Leinster counting the price of battle ahead of Connacht clash

Jordan Larmour can’t seem to catch a break. Just after working his way back from a hip flexor injury, which sidelined him for 10 weeks, to play in the wins over the New Zealand Maori and put himself in the frame for at least the November game against Fiji, the 25-year-old’s latest setback may have put paid to those ambitions.

The Leinster winger suffered a foot injury in the 21st minute of last Saturday’s wild 54-34 win over the Sharks at the RDS. He has been ruled out of their trek to the Sportsground for Friday’s game against Connacht (kick-off 7.35pm) but, pending further tests, Leo Cullen has intimated Larmour might be sidelined again for about six weeks, which would take in the entirety of Ireland’s November matches.

“We’ll clarify that exactly over the next couple of days but I’d imagine he’ll be gone for sixish weeks I’d suggest.

“He’s unlucky. That’s unfortunately the name of the game at times. Everyone goes through those sticky patches in careers. It’s a very physical game. The South Africans just bring a different edge, don’t they?” said Cullen rhetorically.

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Three other players went off in last Saturday’s encounter. Rhys Ruddock, Luke McGrath and Ryan Baird were all withdrawn for HIAs at the RDS and will most likely miss next Friday’s game as well.

This match will most likely come too soon for any of their 12-strong contingent on the Emerging Ireland tour, but Caelan Doris and Dave Kearney should come back into the mix after missing the last couple of games, while Tadgh Furlong might also be in line for his seasonal bow.

“We’ll hopefully have some fresh faces this week. One or two potentially back, depending on how they come through the next few days,” said Cullen, after the Leinster squad began their training week on the all-weather pitch at Energia Park on Monday in readiness for playing Connacht on their new 4G surface.

“They’d a very tough start,” said Cullen of Connacht’s opening three games away to Ulster, Stormers and Bulls, and added of Jack Carty’s return last Friday in their win over Munster: “He makes a big difference coming back. He’s very much the focal point. He makes the team tick so we need to put real pressure on him.

“I know he missed his few kicks but in terms of how he ran the game, I thought he runs it pretty well. And they were pretty dominant in lots of parts of the game, weren’t they? I thought set-piece was good, lineout defence was good, the scrum pressure they put on both attack and defence. They did well even for that maul, brave throw right to the tail,” he said in reference to their third try.

“So the nuts and bolts of their game looked good. They have the benefit of being away in South Africa, even though they lose the two games. The cohesion that you build is quite important in that time together. Then a new pitch, a feeling of something new and wanting to go out and represent, again the Leinster factor again.”

Also citing the presence of Josh Murphy, Peter Dooley and David Hawkshaw, Cullen said: “The three lads will bring a certain level of IP and understanding of what we’re trying to do and that always creates a different and dangerous dynamic.

“It’s a short week, we’ve a few banged up bodies, we’ll see how they come through and another derby game. It’s exciting to look forward to, isn’t it? A great atmosphere down there it looked like for the Munster game. So more of the same. It doesn’t make it easy, though, as a place to go.”

Last Saturday’s 13-try jamboree, when the Sharks were without their frontline Springboks such as Siya Kolisi, Lukhanyo Am and Makazole Mapimpi, again underlined the merits of adding the four South African sides to the URC and provided another invaluable lesson for Cullen’s men.

“Everyone talks about the lessons learned and there’s definitely a lot of lessons learned in the game. It’s good to learn them now rather than when you’re in a playoff game and come out and you concede that many points and don’t score that many points and you lose the game.

“There’s definitely parts of that, just to understand the mindset of the way they play the game.

“I thought it was a really good examination. With Noel McNamara there were certain things with his influence on the game where he would try to attack us, so I just think it’s great for the tournament. In terms of reporting something positive, I think it’s really a positive step, the addition of the four teams.”

Noting how the South African sides’ slow start last season gave a false impression, Cullen said: “They’re certainly up and running now.”

Cullen has also confirmed a short-term contract for hooker Tadgh McElroy. The Dundalk native is a former Ireland Under-20 international and has played for Saracens, Bristol Bears, Ealing Trailfinders and most recently London Irish over the last few seasons, and has impressed on trial with the Leinster “A” squad.