RUGBY NEWS:IAN McKINLEY will continue his remarkable rehabilitation from a horrific, career-threatening facial injury he sustained last season when he makes his first start for Leinster since December in the rarified surrounds of Welford Road against Leicester tomorrow night.
The 20-year-old Irish and Leinster under-20 outhalf sustained the freak injury while playing for UCD in the AIB League last February. With his vision impaired, there was speculation he might not play again. But the return of the talented left-footer, who came up through the Leinster A schools ranks with St Columba’s College, is testimony to his resilience and mental strength.
Having appeared off the bench in last Friday’s defeat to Wasps, and with Shaun Berne ruled out this week due to an Achilles’ strain, McKinley starts in a new half-back partnership alongside the Irish and ex-Ulster scrumhalf Isaac Boss.
Seán O’Brien again captains a young side in which Devin Toner, Fergus McFadden and Luke Fitzgerald continue their rehabilitation from last season’s array of injuries. The bulked up Fitzgerald, looking razor-sharp, is again picked in his favoured position of fullback, while McFadden, a replacement against Wasps, partners Eoin O’Malley in midfield.
Nathan Hines also makes his seasonal reappearance in the secondrow, while in the absence of the injured Stanley Wright and Mike Ross, Leinster effectively give a trial to the Ulster A and Ballymena tighthead Simon Shawe. Dominic Ryan and Stephen Keogh pack down alongside O’Brien in a new backrow.
Another ex-Ulster player, lock Ed O’Donoghue, is in line to make his first Leinster appearance from a bench that also includes Argentinian lock Mariano Galarza.
Johne Murphy will make his debut for Munster at some stage of their clash with Gloucester in Musgrave Park tomorrow night (7pm) after being named in a 27-man squad. Also in line for their reappearances are Doug Howlett, Peter Stringer, Mick O’Driscoll, Alan Quinlan, Niall Ronan, Tony Buckley and Damien Varley.
Rory Best and Stephen Ferris have been named in Ulster’s starting line-up against Leeds Carnegie this evening, and will play the first 40 minutes as Brian McLaughlin’s side seek a first win following 26-14 and 24-0 defeats to Bath and Harlequins.
Among six changes from the latter game, Adam D’Arcy, a rugby league player from Manly in Australia who is on trial with Ulster, is named at fullback in place of David McIlwaine, while Tommy Seymour replaces Nevin Spence on the wing.
Centre Darren Cave and Ian Whitten start their third consecutive game, while halfbacks Niall O’Connor and Ian Porter and under-20 winger Craig Gilroy retain their places from the Harlequins match.
In addition to Best and Ferris, Tim Barker comes into the secondrow for Ryan Caldwell, while TJ Anderson makes room for Willie Faloon at openside.
“It’s been a mixed pre-season period to date, frustrating because we’ve not had all our players available,” admitted McLaughlin, “but that means we’ve had the opportunity to play some of the younger guys and we’ve been really impressed by how they’ve handled themselves.”
ULSTER(v Leeds): A D'Arcy; C Gilroy, D Cave, I Whitten, T Seymour; N O'Connor, I Porter; B Young, R Best (capt), D Fitzpatrick, J Muller, T Barker, S Ferris, W Faloon, P Wannenburg. Replacements: N Brady, P Karrayannis, A Macklin, R Caldwell, TJ Anderson, R Diack, M Heaney, I Humphreys, J Shiels, D McIlwaine.
LEINSTER(v Leicester): L Fitzgerald; D Kearney, E O'Malley, F McFadden, N Morris; I McKinley, I Boss; H van der Merwe, R Strauss, S Shawe, N Hines, D Toner, D Ryan, S O'Brien (capt), S Keogh. Replacements: J Harris-Wright, J McGrath, S Maguire, E O'Donoghue, P Ryan, P O'Donohoe, I Nacewa, M Keating, M Galarza, E Sheriff, I Madigan, E Sheridan.
MUNSTER(squad v Gloucester): I Dineen, S Zebo, S Deasy, D Barnes, F Jones, D Howlett, J Murphy, S Tuitupou, I Dowling, P Warwick, P Stringer, D Williams, B Holland, R O'Mahony, N Ronan, M O'Driscoll, S Archer, Dave Ryan, D Fogarty, D Leamy, T O'Donnell, A Quinlan, Donncha Ryan, I Nagle, T Buckley, D Varley, W du Preez.
