THE BATTLE FOR the Leinster 10 jerseys continues to be a fascinating subplot of the province’s season, and this weekend it’s Ross Byrne who edges younger brother Harry for Saturday’s must-win Champions Cup round of 16 date with Leicester Tigers [KO 8pm, RTÉ/TNT Sports].
It’s was one of the biggest calls Leo Cullen faced this week, with Harry Byrne impressing in the bonus-point defeat of the Bulls at the RDS last Friday.
However Ross is named at out-half this weekend, the more experienced Byrne brother getting the nod after coming through an injury-disrupted couple of months. Ross Byrne didn’t make Ireland’s Six Nations squad and has started just six games for the province this season.
Yet his experience at Champions Cup level appears to have swung the vote in his favour, with Leinster boss Cullen admitting that selection call has remained a close one as the season has progressed.
“The lads have been good, I have to say. Harry got some good experience during the Six Nations, which was great. Ross has missed that good chunk of the season. When you think that he got injured in round six [of the URC] here and missed out until we were back in during the Six Nations which meant he missed out on that window.
“The competition has been good. Sam Prendergast has got some decent time. Due to different circumstances Frawls [Ciarán Frawley] has probably played a bit more at 15 and he has had a crack at the Six Nations as well. He is on the bench, he picked up a knock when we played against Zebre a few weeks ago, he’s good to go.
“The competition is good. We need it. Ross has, I guess, brought the group together well. Again, it is a close call, but in terms of what is playing in Ross’ favour, he has done that well but we are lucky to have the two lads. They work well together as well. Harry started last week and Ross came off the bench.
“We’re going with a different combo this week and the two of them played together as well against Cardiff a few weeks ago. That’s the way the game is now, it’s not just about the starting 15. That’s something for everyone to understand.
Everyone has this obsession about the starting [team] but we know what these knock-out games are like now coming down to the end.
“It’s about making sure we’ve got confidence. Last week Harry starts the game and Ross finishes and it’s Ross starting the game [tomorrow] and leading the week, so to speak, but Harry is going to have a big role to play at some point hopefully as well. The main thing is that the two guys are working well together.”
Cullen added that he was delighted to have Hugo Keenan available again, with the fullback set for his first appearance since returning from the Six Nations, starting at fullback after recovering from a hip injury.
However Garry Ringrose remains unavailable as he continues to rehab a shoulder issue.
“Garry is just a little bit off this week and Hugo will give us a bit of a boost,” Cullen said.
“Hugo took that knock. I was here for the warm-up when Ireland played Scotland so I saw he wasn’t quite right that day and Jordan [Larmour] stepped in. It was great to see him get some of that exposure. You see it with all teams missing players at stages so there is that element of luck and next man up.
“For us in terms of planning for the different eventualities that might take place, it is great to have Hugo back. He has been outstanding for so long now. He is a huge leader for the team and he hopefully goes well. He came through training fine this week.”
