RUGBY NEWS:BOB CASEY will conduct a watching brief from the sidelines at Donnybrook tonight, the London Irish captain in the final week of his rehabilitation from surgery to his left arm.
Playing a pre-season friendly against Leinster pales when weighed against the importance of his presence for the opening game of Irish’s English Premiership campaign next weekend.
The match was arranged long before Leinster and London Irish were pitched into the same pool of this season’s Heineken Cup tournament and the result of tonight’s tussle will be of little import when the two teams square off in earnest at the RDS in October.
Casey smiled: “We have a lot of rugby to get through before we get to that game. We have a lively start (to the Premiership). We have Saracens in Twickenham, Gloucester at home, Leeds away and Wasps at home all before we get over to the RDS. Let’s hope we are in one piece by the time we get (back) here.
“It (the friendly) was planned before the Heineken Cup draw came out. I’m sure they (Leinster) won’t go through all their moves. It’s great for us because I don’t think any of the English clubs will be watching it so we’ll be still under the radar.
“A couple of seasons ago we undercooked our pre-season and as a result started slowly. It’s important to get a big pre-season under your belt. There is no point in playing mickey mouse sides; you are better off playing the best there is.”
A tendency to follow a good season with a poor one is an issue Casey, his coach Toby Booth, and the London Irish squad have addressed following their excellent effort last season in reaching the Premiership final. “This season we are better equipped. We have a bigger squad with more strength in depth. Before we would have a great 22 or 24 but when a couple of lads got injured we really, really struggled. This season in pretty much every position we have good options.
“I would love to lift silverware with London Irish. We have talked about getting there. We have been in big games, Toulouse semi-final (Heineken Cup) and the Leicester (Premiership final) match but there comes a time when you have to stop learning.”
Leinster coach Michael Cheika has announced a blend of youth and experience, highlighted by the inclusion of promising young players Niall Morris at fullback, Fergus McFadden in the centre with Jonathan Sexton partnering Simon Keogh at halfback. Shane Horgan, Isa Nacewa and newcomer Shaun Berne are the more seasoned campaigners behind the scrum.
Leo Cullen leads an experienced pack that includes first-team regulars Bernard Jackman, Stan Wright and Shane Jennings.
Meanwhile Tony McGahan has made 11 changes – three of those are positional – for Munster’s game against Leicester at Welford Road tonight (7.30). The Munster coach has switched Paul Warwick from centre to outhalf, Denis Hurley from fullback to the wing with Billy Holland dropping back from secondrow to blindside flanker. Marcus Horan and Donnacha Ryan make their first appearances of the season while French international prop Julien Brugnaut starts in a Munster jersey for the first time.
Academy player Scott Deasy has impressed in the two pre-season games to date and forms a youthful midfield partnership alongside Tom Gleeson. Ireland A fullback Felix Jones starts a match for the first time since switching from Leinster.
Irish internationals Jerry Flannery and Tomás O’Leary are making good progress from shoulder and ankle surgery – which ruled them out of the Lions tour – and are expected to be available in mid to late September.
Connacht’s new outhalf Miah Nikora has been replaced by Ian Keatley for tonight’s game against Rotherham at the Sportsground (6.30) after suffering a groin strain in training during the week.
LEINSTER(v London Irish): N Morris; S Horgan, F McFadden, S Berne, I Nacewa; J Sexton, S Keogh; R McCormack, B Jackman, S Wright; L Cullen (capt), D Toner; S O'Brien, S Jennings, S Keogh. Replacements: J Fogarty, J Harris-Wright, C Healy, M Ross, M O'Kelly, E Sheriff, K McLaughlin, C Keane, D Moore, P O'Donohue, B Ngawini, B Macken, G Dempsey.
MUNSTER(v Leicester): F Jones; D Hurley, T Gleeson, S Deasy, D Barnes; P Warwick, P Stringer; M Horan, D Fogarty, J Brugnaut; M O'Driscoll (capt), D Ryan; B Holland, N Ronan, D Leamy. Replacements: D Varley, D Ryan, I Nagle, T O'Donnell, T Morland, A Burke, D Riordan, S Archer, J Coughlan, R O'Mahony.
CONNACHT:G Duffy; T O'Halloran, E Griffin, K Matthews, F Carr; I Keatley, F Murphy; B Wilkinson, S Cronin, J Hagan; D Nolan, A Browne; J Muldoon (capt), R Ofisa, M McComish. Replacements: A Flavin, D Murphy, R Loughney, C Higgins, M Swift, B Upton, J O'Connor, C O'Loughlin, L Bibo, B Tuohy, T Nathan.
