![Jamkison Gibson-Park: 'These fixtures for them, coming to Dublin, getting a shot at us, they [Connacht] always tend to lift their game a bit.' Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho](https://www.irishtimes.com/resizer/v2/M6ZKZYKH4RGHFCKQB2Y6AZNNQI.jpg?auth=8f67fe53b23cc20f3e030c157b950dd65b648e2f08e9b1bf63f9b89e9f52a624&smart=true&width=1024&height=683)
Jamison Gibson-Park is anticipating threats from right across the pitch when Leinster take on Connacht in the United Rugby Championship at the RDS on New Year’s Day (kick-off 7.35pm).
Having already achieved doubles over Munster and Ulster, Leo Cullen’s men will be aiming to make it a clean sweep of interprovincial wins in the regular part of this season’s URC on Sunday.
When the two sides met on a dreary night in Galway back in October, an early converted try from Gibson-Park’s scrumhalf rival Cormac Foley propelled Leinster towards a hard-earned 10-0 triumph.
Currently occupying 11th spot in the table, Connacht’s sole victory on the road to date was against Ospreys in Swansea a little over a fortnight on from that reversal to Leinster. Yet the westerners have had some joy in this fixture during the recent past – most notably in a Pro14 clash at the beginning of 2021 – and this is keeping Gibson-Park and his colleagues on alert.
“I think across the park there are some serious threats. Guys like Mack Hansen, Jack Carty in the backs alone and the two 9s [Kieran Marmion and Caolin Blade] are very sharp. Across the backs anyway, they’ve got some unbelievable talent,” Gibson-Park explained.
“They’ve had some success against us in the past so they’ll be full of confidence. These fixtures for them, coming to Dublin, getting a shot at us, they always tend to lift their game a bit. We’re expecting the same again for sure.”
While he featured prominently for Ireland in their unbeaten march through the Autumn Nations Series, Gibson-Park’s Leinster appearances have been fleeting thus far in the current campaign. A bout of illness and a hamstring injury kept him out of action before the international break and it wasn’t until the showdown with Ulster in the RDS at the start of this month that he made his seasonal provincial bow.
He also featured against Racing 92 and Gloucester in the Heineken Champions Cup, before being afforded a rest for Leinster’s one-point success over arch rivals Munster at Thomond Park on St Stephen’s Day.
Despite missing out on a game that he has embraced since joining Leinster in 2016, Gibson-Park was understandably delighted to see the Blues overcoming a 14-6 deficit and the sin-binning of Max Deegan early in the second half to eventually record a 10th consecutive league win.
“At that stage, it looked like it was going to be an uphill battle, but fair play to the lads they swung the momentum massively in the 10 minutes and that was the changing of the game. It was pretty impressive from the lads for sure.”
In particular, Gibson-Park cited the role played by his half-back colleague Ross Byrne – deputising once again for absent team captain Jonathan Sexton – in getting Leinster over the line in a fiery festive tussle.
“There are some pretty good leaders out there, Ross Byrne in particular has come a very long way in that part of the game. His game understanding is right up there with the best. Kudos to him and the lads for getting us out of a hole.
“I think it has always been there with Ross. It’s one of those things that rugby is never the perfect sport. There is always learnings and he is one guy that has taken a lot of learnings out of the past few years and come on leaps and bounds. He’s been a big leader in the squad.”
While there was disappointment on the Leinster front in the shape of defeats to the Bulls and La Rochelle at the business end of last season’s United Rugby Championship and Heineken Champions Cup respectively, Gibson-Park acknowledged 2022 saw him playing arguably the best rugby of his career.
An international debutant back in October 2020, the Great Barrier Island native started all bar one of the 11 Tests that Ireland played during the calendar year. Additionally, he registered tries in Six Nations encounters with France and Italy in advance of being named player of the match in their round four victory over England in Twickenham.
Gibson-Park said there were a lot of different factors behind him discovering his best form in the past 12 months, but gives significant credit to the players and coaches within the Leinster and Ireland squads for helping to get the most out of him.
“There is a bit of age. You had Covid, where you get a lot of reflection time. There is a lot of different things tied into it. Along with having some pretty awesome teams and coaches around you really. Getting the opportunity to play with those guys week-to-week. Both of them are very good set-ups, obviously,” Gibson-Park added.
