STADIO ZAFANELLA IS firmly ‘off Broadway’ this weekend, even if the big stage of the Six Nations is behind a curtain for a few days.
However, for Leinster this is precisely the sort of day that Leo Cullen will use to hammer home his need for depth and competition for places.
Front up to Zebre as if it was a Heineken Champions Cup quarter-final and you just might find yourself playing in one.
Entering into the season as double winners, Leinster found a rod to beat themselves with in the form of their displays without front-line stars. A hammering in Connacht and home loss to Benetton stuck long in the craw for Cullen and Lancaster.
“That would have been something that we talked about at this start of this year,” says second row Ross Molony, one of the homegrown stalwarts left straddling first and second string teams.
“That group, when the internationals go away, at times last year we probably became second best… this year we went away to Dragons with quite a young team. Leading up to that game (a nine-try, 10-59 win in Rodney Parade) we had some really good sessions where it was a really a tight group and everyone was working on the same page.”
Dave Kearney was a double try-scorer that day. Deployed at fullback against Zebre today (kick-off 14.30, eir Sport), he will hope to find more chances to shine and show his injury troubles are well behind him.
The Louth man forms part of a back-line with a very exciting hew to it despite the number of stars away with Ireland. Barry Daly has shown off impressive athleticism in recent games and is approaching his best form, Adam Byrne was kept within the Ireland squad by Joe Schmidt until this week, while Conor O’Brien and Rory O’Loughlin look a nicely balanced midfield partnership outside Jamison Gibson-Park and Ross Byrne.
In the pack, Jack McGrath and Andrew Porter have also been released from Carton House to play with their province, with Max Deegan nestling in at openside while Josh Murphy and Caelan Doris make up a strong, youthful back row.
Molony is partnered in the engine room by Scott Fardy, the veteran Wallaby who will ensure the fresh faces will be complemented by a grizzled hard edge.
“I’ve definitely taken a lot from Fards,” says Molony.
“He will always have a point of view on things and always speak up as one of the leaders in team meetings.
“He’s been around the block so he has a bit of everything there. He could bring in a different point of view like line-speed in defence or just getting that extra bit more out of your maul.”
Set-piece is always crucial to putting away Zebre, and inputting a touch of venom in close contact will pay dividends for Leinster, creating space for that dynamic back-line.
“It can be very niggly, especially at maul time; they like to cause as much obstruction as possible. From our point of view, going into the game there is a huge focus on our drill and our execution.
“If there is an opportunity to have a drive at them at maul time (then we’ll go for it). That’s down to the work we have done this week and making sure that everyone is clued in, knows the task in hand.
“It’s simple enough, they can cause a lot of trouble for an opposition. Whether that is a hand coming through trying to disrupt the ball when you are bringing it down off a line-out or borderline pushing it (by) someone coming through the maul. If you are not fully backing your own drill then you’ll have problems.”
Leinster are well-stacked to maintain their 21-point advantage at the peak of Pro14 Conference B.
Zebre
15. Francois Brummer
14. Gabriele Di Giulio
13. Giulio Bisegni
12. Tommaso Boni
11. James Elliott
10. Carlo Canna
9. Joshua Renton
1. Daniele Rimpelli
2. Oliviero Fabiani
3. Giosué Zilocchi
4. Samuele Ortis
5. George Biagi
6. Maxime Mbandà
7. Jimmy Tuivaiti
8. Giovanni Licata
Replacements
16 Luhandre Luus
17 Danilo Fischetti
18 Dario Chistolini
19 Apisai Tauyavuca
20 James Brown
21 Riccardo Raffaele
22 Paula Balekana
23 Nicolas De Battista
Leinster
15. Dave Kearney
14. Adam Byrne
13. Rory O’Loughlin
12. Conor O’Brien
11. Barry Daly
10. Ross Byrne
9. Jamison Gibson-Park
1. Jack McGrath
2. James Tracy
3. Andrew Porter
4. Ross Molony
5. Scott Fardy
6. Josh Murphy
7. Max Deegan
8. Caelan Doris
Replacements
16. Bryan Byrne
17. Peter Dooley
18. Michael Bent
19. Mick Kearney
20. Jack Dunne
21. Hugh O’Sullivan
22. Noel Reid
23. Jimmy O’Brien
Referee: Ian Davies (WRU)
Murray Kinsella, Andy Dunne and Gavan Casey break down Ireland’s dogged win against Scotland in Murrayfield, and look at the room for improvement, in the latest episode of The42 Rugby Weekly.
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