ROSS MOLONY MAY only be 22 but Leo Cullen feels the second row has already proven his leadership ability.
The former St. Michael’s College man previously captained Leinster in a pre-season friendly against Bath and tomorrow will see him take on the role in a competitive game for the first time in his senior career.
Molony has showed up impressively for the province over the last two seasons and Cullen has no concerns about handing the lock Leinster’s captaincy for tomorrow’s Pro12 game against Glasgow at the RDS [KO 7.35pm, TG4].
“He is a young leader but in his role in the team, in terms of the direction he gives on the field, it’s probably a natural progression for him,” said Leinster head coach Leo Cullen this afternoon. “He’s done it with a number of teams.
“He’s young, I know, in years but in terms of the way he has lead the group at various stages in the year, his relationship with the likes of Isa [Nacewa], Luke McGrath, Johnny [Sexton], all those guys, it’s a pretty natural step for him.
We’ve been impressed with the way he has led the team in other windows. He might not necessarily have been captain but in other games where the captain has gone off, he has taken over as captain. We have lot of confidence in terms of what he delivers.”
Molony has previously led the Ireland U20s and is part of a proud line of St. Michael’s alumni to have achieved that honour.
“There’s a good gang of them alright,” said Cullen. “If you think back to the recent history of the Irish U20s, there’s a number of guys – Dan Leavy, Ross Molony, Luke McGrath, Nick McCarthy, James Ryan, and Jack Kelly.
“It’s a pretty steady stream from down the road.”
Molony is part of an exciting Leinster team this weekend, with the aforementioned Nick McCarthy getting his first start at scrum-half and inside centre Tom Daly set to start a game at the RDS for the first time.
Josh van der Flier returns to the XV at openside, with Jack Conan winning his 50th cap at number eight. On the blindside flank, meanwhile, is Dominic Ryan – set for his final home appearance with Leinster before leaving at the end of the season.
Ryan may yet feature in the Pro12 semi-final for Leinster, although the likes of Dan Leavy, Sean O’Brien, Conan and van der Flier will be favourites to fill the back row slots that day.
“Not at this moment,” confirmed Cullen when asked if Ryan has signed a contract to keep him at Leinster beyond the summer.
It’s still unclear where Ryan will end up playing next season, but Cullen paid tribute to the 27-year-old’s contribution to Leinster over the years.
“Dominic has been a great servant, a very physical player, has come through the system and tomorrow night is another chance for him to showcase his talents. It’s a very competitive area in the squad.
“He’s been a little bit unfortunate this year. He has missed out narrowly on a couple of selections. It’s a great chance to showcase what he can do.”
Indeed, Ryan will be hoping some of the watching clubs are impressed by what he has to offer as he looks to seal a contract ahead of the 2017/18 season.
While Leinster are already qualified into a home semi-final in the Pro12 ahead of the final two regular-season rounds, Cullen expects his players’ motivation to stay high.
Ryan might be playing for a new club, but others who are remaining with Leinster have points to prove too.
“A few guys were unlucky to miss out on selection last Sunday [against Clermont], guys have been pushing really hard, so those guys get a crack,” said Cullen. “It’s their chance to shine.
There’s a couple of others guys, Nick McCarthy and Tom Daly in particular, two players that have worked really hard during the course of the season and just been unlucky with a number of selections during the season.
“I thought they deserved a go. They’ve worked hard and they deserve a chance. Then we’ve got a few bits of experience as well, scattered amongst the team.
“It should be a fast, open game between two teams who like to play. There’s plenty at stake for the guys in our team.”
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Always liked Ryan. I remember one tackle in particular back in 2010 on Chris Cusiter and just thinking this guy was going to be the next big thing and quite possibly still could be shame. If he’d been playing at any other province he’d have been first choice (Barring maybe Munster), shame. Hopefully he kicks on well!
@Sam McDonald: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqlrWcn_HmY Tackle I was referring to.
@Sam McDonald: He seemed a great prospect alright but a couple of injuries and Matt O’Connor got in his way. Once the new guys started coming through its been just too competitive. He’ll most likely move abroad as he has little chance of playing for Ireland now and the money will be better. Hopefully it works out well for him.
@Darren Byrne: Matt O’Connor got in his way? He started loads of games at 7 under MOC. Or do you mean got in his way as in he didn’t provide good enough coaching for Ryan to come on as a player? I’d agree with that viewpoint but he got lots of gametime, or I seem to remember it that way at any rate.
Not sure about the decision to not offer him a new deal. Who’s going to back up Ruddock at 6? I envisage Leavy claiming the starting 7 jersey (for Ireland as well as Leinster), and I think no. 8 is a more natural fit for Conan. I suppose Josh Murphy could make a breakthrough.
@clubber lang: Didn’t Peadar Timmins sign a contract. So next year you have Heaslip, O’Brien,Leavy,Van De Flier,Ruddock,Conan and Murphy, Jordi not Josh. The Leinster academy have been turning away back rowers and pointing them towards the other provinces as they simply have too many.
And yes he got a good few starts in O’Connor’s second season but very little game time in his first and we all know the type of game he had them playing. Not exactly the best environment to develop in.
@Darren Byrne: Apart from Ruddock, none of them is a specialist blindside. They played o’brien at 6 a few times this season, so maybe that’s the plan. I don’t think he has the lineout game of a top blindside though, so it would be good to see Josh Murphy come through
@Sam McDonald: I always loved his hit on stander coming off a lineout. Man and ball. So physical. But that play sums up his career to date for me. He went off his feet straight away and gave away a penalty after all his good work.
Good athlete but not the smartest player
https://youtu.be/4SO7x7NuF6o
Good to see Stander dominated physically. Very one-dimensional player who shouldn’t be picked for Ireland. He makes himself look good (to the untrained eye) to the detriment of his team
@clubber lang: your some eejit…
@Kendo90: so both the tackles he’s remembered for he gave away a penalty, one a yellow and another 3 points. A very good player but always just lacked a little discipline.
I hope he finds a club where he can have a great career, he deserves it.
@Sam McDonald: Completely agree. I remember him being a ‘future International star’. He’s been very unlucky! I cant imagine Ulster bothered their arse trying to sign him before they added a 4th SANZAR back row (Botha, Coatzee, Ready & Diack). They went for Conan knowing he wouldnt transfer and used it as an excuse to overlook other quality back rows that came through the underage systems here.
So the one thing he has done in 7 years to make you think he was gonna be a star was make a tackle in which he gave away a penalty and was sin binned
Ross Molony looks really impressive to me, a real prospect for the future and could be on the plane to USA and Japan this summer. On Ryan he started off so well and looked like a better talent than Jordi Murphy, unfortunately he’s drifted a bit since, if he moves on I hope he stays within the Irish setup, if he believes he has enough talent to break back into the ranks of Ireland he will. He could make a move to Ulster or possibly Connacht with news Fox-Matamua is moving on, although with Heenan, McKeon and Muldoon down there it no easy task to walk into that back row either
@Patrick Breen: moloney needs to up the aggression levels 10 fold if he’s to become Leinsters answer in the second row.
@sup: Leinster’s weakest position is secondrow, if moloney adds a bit of grunt to his natural ability he could be he answer. Fingers crossed
Has a full list of Leinster departures/non-renewals been put out yet?