WHEN LEINSTER AND La Rochelle met in Dublin for last year’s Champions Cup final, it was near impossible to drag your eyes away from the scrap between the opposition second rows.
James Ryan and Ross Molony started in the Leinster engine room that day, with Romain Sazy and Will Skelton lining out for La Rochelle. Ryan looked on course for one of the games of his life before his afternoon came to an early end – the lock playing like a man on a mission and delivering some huge hits before departing with a head injury 30 minutes in, his last actions two big tackles on UJ Seuteni and Skelton.
Leinster were 20-7 up when Ryan exited and the home side badly missed his physicality over the following 50 minutes, during which time they only managed to add two Ross Byrne penalties as La Rochelle turned the game on it’s head to secure a one-point win.
Ryan won’t be on the pitch for this weekend’s quarter-final meeting as he continues to recover from an arm injury, having not played since Ireland’s Six Nations defeat of Wales in February. Having also had a massive role in Leinster’s win at La Rochelle in December, his absence is a significant blow and it will be interesting to see how Leo Cullen weighs up the selection calls in the second row.
Joe McCarthy is a shoo-in to start and it will likely be one of Ross Molony or Jason Jenkins alongside him. That Molony started against Leicester Tigers last weekend might be an indication of how Cullen is thinking.
Molony is an excellent lineout operator and will work tirelessly, but Leinster might lean more towards bulking up against their French foes.
Jenkins was signed to be that power player for the province but hasn’t quite had the desired impact since moving from Munster – with RG Snyman set to take on that mantle next season.
Ryan Baird is another option, although the 24-year-old has only started one game in the Leinster second row this season [v Connacht in December], with Leinster and Ireland now primarily using the versatile forward in the backrow.
Whatever way selection goes, with Ryan absent Leinster will look to McCarthy to step up as their enforcer.
The former Blackrock student has brought his game to a new level this season, impressing at the World Cup before being promoted to the Ireland starting team and winning a Six Nations medal.
One of his standout performances came when Leinster visited La Rochelle in the Champions Cup pool stages, delivering an aggressive, confident display at the home of the back-to-back European champions. Remarkably, that game represented just his second start in the Champions Cup.
Leinster will need him to bring the same edge to his game this weekend, while staying on the right side of the officials – at the Stade Marcel Deflandre McCarthy was sin-binned for driving Jonathan Danty into the ground after a scuffle broke out between the two teams.
McCarthy’s potential has been evident for a couple of seasons now but these are the days he needs to dominate. His performance in the Six Nations defeat of France delivered on the pre-tournament hype and his attacking qualities were on show against Leicester Tigers last week, but McCarthy struggled to impose himself during Ireland’s loss to England at Twickenham.
December was his first proper crack at La Rochelle – having played just four minutes off the bench in the 2022 Champions Cup final loss and 20 minutes in Dublin last season. This weekend provides a perfect opportunity to show he can be a leader for Leinster when the pressure is highest.
“He has been tremendous,” says Leinster assistant coach Jacques Nienaber.
“The first time I saw him actually was the game they played against Dragons [last November].
I was watching the game on TV after the World Cup with my son and he just said ‘there’s a dog for you’, and he won man of the match.
“That’s what you want, a 22-year old guy getting exposed to being a regular for his club and making that position his own. That got him the opportunity and maybe there was one or two injuries when he was playing well enough that got him selected with Ireland. That’s what you want from a young guy, growth.”
On Saturday he’ll share the pitch with the man who has haunted Leinster across the last three seasons.
Even if Leinster get their planning and preparation spot on this week, when Saturday comes it will remain very difficult to stop a player with the size and power of Will Skelton, who tends to deliver his best rugby around this time of year.
And despite a busy week of travel the Australian should be relatively fresh, returning from a two-month injury absence to play a starring role in the comeback win against the Stormers. Skelton has played 834 minutes of rugby across 14 appearances for club and country this season. McCarthy, by comparison, has clocked up 1,308 minutes over 20 games while putting in nine 80-minute shifts to Skelton’s three.
During Monday’s media day at UCD, Nienaber played down the narrative Leinster were bullied by Ronan O’Gara’s men across their three previous knockout meetings.
Whether you agree with that viewpoint of not, if Leinster’s locks can get on top of their opposite numbers this weekend it could go a long way to swinging the contest in their favour.
