‘Huge lift’ for Leinster with Healy’s arrival in South Africa
As they look to bounce back from their first defeat of the season, Will Connors has said the arrival of Cian Healy in South Africa earlier this week served as a ‘huge lift’ for the Leinster squad.
While the vast majority of the province’s Irish contingent from the Six Nations are back in their UCD base focusing on an upcoming Champions Cup Round of 16 bout against Harlequins in Croke Park on April 5. Healy is currently in the southern hemisphere to aid their preparations for a United Rugby Championship encounter with the Sharks in Durban tomorrow.
The record Leinster and Ireland caps holder has played for both sides in South Africa within the past 12 months and the Clontarf native (who is set to retire from professional rugby at the end of the current campaign) is expected to feature at some point for a Blues side that are seeking an immediate response to their last-gasp reversal against the Bulls in Pretoria last weekend.
“I was only sitting there today watching him lace up his boots and I was just thinking ‘how many times has he done that?’ It is an incredible testament to him as a player and I’m delighted that the IRFU got to send him off with making the announcement and everything like that,” Connors remarked in a media call on Monday.
“I just hope now with Leinster that we can finish off strong for him. If we could bring home two trophies, I think that would be hugely deserving for a player of the kind of standard that he is.
“Not even just his style of play and what he has done on the pitch, but the style of man he is. He has always been a bubbly character, fits into any group. To bring him over here now for this week is a huge lift for us.”
Having featured in some big games for Leinster towards the business end of last season – he received the nod to start over Josh van der Flier for last May’s Champions Cup final defeat to Toulouse in London – Connors is looking to use Leinster’s current mini tour of South Africa as an opportunity to keep himself in the frame for the knockout phases of the URC and Europe’s top-tier.
His player of the match display in a 21-20 loss to the Bulls last Saturday will certainly have boosted his prospects for future selection, but the openside flanker recognises he needs to perform on a consistent basis if he is to become a permanent fixture in the Leinster back-row over the next few weeks.
“I was happy with my game and I think it’s just something I want to grow on again this week. If I get another chance this weekend to just keep building on that kind of performance. Doing a one-off game well is not as effective as being able to do it consistently on the bounce. That is what I’m going to try and follow up with,” Connors added.