Leinster's 'farmed out' XV plying their trade for other Irish provinces
On Saturday night Leinster’s 26-game winning streak in the Guinness Pro14, a run stretching back to April 2019, finally came to an end at the hands of a superb Connacht side. Andy Friend’s team were full value for the win, their ambitious game plan backed by an intensity and physicality that Leinster struggled to cope with.
However the high number of former Leinster men in the Connacht ranks wasn’t lost on head coach Leo Cullen, who pointed out that his squad will face a similar test when Conference A leaders Ulster come to town on Friday.
“They (Connacht) all fronted up, particularly in that first half,” Cullen said. “They put a lot of pressure on us, got off the line aggressively. I thought the backrow were good, all ex-Leinster guys. Two big, physical second rows, ex-Leinster guys as well.
“It’s always good to see those guys progress with their careers,” he added.
In total Connacht’s starting team contained eight players that had at some stage been in the Leinster system – Peter Sullivan, Tom Daly, Shane Delahunt, Gavin Thornbury, Quinn Roux, Eoghan Masterson, Conor Oliver and Sean Masterson.
The result has sparked some life into the Pro14 season, with Leinster now trailing Friday’s opponents, Ulster, by 10 points in Conference A. Like Connacht, Ulster have a string of ex-Leinster players in their squad, most notably John Cooney, Jordi Murphy, Ian Madigan, Jack McGrath and Marty Moore.
“It is going to focus the minds for sure,” Cullen admitted.
“We talk about Connacht and they have a big string of ex Leinster players, Ulster is very, very similar isn’t it? There are a lot of guys there that will be highly motivated playing in these derby games.”
The movement of players from Leinster to the other provinces has at times been a source of frustration for Leinster. When Nick McCarthy decided to swap Leinster for Munster last year, Cullen said other provinces were actively trying to recruit Leinster players.
“Everyone here at the club is conscious of the fact that there is a lot of Leinster players being, ‘targeted’ maybe? I’m not sure what the best way to describe it is,” he said.
Leinster might not be happy with the amount of former Leinster men plying their trade rival provinces, but it’s a trend that is serving Irish rugby well, allowing players who might struggle for time on the pitch at Leinster to flourish elsewhere.
A number of fresh injury concerns for Leinster. https://t.co/AtxgDPVeui
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 4, 2021
Take Tom Daly, who scored Connacht’s bonus-point try at the RDS, as an example. In three seasons at Leinster Daly made just 12 senior appearances, all in the Pro14. He signed for Connacht on loan in December 2018 and had won 1o caps by the end of the season. Saturday’s game against Leinster was his 35th appearance for the province in all competitions, including a handful of starts in the Heineken Champions Cup, and he has become a key part of their squad in that time.
The sight of Leinster players opting for new challenges elsewhere isn’t likely to end any time soon. With Ulster recently confirming Marcel Coetzee will be leaving the club at the end of the season, Leinster will be on red alert given the high number of talented players battling for space in their own backrow.
What a game 🔥
✅ A bonus-point win
✅ First victory in Dublin since 2002@Connachtrugby record a win against @LeinsterRugby who face their first defeat since April 2019 🏉 #GuinnessPRO14 highlights ⤵ pic.twitter.com/C3rWBI7rp5— BKT United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial) January 2, 2021
Increased competition within the Leinster squad will always lead to a greater number of high-quality players being denied regular time on the pitch. They might look at those who have left with an envious eye.
Here’s our Leinster Exiles XV selection:
A LEINSTER EXILES XV:
15: Joey Carbery
14: Andrew Conway
13: Tom Farrell
12: Tom Daly
11: Matt Healy
10: Ian Madigan
9: John Cooney
1: Eric O’Sullivan
2: Shane Delahunt
3: Marty Moore
4: Gavin Thornbury
5: Quinn Roux
6: Tadhg Beirne
7: Jordi Murphy
8: Paul Boyle
And here’s a breakdown of the ex-Leinster men now playing at Connacht, Munster and Ulster, including players who were on senior Leinster contracts, were members of the Leinster academy or came through the Leinster schools/club system
Connacht
Jack Aungier, Paul Boyle, Tom Daly, Conor Dean, Shane Delahunt, Oisin Dowling, Jordan Duggan, Tom Farrell, Matt Healy, Eoghan Masterson, Sean Masterson, Conor Oliver, Peter Robb, Quinn Roux, Peter Sullivan, Gavin Thornbury.
Munster
Tadhg Beirne, Joey Carbery, Andrew Conway, Jeremy Loughman, Nick McCarthy, Roman Salanoa.
Ulster
John Cooney, Greg Jones, Ian Madigan, Jack McGrath, Marty Moore, Jordi Murphy, Alan O’Connor, David O’Connor, Eric O’Sullivan, Dave Shanahan, Nick Timoney.
Comments on RugbyPass
Danny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
2 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
2 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
5 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
35 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to comments