LEINSTER STEP UP CROKE PARK PREPARATIONS WITH TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE
IT’S ALL EYES on Croke Park this weekend and Leinster appear to be arriving into the Champions Cup semi-finals in rude health, with a handful of key players back on the training pitch in UCD yesterday.
Garry Ringrose, Hugo Keenan and Jimmy O’Brien have all had injury-disrupted seasons but the trio took part in Monday’s session as Leinster stepped up their preparations for Saturday’s semi-final date with Northampton Saints [KO 5.30pm, RTÉ/TNT Sports].
Ringrose has shaken off a troublesome shoulder injury and is primed to come straight back into the side to make his first appearance in a Leinster shirt in three months.
O’Brien hasn’t played any rugby since December and while available for selection, there is a chance he won’t be risked with Leinster conscious of easing him back from his neck injury.
A fit Keenan would be a major boost but the fullback remains touch and go as he attempts to shake off a persistent hip problem. A decision on his fitness won’t be made until later in the week and if he’s not at 100%, Ciarán Frawley would be the favourite to start at 15.
Overall Leinster will have another strong hand to pick from, bar the ongoing absence of James Ryan [arm].
These are the weeks where there tends to be an extra edge around training and competition will be fierce ahead of what promises to be a special occasion at a sold-out Croke Park, where Leinster will be favourites to book their place in the 25 May London final.
The Croke Park factor adds an interesting angle to the week, and is something Leinster performance coach Declan Darcy – a former intercounty star with Leitrim and Dublin – has already addressed with the group.
“He’s got experience of Croke Park and he’s warned that it’s a double-edged sword, really, you can’t allow it to become something bigger than what it is,” says assistant coach Robin McBryde.
But if you play well out there it gives you more energy, that’s true for whichever team is playing well on the day.
“So we’ve got to make sure that we start well and feed off that energy. But yeah, it’s definitely somewhere that we’re looking forward to going to.”
The province are also keen to embrace the history of the occasion. Yesterday morning the players watched video of Leinster’s famous 2009 Heineken Cup semi-final win over Munster at Croke Park in a bid to give them a flavour of what they might experience at the ground this weekend.
“There is going to be pressure, it’s going to be a pressurised environment obviously,” McBryde says.
“The La Rochelle game, because of the history between the two clubs over the last few years, it was nice to get over the line. But it was just another game and it just gets us to somewhere we’ve been before and come away empty handed, so we’ve got to make sure that we go one step further.”
McBryde has experience of the stadium himself, having been part of the Wales coaching team when Warren Gatland’s men won at Croke Park on their way to the Grand Slam in 2008.
“Yeah there was a big thing made of it at the time, I remember. More in regards to England rather than Wales!
“It’s brilliant isn’t it, I’m trying to think where else it would happen, really. It’s great. The supporters will be great, they were out in South Africa as well, the last two rounds of the Champions Cup they were there.
“So yeah, brilliant, and a well deserved day out for the supporters as well, you can’t forget that they’re going to have a great experience as well, hopefully.”
2024-04-30T05:36:36Z dg43tfdfdgfd