IT MIGHT BE more than two years since he departed the province, but Tadhg Furlong has said Stuart Lancaster’s influence can still be seen within the current Leinster squad.
During the English native’s seven-year spell as senior coach of the side – beginning in 2016 – Leinster enjoyed a considerable amount of on-field success with four consecutive Pro12 titles (2018-2021) being supplemented by a European Champions Cup final triumph against Racing 92 at Bilbao in May 2018.
The ex-England head coach went on to assume the reins of the aforementioned Racing in 2023, but his stint with the Top 14 outfit came to an end in February of this year. Yet Lancaster has since returned to the Irish system to take over at Connacht and his current charges will find themselves in the Aviva Stadium this Saturday to face his former employers in their opening United Rugby Championship encounter of 2026.
“I suppose he put his stamp on it straight away. Obviously in the leagues we were very, very successful in the amount that we won. Also, he got us over the line in Europe. That year in 2016/17, I was a younger player back then, but he gave us a real belief in what we could do,” Furlong remarked at a Leinster media briefing earlier this week.
“We obviously lost away to Clermont in the [European] semi-final. It kind of laid the foundations then on the back of it for 2018. Like everyone will say, he was a very good fit for Leinster at the time. Particularly the age profile that the squad had as well. There were a lot of younger lads pushing through.
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“How old were we? We would have been 23 or 24. 24 or 25 maybe. That kind of younger crew. We’re all the older crew now. The academy group [back then] is kind of the middle group, middle upper end of the group. You think of the James Ryan’s and Caelan Doris’, all those kinds of players. His influence is still touched or can be seen a lot in the squad.”
In stark contrast to the 24 appearances he made throughout successful 2017/18 campaigns for both Leinster and Ireland, injuries restricted Furlong to a combined eight outings for province and country last season.
However, he left this frustration behind him to feature on no fewer than seven occasions (including in all three Test encounters) during the British & Irish Lions’ tour of Australia last summer.
The tighthead prop also saw action in three of the four games Ireland played in the recent November international window and last Saturday’s win over Munster at Thomond Park in the United Rugby Championship was his fifth game of the current term for Leinster.
Thirty-three years of age since the middle of last month, Furlong acknowledged he feels in good shape at the moment and revealed managing his training load is starting to become a major part of his weekly preparation for games.
“It’s trying to get to Saturday and just be very careful looking at the numbers in terms of running. How far you run and how long you spend on your feet.
“It’s not drastically cut or anything. You would have come across a lot of lads, particularly the English lads, Tom Curry and the like, whose training week would have been drastically cut with some of his body parts and trying to get him out on the pitch.
“We’re not bad, but especially on a Monday, you have to be very clever in terms of how long we spend out there.”
When Furlong first made his Leinster senior debut back in November 2013 against the Dragons, fellow Wexford man Gordon D’Arcy was one of the most experienced players in the squad.
Fast forward a little over 12 years and Furlong is an established figure in a provincial set-up that includes additional Slaneysiders in Brian Deeny and Charlie Tector.
Originally hailed as an out-half prospect after winning a Six Nations Grand Slam with the Ireland U20s in 2022, Tector has begun to feature more frequently at inside centre since the beginning of last season and Furlong is pleased to see the Rathnure native making steady progress within the Leinster squad.
“He gets on with his work. He’s been through a tough journey there as well. He did very well in his [Ireland] 20s. Then he got a bad injury and he kind of got shifted from 10 to 12. I thought last year he made a good push at it. It’s good to see him getting a bit of exposure there and a bit more belief in himself and pushing on,” Furlong added.
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'It can be seen a lot in the squad' - Furlong hails Lancaster influence ahead of Connacht reunion
IT MIGHT BE more than two years since he departed the province, but Tadhg Furlong has said Stuart Lancaster’s influence can still be seen within the current Leinster squad.
During the English native’s seven-year spell as senior coach of the side – beginning in 2016 – Leinster enjoyed a considerable amount of on-field success with four consecutive Pro12 titles (2018-2021) being supplemented by a European Champions Cup final triumph against Racing 92 at Bilbao in May 2018.
The ex-England head coach went on to assume the reins of the aforementioned Racing in 2023, but his stint with the Top 14 outfit came to an end in February of this year. Yet Lancaster has since returned to the Irish system to take over at Connacht and his current charges will find themselves in the Aviva Stadium this Saturday to face his former employers in their opening United Rugby Championship encounter of 2026.
“I suppose he put his stamp on it straight away. Obviously in the leagues we were very, very successful in the amount that we won. Also, he got us over the line in Europe. That year in 2016/17, I was a younger player back then, but he gave us a real belief in what we could do,” Furlong remarked at a Leinster media briefing earlier this week.
“We obviously lost away to Clermont in the [European] semi-final. It kind of laid the foundations then on the back of it for 2018. Like everyone will say, he was a very good fit for Leinster at the time. Particularly the age profile that the squad had as well. There were a lot of younger lads pushing through.
“How old were we? We would have been 23 or 24. 24 or 25 maybe. That kind of younger crew. We’re all the older crew now. The academy group [back then] is kind of the middle group, middle upper end of the group. You think of the James Ryan’s and Caelan Doris’, all those kinds of players. His influence is still touched or can be seen a lot in the squad.”
In stark contrast to the 24 appearances he made throughout successful 2017/18 campaigns for both Leinster and Ireland, injuries restricted Furlong to a combined eight outings for province and country last season.
However, he left this frustration behind him to feature on no fewer than seven occasions (including in all three Test encounters) during the British & Irish Lions’ tour of Australia last summer.
The tighthead prop also saw action in three of the four games Ireland played in the recent November international window and last Saturday’s win over Munster at Thomond Park in the United Rugby Championship was his fifth game of the current term for Leinster.
Thirty-three years of age since the middle of last month, Furlong acknowledged he feels in good shape at the moment and revealed managing his training load is starting to become a major part of his weekly preparation for games.
“It’s trying to get to Saturday and just be very careful looking at the numbers in terms of running. How far you run and how long you spend on your feet.
“It’s not drastically cut or anything. You would have come across a lot of lads, particularly the English lads, Tom Curry and the like, whose training week would have been drastically cut with some of his body parts and trying to get him out on the pitch.
“We’re not bad, but especially on a Monday, you have to be very clever in terms of how long we spend out there.”
When Furlong first made his Leinster senior debut back in November 2013 against the Dragons, fellow Wexford man Gordon D’Arcy was one of the most experienced players in the squad.
Fast forward a little over 12 years and Furlong is an established figure in a provincial set-up that includes additional Slaneysiders in Brian Deeny and Charlie Tector.
Originally hailed as an out-half prospect after winning a Six Nations Grand Slam with the Ireland U20s in 2022, Tector has begun to feature more frequently at inside centre since the beginning of last season and Furlong is pleased to see the Rathnure native making steady progress within the Leinster squad.
“He gets on with his work. He’s been through a tough journey there as well. He did very well in his [Ireland] 20s. Then he got a bad injury and he kind of got shifted from 10 to 12. I thought last year he made a good push at it. It’s good to see him getting a bit of exposure there and a bit more belief in himself and pushing on,” Furlong added.
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Connacht Leinster Stuart Lancaster Tadhg Furlong The long game