CULLEN COY ON ROBBIE RUMOURS
Leinster coach points to his young guns as alternatives to star centre
By DAIRE WALSH
LEINSTER head coach Leo Cullen yesterday refused to confirm if Robbie Henshaw would be joining his ranks for the 2016/17 campaign.
The Athlone centre revealed on Sunday he would be leaving Connacht at the end of this season, but with a number of their players already in contract negotiations, Cullen feels it best not to comment on the make-up of his squad beyond the present term.
He said: “Similar to the other guys that have moved out of the environment, we are not commenting at the moment. We’ll try and get something released at some stage later this week about some of the guys that have re-signed their contracts.
“There’s constant negotiations going on with a whole host of players at the moment. We’re in a position where we don’t comment on them, because the negotiations are taking place behind closed doors. They are not out in the public domain.”
However, Cullen acknowleged Henshaw has been one of the leading lights for Ireland in recent seasons, and believes any team would benefit from his presence.
Yet, in spite of the impending departure of Ben Te’o, did point to the progress of some of the province’s young players as potential alternatives to Henshaw.
Cullen said: “He’s one of the bright lights at the moment with Ireland over the last couple of years. Yeah whatever team gets him will be better off you would think. We have some good young players coming through as well.
“We’ve been working away behind the scenes trying to renew guys deals as well. There is always plenty of strands to these deals and building a squad. We are not trying to rely on any one individual. We are trying to build that depth. We’ve used 54 players already this year. Hopefully that will stand us in good stead going forward,” he added.
Meanwhile, following the heavy collisions suffered by his fellow lock Mike McCarthy in Ireland’s defeat to France, Leinster’s Hayden Triggs expressed his concerns about the level of concussions in the game – and identified the difference in approach between the Southern Hemisphere and the Northern Hemisphere.
Triggs said: “I’ve sent him [McCarthy] a message today because I was pretty scared for him. It looked horrific to see him out on a stretcher, but talking to the lads who are back from Irish camp, he seems normal.
“People up here [Northern Hemisphere] focus more on the collision. We try to avoid contact down there. I know that sounds silly, but whenever you talk about a ball carrier going in to contact you try to pick a weak shoulder or get a step around the outside shoulder.
“I don’t want to say the coaches tell us to look for a collision. Don’t get me wrong, head knocks are happening down there. It is happening everywhere. Everyone is getting too big.”