DRAGONS V LEINSTER, SUNDAY, 4.15PM
GORDON KEEN TO SHOW JOE
LEINSTER’S veteran centre Gordon D’Arcy is desperate to show Joe Schmidt what he can do.
Despite starting in the victories over Georgia and Australia last November, the 35-year-old centre was overlooked during Ireland’s Six Nations Championship success.
And while he has made 11 starts for Leinster this term, in recent games against Glasgow Warriors and Bath he was restricted to brief substitute appearances.
Ben Te’o and Ian Madigan were Matt O’Connor’s preferred choices at the Aviva Stadium last Saturday, but this weekend’s away outing with Newport Gwent Dragons does offer the possibility of some game time.
With the World Cup on the horizon, D’Arcy knows that he needs to be playing in Leinster’s big games in the coming weeks.
He said: “You’ve just got to be playing. When you get on the pitch – even if it’s off the bench, if that’s my role, that’s my role – I will do whatever is best for Leinster to try and win silverware.
“If that has to be what it is for now and it leads into something great in the autumn, that’s fantastic.
“All I can worry about is the next game. It is on Sunday. That’s all I can control. If I play my best game there, and that gets me into the team, great. If I play my best game and it doesn’t get me into the team, I’ve done all I can.
In the absence of their front-line Six Nations stars, Leinster recorded a solitary win from five games, but coach Richie Murphy feels this was due to inexperience rather than a lack of quality.
“We definitely haven’t performed in the league to the level that we need to,” said Murphy.
“The young guys coming in have to play in order to get experience.
“You’ve got to review how they did on that day, and put them back out again in order to see can you get an improvement.
“We’re seeing improvements in our team. It’s a case that we’ve just got to keep driving forward.”