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Kane Douglas starts alongside Devin Toner in the Leinster pack tonight. Ryan Byrne/INPHO
first game

O'Connor: New recruit Douglas is ready to make an impact

Aussie international Kane Douglas will make his Leinster debut against Cardiff tonight.

KANE DOUGLAS WILL finally have a chance to address his critics when he makes his first Leinster appearance at the RDS against Cardiff tonight.

The Australian international was eviscerated by Neil Francis in a column after his signing, with the former Leinster and Ireland forward writing that Douglas was the ‘worst player’ on the pitch whenever he saw him.

But Leinster boss Matt O’Connor is confident that Douglas is ready to contribute as the team enter a tough period that includes a derby against Munster and two European fixtures.

“The theory was to try and get him involved and immersed in the system as quick as we could,” O’Connor said.

“He is feeling really fresh and he is over the flight. He was keen to get involved ASAP. We have got a tough schedule coming up so we wanted to get him a better understanding of our stuff ASAP.”

Douglas had a month off after winning the Super 15 with the Waratahs and O’Connor had no worries about selecting him after just three sessions with the team. However, he did mention that the coaching staff would monitor the second row throughout the year to ensure he remains fresh.

“We will be quite smart with how we manage him through our campaign,” O’Connor said.

“I think the four weeks he has had off now will be invaluable for him. We have blocks in January and November to freshen him up if we need to but he is a young guy who plays 80 minutes every week for the Waratahs so there will be no concern about him in the short term.”

Flanker Rhys Ruddock will play in the same pack as Douglas this weekend, and he has been very impressed with how seamless the second row has transitioned to training already.

“He has only been here a couple of days but he has already picked up what we want to do and our calls and plays,” Ruddock said.

“You can tell he is a very intelligent player.  I noticed he has a real good work rate and he always seems to play 80 minutes. I think he will add a lot to the second row, which is already an area where we are very strong.”

Matt O'Connor Matt O'Connor had no issue with putting Kane Douglas straight into the Leinster side. Morgan Treacy / INPHO Morgan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO

It was announced earlier in the week that Sam Warburton will only play 16 league and cup games for Cardiff this season, excluding potential knockout fixtures. Cardiff fans bemoaned the decision and as someone who knows all about having to rest players against his will, O’Connor could relate to the difficulties posed to club teams by the player-management protocol.

“It makes it a little bit hard in relation to developing combinations and continuity which is key in taking a team forward week after week and that becomes a little bit frustrating,” O’Connor said.

“But they have a good squad, like we have, and you just have to play the cards that you are dealt.”

One of Warburton’s 16 league games will be against Leinster in the RDS tonight and O’Connor praised the former Lions captain’s ability to make a nuisance of himself at the breakdown. O’Connor knows his pack will need to bring the physicality to the RDS but he also mentioned the Cardiff gamebreakers behind the scrum.

“He [Warburton] is very hard at the ball and he makes it hard to get continuity in your game,” O’Connor said.

“They have picked [Josh] Navidi as well and he is another player who is hard at the ball. It is clear what they will be trying to do.

“They have got class players. Cuthbert is a world class winger and Patchell is getting better every time he plays. We will need to be alert on the edges and make sure we don’t give them any opportunities.”

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