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Irish Daily Mirror
a day ago
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Leinster player ratings as the Blues come good in URC final
Dominant throughout and hungry for more to the end, it wasn't just the Leinster superstar cadre that were putting in massive shifts. Thomas Clarkson's place in the Irish rugby hierarchy was cemented as he monstered a supposedly superior Bulls front-row. Ireland may have Tadhg Furlong and Finlay Bealham on the Lions Tour but Clarkson is now firmly in place behind them. Ryan Baird was outstanding at the lineout while a special word for stand-in Luke McGrath who came in as a late replacement for Jamison Gibson Park. Jimmy O'Brien - Regularly in the right place at the right time whether to field a kick or make a tackle. 8 Tommy O'Brien - Not a lot to do out wide as Leinster's plan remained conservative but delivered when needed. 8 Garry Ringrose - Enthusiastic, always looking for work and a major thorn in the Bulls through the 80 mins. 8 Jordie Barrett - Involved early and often, sensational 14th minute 'soccer' chip and chase on for his try. 9 James Lowe - Livewire all day, clearly desperate to get on the scoresheet the more the game progressed. 8 Sam Prendergast - Early kick settled him, two missed either side of half-time, led the side well out-half. 8 Luke McGrath - Heard, heeded Barrett's call ahead of second-try and launched perfect chip kick. Hero for a day. 8 Andrew Porter - Referee Piardi, who will be the Lions second Test ref, never has problems with Porter's technique. 9 Dan Sheehan - Solid scrummaging and a powerhouse with the ball about the field for his 55 minute stint. 9 Thomas Clarkson - First scrum penalty after 4 minutes, murdering the Bulls scrum for his 55 minutes. 10 Joe McCarthy - Played an important part, his power helping to keep the Bulls pack from dominating. 8 James Ryan - Another demonstration of solidity and concentration that has earned him a first Lions call up. 8 Ryan Baird - Powerhouse display, Man of the Match. Took in the first two line-outs, the second setting up first try. 10 Josh van der Flier - Set the tone with first metres-gaining carry, bagged the third try just after first quarter. 9 Jack Conan - The skipper put in a huge shift on the day Leinster managed to get back to trophy-winning days Replacements: Rónan Kelleher 8, Jack Boyle 8, Rabah Slimani 8, RG Snyman 8, Max Deegan 7, Luke Fintan Gunne 8, Ross Byrne 7, Jamie Osborne n/a Vodacom Bulls: Willie le Roux 5; Canon Moodie 6, David Kriel 6, Harold Vorster 3, Sebastian de Klerk 6; Johan Goosen 5, Embrose Papier 6; Jan-hendrik Wessels 4, Johan Grobbelaar 5, Wilco Louw 5, Cobus Wiese 6, JF van Heerden 6, Marco van Staden 6, Ruan Nortje (capt) 6, Marcell Coetzee 5 Replacements: Akker van der Merwe 4, Alulutho Tshakweni 5, Mornay Smith 5, Jannes Kirsten 5, Nizaam Carr 5, Zak Burger n/a, Keagan Johannes 5, Devon Williams 5
Irish Daily Mirror
26-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Leinster down three front-line Ireland nationals for Scarlets quarter-final
Tadhg Furlong and Robbie Henshaw have joined Caelan Doris on the Leinster's injured list and will miss the URC quarter-final against Scarlets at the Aviva on Saturday. Thomas Clarkson, Jordie Barrett and Jack Conan are down to start no3, no12 and no8 that tight-head Furlong is on the verge of missing the Lions tour are, however, way wide of the mark insists Leinster Forwards Coach Robin McBryde."Tadhg's okay, his calf just tightened up when he was on the bench as a replacement during the Glasgow game."I thought Thomas Clarkson was playing exceptionally well in that game so there was no need to risk Tadhg by sending him on. He's at a stage where we are just monitoring him to see how that develops." Henshaw (knee) was called ashore early against Glasgow the weekend before last and has been ruled out for the remainder of the Leinster's season. "You want to be able to pick from as many fit players because everyone is picking up knocks as you move towards this end of the season so the more people you can choose from the better. "Someone like Robbie is a quality player, high calibre, a big game player, so to lose someone like Robbie is not ideal. But it gives someone else an opportunity to step up. It is not just the playing but the training against quality opposition as well." Leinster will, nonetheless, have eight players on Central Contract available as they look to field as strong a team as possible, not least as they lost 35-22 last time out to Scarlets, a round 16 URC game, in Stradey McBryde: "There was a lot in that game but I am not going to take it away from the Scarlets. They had a good game plan and stuck to it. They proved good value for it."They are currently four out of five wins off the back of a successful South African trip."Their consistency in selection, they hardly make any changes, if any at all, to the starting 15, the starting pack in particular. "So they're cohesive, a tough nut to crack, they're comfortable with their game, they are well coached, good players, a tough nut the way they go about things."Scarlets have worked hard through the season to gain the last of the quarter-final slots."That analogy with the stonecutter is that it is not the 100th blow, it is the 99th that have gone previously is true for them."It is all the hard work that you put into a season. Sometimes things just happen off the back of hard work."In fairness to them they're a cohesive bunch, they're obviously tight as a unit, tight as a team. It's a test that we failed a couple of weeks ago, first against the Scarlets and against Northampton. So, it will be a good test for us on Saturday."Their coach Dwayne Peel, formerly of Ulster, has been impressive since taking the Scarlets Head Coach role in 2021."He hasn't had an easy job at the Scarlets. In fairness to Dwayne he was great as a player, very experienced as well now as a coach."You can see it in the way that the Scarlets go about playing. In fairness to Dwyane we always have a chat."It is great from a Welsh perspective to see a Welsh team making it through to the quarter-final. It's been a tough season for everybody in Wales. From their perspective it's great." The job now is to remodel Leinster and concentrate on winning this weekend - making sure the season does not come to an abrupt end. "It's got to be something of a reset because the last game against Glasgow, the rules were slightly different where you got points for scoring - five points or whatever or finishing within a certain amount but they're gone now."This is knockout rugby, the stakes are a little bit higher and if we're good enough to win this week we'll get an opportunity to play next week and if we're good enough the following week we'll get to play again."But it's one game at a time and for all those reasons I said earlier about the Scarlets being cohesive etc they'll be a tough nut and we're going to have to earn the right to be involved in the competition next week."It will be tough and if we want to go any further than we have been in the last four years then we need to win on Saturday in order to give us an opportunity but we need to get it right on Saturday first." Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email.
