LEINSTER SUPPORTERS RECEIVED the news they’ve been waiting for yesterday when the province confirmed James Ryan is due to return to full team training this week.
Ryan has been out of action since rupturing a bicep during the Six Nations and while there were some fears his season could be over, he’s expected to be available for selection for Saturday’s URC trip to Ulster.
Whether or not Ryan makes the cut this weekend remains to be seen, but if he comes through the week without any setbacks Leinster plan to get some minutes into his legs ahead of the 25 May Champions Cup final meeting with Toulouse.
“Yeah, he’s back out today [Monday] running around,” said Leinster assistant coach Andrew Goodman.
“It’s always great to have that boost for all the boys and coaching staff to have some key guys coming back into positions that are important at this time of the season.”
Hugo Keenan and Will Connors are also due to be fit for Belfast, in what would be a timely boost for head coach Leo Cullen.
“Yeah, hopefully they get through training this week and are ready to go. You want guys to play footy and we know it’s important for them to get minutes under their belt,” said Goodman.
You can do all the training you want but you can’t replicate the physicality and the decision-making under pressure etc that a game demands.”
There is less optimism around centre Garry Ringrose, who has been struggling to recover from a shoulder issue. The 29-year-old hasn’t played any rugby since coming off the bench in Ireland Six Nations-clinching defeat of Scotland two months ago.
“I think everyone’s a little bit frustrated. You feel for Garry in terms of where he’s at.
“It’s just one of those ones, day-to-day, it could come better just like that and he will be good to go again. He has been training and training well, so it’s just the final couple of steps we need to tick off there.”
Leinster returned to URC action with a thumping nine-try defeat of Ospreys last weekend, but Goodman feels their attack can improve ahead of their London date with Toulouse.
It’s expected Leinster will again field a strong side against Ulster as the province look to build consistency and keep players sharp ahead of the Champions Cup final – while also keeping their URC charge firmly on track.
“We have obviously had some good patches in games, it’s probably just the consistency of performance we are striving for, which we know is a massive part of coming out on top of games at the end of the season,” Goodman said of the Leinster attack.
“There were some nice patches at the weekend but again, there are some areas where set-piece strikes and our execution and decision-making, we didn’t quite nail our roles.
“We have talked around how we can level up in certain areas and how we can be more consistent over an 80-minute period.
“It comes to collision work like the breakdown and the carry. Obviously when you can get speed of ball and front-foot ball, we know when teams play Leinster, they put a lot of pressure on our breakdown.
“Every single breakdown we have just got to be so alert and have speed and proper intent to get in there because as soon as we have to send an extra body in there or when the ball gets slowed down, it’s hard to get the game going – for any team.
So collision and breakdown is something we are going to have a real focus on to finish the season.”
Ulster is the big focus this week but naturally, there is an eye on what lies ahead against Toulouse. On Sunday night Goodman tuned in to watch the French side beat Stade Francais 49-18 and leapfrog them at the top of the Top 14 table.
“What I will say about them is they are going to pressure the breakdown a lot. They have got [Jack] Willis, [Emmanuel] Meafou and those boys who are different kinds of jackal or barge threats.
“Look, we are excited around some of the opportunities we see, but again, it’s going to come down to; are we winning collisions? Are we winning the breakdown and getting the speed of ball?”
It’s a fascinating challenge for Goodman as he aims to end his time with the province on a high.
The New Zealander will take over from Mike Catt as Ireland attack coach after the summer tour against the Springboks – and Goodman confirmed he will travel with Andy Farrell’s coaching team to South Africa as he prepares to take the reins.
“Yeah, that’s the plan, that’s something exciting, to get the juices flowing as the season finishes, it’s a busy transition.”
