IAN MADIGAN HAS been named on the bench for Leinster’s New Year’s Day clash against Connacht with fellow outgoing star Ben Te’o moved in to fill the number 12 jersey.
However, head coach Leo Cullen had little other than well wishes for Madigan after he committed to a two-year contract with Bordeaux Begles from next season. And the former lock even presented the possibility that Madigan could well follow in the footsteps of himself, Shane Jennings, Isa Nacewa and Johnny Sexton by returning to the RDS after taking on new challenges abroad.
“It is disappointing,” begins Cullen, “because Ian showed at the weekend (in the win over Munster) he’s still a class operator. It’s been a bit frustrating for him here I’d imagine, but we wish him well. Maybe Mads will play for Leinster again at some time down the road.
“Sometimes players move around and that’s part and parcel of the business, but we still feel he has a big part to play with Leinster for the rest of the season. We’ll only really feel the effect of it a long way down the tracks, that’s next season, so we’re focusing on this season for now.”
The utility back’s return to the bench possibly gives Leinster supporters an insight into what their back-line will look like next season. Though Te’o remains, he has been bumped out of position to accommodate in-form 21-year-old Garry Ringrose in the 13 channel.
Conscious
Though the selection clearly has its long-term benefits, Cullen insists there is nothing to read into Madigan’s seat among the replacements other than the rotation of a squad in the middle of a long season.
“I’m conscious of that five days,” Cullen says of the quick turnaround between inter-provincial matches on Sunday and Friday.
“I was trying to get a few fresh faces. We had a few more bangs and bruises from the weekend, so it’s about freshening guys up. Luke Fitzgerald has had quite a heavy workload over the last few weeks so he drops out. Garry stays in because he did pretty well. He hadn’t the workload of Lukey leading in to the Munster game so we’re just trying to manage it.”
If Ringrose is an immediate beneficiary of the departure of two centre options, Cullen has backed his fellow academy product Cathal Marsh to bound forward further leaps and bounds when the back-up out-half position is freed up in the summer.
“During that World Cup period he (Marsh) played the majority of the games and I think he runs the team really well, so he’s one for the future here hopefully.”
The former St Michael’s star is likely to get chances to shine this season too with another international window about to open in February.
