The latest updates on the recent injury woes of both RG Snyman and Jamison Gibson-Park are set to provide an early season boost for Leinster.
The dual World Cup-winning lock and Ireland’s double Six Nations-winning scrumhalf are both set to be fit and available more or less from the start of the season.
In normal circumstances, Snyman would have been on duty for the Springboks in the Rugby Championships but a minor foot injury is instead likely to see him make his Leinster debut in their URC round two game against the Dragons at the Aviva Stadium next Friday week, September 27th, or their round three game away to Benetton the following weekend.
The injury forced Snyman to return early from the Rugby Championship, “but it’s pretty minor, thankfully” according to Leo Cullen, who added: “He is rehabbing with us at the moment.
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“I’ve just come in from a session, he was doing a rehab run. He is making progress. I am not sure if he will be back for round one but hopefully by round two or three, he will be back for us.”
The squad Rassie Erasmus has named for South Africa’s next outing in Argentina did not include Snyman. “So he is likely to stay with us.”
Gibson-Park has recovered from the hamstring injury which forced him out of Ireland’s summer tour to South Africa.
“He is training fully now, so he should be good to go for round one hopefully,” said Cullen, in reference to Leinster’s opening game in Edinburgh on Friday week.
Even in the absence of their talismanic scrumhalf, Leinster supplied 17 of the squad in South Africa, and those who carried a bigger load will probably not be available until rounds two or three.
“Some guys obviously played less on tour, so they will be available for round one,” said Cullen.
This will presumably apply to Sam Prendergast and Jimmy O’Brien, who did not play in either Test, and perhaps also Cian Healy, Ryan Baird and Ciarán Frawley, who were replacements in both.
By contrast, Andrew Porter, Tadhg Furlong, Joe McCarthy, James Ryan, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris, James Lowe, Robbie Henshaw and Garry Ringrose will probably be eased back gradually.
“I think we will probably chop and change our team quite a bit over the first six rounds of the season,” said Cullen, with Leinster’s remaining three games in the opening phase of the season coming against Munster at Croke Park, Connacht away and the Lions at the Aviva.
“Part of that is that there is a necessity to do that, which is positive for strong competition, but it can be a challenge from a cohesion point of view,” said Cullen.
Mention of Frawley, match-winner off the bench in the second Test against South Africa, and Prendergast, also focuses attention on of the many intriguing subplots in Leinster’s season given their outhalf roster also includes Ross and Harry Byrne, not to mention their highly regarded 18-year-old Austrian ‘10′ Casper Gabriel.
“Listen, we would probably be having a different conversation if ‘Frawls’ had kicked the drop goal when he came off the bench against Toulouse, pretty much from the exact same spot where he kicked it from in Durban,” quipped Cullen in reference to Leinster’s Champions Cup final loss in extra-time.
“Ciarán is someone who is accumulating experience, and it’s fantastic that he put himself in that situation again,” said Cullen, who added that the Byrnes started each of Leinster’s two preseason friendlies, with Prendergast a replacement last Saturday in Northampton.
“We are in a good position with the four guys that we have and let’s see how they get on. I will need to be open-minded in the selection calls there because it’s over to them a little bit. They need to prove what they can do.”
After last season’s employment of joint captains in Ryan and Ringrose, Cullen said there would be an announcement “in a couple more days” regarding the captaincy.
The main narrative around Leinster this season, of course, is that they’ve endured three trophyless seasons.
“There’s some great clubs involved in the two competitions that we are involved in, so we don’t have any right to do anything,” said Cullen, when asked if he and the rest of the management and squad were feeling the pressure.
“As you know we’ve lost three Champions Cup finals in a row and they’re tight margins. That’s the big thing for us. When you’re bringing through young players in particular, for all of us, we try to learn as we go.
“It’s another great challenge for us this year and the group is heavily motivated now. Similarly, losing three URC semi-finals in a row as well, and they’ve all come about in very different ways.”
Cullen was speaking on one of the group Zoom calls with various URC head coaches and his counterparts at the Stormers and Sharks, John Dobson and John Plumtree, were decidedly downbeat about their readiness for the start of the campaign.
Citing last season’s defeat in the Champions Cup Round of 16 against La Rochelle and a loss at home to the Ospreys a week later, Dobson added: “We’re clearly not good enough in arranging our squad. That is probably a key work-on for us this season, to be better at juggling resources; the national team, the rest days, the two competitions. We’re not there yet.”
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