LEINSTER HEAD COACH Leo Cullen is hopeful Ivan Soroka can serve as an inspiration for burgeoning club players after the 30-year-old loosehead prop made his debut for the province in their 42-24 victory over Cardiff in the United Rugby Championship on Saturday.

Either side of making a single senior appearance for Connacht in the 2016-17 edition of the Guinness Pro12, Soroka has been a stalwart with north Dublin outfit Clontarf in the All-Ireland League. While his day job is as a financial adviser with AIB Bank, the Ukrainian-born front-row had been training with Leinster recently due to the absence of a host of looseheads through a combination of international call-ups and injuries.

His younger brother Alex is a current member of the Leinster squad and started at blindside flanker in last weekend’s bonus point triumph at the Aviva Stadium. He was still on the pitch when Ivan and his fellow debutant Oliver Coffey were introduced off the bench on 70 minutes in Irish Rugby HQ – making it a very special day for the Soroka family.

“There’s a lot of excitement, particularly for a couple of guys that are potentially, leading into the game, going to make their debuts. They have made their debuts now. It’s fantastic excitement in the dressing rooms there, seeing Ollie and his family, and with Ivan. Which is just a brilliant story, isn’t it? Inspiration we hope for many more club players out there,” Cullen remarked in the aftermath of Saturday’s game.

“It’s so apt that lads are wearing club socks today. Not only do we have the club socks out there, but you’ve got a club player. There’s just such a brilliant story. If you want to have a main story from today, that’s probably it.”

As Cullen alluded to, the Leinster players wore the socks of their club and/or schools in the Aviva as part of the United Rugby Championship’s second consecutive ‘Origin Round’ – which aims to celebrate the communities and people who helped to launch the careers of hundreds of rugby players and coaches.

Whereas some of his team-mates chose one over the other, player of the match Charlie Tector opted to wear one sock from his boyhood club Enniscorthy RFC and another from his alma mater of Kilkenny College. Although his development continued when he joined the Leinster Academy in the summer of 2022 (a number of months after winning a Six Nations Grand Slam with the Ireland U20s), Tector stressed that those early experiences at club and schools level have helped to shape him into the player he is today.

“I played in Enniscorthy till I went to first year in Kilkenny. I could name countless lads. Dougie Kidd played a huge part in my development in Enniscorthy. Then I went to Kilkenny. I had a great time there with Steve Ashmore, Jeff Carter, Wesley Carter especially and Pieter Swanepoel. I’m sure I’ve missed someone there now, but it played a huge part in my development as a player,” Tector explained.

Despite making eight appearances across the past two seasons, it wasn’t until the current campaign that Tector started a game at senior level for Leinster. This was partly due to the fact he was primarily seen as an option at out-half, but following consultation with a former professional player, he decided to try his hand at the inside centre position.

Ex-Munster, Leinster and Connacht back James Downey currently works as a Player Manager with Wasserman Rugby – a company that specialises in the management of world class rugby union and rugby league talent. He spoke to Tector about the prospect of becoming a viable option in the number 12 jersey, given there were several players ahead of him in the out-half pecking order.

Considering Cullen described him as ‘a revelation’ for how he has performed this season, the Wexford native has reason to be pleased with his decision to make a move into the Leinster midfield. Last Saturday’s game saw Tector registering his third try in five starts as an inside centre, while a sole appearance as a 13 against Connacht in the URC last December also saw him crossing the whitewash.

“He [Downey] has been a huge help. I met up with him coming to the end of my second year in the Academy. At the time there were so many 10s in Leinster and I hadn’t really thought about the 12 position,” Tector added.

“We sat down and we said ‘Right, you cover 10 and you cover 12. You’re going into your third year in the Academy now, just give it a good go’. That’s what we did and thankfully it paid off.”

Daire Walsh