THERE WON’T BE much sympathy for Leinster as their injury list lengthens, but it’s amazing how quickly the selection picture can change and playing resources are stretched.
It would be an exaggeration to say the province are injury-depleted for Saturday’s Heineken Champions Cup visit to Bath, yet to lose players of the calibre of Jack McGrath, Robbie Henshaw, Joe Tomane, Fergus McFadden and Sean O’Brien can only be described as a blow.
Think back to the campaign opener against Wasps and the wealth of resources available to Leo Cullen on that night, whereas this week their injury situation presents the Leinster head coach with a different kind of headache ahead of their trip to the Rec.
Many of those decisions for Cullen and Stuart Lancaster will revolve around the fitness of four players currently rated as doubtful for the round three clash [KO 3.15pm, BT Sport], with Dan Leavy, Jack Conan, Jordan Larmour and Rory O’Loughlin all in a race to be fit.
Having trained yesterday, O’Loughlin is due to be available and that news will come as a relief to Leinster, particularly when the options at inside centre have been reduced to Noel Reid, Conor O’Brien or Tom Daly in the absence of Henshaw, Tomane and McFadden.
Should O’Brien, who has impressed in recent weeks, or Daly be required this weekend, Leinster will have to register them in their Champions Cup squad by today, presumably at the expense of Tomane who has been ruled out for five months.
O’Loughlin’s return from a knee injury sustained against the the Kings last month would boost Cullen’s midfield options.
“I think it’s part of having a squad and you will have injuries,” backs coach Felipe Contepomi says.
“Obviously you would like not to have them but I think we were very good for the first part of the year. I wouldn’t even say lucky because it’s the way that S&C and physios perform that it has kept a lot of the players out of danger.
We have been quite unlucky with the Autumn internationals and picked up a few injuries. But I think it’s good that Rory is back. He’ll be in the mix there. Now there are many people training and getting back. I think we are confident we have a fairly good squad. So that’s good.
On the possibility of O’Brien getting his opportunity in Europe, Contepomi added: “I’d say everyone is an option and everyone is a valid option in terms of…I think it’s about how they are performing, how they are working in training and obviously on game days.
“Definitely he’s an option. It’s hard to speak about one name. We have other options as well. Who knows? Even Johnny [Sexton] can play at 12 as well. It’s not that he will…I’d say we have a lot of good talented players that can field different positions and you know it’s about finding those combinations that can bring in the goods at the weekend.”
As ever, there are interesting calls to be made in the back row.
Conan will increase his training workload this week after a shoulder injury and a decision on his availability will be made accordingly, while Leavy is in a similar position as he shakes off the effects of a neck strain.
Rhys Ruddock and Josh van der Flier are primed to start at blindside and openside if Leavy doesn’t pull through, while Caelan Doris could be in line for a European debut should Saturday come too soon for Conan.
Doris, who appears to have overtaken Max Deegan in the number eight charts, has impressed in the Pro14 wins over Ospreys and Dragons, and Leinster would have no reservations over throwing him in at the Rec.
“I’d say it’s very good for us as coaches to see how the team performed without internationals,” Contepomi added.
“It is exactly what you want for young players coming through for their first test in Leinster jerseys putting pressure on the other more well known players.
“It’s not just about results, it’s about performance and there were some very good performances in the last few weeks. Yeah, we were happy with that.”
The foot injury sustained by Nick McCarthy against the Ospreys has implications for Leinster’s three-into-two ‘non-European’ player conundrum, which spelled bad news for Kiwi James Lowe during last year’s title-winning campaign.
With Munster-bound McCarthy sidelined, Jamison Gibson-Park will likely be pressed into service behind starting scrum-half Luke McGrath, meaning Lowe or Scott Fardy will have to miss out.
Under tournament rules, Cullen can only pick two of his overseas players in a matchday 23 and with options limited in the back three because of injuries and doubts over Larmour, Fardy — who has played back-to-back 80 minutes and sat out Monday’s session at Donnybrook — might have to make way.
Alternatively, academy nines Hugh O’Sullivan or Patrick Patterson, who made his senior debut against Dragons at the weekend, might be called upon, with the former already in Leinster’s 41-man Champions Cup squad.
Devin Toner and James Ryan will renew their second row pairing and while Fardy provides an option in the back row if Leavy fails to recover, Lowe’s X-factor on the wing will be hard to ignore.
McGrath’s four-to-six week layoff won’t effect Cullen’s starting XV this weekend, but it does present Ed Byrne with an opportunity as Cian Healy’s deputy at loosehead.
The make up of the replacements bench will be interesting, too, with the next 48 hours set to determine what hand Cullen will have at his disposal for the first of the December back-to-backs against Bath.
Much will depend on how those four players pull through, ahead of Cullen naming his team to face the Premiership side at 12pm on Friday.
Possible Leinster team v Bath:
15. Rob Kearney
14. Adam Byrne
13. Garry Ringrose
12. Rory O’Loughlin
11. James Lowe
10. Johnny Sexton
9. Luke McGrath
1. Cian Healy
2. Sean Cronin
3. Tadhg Furlong
4. Devin Toner
5. James Ryan
6. Rhys Ruddock
7. Josh van der Flier
8. Jack Conan/Caelan Doris
Replacements:
16. James Tracy
17. Andrew Porter
18. Ed Byrne
19. Ross Molony
2o. Caelan Doris/Josh Murphy
21. Jamison Gibson-Park
22. Ross Byrne
23. Noel Reid.
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