WELCOMING 17 IRELAND internationals and an All Blacks star back into the mix is a nice thing to be able to do in the week the Champions Cup kicks off.
It brings challenges for Leo Cullen’s Leinster, of course, but they’re well used to reintegrating a big group of players from Ireland camp at this stage.
There’s extra excitement with Jordie Barrett now properly up and running as a Leinster player having trained with his new team-mates on the pitch for the first time yesterday.
He has recovered from the knee injury that meant he missed the last game of New Zealand’s autumn campaign against Italy but it remains unclear whether Leinster will unleash Barrett for his debut away to Bristol on Sunday.
“Well, he’s being monitored with regards to how he’s got to get through the week but he took part in training today,” said Leinster assistant coach Robin McBryde yesterday.
“It was a light day today so it’s a case of seeing how he reacts and taking it step by step.”
The 27-year-old has already made an impression and appears to be feeling at home pretty quickly.
“He’s big, he should be playing second row,” said McBryde of 6ft 5ins Barrett, who has played most of his rugby at inside centre and fullback.
“He is more than comfortable with the players. They would have played against him many times. He’s got good connections with fellow Kiwis here, with Brian Colclough the analyst, they both went to the Irish game on the weekend.
“I think he has settled in really well so far.”
With the Ireland contingent back this week, the selection meeting for Bristol was as tough as ever.
Many of them had heavy workloads over the past month. Leinster and Ireland captain Caelan Doris played all 320 minutes for Andy Farrell’s side, while Josh van der Flier also started the four November Tests.
Joe McCarthy, Andrew Porter, Hugo Keenan, and James Lowe were busy too, as youngsters Sam Prendergast and Gus McCarthy got their first taste of international rugby.
As ever, Leinster have to manage the minutes of Ireland’s big players over the coming weeks. The Six Nations is only two months away so Leinster must pick and choose where they use their top players across the busy festive period.
And with Leinster having enjoyed a good win away to Ulster in the URC last weekend, with several non-current internationals, many others have put their hands up for Champions Cup selection.
Also to be factored in is the six-day turnaround from the Bristol game to the home tie against Clermont at the Aviva Stadium.
“There is a discussion amongst us as coaches,” said McBryde of the selection process, which extends well beyond just the next game. Leinster plan far in advance.
“We may go six [opposition] teams deep, we look at the fixture list.
“You see who needs… the international players coming back, their workload over the previous month has been massive. When you look at each player individually, some of them would have played all the minutes.
“You have to take that into consideration – ‘These are the games coming up, I think he is due a break here and a break there.’
“I think it’s important that the player knows that as well so he can organise his recovery and life around it as well. Getting that balance is important, it is key really.
“We discuss, sitting down, looking at the teams, it could be five or six weeks ahead. You look at the training teams, you look at the teams coming up from the academy, who is going to be doing what as regards the [Ireland] U20s, etc.
“It is a weekly meeting and it needs to be because you can’t allow any player not to be on top of his game. You can’t set them up to fail, you’ve got to give them the backing they deserve.”
So it could be that Leinster don’t bring every single one of their top internationals back against Bristol, possibly holding some back for the Clermont game.
“Exactly, that’s the discussion,” said McBryde.
“The one thing I will say is that it’s a Champions Cup game and that’s a big motivator, a big carrot because of what’s gone on. It’s not just a URC game, not being disrespectful to those fixtures, but it’s Champions Cup and we’re going over to play a team who are flying high in the Premiership, scoring tries for fun.
“As a player you want to be involved in those games, it’s a motivating factor. It’s not a case of going away to play so-and-so, it’s a big opening game of the Champions Cup.”
As a Connacht man I really have to admire Leinster. They are so good at developing young players. From the schools through to the academy and on. If anything they are victims of their own success with an overflow of young talent. And it isn’t just down to financial backing as some say here, you have to produce the talent first and then mould it before the financial side kicks in. The rest of the provinces need to get their act together…I mean Munster have the second and third largest cities in Ireland this side of the border. Limericks rugby scene is non existent now. If it wasn’t for west cork producing players I don’t know where Munster would be. Connacht unfortunately will never be at the top table and Ulster flatter to decide, they have the potential.
@anthony davoren: Leinster had the good fortune of having a very strong and privately funded schools system. Fair dues to them for taking advantage of that but that’s a huge inherent advantage over the other provinces. That said, the other provinces didn’t get their act together until more recently and it’ll take time for the results if that to show. It’s true that Hurling seemed to win the battle for hearts and minds in Limerick recently leading to few young players from what was previously a stronghold.
@Michael Corkery: there are privately funded schools in every province though. Are the powers that be provincially doing enough to develop rugby in them? Compared to England and France where their big teams develop little to none of their squad players. They poach them from other areas. Leinster by default are actually providers to the other provinces with the exception of the odd player like Henshaw
@anthony davoren: Limerick still has the lions share of AIL clubs (not bad for 100 thousand+ people) but the IRFU are dead set on ruining the AIL so can see it getting worse.
Leinster team which is the basis of the Irish squad looked very average against a young enthusiast Bristol team albeit that Bristol are second in the English Prem.
The big change came when Snyman Barret Doris Porter were introduced from the bench… The point I’m trying to make is do Ireland have a Snyman and Barret type of player within in our 4 province’s…. From a Munster prospective I see Tom Aherne the closest to a Snyman type.., his athleticism and foot work and good with ball in hand…. Tom Farrell is the other player I see raising the awareness towards him and his ability the threaten the gain line and break tackles with off loading skillset .. he has really stepped up another notch since moving to Munster…. Again food for thought….?
@Den: PS my comment is not an attack on Leinster or the fact that they predominantly make up the Irish team…. That is deserving of how dominant Leinster have been over the last decade and more bit as Cullen and coaching staff have noticed Leinster are not the full package to compete the task and win the 5th star, but I feel if they can keep Snyman and Barret fit for Cup games I would fancy them strongly to win this competition….