Leinster v Clermont Auvergne
5.30pm, live on RTÉ, Premier Sports
Something old, something new, something borrowed and all things blue, might be a nice rhyming analogy for head coach Leo Cullen’s team selection as he tries to marry game time for the wider squad without compromising Leinster’s capacity to continue their winning ways in the Champions Cup.
Let’s start with the borrowed. Jordie Barrett, on a short-term contract until the end of the season, enjoys a first start having made his debut for the province in last Sunday’s victory over the Bristol Bears, where he came on at inside centre for the second half and was a seminal influence and a try-scorer to boot.
The New Zealander starts at fullback on Saturday evening in the absence of Hugo Keenan, Ciarán Frawley and Jamie Osborne, each laid low by injury. His talent will easily accommodate the change in role, a positional flexibility that was pre-cleared before his arrival at the Irish province.
Cullen explained: “For us to get the sign-off from New Zealand Rugby Union, we had a lot of these different conversations about what happens with this, this and this, such as ‘where do you want to play him?’ and it’s, ‘listen, probably here but there will be opportunities that you would hope he would play here as well’.
“But to have a player of that level of ability to be able to step into that position, even though [as] Jordie said himself this week, he’s more used to playing in midfield, but needs must for us at the moment and to be able to have someone of his skill set is fantastic. He’s great with the group, he sees things in a slightly different way.
“Watching him, I took a picture of him, his place-kicking game is exceptional. [Leinster Academy outhalf] Caspar Gabriel was beside him, following him around the pitch and place kicking with him. That’s what we want to see, young players learning from experienced players.”
Speaking of new, hooker Gus McCarthy is joined on the bench by fellow academy prospects in scrumhalf Fintan Gunne and wing/fullback Andrew Osborne, younger brother of Jamie. Gunne was excellent as a second-half replacement in a recent A interprovincial and gets a chance to both impress and progress.
The Leinster team shows five alterations to the run-on side from last Sunday, the shorthand version is Barrett is named at fullback, Liam Turner on the right wing, Andrew Porter and Thomas Clarkson are new frontrow pillars while Leinster and Ireland captain Caelan Doris reclaims the number eight position. On the bench Cian Healy, Gunne and Osborne are the new faces that weren’t involved against Bristol.
Cullen was also asked about any IRFU restriction on picking South African double World Cup winner RG Snyman, who made an outstanding impact at Ashton Gate, to start if Joe McCarthy and James Ryan are fit and available for European matches. The short answer is maybe.
“That’s a very private question, I don’t know if I’d be able to answer that in this forum. There would always be various conversations that would go on in the background, but it’s not something I’d be willing to share publicly here.”
Suffice to say he’s happy to have all three at his disposal.
It’s that time of the year when contracts are being discussed. Cullen explained: “There are so many big games at the moment but at the same time the guts of half your squad are out of contract, so you are just working your way through that cycle.
“It is tough for players to deal with because you are trying to deal with players on some level of a sequence. And then [it’s about] what’s out there in the market and who would like to come to Leinster.
“We know that Jordie is here for a short period of time because it is built into another broader piece of a contract but again there are always these different nuances and subplots to the individual cases. We are working our way through it at the moment.”
So that’s the old, new and borrowed taken care of but will Leinster be able to ensure that Clermont Auvergne leave feeling blue?
Christophe Urios’ side arrive in Dublin off the back of a 28-0 victory over Benetton last weekend having won four of their last five matches in all competitions and currently lie third in the French Top 14 with seven wins from 11 matches, all four defeats on the road.
The French side have made seven changes, ex All Blacks and Tongan international George Moala is named in the centre, fellow New Zealand born player, Irae Simone, a centre, will wear the 10 jersey, while there may not be a better young scrumhalf in European rugby than the 21-year-old Baptiste Jauneau.
Samoan captain Michael Ala’alatoa is well known round these parts having played with Leinster and he is promoted along with hooker Étienne Fourcade, Wallaby Rob Simmons and Alexandre Fisher to the starting pack.
Clermont will be physically tough, carry hard and direct, possess a good kicking game and some gamebreakers in Alivereti Raka and Jauneau but provided Leinster retain a hard-nosed focus and take up where they left off in Bristol they should prevail.
Leinster: J Barrett; L Turner, G Ringrose, R Henshaw, J O’Brien; S Prendergast, J Gibson-Park; A Porter, R Kelleher, T Clarkson; J McCarthy, J Ryan; M Deegan, J van der Flier, C Doris. Replacements: G McCarthy, C Healy, R Slimani, RG Snyman, J Conan, F Gunne, R Byrne, A Osborne.
Clermont Auvergne: A Newsome; L Tauzin, P Fouyssac, G Moala, A Raka; I Simone, B Jauneau; E Falgoux, E Fourcade, M Ala’alatoa; P Yato, R Simmons: K Tixeront, A Fischer, F Lee (capt). Replacements: B Massa, G Akhaladze, C Ojovan, O Rixen, A Chalus-Cercy, S Bezy, B Urdapilleta, T Giral.
Referee: L Pearce (England)
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