Not-so-magical mystery tour for Leinster before Leicester Tigers game

Leinster started their afternoon in a slightly bizarre fashion at Welford Road on Saturday. On their arrival at the ground, they were greeted by a sea of blue supporters and their flags there to welcome the team.

However, a Leicester Tigers steward on seeing the massed ranks of visiting fans didn’t understand that the blue sea would part to let the players through and so to circumvent what he believed to be a logjam, he redirected the Leinster players and coaches through a car park.

They then had to negotiate a right of way through the media room to get to the dressing room, not so much a shortcut as a less than magical mystery tour, based on the thousand-yard stare which many adopted as they trooped through.

If it was an irritant, it was a minor one and by the time the match dust had settled Leinster had a four-try, bonus-point tucked away as they headed for East Midlands airport shortly after the game finished.

The Counter Ruck: the rugby newsletter from The Irish Times

---

Leinster vs Northampton: Kick-off time, TV details and team news ahead of Champions Cup semi-final

---

Connacht sign Irish-qualified centre Piers O’Conor from Bristol

---

Ringrose and O’Brien back for Leinster but Keenan remains a Champions Cup doubt

---

Four pool wins and now a mini-break before Leo Cullen has promised that some younger players will get their chance in upcoming URC fixtures. “In the URC we need to grind it out again. That’s the way our minds would turn as coaches to make sure that we work hard with the young players in particular, we have some good, experienced guys to make up that group and our next home game will be against Benetton, which is in three weeks’ time and then we play Cardiff away.

“It is a great window where you have young players coming into the team. You have some academy guys stepping in to take their opportunity. You get a couple of new guys coming into the team who haven’t featured before, or certainly haven’t featured a hell of a lot before.

“They will be surrounded by experienced guys. As coaches, you look forward to that. It is a great privilege of the job to bring young guys through.”

Connacht’s emerging talent

Connacht’s superb victory over the Bristol Bears was underpinned by several young players, not least the official man-of-the-match wing Andrew Smith and David Hawkshaw. Smith was denied, what to all and intents and purposes looked like a legitimate try, on foot of a stunning, acrobatic finish but it was disallowed for “a heel in touch”. It certainly wasn’t clear on the replays.

The Sandymount-born wing with a GAA pedigree in terms of playing as a youngster and in his family lineage was an important part of the Ireland Sevens set-up before moving back to the 15s game with Connacht. Smith has a bit of pedigree in terms of acrobatic finishes, having previously scored a brilliant effort for the Ireland under-19 team against the Australian Schools at Donnybrook.

The 24-year-old former Ireland under-20 Grand Slam (2019) winning captain, Hawkshaw had a brilliant game on both sides of the ball. He is such a good footballer, who recovered from a serious injury, and it is great to see him get such a high-profile platform to remind everyone of his talent.

A word too for Oran McNulty who this column rates very highly. He’s been playing a bit with Garryowen in the AIL and has so much to offer that it would be a travesty if he didn’t get a chance to show that with a province.

Gatland not pulling punches

Warren Gatland is the latest to suggest the salvation of Welsh club rugby lies over the Severn Bridge, stating that the four Welsh clubs, the Ospreys, Dragons, Scarlets, and Cardiff would be better off in an Anglo-Welsh League.

“I’ve always said from a Welsh perspective we should always have an Anglo-Welsh competition on the table. For me that is not about the present, [it] is about history. It’s the history of those clubs like Newport, Cardiff or whatever, playing teams that are pretty close to the border in terms of Gloucester, Bath, and you’ve got Exeter now, so that goes back a long time to those traditional rivalries.

“I feel that as unions England and Wales should have that as a potential … I know the impact it might have on other competitions but if we are just looking after ourselves, and what would benefit Welsh rugby. There could be an Anglo-Welsh league that can potentially be successful for England and Wales.”

It’s a popular solution in the valleys to Welsh club rugby woes, one that gets an airing frequently. The only problem is there has been no appetite for such a venture from the English RFU or the Gallagher Premiership clubs. So, it looks like they’re stuck in the United Rugby Championship for the foreseeable future.

Word of Mouth

“He showed some good leadership last year. He’s very professional, he does the daily grind of being a professional rugby player really well. Since he’s come back into camp, he has a presence within the room and is a nice calm head as well.” —Ireland under-20 head coach Richie Murphy talking about his captain Evan O’Connell.

By the Numbers: 99

Jordan Lamour will become Leinster’s latest centurion when he next plays for the province but celebrated his latest appearance with a try against the Leicester Tigers, his 39th.

• Sign up for push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
• Find The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
• Our In The News podcast is now published daily – Find the latest episode here