PRO12 Preview: Leinster vs. Aironi

Luke Fitz is back for Leinster. (c) Art Widak.

Friday 2nd March, 18.00 (Italian TV)

Luke Fitzgerald makes a welcome return to the Leinster team tomorrow night having fully recovered from the neck injury that has kept him out for almost two months. Alongside him in the back-three is 20-year-old Andrew Conway,  just back from a spell on the sidelines himself. Fionn Carr, Ian Madigan and Brendan Macken all feature in an exciting backline. Shane Jennings captains the side from the back-row. It’s a heavyweight Leinster pack with the likes of Richardt Strauss, Rhys Ruddock and Nathan White all starting. With Isa Nacewa riding pine, it will be interesting to see Madigan take over on place-kicking duty.

Aironi have made four changes to the side which went down 10-9 to the Dragons last weekend following a last minute penalty try. Italy international Giulio Toniolatti comes in at fullback while Riccardo Pavan is selected on the right wing. Up front, injury rules out ex-Munster No.8 Nick Williams. As a result, 23-year-old Italian international Simone Favaro starts at 7, with Nicola Cattina and the experienced Josh Sole shuffling positions in the back-row. George Biagi replaces Joshua Furno in the second-row.

This is a bottom vs. top clash, with Leinster 11 points clear at the summit of the PRO12 table. Aironi are languishing at the foot of the table, 8 points behind 11th-placed Edinburgh. The Italian team have only won 3 games in the league this season, as well as losing all 6 of their Heineken Cup pool games. After last weekend’s 10-10 draw in Glasgow, this is a well-timed opportunity for Leinster to get back to winning ways. They should have far too much pace and ability for Aironi. Verdict: Bonus-point win for Leinster.

Aironi: 15 Giulio Toniolatti, 14 Riccardo Pavan, Roberto Quartaroli 13, 12 Gabriel Pizarro, 11 Sinoti Sinoti, 10 Naas Olivier, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Josh Sole, 7 Simone Favaro, 6 Nicola Cattina; 5 Carlo Del Fava, 4 George Biagi, 3 Lorenzo Romano, 2 Roberto Santamaria (cap), 1 Matias Aguero.                                         Subs: 16 Fabio Ongaro, 17 Alberto De Marchi , 18 Salvatore Perugini, 19 Redolfini Luca, Filippo Ferrarini 20, 21 Tyson Keats, 22 Luciano Orquera, 23 Gilberto Pavan.

Leinster: 15 Luke Fitzgerald, 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Eoin O’Malley, 12 Brendan Macken, 11 Fionn Carr, 10 Ian Madigan, 9 Isaac Boss, 8 Rhys Ruddock, 7 Shane Jennings (capt.), 6 Kevin McLaughlin, 5 Devin Toner, 4 Damian Browne, 3 Nathan White, 2 Richardt Strauss, 1 Heinke van der Merwe.                                Subs: 16 Aaron Dundon, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 Jamie Hagan, 19 Leo Auva’a, 20 Dominic Ryan, 21 John Cooney, 22 Noel Reid, 23 Isa Nacewa.

Referee: Andrew Macpherson (Scotland).

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Photo copyright:  Art Widak.

Ireland Needs a Sevens Team

Samoa beat New Zealand in the Las Vegas Sevens cup final last weekend with a thrilling last-second try. (c) Chris Dickey.

Watching 21-year-old Alex Cuthbert counter-attacking with confidence during Wales’ 27-13 win over Scotland on Sunday, it was easy to see his background in sevens rugby. Every time Scotland sent a poor kick to Leigh Halfpenny at fullback, Cuthbert was immediately off his right wing, head up and spotting openings. While lots of attention focused on the 6’6″ winger’s strength to go through Greg Laidlaw’s tackle for his try, there was less applause for the three occasions Cuthbert scythed through Scotland on the counter-attack.

Added to that understanding of space was the intelligence and footwork the Blues wide man showed to set up Halfpenny’s first try. Cuthbert spotted Lee Jones (Scotland 14) coming up hard off the defensive line, so slowed almost to a halt in order to give himself the time and space to burst around his opposite number and supply the scoring pass for Halfpenny. This fleeting piece of skill again betrayed Cuthbert’s sevens history. In the seven man game, preserving space then bursting past opposition is essential.

Cuthbert played for the Wales sevens team during the IRB World Sevens Series in both the ’09/’10 and ’10/’11 seasons, as well as at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi. Alongside him in that squad was another star of last weekend’s clash with Scotland, openside Aaron Shingler. Indeed, looking at the list of ex-Wales sevens players it’s clear why Wales coach Warren Gatland says that the code “has been an avenue for a few of our players.”

James Hook, Lee Byrne, George North, Andy Powell and Josh Turnbull have all turned out for Wales sevens teams in the recent past. The electric 18-year-old Harry Robinson is the latest man to have made the step up after being included in Wales’ Six Nations training squad. Wales use the sevens game in an intelligent manner, giving young players with potential the chance to play for their country in a relatively pressurised atmosphere as well as increasing certain skills that are key to the union code of the game.

The example of Wales is used here because they are a rugby nation with relatively similar playing numbers to Ireland. According to the latest IRB figures, there are 25,440 senior (over-18) male rugby union players in Ireland. Wales is slightly behind with 22,408. So despite having less players to choose from, Wales makes far better use of the sevens code to increase the quality of players in their international union squad.

Ireland currently has no sevens team. The last time Ireland were represented internationally was at the Sevens World Cup in 2009. James Coughlan, Paul Marshall and Felix Jones were all involved in that tournament as Ireland lost to Zimbabwe in the Bowl final. Six Nations rivals England, France, Scotland and Wales are all part of the 12 ‘core’ teams in the Sevens World Series at the moment.

Despite the IRB’s announcement last week that they will be increasing this core group to 15, we have still heard nothing from the IRFU. The qualifying tournament for those three new places will be held on 23rd-25th March at the Hong Kong Sevens. That event is probably too early, but the IRFU seriously need to consider the advantages of having a sevens team on the world circuit.

The commonly accepted excuse is that the IRFU doesn’t have the necessary funds to run a sevens team. By changing their priorities they surely could. Wales chose to have a sevens team rather than an ‘A’ team like the Irish Wolfhounds. Having only played one meaningless friendly against the English Saxons this season, how worthwhile is the Wolfhounds team? Bringing a group of players together for a one-off match with no chance of real reward is basically what the Wolfhounds set-up entails right now.

Someone like Simon Zebo would be an ideal candidate for an Irish sevens team. (c) Ivan O’Riordan.

That money could be better spent on allowing young Irish players to get out on the sevens circuit alongside continuing development with their provinces. Another potential avenue of funding a sevens team is being more selective in giving central IRFU contracts to players in their 30s (eg. Paddy Wallace, Denis Leamy). How much more can these players really offer Ireland at international level? Would that money not be better spent on increasing the quality and exposure of talented young players?

Getting a team into the IRB World Sevens Series would open up a potentially massive money-making event in the Dublin Sevens at the Aviva. The government should be pushing this idea to the IRFU, as they too would benefit from the influx of tourists attracted by an event like this. The excuse of funding doesn’t really apply here and the IRFU must stop resting on their laurels around this issue. With good planning, an Ireland sevens team could benefit our economy as well as, most importantly, our senior international side!

The prospect of guys like Simon Zebo, Andrew Conway, Fionn Carr, Rhys Ruddock, Tiernan O’Halloran, Peter O’Mahony and Ali Birch playing sevens in an Irish jersey is an exciting one. The IRFU needs to get a sevens team up and running. Hopefully, they start to see the advantages it could bring. As the Welsh model has shown, the sevens code can give union players unique and relevant skills.

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Photos courtesy:  Chris Dickey, Ivan O’Riordan.

PRO12 Previews

Ulster vs. Munster @ Ravenhill

Friday 30th December, 19.05 (RTE 2) 

Keatley continues at 10 for Munster. Photo via M+MD.

Brian McLaughlin’s decision to rest his first-choice fifteen for the Stephen’s Day clash with Leinster lead to an inevitable 42-13 loss. Ulster come into this inter-provincial derby with their front-liners all restored to the starting line-up. The northern province lie 8th in the league after the loss to Leinster so a home win would be a timely boost before the new year.

Tony McGahan also chose a second-string side for Munster’s Stephen’s Day clash with Connacht. However, that team still proved strong enough to give John Hayes a winning send off at Thomond Park. Munster remain in 3rd after that 24-9 win but a loss at Ravenhill could mean dropping out of the play-off places depending on results elsewhere.

For this derby, McGahan has retained only three of the winning team from Stephen’s Day. Those players are captain Mick O’Driscoll, young wing Luke O’Dea and outhalf Ian Keatley. Tom Gleeson gets his third start of the season alongside Lifemi Mafi in the centre. Ian Nagle is included alongside O’Driscoll in the second-row. Surprisingly, given his form last season, this is Nagle’s first start of the campaign.

Johne Murphy is back on the wing for Munster. (c) Ivan O'Riordan

Elsewhere, Stephen Archer comes in at loosehead and Munster Academy player Dave O’Callaghan starts in the back-row, where he is joined by Tommy O’Donnell. Ronan O’Gara, Paul O’Connell, Donncha O’Callaghan, Donnacha Ryan, Conor Murray and Keith Earls are all in training camp with the Irish squad. McGahan has also decided to rest Danny Barnes and Niall Ronan who have featured heavily so far this season.

Ulster coach Brian McLaughlin has named a completely different starting fifteen from Monday’s loss to Leinster. Rory Best, Stephen Ferris, Tom Court and Andrew Trimble join the Munster internationals at Carton House for that Ireland training camp. Nevin Spence joins the likes of Paddy Wallace and Simon Danielli on the injury-list. Recent South African signing Stefan Terblanche starts on the wing while Ian Whitten joins Darren Cave in midfield. Ruan Pienaar continues at scrumhalf and New Zealander John Afoa is back in at tighthead.

With home advantage, Ulster will be confident of beating their inter-provincial rivals. However, they have not looked the same team without Ferris and Best when they have been rested this season. Munster have a promising-looking blend of experience and youth. McGahan’s team look narrow favourites for this one. It will be a fiercely contested inter-pro no matter what the outcome. A win either way would not be greeted with surprise.

ULSTER: 15 Adam D’Arcy, 14 Craig Gilroy, 13 Darren Cave, 12 Ian Whitten, 11 Stefan Terblanche, 10 Ian Humphreys, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Chris Henry, 7 Willie Faloon, 6 Pedrie Wannenburg, 5 Dan Tuohy, 4 Johann Muller (capt.), 3 John Afoa, 2 Andi Kyriacou, 1 Paddy McAllister.
Subs: 16 Nigel Brady, 17 Callum Black, 18 Adam Macklin, 19 Lewis Stevenson, 20 Ali Birch, 21 Paul Marshall, 22 Chris Farrell, 23 Peter Nelson.

MUNSTER: 15 Denis Hurley, 14 Luke O’Dea, 13 Tom Gleeson, 12 Lifeimi Mafi, 11 Johne Murphy, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Duncan Williams, 8 James Coughlan, 7 Tommy O’Donnell, 6 Dave O’Callaghan, 5 Mick O’Driscoll (capt.), 4 Ian Nagle, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Damien Varley, 1 Wian du Preez.
Subs: 16 Denis Fogarty, 17 Marcus Horan, 18 John Ryan, 19 Billy Holland, 20 Paddy Butler, 21 Tomas O’Leary, 22 Scott Deasy, 23 Will Chambers.

Connacht vs. Leinster @ The Sportsground

Sunday 1st January, 17.00 (TG4)

Nacewa moves to fullback for the New Years Day derby with Connacht. Photo via M+MD.

Well things just don’t get any easier for Connacht, do they? After a record 11th defeat in a row in the Stephen’s Day derby with Munster, Eric Elwood’s team now take on the league leaders Leinster. The sheer depth of the Leinster squad means that even when Joe Schmidt rotates players, it’s usually still a strong team on paper. That competition for places is a luxury that Elwood can only dream of. Even with Munster fielding a weakened team on Monday, Connacht’s first-choice never looked like potential winners.

Leinster are now 6 points clear at the summit of the PRO12 table following their bonus-point victory over Ulster. Connacht, meanwhile, languish in 10th, but the Newport Gwent Dragons have a game in hand which, if won, would see them move above Connacht. Ulster are only 5 points ahead of the western province and a couple of wins would mean Connacht challenging for automatic qualification for the Heineken Cup. However, in their current form, it’s extremely difficult to see where those wins will come from, certainly not against this Leinster team.

Joe Schmidt has once again made changes to his team. Andrew Conway is chosen on the wing after making his comeback from injury off the bench on Monday. The pacy young winger is joined in the back-line by his ex-Blackrock teammate Brendan Macken. This is only Macken’s second start of the season, and he has been more famous for his impressive impersonations than his rugby exploits recently. Up front, there are further recent Leinster Academy graduates in props Jamie Hagan and Jack McGrath. A decision on who will occupy the number 7 jersey, as well as two of the slots on the bench, will be made closer to kick-off.

Connacht were limited in the changes they could make for this match by the lack of depth in their squad. 6′ 5″ Connacht Academy player Mick Kearney gets his first start for the province, replacing the injured Dave Gannon in the back-row. Adrian Flavin gets the nod ahead of Ethienne Reynecke at hooker. In the backline, Kyle Tonetti comes into the centre for the injured Dave McSharry, Paul O’Donohoe is chosen ahead of Frank Murphy at scrumhalf and Brian Tuohy is back on the wing in place of Fetu’u Vainikolo.

Paul O'Donohoe lines out against his former club. (c) Ivan O'Riordan

Despite the youthful look to their side, Leinster should have too much for a Connacht outfit short on form, confidence and quality. It would be magnificent to see Connacht finally end their long-term slump but it doesn’t look likely that they will be ringing in the New Year with any victory celebrations.

CONNACHT: 15 Gavin Duffy (capt.), 14 Brian Tuohy, 13 Eoin Griffin, 12 Kyle Tonetti, 11 Tiernan O’Halloran, 10 Niall O’Connor, 9 Paul O’Donohoe, 8 John Muldoon, 7 Johnny O’Connor, 6 Mick Kearney, 5 Mike McCarthy, 4 George Naoupu, 3 Ronan Loughney, 2 Adrian Flavin, 1 Brett Wilkinson.                        Subs: 16 Ethienne Reynecke, 17 Denis Buckley, 18 Dylan Rogers, 19 Eoin McKeon, 20 TJ Anderson, 21 Frank Murphy, 22 Matthew Jarvis, 23 Henry Fa’afili.

LEINSTER: 15 Isa Nacewa, 14 Dave Kearney, 13 Eoin O’Malley, 12 Brendan Macken, 11 Andrew Conway, 10 Ian Madigan, 9 Isaac Boss, 8 Leo Auva’a, 7 Kevin McLaughlin/Shane Jennings, 6 Rhys Ruddock, 5 Damien Browne, 4 Leo Cullen (capt.), 3 Jamie Hagan, 2 Richardt Strauss, 1 Jack McGrath.                                 Subs: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Heinke van der Merwe, 18 Nathan White, 19 Devin Toner, 20 Shane Jennings/Jordi Murphy, 21 John Cooney, 22 Noel Reid/Fionn Carr, 23 Luke Fitzgerald.

Photos courtesy:  MD+D, Ivan O’Riordan.