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Irish Times
16 hours ago
- General
- Irish Times
Leinster hopeful Josh van der Flier will be fit for Glasgow clash
Josh van der Flier and Leinster have been enduring an anxious wait for the results of a scan on the hamstring injury which forced him off in the first half of his side's BKT URC quarter-final win over the Scarlets last Saturday. But the province remain reasonably hopeful that van der Flier might yet be fit for next Saturday's semi-final against Glasgow Warriors at the Aviva Stadium (kick-off 2.45pm) and that the injury will not jeopardise his fitness for the forthcoming British & Irish Lions tour to Australia. 'We hope for clearance,' said senior coach Jacques Nienaber at the squad's HPC on Monday which, being a bank holiday, may have contributed to the delay in obtaining results. 'We sent him for a scan yesterday but I don't think it has come back yet. That's quite weird, for a first-world country, so we are still waiting.' In the intervening void, Nienaber was not inclined to speculate. READ MORE 'Obviously, I am fingers crossed, toes crossed, that he can make the semi-final. It would be nice.' Garry Ringrose will also be monitored before a decision is made on his fitness after missing last week's quarter-final with a calf injury. 'He did some running last week so his race against time is going through the return-to-play protocols so running, change direction, acceleration, deceleration,' said Nienaber. 'If he can tick all the boxes and doesn't have symptoms after being loaded, then he is available for selection.' Similarly, Tommy O'Brien will be further assessed for a foot injury, while Jordan Larmour has returned to full training. However, Tadhg Furlong has been ruled out and is unlikely to add to his injury curtailed haul of seven games for Leinster and three for Ireland this season due to his recurring calf issues. Leinster's Tadhg Furlong. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho 'I can't talk for him,' said Nienaber, 'but he hasn't played a lot, didn't play in the Six Nations, then comes back for two or three games and then he gets a setback again. It's tough for a player to get a rhythm. You like to get a string of games and build on your confidence and get the team to get confidence in you, so I think it is frustrating.' Although Leinster lacked precision in their handling and were at times impatient against the Scarlets, the two-time World Cup-winning coach reasoned that 'knockouts are a little bit different. It's a different competition and something that in international level one doesn't get exposed to except in World Cups. 'But if you look at Glasgow they've been quite successful, Munster have been quite successful, we haven't been successful with it yet. Hopefully we took lessons out of the previous games we played in knockouts and we can apply ourselves a little bit better.' Speaking of lost knockout ties, the Champions Cup semi-final defeat to Northampton appears to be lingering but Nienaber maintained this wasn't the case for him. 'No, it's gone. The competition is gone. Next year. Like, is there a anything we can about it?' Informed that Leo Cullen had, unprompted, referenced the Northampton game four times in his post-match last Saturday, Nienaber said: 'Maybe with Leo, but not for me. For me it's water under the bridge. Not one ounce of energy from me personally put into, thinking about the Champions Cup semi-final is going to change anything, except the lessons you learn. So maybe he referenced that. 'There's definitely stuff that we could have learned and that being the last knockout game that we played that's definitely something we can bring into that. 'So, maybe his angle was more that; there's lessons from our last knock-out game that we played was Europe and now we have a URC one.' That 52-0 Champions Cup quarter-final win in the Aviva over Glasgow seems much more than eight weeks ago now. It was put in perspective five weeks' later by Leinster's hard-earned 13-5 over the same opponents in the same stadium and with Sione Tuipulotu, Kyle Steyn, Max Williamson and Scott Cummings having all returned from injury in recent weeks the reigning champions were full value for their 36-18 quarter-final win at home to the Stormers last Friday. This was a repeat of last season's quarter-final victory, after which Glasgow won away to Munster and the Bulls to lift the trophy, so heightening the threat they pose next Saturday. 'Yeah, because they love it,' said Nienaber. 'If you think back to last year they went to Munster in Thomond Park. It's a tall order to win in Thomond Park and they did that. Then it's an even taller order to fly over, go to altitude, play the Bulls – which we struggled with. We got knocked out the week before by the Bulls. They went over there and got a result there.'
The 42
a day ago
- Sport
- The 42
Croke Park to stage URC final if Leinster progress
CROKE PARK HAS been confirmed as the venue if Leinster are hosting the URC Grand Final on Saturday, 14 June. Leo Cullen's side face Glasgow Warriors in the semi-finals this Saturday, 7 June, at Aviva Stadium [KO 2.45pm, live on RTÉ 2 and Premier Sports 1]. Victory there would see them progress to the showpiece for the first time since 2021, and again enjoy home advantage due to rankings. Croke Park has been confirmed to The 42 as the venue of choice. Advertisement Leinster have used Lansdowne Road and Croke Park for their home games over the last two seasons as the RDS undergoes redevelopment works. They last played at GAA HQ in April's Champions Cup last-16 win against Harlequins, while they also faced Munster there in the URC last October. Croke Park's capacity is over 82,000, while the Aviva holds almost 52,000. Just 12,879 fans attended Saturday's 33-21 quarter-final win over Scarlets. If defending champions Glasgow progress ahead of Leinster, the URC final will take place in South Africa. The Bulls host the Sharks in Pretoria in this weekend's other semi-final. Josh van der Flier and Jordan Larmour (file photo). Juan Gasparini / INPHO Juan Gasparini / INPHO / INPHO Meanwhile, Leinster have issued a mixed injury update. Jordan Larmour is available for selection on Saturday, having returned to full training after recovering from an injury. Josh van der Flier will be further assessed this week for a hamstring injury before a final decision will be made on his availability. The Lions-bound flanker was replaced before the half-hour mark of Saturday's quarter-final. Garry Ringrose (calf) and Tommy O'Brien (foot) will also undergo further assessment this week: neither featured last time out. No further updates were available on Caelan Doris, Tadhg Furlong, Robbie Henshaw, Will Connors and Brian Deeny.
BBC News
3 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Leinster beat Scarlets to reach URC semi-finals
United Rugby Championship quarter-finalLeinster (15) 33Tries: Lowe, Gibson-Park, Osborne, Keenan Pens: Prendergast 3 Con: Prendergast 2Scarlets (14) 21Tries Rogers, Murray, Williams Cons: Costelow 3 Leinster set up a United Rugby Championship semi-final against Glasgow with victory over Scarlets at Aviva Stadium. The Irish province, who finished the regular season top of the table, opened up an early lead thanks to James Lowe and Jamison Gibson-Park tries. However, eighth seeds Scarlets hit back through Tom Rogers and Blair Murray before half-time to keep alive hopes of a shock Osborne and Hugo Keenan stretched Leinster's lead in the second half before Johnny Williams' try breathed new life into Scarlets' challenge. However, the home side were allowed to eased their way through the closing stages after Vaea Fifita's yellow card for a high tackle on Keenan took the wind out of the Scarlets' sails. While Scarlets' season comes to an end, they can look forward to a return to the Investec Champions Cup next term. Leinster, meanwhile, will face Glasgow - who they have beaten twice this season - at home next weekend for a place in the final on 14 June as they chase a first trophy since will, however, be concerns over British and Irish Lions flanker Josh van der Flier, who was injured and forced off in the first half. Coming into the game, Leinster had enough ammunition to guard against complacency, having fallen to the Scarlets in the URC last month before their European dreams were shattered by Northampton on this ground. However, despite racing into a 12-0 lead inside the opening 10 minutes, the firm favourites still made tough work of the first and Irish Lions squad members Lowe and Gibson-Park both crossed early to put the hosts in cruise control, but Scarlets were undeterred and hit back to cut the arrears to a point before the break. First, Rogers finished off a fine move in Scarlets' first visit to the Leinster 22 before a chaotic sequence to the opening half ended in Murray bringing the visitors back to within striking distance. In the last play before the interval, Leinster pushed for third try, but after Sam Prendergast spilled a pass in front of the Scarlets posts, Ellis Mee broke clear before Murray beat Jordie Barrett in a footrace to dot down, with the try standing after a television match official check on the full-back's grounding. With momentum on the side of a spirited Scarlets, Leinster rose to the challenge and responded strongly. Five minutes after the restart, Prendergast atoned for his part in Murray's to send Osborne through with a well-judged chip for another try which stood after a TMO check for grounding. Having stretched their lead, Leinster showcased their impressive squad depth by introducing Ireland hooker Dan Sheehan and South Africa's two-time World Cup winner RG Snyman. And after Scarlets prop Alec Hepburn was sin-binned for playing the ball on the ground at a ruck, it was Sheehan who charged down a kick and gave Barrett the opportunity to send Keenan through for Leinster's fourth Scarlets boss Dwayne Peel having replaced fly-half Sam Costelow with Ioan Lloyd, Williams briefly revived Scarlets' dream of toppling the hosts. However, after Fifita was sent to the bin, the game petered out, allowing Leinster to wrap up the win and set up a rematch with Glasgow. Line-ups Leinster: Hugo Keenan; Jimmy O'Brien, Jamie Osborne, Jordie Barrett, James Lowe; Sam Prendergast, Jamison Gibson-Park; Andrew Porter, Ronan Kelleher, Thomas Clarkson, Joe McCarthy, James Ryan, Ryan Baird, Josh van der Flier, Jack Conan (capt).Replacements: Dan Sheehan, Jack Boyle, Rabah Slimani, RG Snyman, Max Deegan, Scott Penny, Luke McGrath, Ciaran Blair Murray; Tom Rogers, Joe Roberts, Johnny Williams, Ellis Mee; Sam Costelow, Archie Hughes; Alec Hepburn, Ryan Elias, Henry Thomas, Alex Craig, Sam Lousi, Vaea Fifita, Josh Macleod (capt), Taine Marnus van der Merwe, Kemsley Mathias, Sam Wainwright, Dan Davis, Jarrod Taylor, Efan Jones, Ioan Lloyd, Macs Hepburn '55, Fifita '72Referee: Hollie Davidson (SRU)Assistant referees: Gianluca Gnecchi (FIR), Federico Vedovelli (FIR)TMO: Andrew McMenemy (SRU)
RTÉ News
10-05-2025
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Jacques Nienaber urges Leinster to get out of 'hell'
Senior coach Jacques Nienaber has demanded Leinster get over the "brutal" Investec Champions Cup loss in order to salvage something from their season. Leo Cullen's men saw yet another European attempt go up in smoke last Saturday after a stunning defeat to Northampton Saints. "We have to get over it, as much as it hurts," the double World Cup-winning coach told RTÉ Sport. "It hurts for me because of the fans and everything they've given. "The beauty of sport in knockout stages is it's brutal, there's going to be a winner and a loser. "One team is going to be happy and the other is going to be in hell, for hours, days, which they need to get out of it. "The beauty of it is we have another chance, which is this weekend against Zebre. "That's getting honest, open answers on why and how, and find solutions. "We can give out to each other, which we did, and we were brutally honest but at the end of the day, it's not throwing insults around. "We must find a solution and then go onto the next challenge." Attention now turns to the BKT URC, and a win against Zebre this evening (5.15pm, live on RTÉ News) would guarantee top seed for the play-offs. Leinster have named nine Lions in the squad, including a return for lock James Ryan, who has recovered from a calf injury. Defence guru Nienaber (above), whose side shipped five tries in that loss, says that having a high-quality panel is no guarantee of success. "Having a good squad and sacrificing and having good players and having a Jordie [Barrett] and an RG [Snyman], that doesn't give us a right to win silverware, we still need to go and win it," he said. "We can have good weeks and good training sessions, we can have good plans, bad plans, make good decisions on the pitch, bad decisions, at the end of the day that 80 minutes is the reason you will win. "Good squads doesn't give you the right to win medals or trophies, we still need to go and perform." Meanwhile, Leinster back row Josh van der Flier, who was included in Andy Farrell's Lions squad on Thursday, said they will go "all guns blazing" to bring home a first trophy since 2021. "The group is incredibly hungry to be successful in the URC," said the 32-year-old former World Rugby player of the year. "There is a bit of pain at the moment but the motivation is definitely there. "We haven't won under the new URC format. It's going to be tough. "It's one of the positives, a lot of competitions, like the Six Nations or another tournament [where] you don't get a chance to play for a year but we have the opportunity to go after some silverware in the next few weeks, so we'll be all guns blazing." The Italians have won just five games all season and are out of the running for the play-offs. Leinster: Jamie Osborne; Jimmy O'Brien, Garry Ringrose, Jordie Barrett, James Lowe; Sam Prendergast, Luke McGrath; Jack Boyle, Rónan Kelleher, Thomas Clarkson; Joe McCarthy, Diarmuid Mangan; Ryan Baird, Josh van der Flier, Jack Conan (capt). Replacements: John McKee, Andrew Porter, Rabah Slimani, James Ryan, James Culhane, Jamison Gibson-Park, Ciarán Frawley, Robbie Henshaw. Zebre Parma: Jacopo Trulla; Scott Gregory, Fetuli Paea, Enrico Lucchin, Simone Gesi; Giovanni Montemauri, Gonzalo Garcia; Luca Franceschetto, Giampietro Ribaldi, Juan Pitinari; Rusiate Nasove, Leonard Krumov; Bautista Stavile, Iacopo Bianchi, Davide Ruggeri (capt).
The 42
07-05-2025
- Sport
- The 42
Josh van der Flier believes Leinster can end their season on a high
DESPITE THEIR latest disappointment at the Aviva Stadium last weekend, Josh van der Flier believes Leinster are more than capable of ending the current season with some silverware to show for their efforts. Following three consecutive final losses, Leinster were hoping the 2024/25 campaign would finally see them reclaim the European Champions Cup. Leo Cullen's side defeated Northampton Saints by three points in the last-four of Europe's top-tier 12 months ago, but in their renewal of acquaintances at the Aviva on Saturday, Phil Dowson's English Premiership outfit produced an outstanding display to overcome the eastern province by the same margin (37-34). Instead of challenging on two fronts in the coming weeks, Leinster's only shot at winning a major trophy in the present term will now be in the United Rugby Championship. While the Blues have suffered three successive semi-final reversals since the competition was rebranded as the URC — they were the last winners of the old Pro14 in March 2021 — Van der Flier is confident he and his provincial colleagues can still end the season on a positive note. Advertisement 'Certainly, that would be great, to win a trophy. In my head, from a sports psychology point of view, you'd probably get in a bit of trouble if you're putting too much pressure on yourself. If we can perform at our best in a quarter-final, semi-final, final in the URC, in my head that's enough to win a trophy,' Van der Flier said at a Leinster media briefing in UCD on Monday. 'You could also play your best, another team plays their best, and it doesn't go our way, but it's definitely the goal.' In a frantic finale to Saturday's game, Van der Flier was seemingly on the verge of joining Northampton winger Tommy Freeman in claiming a hat-trick of tries. Yet after the Wicklow native came under intense pressure from Saints lock Alex Coles within inches of the opposition whitewash, the ball broke loose for Leinster replacement Ross Byrne to dot down in the left corner. While Byrne being off his feet when he grounded the ball was the reason why he wasn't awarded a five-pointer, Leinster did earn a penalty after Coles was yellow carded for what was deemed to be an illegal intervention on van der Flier. Since the conclusion of Saturday's gripping contest, many commentators have suggested this incident could have led to a game-changing penalty try for Leinster as it was felt Van der Flier would more than likely have grounded the ball only for Coles' indiscretion. Although he couldn't understand at the time why his side weren't awarded an automatic seven points, Van der Flier acknowledged he was always likely to feel that way and that he couldn't say for certain if he was definitely going to score his third try of the game. 'I actually didn't ask anyone today [Monday] what came back. I couldn't see why it wouldn't be on the field, but obviously, I'm biased because you're in the heat of the moment and everything. I carried and then got tackled. Then, as I was turning, the ball got pulled out of my hands when I was on the ground. 'I don't know which I was going to do, to be honest. Sometimes in the moment, you do what feels right, but I'm not sure. I definitely was thinking of trying to get to the line obviously, when I was carrying, but it's hard to think back to the moment exactly.' While van der Flier's main focus from a team perspective will be on Leinster's URC round 17 game against Zebre at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday, tomorrow's British & Irish Lions squad announcement is also set to be of interest to the openside flanker. After missing out on trips to New Zealand and South Africa in 2017 and 2021, the Ireland international is expected to be included in Andy Farrell's official selection for the Lions' Tour of Australia later this summer. He admitted it would mean a huge amount if he were to make the cut tomorrow, and is hopeful the performances he has delivered across 23 appearances for province and country this season will be enough for him to book a seat on the plane to the southern hemisphere. 'It would mean a huge amount to me. I remember watching it since I was a kid. It's obviously the pinnacle in terms of individual selections. I know the Irish internationals are also incredibly special, but it's kind of different that way,' van der Flier added. 'At the start of the season, I put a bit of pressure on myself because I'm 32 now. You never know, but I decided earlier in the season that I'm just going to play my best, try my hardest and try to just forget about it. Take it out of my own control. That's where my head is at. I'm at peace with it, whether I'm involved or not.'
