LEINSTER BOSS LEO Cullen confirmed that subbing loosehead prop Jack Boyle off after just 23 minutes of last night’s game against Munster was an “experiment” that the province will consider again.
Boyle was not injured when he was replaced in the 23rd minute, which seemed clear as he ran briskly off the pitch upon being replaced by Ireland international Andrew Porter.
Boyle had made a good start for Leinster and Porter helped them to a dominant scrum performance in their 28-7 win over Munster at Thomond Park.
It’s not unusual for a prop to play only 23 minutes of a rugby game but that kind of stint is virtually always as a replacement. Cullen confirmed post-match that Leinster had flipped the usual use of their two loosehead props on its head as a trial.
“That was pre-planned, a pre-planned experiment we’ll call it,” said Cullen.
“We just wanted to see Jack starting a big game. We wanted to get some decent time into Andrew as well. We’ll consider it, yeah.”
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Cullen said the plan hadn’t been a tough sell to Boyle.
“He knew it was happening so it wasn’t a big shock to him, so that was the important bit. An experiment, we’ll call it.”
Both Leinster looseheads played a role in their pack’s dominant performance against Munster, with other Ireland internationals like Caelan Doris, James Ryan, Joe McCarthy, Josh van der Flier, and Rónan Kelleher making their presence felt after being on holidays last week.
It has often been the case in the past that Leinster’s frontliners have missed the game in Thomond Park due to the IRFU’s player management protocols, so Cullen was delighted with their impact.
Josh van der Flier returned for Leinster. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
“I just thought in our last [Champions Cup] game against Clermont, we looked a little bit jaded perhaps,” said Cullen. “That’s obviously easy to say post-event but it’s difficult in terms of coming off four Test matches and you’re into two big Champions Cup games.
“It’s like six Tests in many ways, isn’t it? But anyway, we have come through that. Clermont are an unbelievably nuggety team. You probably saw that if you watched their La Rochelle game at the weekend as well, how they are able to stick in there.
“So, I think it was important that the guys got a bit of time to freshen up. The pleasing part is they hit the ground running when they come in on Monday and you’re seeing guys with really good energy out there. It’s good, might have to consider that again for them.”
Last night’s bonus-point win means Leinster have won nine from nine games in the URC this season, seven of them with bonus points.
They now head into the break weekend in the New Year keen to kick their game on before a visit to La Rochelle on 12 January.
“We have an unbelievable challenge in the Champions Cup then going up against La Rochelle away, which will be a great test for us,” said Cullen. “We will see how they are tracking over the next couple of weeks.
“Going back to what we can control is how we prepare, we’ll go over there and try and give a good account of ourselves.”
- This article was updated at 8.02am on 28 December to correct ‘July’ to ‘January’ in the 15th paragraph.
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Cullen confirms prop switch was a 'pre-planned experiment'
LEINSTER BOSS LEO Cullen confirmed that subbing loosehead prop Jack Boyle off after just 23 minutes of last night’s game against Munster was an “experiment” that the province will consider again.
Boyle was not injured when he was replaced in the 23rd minute, which seemed clear as he ran briskly off the pitch upon being replaced by Ireland international Andrew Porter.
Boyle had made a good start for Leinster and Porter helped them to a dominant scrum performance in their 28-7 win over Munster at Thomond Park.
It’s not unusual for a prop to play only 23 minutes of a rugby game but that kind of stint is virtually always as a replacement. Cullen confirmed post-match that Leinster had flipped the usual use of their two loosehead props on its head as a trial.
“That was pre-planned, a pre-planned experiment we’ll call it,” said Cullen.
“We just wanted to see Jack starting a big game. We wanted to get some decent time into Andrew as well. We’ll consider it, yeah.”
Cullen said the plan hadn’t been a tough sell to Boyle.
“He knew it was happening so it wasn’t a big shock to him, so that was the important bit. An experiment, we’ll call it.”
Both Leinster looseheads played a role in their pack’s dominant performance against Munster, with other Ireland internationals like Caelan Doris, James Ryan, Joe McCarthy, Josh van der Flier, and Rónan Kelleher making their presence felt after being on holidays last week.
It has often been the case in the past that Leinster’s frontliners have missed the game in Thomond Park due to the IRFU’s player management protocols, so Cullen was delighted with their impact.
“I just thought in our last [Champions Cup] game against Clermont, we looked a little bit jaded perhaps,” said Cullen. “That’s obviously easy to say post-event but it’s difficult in terms of coming off four Test matches and you’re into two big Champions Cup games.
“It’s like six Tests in many ways, isn’t it? But anyway, we have come through that. Clermont are an unbelievably nuggety team. You probably saw that if you watched their La Rochelle game at the weekend as well, how they are able to stick in there.
“So, I think it was important that the guys got a bit of time to freshen up. The pleasing part is they hit the ground running when they come in on Monday and you’re seeing guys with really good energy out there. It’s good, might have to consider that again for them.”
Last night’s bonus-point win means Leinster have won nine from nine games in the URC this season, seven of them with bonus points.
They now head into the break weekend in the New Year keen to kick their game on before a visit to La Rochelle on 12 January.
“We have an unbelievable challenge in the Champions Cup then going up against La Rochelle away, which will be a great test for us,” said Cullen. “We will see how they are tracking over the next couple of weeks.
“Going back to what we can control is how we prepare, we’ll go over there and try and give a good account of ourselves.”
- This article was updated at 8.02am on 28 December to correct ‘July’ to ‘January’ in the 15th paragraph.
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Leinster Loosehead Prop Trial