ROB KEARNEY FEELS a personal responsibility to help Leinster put a difficult two weeks behind them when Ulster visit the RDS on Friday evening.
The Ireland full-back was forced to watch from the sidelines as Leo Cullen’s side suffered back-to-back reversals in the Champions Cup but returns to the team for tomorrow’s inter-provincial clash.
Kearney hasn’t featured since sustaining a hamstring injury during the win over Scarlets earlier this month and is determined to bring a renewed energy to the side.
“It has been frustrating bit probably not as frustrating as the guys who have been involved,” he said. “It’s always tough to watch from the lines but I’ve now got a responsibility after missing the last two weeks to bring something tomorrow.
“Try and bring a little bit of energy and do my bit to try and get the team back to winning ways.
“I suppose these derby games are exactly what they are and there’s a little bit more in them. We have to think about the last time we played out here [RDS] and what happened there.
“I suppose we owe our fans a little bit in terms of our performance. We need to build on the positives and try and get the result. It’ll get the ship back on course.”
Cullen has made a number of changes as Leinster look to return to winning ways in the Guinness Pro12. The head coach has opted to change his half-back line with Luke McGrath coming in at scrum-half to replace Isaac Boss.
In the pack, Josh van der Flier is rewarded for a string of impressive cameos with a start while Jack McGrath and Tadgh Furlong come into the front-row.
Sean O’Brien and Richardt Strauss are ‘close’ to a return but couldn’t prove their fitness in time for tomorrow but the news on Jack Conan isn’t as encouraging.
The 23-year-old was originally sidelined for 10 weeks after a ‘freak training ground accident’ but Cullen revealed he’s suffered a further setback.
“Jack Conan had a procedure done on Monday,” Cullen explained. “Really unfortunate, he picked up a fracture in his foot, he had the surgery to repair that but at the same time he has had ongoing ankle issues.
“Last season he pulled out before a game, he had a bit of damage to his lateral damage and had those repaired at the same time.
“I originally said six to ten weeks but unfortunately he’s looking at close to 12 weeks so he’s out for the next chunk.”
On the injury front, Cullen said Isa Nacewa, Dave Kearney and Fergus McFadden are all recovering from last week’s trip to Bath with all three absent for Friday.
“Sean O’Brien and Richardt Strauss are both making good progress, they came off with the HIA assessments, had some good treatment so at least we’re on course in terms of rehabing those guys back.
“Fergus McFadden was just a bit bashed around after last week’s game, Dave Kearney similarly, those guys aren’t too bad. We’re just trying to manage guys as best we can over the next stretch of games.”
Leinster currently sit fourth in the Pro12 standings after winning five of their seven outings in the competition.
With all his experience, Kearney is fully aware of the significance of the next 80 minutes of rugby and the need for Leinster to rediscover that winning feeling.
“There is a bit of pressure on us to perform, guys are really excited,” he added. “It’s been a difficult week for us. Training has been interesting at times but there’s a huge amount of desire among the guys to put things right.
“Our sole focus is on the 80 minutes of rugby tomorrow and it’s probably a little bit cliched but it’s true.”
