Ringrose set for Leinster centre stage again
Guinness Pro12
Leinster v Connacht
Daire Walsh
Following a five-day turnaround from their morale-boosting Guinness Pro12 victory over Munster at Thomond Park, head coach Leo Cullen has made wholesale changes to his starting line-up for Leinster’s latest interprovincial clash with Connacht at the RDS this evening (5pm kick-off).
The Wicklow native is able to call upon the services of defensive trio Luke McGrath, Jonathan Sexton, and Ben Te’o – who have recovered from their respective knee, quad, and concussion injuries picked up in recent games – while in the absence of Isa Nacewa and Jamie Heaslip, Rhys Ruddock will captain the side from the blindside flanker position.
Along with Fergus McFadden, Jack McGrath and Devin Toner, Garry Ringrose is one of four players to retain his place from the Munster game.
The highly-rated 20-year-old produced an eye-catching performance at outside centre in the province’s 24-7 success in Limerick, and although he revealed that they have had to carefully manage the involvement of the UCD student in recent weeks, Cullen is nevertheless pleased with the impact Ringrose has made so far this season.
“We’ve tried to manage Gary in the lead-in to Christmas because he was doing exams, so he’s come back in. These are a couple of games that we sort of ear-marked for him, and yeah, we’ll see how he goes,” Cullen said at the RDS yesterday.
“I thought he did some really, really good things against Munster. You’ve got the benefit of youth, so hopefully he recovers really well over the five days. We tried to manage him during the week like we have the four guys that are doubling up again with that short turnaround.”
With his opposite number Bundee Aki enjoying an excellent campaign for Connacht, tomorrow’s game could be prove to be a daunting task for a Ringrose. However, even though there may be some question marks about the physicality development of the former Blackrock College star, Ringrose’s team-mate, Rhys Ruddock, believes that he is ready for this latest challenge.
“It’s different for everyone, but it seems like Garry is a long way to doing it already. He’s only really been playing for a couple of months, and he already seems every bit capable in terms of his mental application, and his physicality,” Ruddock said.
“I know, like Leo said, some people might think that he looks quite slight, but he’s a tall kind of physical guy. I don’t see that being a problem for him either.”
For Leinster’s first game of the new year, Ringrose will be in midfield by Te’o, who has agreed a deal with Worcester Warriors for the start of the 2016/17 season. Elsewhere, McFadden will link up with the Kearney brothers, Rob and Dave, in an experienced back-three, while the half-back pairing of Sexton and Luke McGrath completes the Blues’ defensive set-up.
Fresh from his try-scoring exploits away to Munster, Jack McGrath features alongside international compatriots Richardt Strauss and Marty Moore in the front-row. Former Connacht player Mike McCarthy is named in the second-row with Devin Toner, ahead of an all-new back-row of Ruddock, Josh van der Flier, and Jordi Murphy.
As they aim to leapfrog second-placed Connacht (who suffered an agonising 10-3 defeat to Ulster on St Stephen’s Day), Leinster also have a good mixture of youth and experience amongst their replacements.
James Tracy, Peter Dooley, and Ross Molony have shown promising during their fleeting apprearances this term, but the presence of Sean O’Brien, Eoin Reddan, Bordeaux-bound Ian Madigan, and Zane Kirchner on the bench could prove decisive for Leinster.
LEINSTER: R Kearney; F McFadden, G Ringrose, B Te’o, D Kearney; J Sexton, L McGrath; J McGrath, R Strauss, M Moore; D Toner, M McCarthy; R Ruddock, J van der Flier, J Murphy.
Replacements: J Tracy, P Dooley, M Bent, R Molony, S O’Brien, E Reddan, I Madigan, Z Kirchner.
CONNACHT: T O’Halloran; N Adeolokun, B Aki, C Ronaldson, M Healy; J Carty, K Marmion; F Bealham, T McCartney, N White; A Muldowney, A Browne; J Muldoon, J Heenan, E Masterson.
Replacements: D Heffernan, R Loughney, R Ah You, U Dillane, S O’Brien, I Porter, AJ MacGinty, R Parata.