Farrell needs Leinster stars to crank it up
NOVEMBER 13 is creeping ever closer. The All Blacks will be in town in less than a month and Ireland head coach Andy Farrell is busily finalising his training squad ahead of the forthcoming autumn internationals.
This fourth round of the United Rugby Championship will effectively act as the final audition for the players to put their names forward for Test recognition next month. The current situation is hardly ideal. There is no European action until December this season. A competition which provides a real acid test for prospective internationals.
And some of Farrell’s biggest stars will arrive into camp with little or no rugby under their belts due to extended breaks after a heavy workload on Lions duty in the summer. Tadhg Furlong and Jack Conan will make their first appearances of the season this afternoon. Down in Limerick, Bundee Aki and Tadhg Beirne are finally back on the scene. Robbie Henshaw and Conor Murray will have to wait another week to get going. All the above will be on Farrell’s list next week. Getting them up to speed in time for Japan, New Zealand and Argentina will be quite the challenge.
At least he can see the spine of a potential starting line-up at the RDS today. Hugo Keenan looks a banker to start at full-back while Garry Ringrose has looked sharp at outside centre. Johnny Sexton and Jamison Gibson-Park start together in an all-international half-back partnership.
Plenty of familiar combinations there. It’s the make-up of the frontrow which is most interesting. For the first time, Andrew Porter, Ronan Kelleher and Furlong will start together en bloc. Leinster and Ireland put years of investment into converting Porter into a tighthead.
The experiment was such a success that Porter was named in Warren Gatland’s initial touring squad before a foot injury ended the Leinster prop’s ambitions of taking on the Springboks. In recent years, he has served as a reliable back-up to Furlong. Now, the pair are being unleashed together. Along with Kelleher at hooker, this frontrow has 2023 World Cup written all over it.
Likewise, the backrow where Caelan Doris, Josh van der Flier and Conan, fresh from starting three Tests for the Lions against the Springboks, start together in the backrow. Again, it looks like a partnership which can blaze a trail at provincial and international level. The likes of Peter O’Mahony, Gavin Coombes, Dan Leavy, Will Connors and Rhys Ruddock will have something to say about that, but if all three of today’s starters stay fit, then they will take some shifting.
James Ryan’s presence is taken for granted these days, but you feel that Farrell would like to see a bit of venom from the 25-yearold after his Lions snub.
A dynamic, busy and aggressive performance from the Leinster lock this afternoon would be a welcome sight. Ireland will need plenty of that against Brodie Retallick and his mates in a few weeks’ time.
Closer to home, Leo Cullen and his fellow coaches will be looking for a bit more urgency from Leinster. They made a big statement on the opening weekend with that storming performance against the Bulls but have been mixed since.
This would be good time to get it right and it could be a long day in Dublin 4 for Scarlets.
“Getting them up to speed will be quite the challenge”
LEINSTER: H Keenan; J Larmour, G Ringrose, C Frawley, J Lowe; J Sexton (capt), J Gibson-Park; A Porter, R Kelleher, T Furlong; R Molony, J Ryan; C Doris, J van der Flier, J Conan. Reps: D Sheehan, C Healy, M Ala’alatoa, R Baird, R Ruddock, L McGrath, R Byrne, J O’Brien
SCARLETS: I Nicholas; J McNicholl, J Davies (capt), J Williams, R Conbeer; S Costelow, G Davies; W Jones, K Owens, WG John; S Lousi, L Ashley; A Shingler, T Lezana, B Thomson. Reps: R Elias, R Evans, S Lee, M Jones, S Evans, K Hardy, D Jones, T Rogers.
REFEREE: M van der Westhuizen (SA). TV: Live on TG4, kick-off: 5.15pm.
VERDICT: Leinster.