Latest news with #JoshVanDerFlier
BBC News
7 hours ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Leinster quartet injury doubts for URC final
British and Irish Lions squad members Tadhg Furlong, Garry Ringrose, Hugo Keenan and Josh van der Flier are injury doubts for Leinster's United Rugby Championship final against the Ringrose and Keenan are nursing calf injuries while Van der Flier's hamstring issue will be assessed before Saturday's game against the South African side at Croke Park, Dublin (17:00 BST). Tight-head prop Furlong has endured an injury-plagued season and last played in Leinster's Investec Champions Cup semi-final loss to Northampton on 3 May. The 32-year-old has managed just eight appearances for Leinster while he missed all but one of Ireland's Six Nations matches. Centre Ringrose has missed the play-offs since coming off injured against Zebre on 10 May, while Van der Flier sustained his hamstring problem in the URC quarter-final win over Scarlets. Fit-again back Jordan Larmour is available to face the Bulls after being part of the extended matchday squad in last weekend's semi-final win over Glasgow, while wing Tommy O'Brien came through that game with no issues after returning from a foot injury.
Irish Times
7 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Times
Leinster monitoring Lions quartet ahead of URC final
Leinster will continue to monitor the injuries of Josh van der Flier , Garry Ringrose , Hugo Keenan and Tadhg Furlong ahead of this Saturday's URC final against the Bulls at Croke Park (kick-off 5pm). The province confirmed Ringrose, Keenan and Furlong are all carrying calf injuries, while van der Flier is managing a hamstring injury, causing them to sit out last weekend's semi-final win over Glasgow Warriors at the Aviva Stadium. They will be assessed further over the coming days and a final decision will be made later this week on their availability for Saturday's final. The four are part of the British & Irish Lions squad set to get their summer Tour under way against Argentina in Dublin on June 20th. READ MORE Leinster also confirmed Tommy O'Brien, who featured in the win over Glasgow, and Jordan Larmour, who was part of the extended matchday squad, are both available for selection. No further updates were given on Caelan Doris, Robbie Henshaw, Brian Deeny or Will Connors.
Irish Times
a day ago
- Sport
- Irish Times
Leinster primed and ready to take the Bulls by the horns in URC final
Leo Cullen is reasonably optimistic that Josh van der Flier and Garry Ringrose will be back in the selection mix as Leinster seek to win their first trophy in four seasons when they face the Bulls in the URC final at Croke Park next Saturday (kick-off 5pm). The Lions duo missed last Saturday's convincing 37-19 semi-final win over last season's champions Glasgow Warriors at the Aviva Stadium due to hamstring and knee issues. 'Josh will be top of the list, I'd say,' said Cullen with regard to the list of players ruled out of the semi-final, with Ringrose 'up near the top' according to the Leinster head coach. By contrast, the other missing Lions, Hugo Keenan and Tadhg Furlong, were both 'somewhere in the middle', whereas 'Will Connors and Brian Deeney [are] definitely at the bottom. Robbie [Henshaw] is down near the bottom as well. There's probably a pecking order there. Garry and Josh [are] probably the two favourites.' READ MORE Despite the unfavourable kick-off time, an attendance of 15,762 was an improvement on the previous week – just that it was a little lost in the Aviva Stadium, whereas had the game been in the RDS it would have been more of an occasion. As the seasons have finished later in recent years, June has been a challenging month for ticket sales but, encouragingly, the first tranche of 12,000 tickets for next Saturday's heavyweight rumble with the Bulls have already been snapped up by Leinster's season ticket holders. The 10 per cent early bird discount which enabled supporters to register for a 24-hour presale window expired at 9am on Monday, before general sale from 10am, with ticket prices starting at €20. Leinster secured home advantage by topping the regular-season table, with the Bulls in second place, thus leading to the first-ever final at the home of the GAA and Ireland's most iconic sporting arena. The game will be broadcast live on TG4 and on Premier Sports. [ Matt Williams: Unless Leinster's defence wake up they will be left dreaming of what might have been Opens in new window ] Captaining the side on the season's run-in, Jack Conan admitted it would be 'unbelievably special' to win the URC at Croke Park. 'I think we've relished every opportunity to run out there in the last few years, starting with Northampton last year and Munster and Harlequins this year, so the history and the iconic nature of that stadium isn't lost on us. We want to do right by that and be at our best again.' Leinster's Andrew Porter, Jack Conan and James Ryan wrap up a Glasgow player at the URC semi-final match in the Aviva Stadium on Saturday. Photograph: Billy Stickland/Inpho By dint of topping the table by eight points ahead of the Bulls, Cullen was grateful that he and his squad have a final in Dublin and do not have to travel to take the long trek to South Africa, as was the case when the sides met in last season's semi-final. 'You're sitting in the dressingroom in Loftus and heading back to the bloody hotel,' he recalled. 'It's the end of the season, watch that Glasgow-Munster game. What do you do? It's grim, beyond belief. 'What can we control now? We'll control having a really good week and enjoying it. 'I've been lucky to be involved in Leinster and other teams for a long time and there are so many great days, but you it's not like you cling to those days where you won a trophy, it's the day-to-day that I love. 'I love the process of getting ready for a game; that's what excites me. I love getting out of bed in the morning and coming into work ... because it's not work. 'So, we'll give our best and when next week is over and we're dealing with the fallout, good, bad or indifferent, it's over. What can we control now? We can get excited about next week and that's what I love. 'I love the process, I love the people we work with. There was a good few family in the dressing-room, it's magic. Win, lose or draw, we deal with the consequences.'
Irish Times
3 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Times
Leinster should have too much for Glasgow but mental scars from Champions Cup exit still a problem
URC semi-final: Leinster v Glasgow Warriors, Aviva Stadium, Saturday, 2.45pm – Live on RTÉ 2 and Premier Sports 1 If a week is a long time in politics, then eight weeks can be an age in rugby. Only two months ago, Leinster eviscerated Glasgow 52-0 in the Champions Cup quarter-final, yet rivers of water have flowed under the bridge since then. Full-strength, flying and on a mission for that fifth star, Leinster were close to unbeatable in blowing away a weakened Glasgow. But three weeks later a curiously undercooked Leinster were beaten 37-34 in the semi-final by Northampton. Despite three successive wins, including an altogether tougher 13-5 defeat of Glasgow, Leinster have looked mentally scarred by that crushing setback ever since. By contrast, Glasgow arrive buoyed by last week's handsome win over the Stormers in the United Rugby Championship quarter-finals. A place in the final is at stake , along with the chance to win the last piece of silverware on offer this season. The Leinster team that dismantled Glasgow eight weeks ago is not available in its entirety. Hugo Keenan and Josh van der Flier are the latest to join Tadhg Furlong, Caelan Doris, Robbie Henshaw and Garry Ringrose on the sidelines. Any team, even Leinster, would feel their loss. READ MORE Granted, this is partially offset by the return of Tommy O'Brien, while Scott Penny replaces Van der Flier and Dan Sheehan starts, with Rónan Kelleher reverting to the bench, in the personnel changes from last week's lacklustre win over the Scarlets. Jimmy O'Brien, for his part, switches to fullback. if the game gets sticky and it goes down to the last 15 minutes, you need to adapt and play the referee, play the opposition, the conditions — Leo Cullen True, Leinster still have eight of their dozen Lions, while the Warriors are missing two of their Lions quartet, Zander Fagerson and Huw Jones. But they should be very different to the team beaten 52-0. The talismanic and refreshed Sione Tuipulotu has hit the ground running in two return games, Josh McKay and Lions lock Scott Cummings have also returned from injury, as has influential South African number eight Henco Venter from suspension. It will be a starting 15 with eight changes from eight weeks ago. Glasgow's Sione Tuipulotu in possession during last weekend's URC quarter-final win against Stormers at Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow. Photograph: Craig Watson/Inpho A third clash in that time will contribute to a relatively low turnout through the doors at the Aviva Stadium. Ticket sales were approaching 15,000 as of Friday. In a sense, Leinster are being punished for earning five knock-out ties as well as TV-dictated kick-off times, but knock-out fatigue is not a new phenomenon and has compounded Aviva overload this season. After all, only 9,346 turned up for the URC quarter-final on this weekend three long years ago when Leinster beat Glasgow 76-14. Just 11,565 attended the semi-final against the Bulls a week later. That would prove to be the first of three semi-final defeats in succession which, coupled with three successive final losses in Europe and the recent Northampton defeat, should add to their motivation. 'There's enough going on here to be motivated to get through this game at the weekend,' said Leinster coach Leo Cullen good-naturedly but, perhaps, a tad revealingly. 'And, listen, if you get a performance lots of other things fall into place. 'But, if the game gets sticky and it goes down to the last 15 minutes, you need to adapt and play the referee, play the opposition, the conditions. We're focused, we want to do well and that's the focus this week.' It's as if Leinster are bracing themselves for a tight finish. Cullen joked aloud as to whether last week's goalkicking shoot-out between Sharks and Munster in Durban was a factor in recalling Ross Byrne for his Aviva farewell and reverting to a 5-3 split. One always senses that Cullen likes the insurance policy of Byrne on the bench to see out a close game. Certainly, last week's restrictive territory-based tactics against the Scarlets were in keeping with the mantra coming out of Leinster's HPC last Monday around 'this is knock-out rugby'. With the forecast looking none too worse, it seems safe to presume that more of the same mentality and game plan will apply here. Leinster's Jordie Barrett competes in the air with Adam Hastings of Glasgow Warriors during last month's URC clash in Dublin. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho 'There's a little bit around the conditions as well,' noted Cullen, citing 'a fair old downpour' last weekend and the forecast. 'It's knock-out games, particularly the way teams come and play against us. They're not playing a huge amount of multi-phase rugby. We've seen teams come with strong kicking plans. You have to be able to adapt on the day.' He also pointed to one of the two changes made by his counterpart Franco Smith to Glasgow's 36-18 win over the Stormers, namely recalling Adam Hastings at outhalf in place of Tom Jordan, whose running game was so impressive last week. 'They'd a very different plan around kicking last time to when we played them the first time. Adam Hastings is in at number 10 instead of Tom Jordan. He's more of a kicking 10, so that would suggest he might kick the ball more, but we'll wait and see.' Yet Glasgow are URC champions for a reason. They are a clever unit and like to come up with well-executed strike moves designed by Nigel Carolan trick plays. They are liable to play with more freedom. 'As long as we don't become predictable, that's important,' said Smith last week. Leinster look vulnerable too, but they have lost only two of 39 URC games at this venue. They also have a strong bench and, if they can rediscover some of their attacking accuracy and patience, they should edge a close encounter. LEINSTER: Jimmy O'Brien; Tommy O'Brien, Jamie Osborne, Jordie Barrett, James Lowe; Sam Prendergast, Jamison Gibson-Park; Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan, Thomas Clarkson; Joe McCarthy, James Ryan; Ryan Baird, Scott Penny, Jack Conan (capt). Replacements: Rónan Kelleher, Jack Boyle, Rabah Slimani, RG Snyman, Max Deegan, Luke McGrath, Ross Byrne, Ciarán Frawley. GLASGOW WARRIORS: Josh McKay; Kyle Steyn (capt), Sione Tuipulotu, Tom Jordan, Kyle Rowe; Adam Hastings, George Horne; Jamie Bhatti, Gregor Hiddleston, Fin Richardson; Alex Samuel, Scott Cummings; Euan Ferrie, Rory Darge, Henco Venter. Replacements: Johnny Matthews, Rory Sutherland, Sam Talakai, Max Williamson, Jack Mann, Macenzzie Duncan, Stafford McDowall, Jamie Dobie. Referee : Andrea Piardi (FIR). Forecast: Leinster to win.
BBC News
7 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Leinster trio doubts for Glasgow semi-final
Josh van der Flier, Garry Ringrose and Tommy O'Brien are injury doubts for Leinster's United Rugby Championship semi-final against Glasgow on Saturday (14:45 BST). Van der Flier was forced off with a hamstring issue during the Irish province's quarter-final win over Scarlets, while Ringrose (calf) and O'Brien (foot) both missed the game. All three will be monitored during the week before Leinster boss Leo Cullen names his team on Friday. Leinster, chasing a first URC title since 2021, are already without Will Connors, Brian Deeny, Caelan Doris, Tadhg Furlong and Robbie Henshaw, but Cullen is set to welcome back Jordan Larmour. The Irish international winger is available for selection having overcome a hamstring injury that has kept him out since December. Leinster have beaten Glasgow in both meetings this season; 52-0 in the Champions Cup quarter-final in April and 13-5 in their URC fixture last Monday, it was also confirmed that Croke Park will host the URC final on 14 June if Leinster qualify. With the RDS - Leinster's home ground - undergoing redevelopment since last year, the club have used the GAA's headquarters twice this season; against Munster in the URC and Harlequins in the Champions Cup quarter-finals.
