Ronan Kelleher adamant Leinster on the revenge trail in ‘massive test' against Scarlets in United Rugby Championship

The Irish Sun

6 days ago

RÓNAN KELLEHER knows Leinster played their part in Scarlets being in the play-offs — and now he is out to put them out.
Kelleher was one of the few
frontline
players picked when the province played in Llanelli last month, a week before their
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Rónan Kelleher during the Leinster Rugby Squad Training at UCD
Credit: Tyler Miller/Sportsfile
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Leinster lost to the Scarlets earlier this season
Credit: Chris Fairweather/Sportsfile
The hooker was handed the honour of being captain for the first time but he will have mixed memories of the occasion given his side suffered a shock 35-22 defeat.
That helped the Welsh outfit claim the last place in the play-off but there should only be one outcome when the top seed meets the bottom seed at home.
Kelleher said: 'Off the back of that they got into the play-offs and I thought they were really good on the day.
'I thought we were poor in parts as well, but we know how much of a threat they can cause. Having played in it, you obviously get it first hand.
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'We took a lot of learnings from that game, what we did wrong, what we need to get right the
next
day and I think that is going to be a massive challenge this weekend.
'They have some good players. Obviously in the
In the aftermath of
That did not go according to plan with the
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He said: 'You naturally are thinking when you're watching it, 'It could have been us', but obviously this year wasn't to be.
'There's nothing we can do about it now, just focus on something that we can control, which is this competition really and we'll focus on next year, next year.'
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Irrespective of what happens this weekend, though, Kelleher's season will extend well into July,
His call-up came five days after the Saints loss, with the wait a little more agonising for his housemate
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Kelleher said: 'I finished up training, grabbed the gear bag, ran home.
'I live with Hugo Keenan, so it was the two of us just watching it together. It was tense.
'It was actually
funny
because it was one of those things. You hadn't really put much thought into it really, obviously it was in the back of your mind, but you hadn't actually thought about it at all.
'But when I left, I was like 'Jeez, it's happening in the next half an hour', but it obviously dragged on a bit.
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'It was pretty nervy, the two of us just on the couch watching it. I was absolutely delighted once my name was called. I was thrilled.
'We had to wait another couple of minutes until Hugo's name was called, so we could both celebrate together.
'It was great, I was absolutely delighted. My
family
as well were absolutely thrilled, over the moon. It was unreal.
'As soon as my name was announced, my phone started buzzing. I had to throw it away until Hugo's thing.
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'It was pretty surreal to be honest, but it was unbelievable.'
The Lions gathered in
London
for a day and Kelleher said: 'Everyone was dead sound. It's just a funny concept obviously because you're enemies for the three or four years in the build-up and then you come together and you have to get close quickly.
'But it's very much been focused on the here and now.
'We had the disappointment in
Europe
and now all our eyes are on this competition and trying to win this one.'
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