IT IS ONE thing losing your place to the Ireland captain, quite another to give it up to your younger brother. So welcome to Ross Byrne’s world. Last month, he was the starting 10 for his country, today he found out he won’t even be the first-choice out-half for his province.
More to the point, the man who has got the nod is the guy he shared a bunk-bed with as a kid, his younger brother, Harry.
“They’re great fellas,” says Leo Cullen, the Leinster coach of the brothers, “very competitive guys who enjoy the competition and the rivalry. It’s great to see. I think you would have to ask their parents maybe (who to select), sometimes I feel like ringing them up and asking them.
“Both men are important members of our squad and this is a great opportunity for Harry coming in for his first start in Europe, while Ross has been outstanding for us over the last few seasons as well, so hopefully he’ll give a good impact from the bench at whatever stage that is.”
Upon hearing the news that he was dropped, Ross Byrne ‘was naturally disappointed,’ according to Cullen, especially as ‘he acquitted himself well’ in Montpellier last week. “We have a number of very disappointed players across the board which is what you would expect when you have a deep squad.
“Last week’s selection in particular was tricky because you are trying to make assessments on a lot of international guys coming back, and you’re watching the Scottish game and the other internationals as well, getting fed different bits of information and trying to make assessments when they all come back in on the Monday morning.
“So that in particular was quite a challenging selection. Over the course of the Christmas period certain guys will get managed and rested as well, because it’s been a pretty intense block of games for guys. There’s a few different injuries at the moment in a few different positions, but hopefully those guys will filter back over the course of the next three to six weeks.”
The most significant of those injuries belongs to Tadhg Furlong, their world class tighthead who has been struggling with a calf problem since the beginning of the season.
“Yeah, he’s going well now,” Cullen said. “It’s been slower than probably he would have anticipated, but we’ll get him back in to some scrums potentially next week or certainly the week after. He’s not a million miles away now.”
