While it is now just 11 days until the latest Champions Cup final appearance for the province, senior coach Jacques Nienaber has suggested Leinster’s team to face defending champions Bordeaux Bègles in Bilbao isn’t entirely set in stone.
Courtesy of a semi-final victory against Toulon, Leinster are set to compete in their fourth European top-tier decider in the space of just five seasons. From the 15 who started that game, six of them featured at some point over the course of the URC success at the expense of the Lions at the Aviva Stadium last Saturday.
It remains to be seen if the other nine players from the Toulon line-up will be thrust into action when Leinster finish off their regular season campaign in the URC with a home bout against Ospreys this Saturday. Although he stressed head coach Leo Cullen has the final say on team selection, Nienaber believes the province having a competitive fixture between now and the Champions Cup final means places are still up for grabs.
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“If you do that [pick the team to face Bordeaux already], then why do these guys play on Saturday? I think that’s the important part. Why would they go and put their heads in a dark place if they know they don’t have a chance to go and play in Bilbao? Or, if they know ‘I’m going to play in Bilbao’,” said Nienaber.
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“That’s just my take. I’m not the guy. I don’t do the team selection. We do team selection as a group, but obviously Leo is the final guy. So he’s responsible for team selection. We all give input, but he’s ultimately the guy that’s responsible for that.
“So I’m just giving you my take on it. I will always fight for the player that is aligned with us [and how we want to play]. So from a mindset point of view, that’s for me most important.”
As the eagerly anticipated showdown between Leinster and Bordeaux quickly moves into view, it is interesting to examine the general make-up of both squads.
Despite the fact that 19 of Bordeaux’s match day 23 from their own semi-final win over Bath at Stade Atlantique are French natives, less than a handful of that cohort spent time in the Top 14 club’s youth system and were instead recruited from other teams across France.
This is in stark contrast to the 23 Cullen selected for Leinster’s triumph over Toulon. While overseas signings Rieko Ioane and Rabah Slimani contributed significantly to the victory, Cullen was able to include 18 players who are graduates of the Leinster academy against the three-time European champions.
[ Leinster hold off Toulon comeback to make Champions Cup final - as it happenedOpens in new window ]
Also featuring on that day against Toulon were Ireland internationals Jamison Gibson-Park (who qualifies via the residency rule) and Robbie Henshaw (a product of the Connacht system), as well as loosehead prop Jerry Cahir, who came through the Leinster schools system at Cistercian College Roscrea.
Nienaber feels having so many home-grown players is a “superpower” for Leinster and is something he sees as being unique in the modern game of professional rugby.
“I think that’s probably the positive. If people want to write something positive about Leinster, it’s probably that angle. In that Toulon game, there’s 18 home-grown Leinster people that came through the sub-academy and the academy. Show me another club that does that. There’s none,” Nienaber added.
“I think that is probably one of the superpowers of Leinster, but it’s not reported on a lot. I think that’s remarkable of the club to do that. I don’t think there’s another club in the world [that does it]. Maybe Japan. I’m not sure how Japan works because they actually work for the organisation. They work for Toyota, so I’m not sure how that works. How their club scene works there.
“Certainly in South Africa, no. New Zealand, no. Argentina, not sure. English clubs, no. Not that I can think of. French clubs, no. Not that I can think of. Scottish clubs, no. There’s a lot of South Africans there, isn’t there? So I think it’s amazing, actually, that a club can do that.”
Tommy O’Brien and Jordan Larmour are available for selection for Saturday’s game against Ospreys. Jack Conan, Paddy McCarthy and Alex Usanov will return to training, with Tadhg Furlong and James Lowe continuing to build towards full fitness.
Conan hobbled off with a knee injury after Leinster’s semi-final win over Toulon, so it is positive news that the Irish international is returning to fitness ahead of the final against Bordeaux Bègles in Bilbao in two weeks.
Brian Deeny and Joshua Kenny will be further assessed later this week, while Josh van der Flier and Robbie Henshaw are following graduated return-to-play protocols following head injuries. Will Connors has been ruled out of the game through injury.
