Band of Blues brothers will be tested like never before
‘The lockdown period has only done him good, really’
LEINSTER’S muchvaunted strength in depth will be tested like never before in the coming months.
The fact that the Blues have used an average of 54 players across the past three seasons is testament to the talent flowing out of their academy but also the amount of players moving on to pastures new or up to national service.
And it is likely that the province will have to dig even deeper into their reserves ahead of the forthcoming campaign. Fergus McFadden and Rob Kearney are moving on after this block of rescheduled games is sorted, while Adam Byrne is out of action for three months due to a hamstring injury. James Ryan is still recovering from a dislocated shoulder, and Dan Leavy will not be thrown in at the deep after 17 months on the sidelines following that ghastly knee injury.
This may be the final lap for McFadden and Kearney but Stuart Lancaster is not expecting the veteran duo to bow out quietly.
‘They are fully involved, fully integrated,’ he said. ‘I think you know the two characters; they are not going to wave a white flag and say, “My time is done”. They are very much integrated in everything we are doing.
‘Adam is going to be out for a while. Dan Leavy and James Ryan are making great progress. Dan is getting closer. It will still probably be a week or two. To have that length of an injury, it is probably unrealistic to come back in and play a game without having a few full weeks of training.
‘James had that unfortunate injury but he has made great progress. I think Leo gave you an insight – he will be back sooner rather than later. It will certainly not be the 12 weeks it was initially suggested.’
A broad smile appeared across Lancaster’s face when THAT photo of Johnny Sexton in preseason was mentioned.
The Leinster out-half has clearly been hitting the weights during the lockdown and Sexton looks like a man on a mission this season. Now 35, he has regularly spoken of his intent to keep playing at the top level for years to come.
Sexton may be out of contract in June of 2021, but, unsurprisingly, Lancaster has seen him return fitter and hungrier than ever.
‘We trained just before lockdown. We played Glasgow, beat Glasgow and then the Ireland boys had just come back into Leinster because that Six Nations game (against Italy) got cancelled,’ the Leinster senior coach explained.
‘Johnny trained that day after the England game. He was excellent that day. We had three really good teams going hard at each other on the Thursday before the lockdown on the Friday. So Johnny was in great shape leading into lockdown. We had him at 10 on one team, Ross Byrne on another and Harry Byrne on the third team. The lockdown period has only done him good, really. I am only back on the coaching field since last Monday but he has definitely used it well.
‘The big markers for me are: is he training at every session? Yes. Has he got any niggles? No. What’s his speed endurance like? It’s good. What’s his skill and decision making like? It is excellent.
‘Is he competing in training? Yes. Is he holding people to account? Yes.
‘His eye is in. He is definitely hungry.’
Having lost Roman Salanoa to Munster and Jack Aungier to Connacht, Leinster’s depth chart at tight-head was whittled down in the summer. Some rookies will need to step up, especially when Tadhg Furlong and Andrew Porter are away on Ireland duty.
Luckily, Lancaster has already spotted a new face in the crowd.
‘The real positive for me has been Tom Clarkson,’ he added.
‘He’s stepped up and come and trained with us at senior level and I had not really worked with him prior to this.
‘Obviously, he’s been away with Ireland and everyone has spoken highly of him but with Roman going, he was brought up and he’s been excellent, he really has. A really exciting tight-head prospect who is learning with the big guns and the units but in the rugby stuff, his attacking and defensive understanding and decision-making in the game is excellent. He’s a real bonus.’