RUGBY
Tracy plays his part as Leinster continue to rack up the wins
By Daire Walsh
KILL native James Tracy enjoyed a second consecutive home European start at the RDS last Sunday as Leinster maintained their remarkable unbeaten run in 2019/20.
Courtesy of an impressive six-try display against Lyon in front of a crowd of 18,138, Leinster recorded their 15th win in succession – or 17th if you date back to the closing weeks of last season. A rejuvenated Dave Kearney bagged a brace of tries in the opening period, while Josh van der Flier, Max Deegan, Sean Cronin and Andrew Porter also crossed the whitewash over the course of the action.
Although Tracy has been a virtual ever-present in Leinster match day squads, he has encountered fresh competition for the number two jersey in Leo Cullen’s side. The emergence of Ronan Kelleher ensured the former Newbridge College student had to make do with a place on the bench during the initial weeks of the term – he has appeared as a replacement on no fewer than eight occasions.
The return of Sean Cronin from the World Cup would also have been playing on his mind, but the Limerick man was subsequently sidelined by a neck injury sustained in the build-up to the quarter-final hammering at the expense of New Zealand. Kelleher has since had his own spell on the treatment table and while Cronin has regained fitness, he has made a gradual return to competitive fare.
As a result, Tracy has been presented with an opportunity to stake his claim for future selection. In addition to being the hooker of choice for the comprehensive triumph over Northampton Saints at the Aviva Stadium in mid-December, the 28-year-old was handed a starting berth in the Christmas victory over Munster at Thomond Park.
He featured for 54 minutes in Ballsbridge at the weekend, prior to making way for the aforementioned Cronin. Alongside his tally of nine metres from nine carries, Tracy also executed six tackles in his time on the field.
It was another productive performance overall for the six-times capped international, but Cronin’s try-scoring cameo served to reinforce the battle he has for a place at the front of the Leinster scrum. The blues will bring their Champions Cup pool campaign to a close when they travel to Italy on Saturday for a showdown with Benetton at Stadio Comunale di Monigo.
Given their status as pool winners has already been secured, there may well be scope for Cullen to make wholesale changes to his starting line-up.
Meanwhile, Athy’s Jeremy Loughman was a replacement for Munster in their 39-22 defeat to Racing 92 in Paris. In the absence of injured duo Joey Carbery (Athy) and Tadhg Beirne (Eadestown), Loughman was the sole Kildare representative for Johann van Graan’s charges.
When he entered the fray for Dave Kilcoyne on 65 minutes, the reds held a slender 22-20 cushion. However, following unanswered tries courtesy of Teddy Thomas, Virimi Vakatawa and Juan Imhoff, the hosts emerged with the spoils to leave Munster on the brink of European elimination.