Rugby Column Number 173: The Kildare Nationalist – January 21 2020

RUGBY

Tracy among the tries as Leinster march on

By Daire Walsh

KILL’s James Tracy bagged his first try in over 12 months at Stadio Monigo in Treviso on Saturday afternoon as Leinster made it six wins from six in Pool One of the Heineken Champions Cup.

Despite already having secured a knockout spot at the end of round four, Leo Cullen’s men were hell-bent on claiming top seed heading into April’s quarter-finals. This was achieved courtesy of their 18-0 victory in Italy and they will now play host to defending champions Saracens at the Aviva Stadium.

Should they overcome the challenge of Mark McCall’s outfit, the blues will also have a home country semi-final to look forward to – which would also take place in the Lansdowne Road venue. Given it was confirmed at the weekend that Saracens will be relegated to next season’s English Championship as a result of breaching the Premiership Rugby salary cap, it is perhaps the perfect time for Leinster to be facing the London club.

Nevertheless, they can’t underestimate the power of a siege mentality and will expect their cross-channel counterparts to arrive in Dublin with all guns blazing. Following consecutive starts in recent European encounters with Northampton Saints and Lyon – either side of a strong festive showing against Munster – Tracy returned to the bench for Leinster’s latest trip to Treviso.

Having enjoyed his own try-scoring cameo at home to Lyon in the previous round, Sean Cronin was making his third provincial start of the term. Though he remains sidelined through injury, Ronan Kelleher was the Leinster hooker to receive the nod in Andy Farrell’s first Six Nations squad.

This means there is an onus on Cronin and Tracy to show Cullen they can still step up to the mark in the blues’ front-row – as well as potentially keeping themselves on Farrell’s radar. To their credit, they have managed to do just that during the current window.

In the 52 minutes he spent on the pitch, Cronin made 13 metres off five carries and also executed six tackles in a typically-industrious performance. While his time on the pitch was short, Tracy recorded the same number of carries and tackles as his main rival for the number two shirt.

Leinster had 15 wins on the bounce heading into the contest, but encountered a stern resistance from Benetton throughout. A Ross Byrne penalty gave them a slender 3-0 cushion at the break, before Caelan Doris and Tracy touched down to ensure their side got the job done in the end.

Meanwhile, Athy man Jeremy Loughman featured off the bench in Munster’s bonus point triumph over Ospreys at Thomond Park on Sunday. This game was unfortunately of little consequence for the reds, who already knew a place in the knockout stages was beyond them.

Still, in light of their recent on-field issues, it was important for Johann van Graan’s charges to return to winning ways. Loughman replaced Dave Kilcoyne at loosehead prop for the final 14 minutes of the action as Munster cruised to a 33-6 success.

Meanwhile, former Newbridge College student Cian Pendergast has been included in the Irish squad for the upcoming Under 20 Six Nations.

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