Cheika has options as big names check in

Gordon D'Arcy, Reggie Corrigan and Emmett Byrne return to an enlarged Leinster squad that will be trimmed at lunchtime today when the team for tomorrow night's game against the Llanelli Scarlets at Lansdowne Road is confirmed.

Those three missed the 35-34 victory over the Border Reivers at Netherdale last Friday, while Kieran Lewis was named in that starting XV but withdrew before the match with a shoulder injury. The St Mary's centre and Ronan McCormack, who picked up a knock that night, are available for selection.

Lewis is the latest recipient of the Bank of Scotland (Ireland) "player of the month" award following a series of excellent performances for the province.

Michael Cheika, who is well aware several teams would covet someone of Lewis's ability, yesterday acknowledged the player's contribution.

The Leinster coach enthused: "He's had a great year. He's taken opportunities whenever he's been given them. Obviously there's been talk about him going to other provinces and things like that. We want our players to be happy. If there was ever an opportunity where (a player) thought he might have a better chance elsewhere we wouldn't stop him.

"Kieran is really enjoying his football with Leinster. He's not interested in looking at those options. He feels he's had a lot of good time on the field and would have been playing last weekend but he picked up an injury playing club footie.

"He's improving his game - skills he wouldn't have had in his kitbag before. His kicking has improved; he's been doing a lot of skills work on decision-making.

"A sign of a quality player is someone who can step up a standard and he did that and made a good impact for Ireland A. I'd say he must be a long shot for the Southern Hemisphere tour. His performances have certainly been good enough."

Cheika's immediate concern is ensuring his charges stay top of the Celtic League, a position he hopes they will reinforce with victory over Llanelli. He knows the size of the challenge.

"It becomes self-feeding because the longer that we can stay competitive for the Celtic League, the more you have to concentrate on every game. We've got a maximum of 25 points that we can pick up and we have to use our home games in particular, take the maximum and play well.

"There's not a better team to be playing against because they (Llanelli) are a tough opposition. They play that type of game that can really disrupt the opposition. They had Wasps rattled in a major way. I don't know if they took their foot off the pedal a little bit or maybe Simon (Easterby) going off hurt.

"If they kept going like they did in the first half they would have won the game. They were very effective in the way they play the game. They have a certain style about them. They know their strengths and go to them all the time. You've got to try and shut them off."

The Australian reiterated the importance of consistency and improvement. He wants Leinster's standards to get better and better so there is less of a gap to bridge when they contest the bigger games.

"We've brought in several elements this week that we are hoping to build on for the last six or seven weeks of the season. (We) can't stand still, we have to keep going forward."

Leinster were hardly inspiring in many respects last Friday but Cheika did point out the Borders weren't given due respect. As a mid-table team, they're likely to qualify for next season's European Cup. He wasn't about to excuse his team though.

"We played poorly. We did some brilliant things and we did some really poor things. That is something we need to address."

He confirmed Leinster would field as strong a team as possible tomorrow, depending on definitive reports on one or two bumps and bruises.