WITH THEIR FIRST assignment of the new URC season fast approaching, Leinster are already deep into the business of planning how to best manage their resources across the course of the campaign.
Leo Cullen’s men are in Scotland on Friday night for a season opener against Edinburgh, before games against the Dragons (home) and Benetton (away) which all lead up to a massive round four clash with Munster at Croke Park.
Across those games Leinster will dip into their squad depth while also easing back some of their internationals, a tricky balancing act given Cullen is conscious of picking up as many points as possible in a bid to avoid any headaches further down the line.
The early rounds tend to be a good opportunity for the province’s rising talents to showcase their talents but as the weeks progress, those chances can become increasingly scare, particularly when the Champions Cup gets going and international windows usher in breaks in the URC season.
It’s a frustration the province’s coaches are fully aware of, admits scrum coach Robin McBryde, who overlooks the development of Leinster’s front row prospects.
Props Michael Milne, Jack Boyle, Paddy McCarthy and Thomas Clarkson will all hope to push on this season while Dan Sheehan’s ACL injury opens the door for hookers Lee Barron, John McKee and Gus McCarthy in the queue behind Ireland international Rónan Kelleher.
“We’ve discussed this as coaches here,” McBryde says. “I’m not sure if it happens in other provinces or what have you, but with a number of returning internationals, they’re going to need game time, you know what I mean? So you can’t play everybody week in, week out, so certain players then have to lose out.
“And it’s the same for anybody, any craftsman. If you build a regular sort of pattern up, you get better at what you do, then all of a sudden you don’t get those regular game times or there is maybe a break in the calendar because the November international or what have you, and without a doubt, I think it stunts their [young players] growth and their development, without having that regular competition at a certain standard.
“How we fill that void, I don’t know. I don’t know what the answer is. But definitely, it needs looking at from a point of view of yeah, we can have ‘A’ games or try and arrange friendlies against English opposition, like we did last year. And they serve a purpose. But it is tough. I feel for them sometimes because it does stunt their development. I don’t know what the answer is there.”
Leinster go into the season with 42 players on their senior squad, a number that will rise to 43 when Jordie Barrett arrives after the November internationals. Connacht, Munster and Ulster all have 44 senior players, but none provide as many internationals to Andy Farrell’s Ireland squad as Leinster.
“It’s very hard,” McBryde continues, “because you’re trying to service them and do them justice because they’re all working hard, they’re all chomping at the bit, but the reality is, if you’re involved in this region, then you’re not going to get that many opportunities.
So when you do get it, you’ve got to be able to fucking grasp it and hang on to it. So, yeah, it’s a tough place to be.”
At the other of the scale, the province have bolstered their front row options with the signature of former France international Rabah Slimani. The 34-year-old, capped 57 times at Test level, joined from Clermont and arrives with almost 300 Top 14 games under his belt. It’s the type of signing we’ll see less of in Irish rugby going forward, with the IRFU set to ban non-Irish-qualified front row signings from next season.
As Slimani settles into his new surroundings, much of his remit is to impart some of his scrum knowledge to his Leinster teammates.
“The mentality that they have; they pride themselves on certain aspects, the set-piece; definitely hoping some of that Top 14 mentality will rub off on the youngsters,” says McBryde.
“Leo did the majority of the communicating with him so I tried to brush up as well as I could on Duolingo, but he’s fit in very well. He’s come in with a little bit of a mentoring role, I’m led to believe he’s the first French player to represent Leinster and it’s great to have that mix.
“He’s been very open about everything. Having coached against him… he played in 2017 against Wales where we beat them, we’d some interesting conversations.
“He’s a good character, he’s surprised a few with how good his handling skills are and he was even kicking off out of hand for the kick-off pods the other day.
“He’s got a couple of strings to his bow, but we need to keep him grounded a little bit and focus on the scrum.”
McBryde added that both RG Snyman are Jamison Gibson-Park are close to returning from their respective injuries. Snyman joined up with his new club after injuring his foot on Rugby Championship duty with the Springboks, while Gibson-Park missed Ireland’s summer tour to South Africa with a hamstring issue.
“They’re close. RG took a full part in the forwards unit’s session today. Obviously his next progression will be building up to be able to take a full part in training. I’d say over the next couple of weeks, hopefully we’ll see him.
“Jamo, he took a full part in training today. It’s positive news on both of them.”
