SEXTON AND BYRNE ‘MASSIVE’ FOR BLUES
LEINSTER head coach Leo Cullen says having outhalves Johnny Sexton and Ross Byrne available for this evening’s Champions Cup knockout clash with Toulon at the RDS is a ‘massive’ boost. Both players picked up knocks in last weekend’s Pro14 final win over Munster and there were concerns over who would be available to fill the crucial No10 jersey but Cullen confirmed yesterday that Sexton would captain the side with Byrne backing him up off the bench. With Toulon bringing a powerful team to Dublin, Cullen reckons that experience could be crucial to Leinster’s prospects. ‘It’s massive. Between the two of them they lead the team incredibly well, on and off the pitch I think it’s fair to say, so they are so important for the team,’ said Cullen. ‘So yeah, great to have Johnny back starting as well. He’s been good in terms of how he has led the week. ‘It’s a big challenge off the back of last week, short turnaround against a very, very good side as well. We need to look at the Toulon team, the quality they have and the experience as well. ‘When you see their squad, the likes of (Eben) Etzebeth in the forwards, (Sergio) Parisse, the experience that those guys have at the very highest level. ‘They have a number of guys in the French squad at the moment, obviously (Jean-Baptiste) Gros, (Baptiste) Serin at 9, (Romain) Taofifenua in the second row, (Swan) Rabbadj who can play in the second row as well, (Gabin) Villière I see is back and is someone who has come through a very unorthodox route, played in the lower leagues in France with Rouen before he got brought into the Toulon squad. ‘So they have a bit of a mix of everything, really,’ added the Leinster boss.