IN RECENT YEARS the sight of Glasgow Warriors running out at the RDS has, without fail, signalled that a big game was imminent.
Indeed, in September, captain Ali Kellock told us that Leinster’s home ground was his favourite away venue.
It’s not for the amount of success they’ve had, but Glasgow have managed to become a consistently frustrating presence for the eastern province.
This season, Gregor Townsend’s side will arrive 12 points off the Pro12 second-placed side, but with two games in hand.
As Shane Jennings points out, they also bring an away record that would be the envy of any team in Europe having only just lost their 100% road record at the eighth attempt on Sunday.
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“We’ve played them in a few semis over the years and we’ve a lot of respect for them. This season their away form has been really, really good,” said Shane Jennings before training yesterday.
“They’ll be pretty confident that they can come over here and do a job and it’s up to us to prepare very well this week and make sure we improve on the things we can do better from last week.”
Leinster too, have played their way into an impressive run of form; three bonus point victories giving them an impressive 15 points from 15 in this mid-Six Nations window.
With tougher challenges than Warriors up ahead though, Jennings is making sure to take the recent successes with more than a pinch of salt.
“I think we’re pretty realistic about where we are. I don’t think we’re world-beaters, I don’t think we’re playing the best, but at the same time we are doing a lot of good stuff. Getting the bonus points is huge, and we’re kind of keeping pressure on Munster who are playing very well.
“There are five or six teams who are really battling it out for the top four spots. We want to continue what we’re doing and hopefully be in the mix for that.”
He added: “The people we’re coming up against in the next few weeks – Munster, Ulster, Toulon – it’s got to be a step up. We’ve got to start improving, we’ve got to start taking ownership as players and making sure we’re doing things better and that put us in a better position for weeks to come.”
The openside began his assessment with the word ‘realistic’, an interesting turn of phrase as he also brought it into play when asked his view of Jack Conan.
Competition is fierce in the Leinster back row, with Jordi Murphy on Saturday becoming the sixth international competing for three positions. Therefore, a debut try and man-of-the-match award against Conan’s won’t be enough to let the 21-year-old’s feet sneak off the ground.
“I think Jack is quite realistic about what went on. I don’t think he was overly happy with his game, but his involvements were good.
“He’s a big strong guy, he’s a good ball carrier and he knows how to defend, so those parts of his game are very, very good and we all want him to continue that way.”
Peter O’Mahony’s hamstring worry has catapulted Rhys Ruddock right back into the international reckoning just under two weeks out from Italy’s Six Nations visit. So the blindside is a near certainty to play alongside Jordi Murphy this weekend with Conan forced to wait at least an extra month for his second start.
By then, though, the big games will be coming thick and fast.
Jennings demanding further improvement before clash with road warriors from Glasgow
IN RECENT YEARS the sight of Glasgow Warriors running out at the RDS has, without fail, signalled that a big game was imminent.
Indeed, in September, captain Ali Kellock told us that Leinster’s home ground was his favourite away venue.
It’s not for the amount of success they’ve had, but Glasgow have managed to become a consistently frustrating presence for the eastern province.
This season, Gregor Townsend’s side will arrive 12 points off the Pro12 second-placed side, but with two games in hand.
As Shane Jennings points out, they also bring an away record that would be the envy of any team in Europe having only just lost their 100% road record at the eighth attempt on Sunday.
“We’ve played them in a few semis over the years and we’ve a lot of respect for them. This season their away form has been really, really good,” said Shane Jennings before training yesterday.
“They’ll be pretty confident that they can come over here and do a job and it’s up to us to prepare very well this week and make sure we improve on the things we can do better from last week.”
Leinster too, have played their way into an impressive run of form; three bonus point victories giving them an impressive 15 points from 15 in this mid-Six Nations window.
With tougher challenges than Warriors up ahead though, Jennings is making sure to take the recent successes with more than a pinch of salt.
“I think we’re pretty realistic about where we are. I don’t think we’re world-beaters, I don’t think we’re playing the best, but at the same time we are doing a lot of good stuff. Getting the bonus points is huge, and we’re kind of keeping pressure on Munster who are playing very well.
“There are five or six teams who are really battling it out for the top four spots. We want to continue what we’re doing and hopefully be in the mix for that.”
He added: “The people we’re coming up against in the next few weeks – Munster, Ulster, Toulon – it’s got to be a step up. We’ve got to start improving, we’ve got to start taking ownership as players and making sure we’re doing things better and that put us in a better position for weeks to come.”
The openside began his assessment with the word ‘realistic’, an interesting turn of phrase as he also brought it into play when asked his view of Jack Conan.
Competition is fierce in the Leinster back row, with Jordi Murphy on Saturday becoming the sixth international competing for three positions. Therefore, a debut try and man-of-the-match award against Conan’s won’t be enough to let the 21-year-old’s feet sneak off the ground.
“He’s a big strong guy, he’s a good ball carrier and he knows how to defend, so those parts of his game are very, very good and we all want him to continue that way.”
Peter O’Mahony’s hamstring worry has catapulted Rhys Ruddock right back into the international reckoning just under two weeks out from Italy’s Six Nations visit. So the blindside is a near certainty to play alongside Jordi Murphy this weekend with Conan forced to wait at least an extra month for his second start.
By then, though, the big games will be coming thick and fast.
Caption Time: What is Ian Madigan pointing and laughing at?
Fitzgerald back in international contention as Leinster issue clean bill of health
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Jack Conan Leinster Pro12 Provincial Shane Jennings