RUGBY MAGNERS LEAGUE:GIRVAN DEMPSEY returns to the Leinster squad as one of five players Michael Cheika has added to the 22 who were on duty for the win over the Dragons for Friday's visit to an Ospreys side still smarting from their surprise home defeat to Ulster.
That result will have the Welsh side ultra determined to make a statement in front of the fans who booed them off the pitch last Saturday in Swansea. Malcolm O’Kelly and the fit-again Bernard Jackman also return to the Leinster squad (which will be trimmed tomorrow), as do Ronnie McCormack and Paul O’Donohoe.
Whether Dempsey will have fully recovered from the 20-plus stitches he needed for that nasty facial gash picked up at the Scarlets come Friday remains to be seen, but it is a measure of Leinster’s quality that, despite missing their four Lions’ Test starters, they can still boast nine internationals.
The four Lions will return next week, and so too may the unfortunate CJ van der Linde, rapidly becoming the Lord Lucan of Irish rugby, but now reputedly well on the mend after an operation on his troublesome toe.
Nathan Hines, given his replacements’ role last week, may well make his first start. Eoin Reddan and Gordon D’Arcy, also sprung from the bench, were among Leinster’s 14-man contingent with Ireland, all of whom will be assessed today.
By contrast, the misfiring Welsh galacticos will have had only one focus all week, and this is sure to be a step up in intensity for the European champions.
“The Ospreys are an outstanding side with speed, power and skill across their pack and backline,” admits Leinster’s defensive coach Kurt McQuilkin. “In (Jerry) Collins, (Filo) Tiatia and Ryan Jones they have a really physical backrow presence who will come right up at you in midfield.
“Then take someone like Mike Phillips, who is a key man for them. He likes to probe around the fringes and is another big presence, and with players of the calibre of Jonny Vaughton, Tommy Bowe and Shane Williams out wide they have serious pace which we will need to contend with.
“Even though they will have been disappointed with their defeat to Ulster last time out, they remain serious contenders for the title and we know that we will need to raise our performance levels to get a result. It just shows how wide open the competition is this year.
“Friday’s game presents a real challenge to us,” added McQuilkin. “It was good to get our first win of the campaign last weekend, but even in victory there were areas that we need to improve. Defensively we weren’t happy with our first-up tackling or our line speed. Our resets worked well, but we have work to do this week.”
Ulster head coach Brian McLaughlin has recalled his international quartet of Stephen Ferris, Tom Court, Andrew Trimble and Paddy Wallace along with Neil McComb to a 24-man squad ahead of their first home league match of the season, against early pace-setters Edinburgh on Friday. Their injured new signing Dan Tuohy, who scored one of their three tries in the win over the Ospreys, makes way along with the unused replacements Niall O’Connor and Jonny Shiels.
Until the remainder of Munster’s Lions contingent return next week, Tony McGahan has the least room for manoeuvre, and he has named the same extended squad as last week, for the trek to the Scarlets on Saturday.
This means Danny Barnes, Julien Brugnaut and James Coughlan are added to the 22 on duty from the win over Cardiff and it would be no surprise to see a largely unchanged side come kick-off.
The final batch of tickets for Leinster’s Heineken Cup opener against London Irish in the RDS on Friday, October 9th is on sale from leinsterrugby.ie. This match is expected to be a sell-out.
LEINSTER(squad v Ospreys): Backs: S Berne, G D'Arcy, G Dempsey, S Horgan, C Keane, D Kearney, S Keogh, F McFadden, I Nacewa, P O'Donohoe, E Reddan, J Sexton. Forwards: L Cullen, J Fogarty, J Harris-Wright, C Healy, N Hines, B Jackman, S Jennings, S Keogh, R McCormack, K McLaughlin, S O'Brien, M O'Kelly, M Ross, D Toner, S Wright.
ULSTER(squad v Edinburgh): Backs: T Nagusa, D Cave, S Danielli, I Whitten, I Boss, I Humphreys, A Trimble, P Wallace, C Willis, C Schifcofske. Forwards: N Brady, T Anderson, B Botha, B Young, E O'Donoghue, A Kyriacou, S Ferris, N McComb, R Diack, C Henry, W Faloon, T Horua, T Court, D Fitzpatrick.
MUNSTER(sqaud v Scarlets): Backs: D Barnes, F Jones, S Deasy, D Hurley, D Howlett, B Murphy, T Gleeson, L Mafi, J Manning, T Morland, P Stringer. Forwards: M Horan, T Buckley, J Brugnaut, J Hayes, D Fogarty, D Varley, M O'Driscoll, D Ryan, A Quinlan, B Holland, T O'Donnell, N Ronan, D Leamy, J Coughlan.
