LAST UPDATE | 9 Oct 2022

GARRY RINGROSE STARTED Leinster’s United Rugby Championship clash against the Sharks on the bench yesterday, but left the ground with the player of the match medal tucked in his gearbag after an impressive 60-minute shift which saw the 27-year-old spend most of the game out on the wing.

The versatile Leinster centre was called upon midway through the first half after Jordan Larmour limped off with an ankle injury.

Ringrose has previously filled in on the wing for both Leinster and Ireland, and in an action-packed, 13-try thriller at the RDS, he showed just why coaches trust him to cover the position, making a massive impact off the bench, crossing for two tries and proving a constant threat out wide. 

At times, the province’s attacking play was scintillating, with Ringrose, Sexton and Henshaw all adding flashed of quality from the Leinster backline. 

“Well I think when you’re coming on after 20 minutes and you get man of the match you’re clearly doing something very good,” said Leinster head coach Leo Cullen.

“I think some of the scanning in terms of where the space is, we knew their wingers would play pretty high.

Ringrose celebrates one of his two tries against the Sharks. Tom Maher / INPHO Tom Maher / INPHO / INPHO

“A couple of lovely crossfield kicks from Johnny [Sexton] into Garry’s hands, obviously Robbie’s [Henshaw] kick into Garry’s hands for a try, Charlie’s [Ngatai] kick in to Robbie’s hands for a try, Cormac’s [Foley] pass over the top for Rob Russell’s try, so the identifying spaces was good across the board.”

While Leinster eventually enjoyed a 20-point cushion against the South Africans, they were made to work for it as a Sharks side minus their Springbok frontliners brought plenty of fight, carving Leinster open repeatedly with some brilliant attacking play of their own.

And Cullen admitted there are still areas his team need to brush up on as they turn their attention to an interpro derby meeting with Connacht in Galway on Friday.

“I thought we started with good intent, the guys did a decent week’s work,” Cullen said.

“We prepared well for this game, we knew it would be a good challenge, the Sharks have that bit of cohesion and togetherness off the back of two wins, and with Noel [McNamara, Sharks attack coach] coming back here, there were lots of factors we were concerned about.

“They’re big, physical men, you see them, size-wise, and that’s the challenge. It’s a totally different ball game we’re up against in this competition.

“The South African teams have picked up wins. Even the Lions, who would have lost a lost of players to the likes of the Sharks, they picked up wins on the road, so they’re circling. It’s created a totally different dynamic to the competition.

“We’re missing a few players at the moment, so we’re a bit tighter on resources, so it’s a good challenge, a really good challenge. For us, this week is to learn from the bits where Sharks went after us defensively. We got tight a few times, where we get done on the edge or are over-chasing and get done on the inside.

“They tested us out, and I thought the way we responded, scoring some great tries. There are lots of positive things in the game.”

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