THIS HAS BEEN the strangest of build-ups to the November Tests for Leinster’s Lions players.
Having had their break following the tour of Australia, the Lions contingent were still completing pre-season back in Dublin as Leinster’s actual season kicked off with a two-week URC tour of South Africa. Talk about being detached.
A handful of them got their campaigns going two weekends ago in a handy home win against the Sharks, but the bulk of them made their seasonal bows in Saturday evening’s humbling at the hands of Munster.
It’s fair to say that none of Leinster’s Lions got very close to the level they’re capable of on a tough night for the province.
That’s understandable enough given that it was the first game of the season for many of them, although Tadhg Beirne’s remarkable performance on his first outing of the campaign — having had elbow surgery after the Lions tour – made everyone else look bad.
And having so briefly dipped their toes into Leinster action, that Lions group head into Ireland camp today. They fly to Chicago tomorrow ahead of the All Blacks clash in two weeks. Leinster won’t see their leading lights until December when they return to provincial training ahead of the Harlequins clash in the Champions Cup.
There’s no doubt these Leinster players would like to have more game time under their belts — Jack Conan hasn’t even played at all, having withdrawn from the Munster game – and they have to get up to speed very quickly in Ireland camp.
“It’s definitely very different,” said Josh van der Flier, one of the few Leinster Lions to get two games in blue before heading into Ireland camp.
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“You’re normally well match fit. I think it’s normally three or four games at least by the time you’re getting into international time.
“But, the coaches normally do it really well in Irish camp anyway. I’d say we’ll work hard from a fitness point of view and then, it’s actually good having those two weeks for a bit of continuity and that kind of thing.
Saturday was a tough night for Leinster. Tom Maher / INPHO
Tom Maher / INPHO / INPHO
“It’s obviously tricky for lads, there’s obviously a balance, I suppose, because there’s a point where you’re really fresh and it’s great, and then there’s a point where you would like more game time, but hopefully we can find the balance anyway.”
Van der Flier and co. would certainly have preferred to be heading away after helping Leinster to beat their inter-provincial rivals.
Instead, they’re in the unusual position of leaving with Leinster 12th in the URC after three defeats from four games.
“It’s a funny feeling,” said van der Flier, who captained Leinster in their last two games. “You feel like you’re kind of abandoning the lads after a tough loss like that. You’re just disappearing for training camp.
“I think Leo mentioned it in the changing room afterwards that it’s a brilliant opportunity for a lot of lads to get a crack at Zebre this weekend and right a few things we didn’t do well today, but it is tricky. The next time we’ll be back together as a full group is probably Harlequins, so it’s not ideal.
“We’ll definitely have to… I suppose as an individual, for me going into Irish camp now, you’re thinking, ‘What could I have done better?’ and it’s definitely a lot of motivation to play the next game, whatever that is, but yeah, it’s a tricky part of the season.
“We’re very lucky in that we don’t have these conversations too many times in a season, which is obviously good, but we’ve had a few of them now to start the season, so it’s definitely a different position to be in, but we’ll have to keep our heads up and get on with it.”
Leinster will only play twice without their high-profile international players, with the Zebre game this weekend and a URC visit to the Dragons to come a week after Ireland’s final November Test against South Africa.
Leo Cullen’s men already have ground to make up after their poor start to the season, which van der Flier said has been difficult to negotiate.
Van der Flier captained Leinster in their last two games. Tom O’Hanlon / INPHO
Tom O’Hanlon / INPHO / INPHO
“It’s definitely been a different year in that way, especially the amount of lads that were away quite late into the summer, and then the Lions lads, Irish lads, and the lads who were training,” said van der Flier. “So it’s been very kind of some lads in, some lads out.
“Obviously, the group goes off to South Africa. A lot of us were still doing pre-season training, so it has been quite disjointed, but I don’t think we can take that as an excuse.
“A lot of times we’re kind of used to it in terms of, like, that normally happens towards the end of the season. It kind of happens that you have a good group away for the Six Nations and then we come back and then we’ve had those South Africa two weeks.
“So it’s not something we can use as an excuse, but it obviously does make it, I suppose, a bit trickier to a normal phase in the season.”
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'You feel like you're kind of abandoning the lads after a tough loss'
THIS HAS BEEN the strangest of build-ups to the November Tests for Leinster’s Lions players.
Having had their break following the tour of Australia, the Lions contingent were still completing pre-season back in Dublin as Leinster’s actual season kicked off with a two-week URC tour of South Africa. Talk about being detached.
A handful of them got their campaigns going two weekends ago in a handy home win against the Sharks, but the bulk of them made their seasonal bows in Saturday evening’s humbling at the hands of Munster.
It’s fair to say that none of Leinster’s Lions got very close to the level they’re capable of on a tough night for the province.
That’s understandable enough given that it was the first game of the season for many of them, although Tadhg Beirne’s remarkable performance on his first outing of the campaign — having had elbow surgery after the Lions tour – made everyone else look bad.
And having so briefly dipped their toes into Leinster action, that Lions group head into Ireland camp today. They fly to Chicago tomorrow ahead of the All Blacks clash in two weeks. Leinster won’t see their leading lights until December when they return to provincial training ahead of the Harlequins clash in the Champions Cup.
There’s no doubt these Leinster players would like to have more game time under their belts — Jack Conan hasn’t even played at all, having withdrawn from the Munster game – and they have to get up to speed very quickly in Ireland camp.
“It’s definitely very different,” said Josh van der Flier, one of the few Leinster Lions to get two games in blue before heading into Ireland camp.
“You’re normally well match fit. I think it’s normally three or four games at least by the time you’re getting into international time.
“But, the coaches normally do it really well in Irish camp anyway. I’d say we’ll work hard from a fitness point of view and then, it’s actually good having those two weeks for a bit of continuity and that kind of thing.
“It’s obviously tricky for lads, there’s obviously a balance, I suppose, because there’s a point where you’re really fresh and it’s great, and then there’s a point where you would like more game time, but hopefully we can find the balance anyway.”
Van der Flier and co. would certainly have preferred to be heading away after helping Leinster to beat their inter-provincial rivals.
Instead, they’re in the unusual position of leaving with Leinster 12th in the URC after three defeats from four games.
“It’s a funny feeling,” said van der Flier, who captained Leinster in their last two games. “You feel like you’re kind of abandoning the lads after a tough loss like that. You’re just disappearing for training camp.
“I think Leo mentioned it in the changing room afterwards that it’s a brilliant opportunity for a lot of lads to get a crack at Zebre this weekend and right a few things we didn’t do well today, but it is tricky. The next time we’ll be back together as a full group is probably Harlequins, so it’s not ideal.
“We’ll definitely have to… I suppose as an individual, for me going into Irish camp now, you’re thinking, ‘What could I have done better?’ and it’s definitely a lot of motivation to play the next game, whatever that is, but yeah, it’s a tricky part of the season.
“We’re very lucky in that we don’t have these conversations too many times in a season, which is obviously good, but we’ve had a few of them now to start the season, so it’s definitely a different position to be in, but we’ll have to keep our heads up and get on with it.”
Leinster will only play twice without their high-profile international players, with the Zebre game this weekend and a URC visit to the Dragons to come a week after Ireland’s final November Test against South Africa.
Leo Cullen’s men already have ground to make up after their poor start to the season, which van der Flier said has been difficult to negotiate.
“It’s definitely been a different year in that way, especially the amount of lads that were away quite late into the summer, and then the Lions lads, Irish lads, and the lads who were training,” said van der Flier. “So it’s been very kind of some lads in, some lads out.
“Obviously, the group goes off to South Africa. A lot of us were still doing pre-season training, so it has been quite disjointed, but I don’t think we can take that as an excuse.
“A lot of times we’re kind of used to it in terms of, like, that normally happens towards the end of the season. It kind of happens that you have a good group away for the Six Nations and then we come back and then we’ve had those South Africa two weeks.
“So it’s not something we can use as an excuse, but it obviously does make it, I suppose, a bit trickier to a normal phase in the season.”
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