MAGNERS LEAGUE:STAN WRIGHT took a deep breath when summoned to the touchline to replace Clint Newland after 58 minutes of Leinster's Magners League game against the Cardiff Blues. A little over two-and-a- half weeks of contact training can't replicate match intensity. The Cook Island prop had to properly test the Achilles' tendon he tore the previous August.
There would be no gentle introduction as his first obligation was to scrum. The affable Wright laughed: “I was scared it was going to come off, especially at a scrum. After the first one, I just forgot about it and carried on playing. I haven’t really put it under too much pressure yet. I hope to (this weekend).”
After the initial scrum was reset, the Leinster pack produced a colossal heave that shunted the Cardiff eight sideways and backwards at a rate of knots, forcing a turnover. It was a decent impact in every respect, but Wright’s instinct is to deflect the plaudits.
“(It) might have been a bit of fluke in there I think. It was good to get that first one out of the way. You have to get confidence in your scrummaging, in the timing and that; it’s hard to do that when you are on the bench.
“It went well, so I can’t complain. They said six months (and) I came back in six months.”
In his absence the pecking order at prop in the province has changed, a state of affairs that hasn’t gone unnoticed. “You don’t have to tell me,” he guffawed. “Yeah, they have played well. It will be hard for me to get that spot back, but I’ll do my best.
“My timing might be right with Rossy (Mike Ross) away. It’s about getting back into the rhythm of things; sometimes you’re apprehensive, you don’t want to go too hard. Even the surgeon rang up and said, ‘start slow Stan, and don’t just go ripping into it’.”
Leinster coach Joe Schmidt is delighted to welcome back Wright and is hoping Lions and Ireland fullback Rob Kearney might be back on the training pitch within the next month.
“He is progressing really well,” Schmidt said. “There is obviously no brace; he is walking freely and doing things in the swimming pool.
“He isn’t back on the field yet but I would hope that is not too far away. It is too soon to say (whether he might be a contender for Leicester match) because he would have to get on the field in the next two to three weeks. You can’t prepare for a quarter-final with just a week under your belt after, what, four months out of rugby.”
On a parallel note, the Tigers returned about one third (4,500) of their ticket entitlement and the majority will go on sale on-line from 10am today. A number will also be available this Friday at Leinster’s Magners League game against Benetton Treviso at the RDS. A ticket booth will operate on a cash-only basis, located behind the Anglesea Stand, Block C to dispense the tickets. It will open from 5.30pm and close after half-time.
Schmidt will be hoping Leinster rediscover their attacking joie de vivre against the Italians after being held try-less for only the second time this season in the defeat to Cardiff. “We did get it down over the line once,” he said, “and I think the lead-up play to that was first-class, really. We did put a lot of phases together to do it. We created another two or three opportunities to get over the line that we didn’t take.”
Leinster will confirm their team for the match at lunch-time on Thursday.
