LEO CULLEN SAYS Leinster are hopeful of having Tadhg Furlong available to make his first appearance of the season next week as the province continue to filter their Ireland internationals back into action.

Furlong is one of a handful of Ireland internationals – including injured trio James Lowe, Hugo Keenan and Jamison Gibson-Park – who have yet to feature in the URC this season as the prop continues to work his way back to full fitness.

Leinster have named a strong selection for tomorrow’s URC meeting with the Sharks at the RDS [KO 5.05pm, live on RTÉ 2/Premier Sports 1/URC TV], with captain Johnny Sexton making his first start of the new campaign following his cameo off the bench against Ulster last weekend.

And while Furlong misses out on the matchday squad again, Cullen says the tighthead is also nearing a return to provincial action, with Leinster set to take on Connacht in Galway next Friday.

“He trained pretty much fully this week, so he should be close to featuring next week,” Cullen said of Furlong.

Leinster have limited the rotation in their squad across the opening rounds of the season as they look to build momentum ahead of the November international break, with Cullen making just four changes from last weekend’s win in Belfast.

The cohesion does help for sure, we probably chop and change our team more than most, but we’ve opted for a bit of cohesion because with the structure of the season, you have 18 URC games, and you have this block at the start of the season.

“There’ll be different stages of the season where players will be missing, but there’s not much margin for error when it comes to 18 games.

“We think we’ve got a good group there, they’re all hungry to kick on, play, well and perform well. Sharks won’t make it easy, but from our point of view we’ve had a decent week’s training.” 

There’s also a first start for flanker Will Connors since January. The 26-year-old has endured two injury-plagued campaigns, making just two appearances for the province last season and three the season beforehand.

Having featured off the bench in all three of Leinster’s URC outings this season – including a 75-minute run-out against Benetton – Cullen is hoping to see the impactful back-rower kick on and continue to put a string of games together.

“You saw it here a few weeks ago [against Benetton], he’s on pretty early into the game, but Will’s great. In terms of his defensive piece, it’s the thing that stands out.

In terms of his low tackling, ability to get off the line, the aggressive defence, he leads the line. He’s worked hard to get back, the medics have worked hard in the background, so we just hope he gets a decent run of games.

“We’re trying to manage some of that time up to now, but it’s great to see him starting and I hope he goes well.” 

The Sharks have travelled to Dublin without their Springbok internationals but Cullen is still anticipating a stern test from a side who are two from two on the road – winning at Zebre and Dragons – in the URC this season.

“They’ve had a group, minus their international group, a good strong group that works together, so the cohesion for them is good,” Cullen added.

“They’ve so much depth across the board, like all the South African teams do, but the Sharks in particular, so when they’re missing their nine or 10 Springboks, they still have real quality to call upon.

“It’s going to be a good challenge for us. They have two wins, nine points already, so it’s a nothing to lose-type game for them. And they have a different group back in South Africa getting ready for Glasgow next week, I’m sure all their guys will be looking to put their hands up for future games.”

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