RUGBY
After World Cup disappointment attention turns to the provinces
By Daire Walsh
WITH the Heineken Champions Cup opening weekend moving into view, Ireland’s World Cup squad are set to be reintegrated back into their provinces over the next couple of weeks.
2018/19 finalists Leinster begin their Pool One campaign with a home encounter against Benetton on November 16, while Munster face the Ospreys in a Pool Four affair at Swansea on the same day. Connacht cap their return to the top-tier European competition by welcoming Montpellier to the Galway Sportsgrounds on Sunday, November 17.
Ulster were desperately unfortunate in losing out to Leinster in last season’s quarter-final and will therefore be looking to hit the ground running in Pool Three on November 16 – Bath providing the opposition at the Recreation Ground.
If Leinster are to have the measure of Benetton, they will be seeking a better performance than the one they produced against the PRO14’s other Italian side last Saturday. At the end of a dour affair with Zebre in Parma, the blues squeezed through on a barely believable scoreline of 3-0.
Astonishingly, Ross Byrne’s 20th-minute penalty was enough to give Leo Cullen’s charges the spoils. Indeed, after the Toyota Cheetahs suffered a reversal at the hands of Connacht, Leinster now find themselves three points clear at the summit of the Conference A table.
They will welcome Dragons to the RDS this coming Friday (November 1) and also travel to the aforementioned Connacht in advance of their European dates with Benetton and Lyon. For their latest trip to Michael Bradley’s Zebre, Cullen included three Kildare natives in his match day squad.
Kill duo Adam Byrne and James Tracy were named at right-wing and hooker respectively, whilst Jimmy O’Brien (Eadestown) appeared as a second period replacement. It proved to be a game that was tailored towards a player of Tracy’s capabilities, though Byrne made a vital defensive interception in the closing stages of the opening half.
Clear-cut try scoring opportunities were conspicuous by their absence and when O’Brien was introduced for Joe Tomane on 64 minutes, it was the Italians who were dictating the flow of the game.
However, disciplined defending ensured that Zebre were kept at bay and Leinster managed to come away with their fourth consecutive victory in the PRO14. At Cork’s Musgrave Park on the previous night, Athy’s Jeremy Loughman featured off the bench as Munster secured a bonus-point triumph at the expense of Ospreys.
Despite being a dress rehearsal of sorts for their Champions Cup clashes, a number of front-line international stars were missing from both line-ups. Thanks to tries by James Cronin, Rhys Marshall, Mike Haley and Arno Botha, Munster accrued the maximum points on offer.
Loughman has been used predominantly as a loosehead prop in his time down south, but he was introduced at tighthead for the closing 12 minutes of this encounter.
He also enjoyed a cameo in this position for the recent success over the Southern Kings in Port Elizabeth and the former Ardscoil na Trionoide student will hope this versatility can further enhance his first-team prospects.