In purely pragmatic terms, Leo Cullen will be pleased that as one winger, Jordan Larmour, goes down with injury another, James Lowe, makes his return from a calf issue for Leinster’s visit to Leicester on Friday night for the Champions Cup.
In purely emotional terms, Larmour’s hamstring pull is a reminder of how cruel his recent years have been, with injury following injury, the most recent arriving after a Player of the Match performance against Harlequins last Saturday.
Lowe’s fitness is timely, and he is expected to bring the same qualities he always does to Leinster as they return to the familiar Welford Road.
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When bodies need to be knocked over or cleaned out, Lowe is rarely on the fringes.
“Yeah, he energises those people around him, doesn’t he? He’s an infectious character. You can’t help but get energised by being in his company,” says Leinster forwards coach Robin McBryde.
“I’m sure you feel that when you interview him. He doesn’t dwell on things. He takes things as they happen. He’s pretty effective on the bigger stage, quite extroverted when he’s been given the opportunity to show what his talents are. Kicking, running hard under the high ball, he can do everything.”
Lowe missed Saturday’s 45-28 win over Harlequins at Aviva Stadium, allowing Larmour to come in and steal the show with two tries.
But the challenge of Leicester is a different magnitude to Harlequins, as they currently sit fourth on the Premiership table with four wins from six matches.
That amplifies the importance of the 33-year-old’s nous at club and international level. Lowe will add to Leinster’s know how, especially if the match becomes an arm wrestle.
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“To have somebody of that quality and experience, just for the other lads to feed off him, I think it’s great,” says McBryde. “He’s a good voice. He’s very loud, one of the loudest voices on the training field, so any character like that is great to have on a big day.”
Leicester rested many of their frontline players last week against La Rochelle and paid the price with a 39-20 beating in Stade Marcel Flandre.
The obvious target game is Leinster, where they hope the intimate surrounds and tiny changing rooms will give the home team - likely to be much changed - some percentage gains.
“We expect there’ll be quite a few changes ahead of Friday. They’re unbeaten at home this year,” says McBryde. “They were losing quite narrowly at half-time (17-13 against La Rochelle). So that tells you something with regards to the nature of the squad and the competitiveness they’ve got in the environment there at Leicester.”
In 2024 Leinster played and won against Leicester twice, the away game in Welford Road ending 27-10 for the Irish side. In fact Leinster have won the last four meetings going back to 2022.
“They’ll be keen to get revenge. But it’s a tough place to go,” says McBryde. “It’s a big stage. When I say big stage, it’s an iconic ground to go and play rugby in ... it is quite small.
“The crowd are on top of you. They put you in a certain frame of mind. The steps going down to the field ... (the song by Deep Purple) Smoke on the Water. It’s a great place to go.
“So you’ve got to see it as a challenge, and somewhere to go and measure yourself up against. And maybe it’s coming at the right time for us.
“Maybe we need a level of - and I’m not being disrespectful to anybody else we’ve played so far this year - but to go away to Welford Road in Europe, it certainly sharpens the mind straight away. Sometimes you need a game like that just to … not get your season up and running, but just to sort of find out where you are.”
Aside from Lowe’s return, a few other Leinster players are in the wait-and-see category. Springbok second row RG Snyman (shoulder) and centre Garry Ringrose (cramp) are in doubt for the trip, although backrow Will Connors may make a return after recovering from an arm injury.
If Ringrose doesn’t make it to his regular outside centre position, All Black Rieko Ioane could make his first Leinster start. Ioane replaced Ringrose after 59 minutes against Harlequins in his first run for the club.
Either way the Tigers will sharpen Leinster’s focus a little more than struggling Harlequins did. It’s a good thing, says McBryde if the players’ frame of mind is more actively engaged with what is potentially a greater interrogation of current form. That way it’s easier to build the mindset required to win the match.
“They (Leicester) just build that mentality,” says McBryde. “They’ve got quality players there now. And maybe they’ve re-found their identity. They look as if they pride themselves on being the best at anything that doesn’t require talent. We have to match that and then some on top of it.
“Sometimes there’s nothing worse than trying to make something bigger than it is. But this is as obvious as the nose on your face. Welford Road. Friday night. They’ll be gunning for you.”
