THERE IS NO such thing as a weak Leinster side these days, but in making 12 changes in personnel for Saturday’s Guinness Pro14 inter-pro against Connacht, Leo Cullen has urged the selected players to seize their big-game opportunity.
The Leinster head coach has used the first derby fixture of the Christmas period to rest many of his front-line internationals following the European double-header, but just as significantly give those on the fringes a chance to stake their claim.
Rhys Ruddock captains a youthful-looking Leinster side for the visit of in-form Connacht to the RDS [KO 7.45pm, eir Sport/Premier Sports], with the likes of Hugo Keenan, Ross Byrne and Caelan Doris handed starting roles.
Leinster’s sizeable 15-point lead at the top of Conference B may have afforded Cullen a little more wiggle room when it came to selection this week, but those involved have more than earned their chance, particularly after impressing during the November international window.
Not only is Cullen keen for his side to collectively extend their Pro14 winning run to nine games and reaffirm their supremacy as the leading province over the next three weekends, but individually he wants to see growth in each performance.
“We were delighted to get two wins in Europe and now we’re back to Pro14,” the head coach said at this afternoon’s pre-match press conference.
“For the players, there’s so much at stake in these games, the three inter-pro derby games. The players know each other very, very well coming up against each other and it means a huge amount to them individually and collectively.
“For us, we’ve tried to prepare as best as we possibly can this week. They’ve trained well this week but we’ve been well aware Connacht have been chopping and changing their team over the last couple of weeks and they’re in a really good run of form. It’s a really good challenge for us.
For the players, they have a window now to showcase what they can do. We’ve got a lot of very big games coming up, three derby games and then back into Europe. We want as many guys representing Ireland as possible and they know what’s at stake in these games. It’s an exciting few weeks now.
The expectation is that Cullen — who said he will look to ‘chop and change’ in the coming weeks — will bring a full-strength squad down to Limerick for the round 12 clash against Munster on 29 December, before welcoming Ulster to the RDS on 5 January for the final inter-pro of the season.
Leinster have lost just one of their last nine games against a provincial rival, that defeat being the 47-10 reversal to Connacht in Galway at the end of last season — but Cullen is wary of the added ‘distractions’ his side must overcome at this time of the year.
“For us now it’s focusing on how we put the performance together and build good habits that are going to move us forward as a group,” he continued.
“We try to build on each performance week-on-week and take some of the learnings from the games regardless of whether we win or lose. We’re all in it together, and we want to make sure we’re putting the building blocks in place rather than forming bad behaviours that are going to cost us down the track.
“It’s a tricky time of year as there are a lot of distractions. A lot of guys have exams as well but they’re working hard and that’s what we want.”
Dan Leavy is one of only three players retained from last week’s starting XV against Bath, with Adam Byrne and Rory O’Loughlin the other two.
The flanker, who will come up against former school team-mate Cian Kelleher on Saturday evening, is wary of the threats Connacht will pose, with Andy Friend’s side on a five-game winning run.
“They’re growing massively as a team and are back to their old selves in terms of their attacking shape and rugby,” the Ireland international said.
“Andy Friend has done a really good job with them and they’ve got some serious threats, especially out wide with Tiernan [O'Halloran] and Cian. They’re looking really good. We’re really looking forward to it but aware of the threats that are coming.
“Teams always come to the RDS wanting to get a win. Because we won it last year, I think there is a target on our heads. They have rotated a good few players, so they’re going to be coming with their A game.”
Murray Kinsella, Gavan Casey and Andy Dunne preview another big weekend of rugby action and dissect the week’s main talking points.
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