ireland or Leinster versus Wales in Dublin this afternoon?
It’s a remarkable testament to the strength in depth of Leinster – and the ability of the province to produce rugby athletes – that so many of Ireland’s squad members for the Wales game can claim a blue tinge to their lineage.
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The European heavyweights, who have dominated the PRO14 in recent seasons, have become the dominant variant in Irish rugby. The province supply chain is of course dependent on the highly competitive Leinster Schools system and owes at least a significant portion of its success to the demographic advantage it enjoys over its interprovincial rivals.
Leinster – with Dublin on its eastern coast – has a population of 2.6 million, just 500,000 or so less than the entirety of Wales.
Nevertheless, the numbers are impressive.
The 23 includes 14 current Leinster representatives, 11 of the starting 15.
What’s more, of the non-Leinster players selected in the 15 – two of them are products of Leinster’s academy. So that’s 13 of the Ireland XV that are Leinster players, past or present.
Twelve of the starting XV came through the academy. In fact just seven of the 23 didn’t come through the Leinster system – Mack Hansen, Jamieson Gibson-Park, James Hume, Finlay Bealam, Bundee Aki, Peter O’Mahony and Conor Murray.
A similar pattern played out at U20s level, with 11 players from the Irish squad in the 23 that thumped Wales U20s 53-5 at Musgrave Park on Friday night.
?? | The very best of luck to the 1?1? #LeinsterRugby players named in the Irish U-20's squad for Friday's game vs Wales. ?#FromTheGroundUp https://t.co/WzO1SuZaBN
— Leinster Rugby (@leinsterrugby) February 2, 2022
IRELAND TEAM TO PLAY WALES:
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Leinster Academy players in bold*
H Keenan (Leinster); A Conway (Munster), G Ringrose (Leinster), B Aki (Connacht), M Hansen (Connacht); J Sexton (Leinster, capt), J Gibson-Park (Leinster); A Porter (Leinster), R Kelleher (Leinster), T Furlong (Leinster), T Beirne (Munster), J Ryan (Leinster), C Doris (Leinster), J Van Der Flier (Leinster), J Conan (Leinster).
REPLACEMENTS: D Sheehan (Leinster), C Healy (Leinster), F Bealham (Connacht), R Baird (Leinster), P O’Mahony (Munster), C Murray (Munster), J Carbery (Munster), J Hume (Ulster).
Comments on RugbyPass
Fellas a balloon
3 Go to commentsBlues B team on display and made no race of it. By far the best team in SR with the Hurricanes barely getting past the winning post. Up the Blues 💙
5 Go to commentsWould be amazing to have Servette Genève reaching this level
3 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can't buy a win this season. Surely Penney's contract won't be renewed. There's still enough talent in the squad that they oughta be winning more.
1 Go to commentsABs captain for 23 seasons. Decent record. Surely nobody will surpass it. Legend. But alas a typo…
1 Go to commentsJust FYI Rugbypass, I for one am tired of your clickbait titles and thumbnails and will be clicking them no longer. Good day.
1 Go to commentsI think Farrell despite all of the stick he gets in the media is still one of if not the best fly half in the world. He is literally the full package. He can kick one of the best in the world, probably has the best defensive game of a fly half in the world and if he wants to he can run, take contact and find an offload to keep the pace of the attack. I dont know why he isnt spoken more about still being one of the best in the world with the likes of dupont. Farrell is the ultimate captain and team leader and is experienced- he has been in nearly any situation you can think of. I still believe due to these reasons that he is England’s best ever player and is still one of the best players in the world.
48 Go to commentsBlues are dominating up front and that’s been a long time coming. They have won the up front confrontation which is where canes, hilanders and act brumbies are also strong.
5 Go to commentsJust watched brumbies v safas game sadly not a show in he’ll thryr anywhere near quarters or semi contention. Admittedly some issues around new comers bot what stands out for me is coaching management, poor game planning and accuracy.
5 Go to commentsOne tough SOB!
16 Go to commentsI’ve put on 4/5 kilos since the beginning of the season too. Not good kilos. Bad kilos.
5 Go to commentsSurely there’s a ‘no knobheads’ policy ?
3 Go to commentsWallaroos have no chance of beating the Black Ferns unless Canada upsets them in Christchurch tomorrow but I doubt that as well!
1 Go to commentsWhat a joke. Could the victim do a course to reverse the long term CTE damage from the cheapshot?
2 Go to commentsTruely great player. In social media and opinion pieces he was held up and flogged for the results. People wanted someone to crucify, and he was the captain. He was still an immense presence respected by his peers. His battles with Siya Kolisi belong up with with Collins vs Burger in my opinion. Unlucky to be carded in the final, but I don’t agree that his red card was the defining moment. Not when you look at the dominant performances of the Springboks (PSDT in particular.) I think Cane should be remembered for the spirit and physicality that is special to test rugby.
16 Go to commentsSam was the man until he got injured .
16 Go to comments_Crusaders versus Leinster _at the moment might be a rout! But I would like to see the Blues play Toulouse, the Hurricanes front up against Stade Francais, and the Chiefs go against Toulon.
157 Go to commentsLove it when we overlap! Promise it was not forethought.
19 Go to commentsjfc can this guy plz stay out of the news for one week
3 Go to commentsIf stormers aren’t available. Based on form and likely availability at the time of the wales Test, you’d think Masuku would be a no-brainer to start. But starting Jordan also makes sense having Masuku come off the bench to close out the game.
2 Go to comments