KIERAN MARMION WAS forced to watch from the sin bin as Leinster force-fed another dose of rugby reality down Connacht gullets on Saturday.
The scrumhalf was the only person in the RDS who thought the ball was not in control of the Leinster scrum when he dipped in and attempted to steal. The visitors were reduced to 13 men and Leinster, urged on by Jamie Heaslip’s all-or-nothing strategy, earned their penalty try by crumpling a makeshift Connacht pack.
The result was harsh on a number of Connacht players, including Marmion. The 21-year-old was one of the best players on show and kept his team ticking away with slick passing and intelligent box-kicks. He has relieved from of the decision-making responsibility from Dan Park’s shoulders and added a handy knack for scoring tries to his game.
Only Eoin Reddan will know what he was up to, early in the first-half, as he went Harlem Globetrotters with a between the legs pass that caught out Noel Reid and gave Marmion an opportunistic try:
While he did not play for Ireland on their summer tour to North America, Marmion has taken a lot of confidence from his inclusion in the senior set-up. In the words of former teammate Adrian Flavin, he has put on some timber in pre-season, and is altogether more sturdy and assured in the tackle.
This was evidenced in his tryline slide to prevent Rhys Ruddock from touching down after the flanker had rode three tackles to open up a scoring door.
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Marmion can consider himself unfortunate not to be included in the Ireland squad for the November Series. He shades it, ahead of Conor Murray, as form scrumhalf in the country and may be the beneficiary of an IRFU phone-call if the Munster man is banned for elbowing Niko Matawalu and forced to sit out the Samoa match.
Murray initially struggled to transfer club form to the international stage but, ever since he dotted down against New Zealand in Christchurch last summer, has been Ireland’s uncontested No.9. If Marmion can continue his upward trajectory his chance will come soon in another green jersey.
