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
The 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?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 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!
3 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 …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to comments