Leinster vs Emirates Lions

ISSUE 10 | LEINSTER RUGBY OFFICIAL MATCHDAY PROGRAMME 

LEINSTER 

VS 

emirates 

lions 

FRI 25 th FEB 

RDS ARENA 

KO 7.35PM

Newstead Building A, 

UCD, 

Belfield, 

Dublin 4 

#LEIVLIO 

The Line up 

Telephone: 

012693224 

Fax: 

012693142 

E-mail: 

information@leinsterrugby.ie 

www.leinsterrugby.ie 

6 

42 

EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT 

President: John Walsh 

Chief Executive: Michael Dawson 

Honorary Secretary: Stuart Bayley 

Honorary Treasurer: Michael McGrail 

RUGBY MANAGEMENT 

Head Coach: Leo Cullen 

Senior Coach: Stuart Lancaster 

Head of Rugby Operations: 

Guy Easterby 

Assistant Coach: Robin McBryde 

Backs Coach: Felipe Contepomi 

Kicking Coach: Emmet Farrell 

Contact Skills Coach: Denis Leamy 

14 

PROGRAMME CREDITS 

Editorial Team: Marcus Ó Buachalla, 

Ryan Corry & Paul Cahill 

Advertising: Gary Nolan 

Design: Julian Tredinnick, 

Ignition Sports Media 

Photography: Sportsfile 

Chief Steward: Sword Security 

Ambulance: St. John’s Ambulance 

Medilink 

Event Control & Safety Services: 

Eamonn O’Boyle & Associates 

72 

86 

STAY 

CONNECTED 

& KEEP 

UP-TO-DATE 

www.leinsterrugby.ie | 3

john walsh welcome 

PRESIDENT, LEINSTER RUGBY 2020/22 

On behalf 

of Leinster 

Rugby, we 

extend a 

warm Irish 

welcome 

to the 

Emirates 

Lions to our 

home here 

at the RDS 

Arena for 

what is our 

first ever 

fixture 

with the 

South 

Africanbased 

side. 

This fixture also marks the 54th 

individual club that Leinster 

have featured against since the 

game went professional in 1995 

and gives an indication as to 

the global spread of the game 

which now features 128 countries 

with over 10 million players 

participating in 2020 (six million 

in 2014) which also includes an 

ever increasing number of three 

million female players. 

We welcome Ivan Van Rooyen (Head 

Coach), team captain Jaco Kriel and 

his squad of players to our home pitch 

here at the RDS and that their stay here 

in Dublin and Ireland is an enjoyable 

experience for them. 

The heritage of this team is deeply 

embedded in the Transvaal district in a 

country that is rapidly expanding the 

game of rugby and becoming major 

investors in global rugby. The Transvaal 

team has appeared in 15 Currie Cup 

finals for a record of eight wins and 

also boast a Super 10 title defeating 

Auckland. 

The British and Irish Lions have toured 

South Africa on 12 occasions and played 

49 tests against them which is more than 

any of the other tours or tests that they 

have taken to other countries. 

The 2021 Lions tour to South Africa 

commenced with an opening fixture 

against our opposition today in which the 

Lions put down a marker of their intent 

and power to win 56-14 with Josh Adams 

scoring four of the eight Lions tries. 

Among those names that our fans will be 

familiar with that have represented the 

Emirates Lions club in the past are Rassie 

Erasmus, Francois Pienaar and Bobby 

Skinstad. 

The unique atmosphere of tonight’s venue 

in Dublin is vastly different to that of the 

home stadium for the Emirates Lions team 

as their base in no other than Ellis Park in 

Johannesburg. 

The iconic stadium will be forever 

associated with one of the most treasured 

moments in world sport when Nelson 

Mandela presented the William Webb 

Ellis trophy to South African skipper 

Francois Pienaar in the 1995 Rugby 

World Cup final in front of a packed 

65,000-seater stadium. Ellis Park is also 

the highest international grounds in world 

rugby and is located at 5,940 feet (1,810 

metres) above sea level! 

While this is our first time playing the 

Emirates Lions, we have recent history 

playing against South African sides. 

We played the Vodacom Bulls in Round 

1 of the United Rugby Championship in 

September 2021 in front of 19,420 at 

the Aviva Stadium and played well to 

record a 31-3 victory to start the defence 

of our league title. 

Prior to the introduction of the four new 

South African teams, we had of course 

been playing against the Cheetahs and 

the Southern Kings in the PRO14 and 

had our maiden trip to South Africa in 

September 2017 when we won against 

the Kings in the Nelson Mandela Bay 

Stadium but were undone a week later 

by the Cheetahs in the Toyota Stadium. 

Leinster’s first ever encounter with a South 

African side was on 1 February, 1961, 

when Leinster had the great honour of 

playing the South African national team 

at Lansdowne Road with the visitors 

emerging victorious, 12-5. Interestingly 

five of the 15 Leinster players that took 

the field that day subsequently became 

Presidents of Leinster Rugby and three of 

them were honoured with the Presidency 

of the IRFU. 

The birth of this season’s United Rugby 

Championship has been a difficult 

one due to the necessary restrictions 

imposed by the rapid spread of a global 

pandemic. The competition has faced 

numerous challenges but we rugby folk 

are a resilient and determined bunch 

and possess a winning attitude which has 

always stood to us. 

The four South African sides in their 

inaugural venture into the United Rugby 

Championship have had many obstacles 

to overcome in their task but we welcome 

them and wish them well in the years to 

come. 

Leinster Rugby have had very few South 

African players in our teams to date but 

we have been very fortunate to have 

a major input to our success from the 

individuals who have played for us. 

Richardt Strauss made a very positive 

impact on the club winning 154 caps and 

numerous trophies during a magnificent 

nine seasons at the club and indeed 

Richardt went on to represent Ireland on

17 occasions, including playing against 

the country of his birth in 2012, 2014 

and 2016. 

Three of the group have been props and 

are most distinguished members of the 

exclusive front row club which is much 

admired by fans. 

The first to join us was the legendary 

Ollie le Roux and a real favourite with 

all in Leinster Rugby. The 54-time capped 

Springbok player made 19 appearances 

for Leinster and helped us win the Celtic 

League in 2008. Following him was 

World Cup winner and 78-time capped 

CJ van der Linde who made 26 Leinster 

appearances. The third member of the 

trio was Heinke van der Merwe who 

played for South Africa on five occasions 

and was a member of the Leinster 

winning PRO12 league and Heineken 

Cup team of 2011/12 and made a total 

of 80 Leinster appearances. 

The final member was the very talented 

and multi-purpose utility back Zane 

Kirchner who made 87 appearances 

for Leinster to add to the 31 caps he 

received with South Africa. His stay with 

Leinster yielded a PRO12 title won in 

2014. Who can forget his two tries in that 

final on a blistering hot day against the 

Glasgow Warriors in the RDS? 

And next season we will welcome Jason 

Jenkins into our midst and everyone at 

Leinster Rugby wishes the Sprinkbok the 

very best of luck with his time at Leinster 

Rugby and hopefully he will have a better 

run of good fortune with injury than is the 

case currently. 

On the important Leinster club scene four 

of the five Leinster League division titles 

have now been decided with only the 

Division 1A remaining to be completed. 

Congratulations to Portarlington on 

winning Division 3 with a dominating 

campaign. This is their seventh Leinster 

League title. Division 2B saw a similar 

dominant performance from New Ross 

to win their fourth Leinster League title 

so well done to them. Division 2A went 

to the wire between Athy and DLSP with 

the Kildare side emerging victorious with 

11 wins and 55 point to win consecutive 

season league promotions. 

Division 1B was also a most competitive 

league with Boyne and Wicklow 

excelling and that also went down to their 

final fixture with both sides winning 10 

matches each but Boyne accumulated 10 

bonus points to Wicklow’s eight bonus 

points thus winning the title. Having 

previously played in the AIL, Boyne will 

be pleased to be back in Division 1A 

which is a qualifying league for the AIL. 

Likewise Bective Rangers and Monkstown 

previously played in the Energia All- 

Ireland League and now find themselves 

locked in a title struggle for Division 1A. 

Suttonians host Bective Rangers while 

Monkstown host Gorey on Saturday 

26th with both needing points and so we 

await to see who will get the opportunity 

to take on the league champions from 

Munster, Connacht and Ulster to earn a 

return to the AIL. 

Seán Cronin received a memorable 

reception from the appreciative Leinster 

fans when he made his 200th Leinster 

appearance against the Ospreys having 

joined Leinster in the 2011/12 season. 

When you factor in his two appearances 

for Munster, his 62 caps for Connacht as 

well as 72 caps for Ireland his presence 

and popularity with all Irish fans has 

established him as one of our most 

popular players. 

I hope you all enjoy the game and thank 

you for your support which contributes so 

much to our success as a club. 

John Walsh 

President Leinster Rugby 2020-2022 

Until we meet again “Keep The Faith” 


Leo Cullen 

head Coach Welcome 

Tonight marks 

an historic 

occasion as 

Leinster host 

the Emirates 

Lions from 

Johannesburg 

for the very 

first time. 

We were due to play the Lions 

back in January, so it’s great to 

finally be able to welcome Ivan 

Van Rooyen and his team to the 

RDS Arena. 

We strongly believe the URC will go 

from strength to strength with the addition 

of the big four South African teams. 

Many of us have grown up watching the 

evolution of Super Rugby and we know 

that the Lions have a proud history in that 

competition, competing in three finals in 

a row as recently as 2016, 2017 and 

2018. 

All the northern hemisphere teams in the 

league will face a stiff challenge as we 

each get set for a two-week tour down 

there in the next few months. 

Many thanks to all of you who attended 

last weekend’s game against Ospreys. 

The home games at the RDS have been 

coming thick and fast lately and the flip 

side of that is that we have a lot more 

games on the road over the remainder of 

the season. The weather conditions have 

been a serious challenge recently, so we 

really appreciate you turning out in such 

big numbers. 

A big well done to all the ‘minis’ that got 

to play here last weekend. I was lucky 

enough to meet some of the participants 

who put on a great show in front 

of a very appreciative crowd. 

You just about escaped the 

rain! The very best of luck to 

all today’s participants. 

Congratulations to Seán 

Cronin on making his 

200th appearance 

for Leinster. 

It’s a remarkable achievement when 

you consider that Seán also has a 

considerable number of appearances 

under his belt with a couple of other 

provinces! 

Seán (or Nugget as he’s known to 

us!) has been a great character in the 

dressing room, and a major contributor 

to many of our most successful moments 

over the last number of seasons. 

Good luck to the Ireland team for this 

weekend’s fixture against Italy here in 

Dublin. It’s been a really entertaining 

Six Nations so far and from our point of 

view, it’s been great to see as many as 

17 Leinster players in camp – a testament 

to hard work and high standards all 

through the pathway, in our clubs and 

our schools all across the 12 counties. 

And a special mention must go to Jimmy 

O’Brien who has received his first call-up 

to join the squad this week. 

To all the team’s sponsors, a big thank 

you for your continued support, in 

particular Bank of Ireland. We hope all 

our sponsors are managing to get back 

to some level of normal as restrictions 

continue to be lifted across business and 

society. 

We are all hugely excited by the 

prospect of what lies ahead this season. 

It’s going to take a huge effort from the 

entire group if we are to achieve success, 

but we’ll be doing our very best to ensure 

we are involved in the big days at the 

business end of the season. We hope 

you are with us for it all! 

In the meantime, enjoy 

tonight’s game. 

Leo 

6 | www.leinsterrugby.ie

The weather conditions have 

been a serious challenge recently, 

so we really appreciate you 

turning out in such big numbers. 



carla 

delaney 

DIRECTOR, BANK OF IRELAND AREA EAST 

Welcome back to the RDS Arena for the last in a series of three 

consecutive home games in the United Rugby Championship. 

To date, Leinster Rugby have 

picked up the maximum 10 

points available from clashes 

against Edinburgh and Ospreys, 

recording impressive victories 

over two teams currently located 

in the upper reaches of the URC 

standings. 

Now the challenge facing Leo Cullen’s 

squad is somewhat unknown, taking on 

the Emirates Lions for the first time in their 

history. 

So I want to extend a warm welcome 

to the RDS to the Lions, where hopefully 

it will be a drier and calmer RDS than 

we’ve experienced over the last couple 

of weekends. I’m sure all the fans that 

attended the previous two fixtures would 

agree that conditions were not for the 

faint of heart! 

The addition of the new South African 

teams has certainly captured the 

imagination and over the coming months 

as they travel to the northern hemisphere, 

and the European based teams head 

south, we hope to see some classic 

encounters against a host of South African 

rugby stars. 

With two away trips to come after this 

weekend’s encounter, no doubt Leo and 

his players will be targeting another win 

against the Lions and we wish them well. 

Congratulations must go to Seán Cronin, 

who came off the bench last weekend 

against Ospreys to win his 200th cap 

for Leinster. With spells in Munster and 

Connacht before his arrival in Leinster, 

and 72 caps for Ireland as well to his 

name, the Limerick native has notched up 

an incredible 336 professional games 

of rugby. This is some achievement, and 

it was fantastic to see him enjoy some 

special moments after last weekend’s 

game with his children and family. 

While Covid-19 has recently stopped 

interrupting games, the same cannot be 

said for the weather - with Storms Dudley 

and Eunice causing havoc over the last 

week or so. 

Huge credit goes to the administrators 

in the Leinster Rugby Branch for working 

so hard to keep the fixture list flowing, 

and even greater credit must go to the 

groundskeepers in the clubs and schools 

who have been thoroughly tested! 

Finally, congratulations to all 16 teams 

who competed in the first round of the 

Bank of Ireland Leinster Rugby Schools 

Senior Cup. 

It was brilliant to witness these games in 

Energia Park after two years of inaction, 

and even better to have the games 

broadcast live on Premier Sports and on 

Leinster Rugby TV through a streaming 

service. 

All eyes will now be on the quarter-finals, 

where we already have some mouthwatering 

ties to look forward to. I would 

like to wish all the teams the very best of 

luck with their preparations. 

Enjoy the game this evening and see you 

all at the Aviva Stadium in April for the 

Connacht game! 

CD 


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Did you 

know? 

• Leinster went back to the 

top of the United Rugby 

Championship with their 29-7 

victory at home to Ospreys 

on Saturday with their only 

defeat in the competition 

since November being 27-29 at 

Cardiff on 29 January. 

• The Leinstermen have lost 

just once at home in any 

competition since April: 10- 

20 to Ulster at the RDS Arena 

on 27 November. 

• Leinster’s only defeat to a 

South African opponent in the 

United Rugby Championship 

was 19-38 to Cheetahs in 

Bloemfontein in September 

2017 

• Lions have won just 

once in the United Rugby 

Championship since the 

opening weekend: 37-19 

against Stormers in Cape 

Town on 4 December. 

• Lions only previous fixture 

against an Irish province was 

a 10-26 defeat to Ulster in 

Belfast on 15 October. 

• The two sides have never met 

before 

COMPARISON 

Overall URC head-to-head record: 

Played 0 

Last 3 URC results: 

29 Jan - Cardiff Rugby (A) L 27-29 29 Jan - Bulls (H) L 10-34 

11 Feb - Edinburgh (H) W 26-7 5 Feb - Bulls (A) L 13-21 

19 Feb - Ospreys (H) W 29-7 12 Feb - Stormers (H) L 10-32 

URC 2021/22 

1ST - W8 D0 L2 - 40PTS 

14TH - W2 D0 L7 - 12PTS 

WLWLWW (21pts) 

URC form 

LWLLLL (6pts) 

Top try scorer 

4 - Dan Sheehan, Adam Byrne, Scott Penny 3 - Ruben Schoeman 

Top points scorer 

60 - Ross Byrne 30 - Fred Zeilinga 


14 | www.leinsterrugby.ie 

Ru

#200 Rhys 

ddock 

the big interview 

BY MARCUS Ó BUACHALLA 

At 7.34pm this 

evening, Rhys 

Ruddock, as captain 

of Leinster Rugby, 

will lead the team 

out onto the RDS 

Arena pitch on the 

occasion of his 

200th cap. 

However, as is 

customary for 

players in the 

starting XV making 

special milestone 

appearances, his 

fellow players will 

leave him to it and 

will allow him enter 

the field, alone, to 

receive the acclaim 

of an adoring home 

support. 


By the time the players re-join 

him 20 or so seconds later, he will 

have had enough time to maybe 

appreciate just a little all that has 

gone before. 

“It’s pretty exciting if I’m honest. 

“It’s been a brilliant journey so far and to 

have played so many times for Leinster 

is special. 

“It’s something that you probably can’t 

appreciate because there is so much 

focus on the game and what we need 

to do, but I’ll definitely take a moment to 

take it all in and just enjoy it, if even for 

a moment. 

“We have played for so long over the 

last two years without crowds, so to have 

family and friends there, supporters, to 

share in those moments, I know I won’t 

take that support for granted ever again. 

“I don’t think I ever did but you just get 

used to it and used to the support at the 

RDS which is always brilliant but I think 

there is a new level of appreciation for it 

all now for sure. 

“It’s always exciting any time you run 

out at the RDS for any game, but for an 

occasion like this, knowing that I have 

family there supporting me, that really 

brings it home and I’m very grateful to 

everyone that has played a part in my 

journey to now.” 

Ruddock made his debut in December 

2009 at a time when Leinster Rugby were 

the reigning Heineken Cup champions 

and were in the early stages of a period 

of dominance across the domestic league 

and in Europe. 

But back then, that was the furthest thing 

from his mind, he was just looking to 

make his mark. 

He was in his first year in the Leinster 

Rugby Academy and while he had 

aspirations to play professionally, the callup 

came early by his own admission. 

“Back then I’d never have dreamed of 

playing this many times for Leinster but I 

did have ambition. 

“Once I was in the Academy, I knew that 

I wanted to kick-on and pull on that jersey 

so everything that I did in those early 


days was about doing everything I could 

to put myself in the best possible place to 

take that opportunity if it came my way. 

“I was fortunate to get that opportunity as 

early as I did against the Dragons but it 

was definitely on my radar to give this my 

best and to see where it got me. It was a 

target for that first year to maybe get a 

cap but I didn’t expect it quite that early. 

“I was mainly training with the Academy 

at the time but just hugely exciting when 

you do get the nod. It was then about 

seeing how I matched up to that level 

and I quickly learned that I had still a 

lot to take in and to improve upon, but I 

suppose it definitely gave me that desire 

to get better and to keep improving and 

to hopefully get another chance.” 

It’s actually really exciting 

playing alongside those players 

making their debuts for the rest 

of the group. 

The then 19-year-old would make quite 

the habit of making moves ahead of his 

time. 

He was capped by Ireland for the first 

time the following summer when he was a 

late call up for their tour to Australia. 

A year later, in February 2011, he was 

selected as the youngest ever Leinster 

captain by Joe Schmidt for a league 

game against Aironi. 

Not content with captaining his club on 

a regular basis, in his 27 Ireland caps to 

date, he has also captained his country. 

From Michael Cheika, to Joe Schmidt, to 

Declan Kidney, to Matt O’Connor, to Leo 

Cullen, they have all seen something in 

Ruddock. 

And here he is with 199 caps to his 

name. 

So take us back Rhys, please, to cap 

number one, December 2009, and 

where it all started. 

“We actually lost that game against the 

Dragons so while it’s memorable for me 

for obvious reasons, unfortunately the 

team lost. 

“It was also extra special because of the 

links my dad has with the Dragons and 

the history he has with the club and him 

only growing up down the road from 

the club. Just having so many friends 

and family there, made it all the more 

special.” 

The result may not have gone his way, 

but so much else around his debut and 

his enjoyment of it all, couldn’t have gone 

better, and the memories are still vivid. 

“I was at six and Dominic Ryan was at 

seven. And he’s a great mate of mine, we 

had come through the game together, 

played 20s together so it was probably 

extra special to be playing with him in the 

back row. 

“A lot of my memories of that debut 

revolve around him as a result! 

“I remember being in the warm-up 

with him and just trying to take it all in, 

wanting each other to do well, supporting 

each other and trying to enjoy it and 


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then Ian McKinley as well, another good mate 

of mine, he was playing so those memories stick 

out for me of enjoying a special moment like that 

with mates of mine that I had played for years 

with already. 

“Us all starting out our journey in and around 

the same time was great. It was a massive 

honour and it just gave me a taste of what it took 

to play at that level and a great experience. 

“Then people like CJ van der Linde, Bernard 

Jackman, who was captain for that game, 

Malcolm O’Kelly. People like that in the week 

leading up to it, putting an arm around us and 

helping us through the week and in the game. 

“They did everything they could to make sure 

that the week and the game was as special 

as it could have been and it doesn’t always 

need to be anything major or saying something 

specifically but bags and bags of experience 

and just their presence on the pitch or at training 

around you, building you up, giving you that 

confidence. 

“I’d like to think it’s something that we still 

do to this day. To try to ensure that players 

making their debuts enjoy them and that 

we build it into something positive for 

them and give them every chance possible 

to succeed on their debut.” 

With him now in the role of a Jackman or 

O’Kelly, what does he take from it all? 

“It’s actually really exciting playing alongside 

those players making their debuts for the rest of 

the group. 

“You want to make it a special experience 

because you remember your own and I guess 

you want to make sure that you help give 

them the platform to perform and to enjoy the 

occasion because it’s one that you will always 

remember. 

“The result won’t always go your way but at 

least the player can enjoy the experience as 

I definitely did. The debut is one that you will 

always remember.” 

For the record Leinster lost that debut game 30- 

14 in front of 5,437 in Rodney Parade, but that 

is merely a footnote to what has been a brilliant 

career for Ruddock in Leinster blue. 


What of the 200 caps? 

Well, when he takes that first step onto 

the pitch this evening, Rhys Ruddock’s 

name will be added to a short, but 

illustrious, list. 

Seán Cronin was the most recent addition 

last weekend when he came off the 

bench to a standing ovation against 

Ospreys. 

Before that, the double centurions include 

Shane Horgan, Shane Jennings, Rob 

Kearney, Leo Cullen, Jamie Heaslip, Cian 

Healy, Gordon D’Arcy and finally Devin 

Toner. 

They have all left their mark and their 

legacy is more than secure. 

What of Ruddock’s mark? And his own 

highlight? 

“There are so many but I think back to 

that Challenge Cup win in the RDS in 

May 2013 and the first opportunity to 

play in a final because I suppose it was 

my first real impact in terms of starting a 

final and playing at home, at the RDS, 

with your best mates, the moments in the 

dressing room after. 

“From that moment really, it lit the fire 

then in me to go on and succeed and 

to win more. That definitely started 

the chase for me, the chase for more, 

wanting more. The motivation. 

“Thankfully there have been other days 

where we have had finals and 

trophies but I’ve also enjoyed 

other days, the days in 

between, when it hasn’t been a 

final or a trophy at stake. 

“Wins on the road, when your 

backs are to the wall, especially 

at times when some of the Irish boys 

are away during the Six Nations for 

example and you are not in there 

yourself, but you get an opportunity 

to perform for Leinster. To keep the 

goals of the team 

and the squad 

moving along 

during those 

periods. 

“Then having those moments with young 

guys beside you, getting their chance, 

seeing them grow, these are crucial 

wins for the wider squad to build us up 

towards bigger days further down the 

tracks. But also great days for building 

that wider squad and giving those 

experiences to the younger lads. 

“I take a lot of enjoyment from those 

days and those wins. 

“They are all special days, but that 

Challenge Cup Final sticks out in 

my memory definitely.” 

We referenced a brilliant career 

earlier, we should of course 

have said a brilliant career, to 

date. 

Because, as we now know, 

Ruddock is going nowhere and a new 

contract was signed earlier this week 

which will keep the Dublin-born back 

row forward at the club for another few 

seasons at least. 

Music to the ears of the blue-clad 

supporters who have come to 

appreciate hugely what the 31-year-old 

delivers for his home-town club. 

“That motivation to win trophies is what 

made it a pretty easy decision if I’m 

honest,” explains Ruddock. 

“I feel like Leinster is the best place 

to be to achieve that and it’s also an 


environment where I feel really at home 

and where I feel like I have a lot of really 

close relationships with teammates and 

the guys in the changing room that are 

really important to me. 

“Training with them, playing with them, 

and achieving something special with 

them is something I cherish and enjoy 

and I want to continue with that journey. 

“Leinster is where my heart is and where I 

want to play my rugby.” 

He will be playing his rugby this evening 

with a relatively young squad of players. 

As he surveys the pack and indeed the 

backline this evening, with Academy 

players dotted throughout, what has he 

seen change since his own time in their 

shoes? 

“Well for a start the game has changed! 

“It’s very different now and the way the 

game is played and every year I find that 

things evolve in how we are trying to play 

the game and do things different ways. 

“Like I said earlier though I’d like to 

think that some things have stayed the 

same and for those young lads breaking 

through into the team at the moment that 

it’s really exciting and that that element 

has stayed the same because it should be 

exciting, it should be special. 

“For them, for their families and for 

them to pull on that jersey for the first time 

it should be celebrated and for the likes 

of Joe (McCarthy), looking at the game 

against Cardiff and his debut, I thought 

he was outstanding. He didn’t look out of 

place at all, not for one moment. 

“So I think that the Academy system and 

the pathway for the players from clubs 

and schools, plays a big part and has 

been phenomenal for the club back in 

my time and still is to this day when you 

see the players coming through and how 

ready they are to take that next step. 

“Plenty has changed but so much of what 

makes the club special is still the same 

thankfully.” 

While the focus of the week and so much 

of the evening will be on Ruddock and 

his milestone, the Leinster captain will 

no doubt want to divert much of that 

attention off himself and back to the 

visitors to the RDS, the Emirates Lions. 

They have had a bumpy maiden voyage 

in the United Rugby Championship, but 

Cullen and Co saw enough in some of 

the earlier performances in particular to 

make the players more than a little wary. 

“We’ve definitely gone back to those 

early games and how they hit the 

ground running with some really strong 

performances on the road in the URC. 

“Tight games against Scarlets and 

Ulster, a win against Zebre, they beat 

the Stormers than back in South Africa. 

The way they played in those games is 

probably what we have been looking at 

as a sign of what’s to come. 

“They are a really powerful, powerbased 

team, which is a challenge in itself 

especially for the pack but it’s an exciting 

challenge and then they’ve got some real 

pace and power in the backline for the 

backs to deal with. 

“Definitely an interesting challenge but 

I actually think it’s a game and a team 

that we need especially looking at some 

of the games coming down the line 

away from home like against Ulster and 

Connacht, Munster obviously to play as 

well. 

“Those games in Europe against 

Connacht, so I feel the intensity of the 

game will be very similar on Friday to 

what we will face in those games. I think 

it will be a really good game to see 

where we are at as a group, a good test, 

and see how far we have developed over 

the last few weeks.” 

Another test. 

There can’t be many that he hasn’t faced 

since December 2009, but he wouldn’t 

have it any other way. 

A fire that was first lit in Rodney Parade, 

burns as bright as ever over 12 years 

later, for one of Leinster’s favourite sons. 


Action 

replay 29 7 

LEINSTER RUGBY 

Jimmy O’Brien (Adam Byrne 72); Jordan 

Larmour, Jamie Osborne, Harry Byrne, 

Dave Kearney (James Lowe 52); Ross 

Byrne, Luke McGrath (Nick McCarthy 

61); Cian Healy (Peter Dooley 52), 

James Tracy (Seán Cronin 54), Michael 

Ala’alatoa (Thomas Clarkson 67); Ross 

Molony, Ryan Baird (Jack Dunne 67); 

Martin Moloney (Rhys Ruddock 52), 

Scott Penny, Max Deegan. 

SCORERS 

Tries: Jordan Larmour, Cian Healy, James 

Lowe, Scott Penny. 

Cons: Ross Byrne (3). 

Pen: Ross Byrne. 

SATURDAY, 19 FEBRUARY 

RDS ARENA 

ATTENDANCE: 11,586 

UNITED RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP 

OSPREYS 

Dan Evans; Keelan Giles, Michael 

Collins, Kieran Williams (Tiaan Thomas- 

Wheeler 66), Luke Morgan; Stephen 

Myler (Gareth Anscombe 58), Rhys 

Webb (Reuben Morgan-Williams 75); 

Nicky Smith (Rhodri Jones 54), Sam 

Parry (Elvis Taione 54), Tom Botha (Rhys 

Henry 54); Bradley Davies (Lloyd Ashley 

66), William Griffiths; Ethan Roots, Harri 

Deaves, Morgan Morris (Dan Lydiate 

54). 

SCORERS 

Try: Rhys Webb. 

Con: Gareth Anscombe. 


The 

performance 

was good, maybe 

inaccurate 

at times. We 

had a lot of 

possession 

and created 

some good 

opportunities. 

Leo Cullen 

It’s 

something 

that won’t 

really hit 

home until I 

hang up the 

boots but 

to make 200 

appearances 

for Leinster 

is just 

brilliant. 

You’re joining 

a special 

club there. 

Seán Cronin 


Inter-Area U-20 

Games Programme 

While there has been a significant 

– and welcome – increase in 

the number of girls playing and 

involved in rugby through the 

various age levels – U-14, U-16 

and U-18 – there continues to 

be a drop off in players upon 

reaching 18. 

For a number of reasons, such players no 

longer continue to enjoy and play rugby: 

• Players who had played with their 

peers throughout youths competitions 

find themselves playing with and against 

players with quite a significant gap in 

age and experience 

• Players who had previously been 

leaders or top performing players 

at youths level now find themselves 

somewhat down in the pecking order 

• Players who were always getting 

picked for matches at youths are not now 

making the first team selection 

• Players who have represented 

their province at youths do not have 

an immediate understanding of their 

pathway to further representative honours 

Leinster Rugby Women’s Section looked 

for a way in which we could allow these 

players to transition from youths into the 

adult game and maintain their enjoyment 

of rugby. Working with the five area 

committees in Leinster, we are introducing 

a support mechanism within the players’ 

areas that will allow them to continue 

their pathway to be the best they can be 

at the level they chose to participate at: 

• To continue to play with and against 

their peers 

• To continue to play and be a 

contributing part of their own club – to 

assist their clubs to maintain their growth 

path for women in rugby 

Under the leadership of the five-area 

committee, we will hold an U-20 games 

programme within the regular season that 

will take place between each of the five 

areas within Leinster. The focus of this will 

be on participation – ensuring as many 

players as possible get game time – and 

a second match may be held in parallel 

with the first match if player numbers are 

sufficient on the day. 

This will not replace the existing Leinster 

Branch club competitions but will be an 

addition specifically for this applicable 

age group - players who are between 18 

and 20. Each of the areas are gathering 

together the required squad of players 

and are putting in place the required 

management, coaching and strength and 

conditioning support. 

The inaugural Inter-Area U-20 Game 

Programme will take place on consecutive 

Wednesday evenings over five rounds of 

matches commencing on March 30 and 

ending April 27 with a 7pm kick-off time. 

We look forward to a fun-filled games 

programme that will achieve its aims and 

assist in keeping more players involved in 

playing rugby. Depending on the success 

of this games programme, we would then 

look at the feasibility of evolving it into an 

inter-area competition in future seasons to 

form part of the player pathway. 


While the venues are still under discussion the schedule of matches is as follows: 

Round Date Home Team Away Team 

1 30-Mar-22 South-East v North-East 

North Midlands v Metro 

2 06-Apr-22 North-East v Midlands 

Metro v South-East 

3 13-Apr-22 Midlands v North Midlands 

North-East v Metro 

4 20-Apr-22 Metro v Midlands 

South-East v North Midlands 

5 27-Apr-22 Midlands v South-East 

North Midlands v North-East 

For more information contact your local 

area representatives through your rugby 

club. 

Women’s Area Committee 

Representatives: 

South East 

Irene O’Byrne 

Metro 

Laura O’Callaghan Conlon 

North East 

John Fitzgerald 

North Midlands 

Mark Bergin 

Midlands 

Michael Lambe 

If you are 

interested in 

taking up rugby 

or you would like 

to follow our 

updates, check out 

our social media 

channels: 

Leinster Women’s Rugby 

LeinsterWomensRugby 

@LeinsterWomen 

womenspro@leinsterrugby.ie 


HERE’S TO BEING SHOULDER 

TO SHOULDER AGAIN

SHOP THE 2021/22 LEINSTER RUGBY RANGE NOW, 

EXCLUSIVELY AT LIFE STYLE SPORTS 


leo 

the lion’s 

kids 

corner 

IN A BLUR! 

Can you name this 

leinster player? 

spot the difference! 

Can you find all six? 

ANAGRAMS 

Can you un-jumble the names of these players? 

GOT FLUNG 

HARD 

COW ROLLS 

INN 

how did you do? 

IN A BLUR? 

SCOTT PENNY 

ANAGRAMS 

TADHG FURLONG 

WILL CONNORS 

ZOOMED IN! 

JACK DUNNE 

zoomed in! 

WHo is this leinster 

player having an 

extreme close-up? 


AJ Products provides unique 

solutions for office, 

warehouse and 

environment 

www.ajproducts.ie

AZTO 

with 

MAX O’REILLY 

A – Action: If you could be a superhero, 

which would you be? 

Batman 

B – Boyhood: Who was your favourite 

sporting idol growing up? 

Wayne Rooney 

C – Childhood: What is your favourite 

childhood memory? 

Mini World Cup for Enniskerry FC 

D – Dish: What’s your go-to pre-match 

meal? 

French toast 

E – Education: What was your favourite 

subject in school? 

Biology 

F – Film buff: What’s your favourite film? 

The Pursuit of Happiness 

G – Groove: Who is the best dancer in 

the squad? 

Cormac Foley 

H – Holiday: What’s your favourite 

holiday destination? 

Anywhere with my toes in the sand 

and a drink in my hand

O – Others: What’s your 

favourite sport outside of rugby? 

Golf 

P – Pal: Who is your best mate in 

the squad? 

Everyone 

Q – Quirky: Who has the most 

interesting fashion sense? 

Marty Moloney 

R – Red Carpet: Who is the most 

famous contact in your phone? 

Jamie Osborne aka Showbiz 

S – Superstitions: Do you have 

any matchday routines? 

Listen to music on the bus in! 

T – Trim: What’s the worst 

haircut you’ve ever had? 

Mullet 

U – Under pressure: Who in the 

squad would be the best in a 

bad situation? 

Charlie Ryan 

V – Verified: How often do you 

use social media? 

Every day 

W – Worst fear: What are 

you most scared of? 

David Hawkshaw 

X – X-ray: Have you ever 

broken any bones? 

Yes. Hand and collar bone 

Y – Youth: Where did you 

grow up? 

Enniskerry 

Z – Zoo: What’s your favourite 

animal? 

Flamingo 


na Gaeilge 

le 

Tús maith, leath na hoibre mar a 

deirtear, agus bhí an chuma sin 

ar an scéal tar éis an tús a chur 

na Lions leis an gcomórtas URC 

i mbliana. Sa chéad bhabhta, 

scóráil siad cúig úd agus 38 pointe 

chun an bua a fháil as baile in 

aghaidh Zebre san Iodáil. Bhí 

orthu a bheith compórdach a 

bheith ag imirt as baile freisin; 

níor imir siad cluiche baile go 

dtí mí Eanáir mar gheall ar 

impleachtaí na paindéime san 

Afraic Theas le linn an chomórtais. 

Cinnte, cuireann an taisteal leis an 

dúshlán ach is léir go raibh sé ródhúshlánach 

dóibh; níor tháinig na Lions 

amach ar an taobh cheart de na cluichí 

a bhí le teacht. Chaill siad in aghaidh 

na Scarlets i mbabhta a dó, Glaschú i 

mbabhta a trí, agus Ulaidh i mbabhta a 

ceathair. Bhí leid ann go raibh rudaí ag 

athrú agus go raibh na Lions ag socrú 

isteach sa chomórtas. Thaistil siad go 

Staid DHL chun aghaidh a thabhairt 

ar na Stormers i mbabhta a cúig agus 

bhuaigh siad 19-37, ag tabhairt an pointe 

bónais leo. 

Faraor, d’athraigh cinniúint na foirne ina 

dhiaidh an chluiche sin agus b’é sin an 

bua deireanach a bhí acu sa chomórtas 

go dtí seo. Bhí dhá chluiche baile le 

teacht tar éis an bhua ollmhóir sin in 

aghaidh na Stormers, ach mar a luaigh 

mé cheana, níor imríodh na cluichí in 

aghaidh Cardiff nó Mumha mar gheall 

ar Covid 19. 

D’imir na Lions a gcéad chluiche sa 

bhaile, in Emirates Airlines Park, ar an 

22ú lá d’Eanáir in aghaidh na Sharks, 

foireann a bhí ró-láidir dóibh ar an lá 

cinniúnach sin. Sé úd a scóráil na Sharks 

ar an lá (fuair na Lions cúig cinn dóibh 

féin) agus d’fhás an t-éadochas i measc a 

lucht leanúna. Chaill siad in aghaidh na 

Bulls faoi dhó sular chaill siad in aghaidh 

na Stormers sa bhaile arís. 

Tá dúshlán ollmhór os comhair na Lions 

anocht agus iad ag tabhairt aghaidh ar 

Laighin don chéad uair, ní hamháin sa 

chomórtas seo, ach an chéad uair riamh 

anall. Tá na Lions sa 14ú áit sa tsraith 

faoi láthair agus níl ach dhá chluiche 

buaite acu go dtí seo in aghaidh Zebre 

agus na Stormers. Is léir go bhfuil an 

fhoireann ón Afraic Theas ag streachailt 

go dtí seo i mbliana ach tá deis ollmhór 

acu é sin a athrú anocht agus cuí a chur 

ar a séasúr. 

Scéal iomlán difriúil atá ann do na 

Laighnigh agus iad ag dul go maith 

sa chomórtas. Tá siad sa chéad áit sa 

tsraith agus is léir go bhfuil siad ag baint 

taitnimh as an dúshlán difriúil a thairg 

an comórtas nua seo dóibh. Don chéad 

uair, ní raibh cluichí URC ceaptha is 


a bheith á n-imirt i rith an chomórtais 

Sé Náisiún (nó taobh le haon chluiche 

idirnáisiúnta) agus, mar thoradh de sin, 

ní raibh imreoirí móra ó fhoirne na URC 

in easnamh. Bhí ar na foirne a n-imreoirí 

is láidre a chur ar an bpáirc; chiallaigh 

sé sin nach raibh móran deiseanna ag 

imreoirí eile imirt. Bíonn dúshlán ann i 

gcónaí cinnteacht a dhéanamh go bhfuil 

imreoirí ag fáil neart ama ar an bpáirc 

ach méadaíodh an dúshlán sin i mbliana. 

Thosaigh Laighin an séasúr le bua 

ollmhór in aghaidh na Bulls sa bhaile 

agus lean siad ar aghaidh sa chaoi sin, 

ag buachan in aghaidh na Dragons, 

Zebre, na Scarlets, agus Glaschú sna 

chéad chúig bhabhta. Ach tháinig an 

chéad chonstaic rompu i mbabhta a sé 

nuair a thaistil Ulaidh síos an M1 go 

dtí an RDS i mí na Samhna. Ní minic 

a bhíonn an bua ag an bhfoireann as 

baile agus iad ag imirt i mBaile Átha 

Cliath ach b’shin a tharla ar an oíche 

Gheimhridh sin. 

Bhuaigh Laighin in aghaidh Connacht 

an deireadh seachtaine ina dhiaidh sin 

ach, faraor, díreach ar nós na Lions, bhí 

tionchar ag an bpaindéim orthu freisin. 

Ní raibh cluiche ag an gcúige ar feadh 

tamaill agus ba chonstaic eile í sin dóibh. 

Chuaigh siad ar ais chun páirce áfach 

agus tar éis cluichí in aghaidh Cardiff, 

Dún Éideann, agus na hOspreys, tá siad 

ag tabhairt aghaidh ar na Lions anois 

don chéad uair riamh. 

Bíonn cluichí mar seo i gcónaí suimiúil 

mar níl aithne ag na himreoirí seo ar a 

chéile in aon chor. B’fhéidir go raibh 

duine nó beirt ar an bhfoireann chéanna 

ag am éigin (ní raibh sa chás seo) 

nó b’fhéidir gur imir duine nó beirt in 

aghaidh a chéile i gcluiche idirnáisiúnta. 

Ach níl taithí acu ag imirt in aghaidh a 

chéile. 

Nuair a imríonn na cúigí in aghaidh a 

chéile bíonn a fhios ag gach imreoir 

céard atá le teacht nó, ar a laghad, 

bíonn tuairim mhaith acu. Tá aithne 

ag Johnny Sexton ar Joey Carbery 

agus tá aithne ag Bundee Aki ar Stuart 

McCloskey. Tá siad compordach sna 

cluichí seo mar gur imir siad in aghaidh a 

chéile arís is arís eile agus tá nósanna a 

bhfreasúra ar eolas acu. Ach sna cluichí 

seo, nuair a imríonn dhá fhoireann in 

aghaidh a chéile don chéad uair riamh, 

níl an t-aitheantas sin ann. Níl nósanna 

an fhreasúra, san ionsaí nó sa chosaint, 

ar eolas acu. Bíonn fiosracht ann. 

Is maith leis na Lions an liathróid a 

chiceáil agus muinín a chur ina gcuid 

fisiciúlachta sa chosaint. Ar an lámh eile, 

bíonn Laighin breá sásta seilbh na peile 

a choinneáil áit ar bith ar an bpáirc agus 

ní theastaíonn fiú struchtúr uathu agus iad 

ag imirt. Is cuma cén uimhir atá ar dhroim 

an imreora, bíonn siad uilig sásta pas a 

chaitheamh agus cinneadh a dhéanamh 

am ar bith. 

Ach ag an am céanna, cé go mbeidh 

fiosracht ann, agus ar ndóigh beidh an 

dá fhoireann ag iarraidh an cluiche a 

bhuachan, is deis í seo rud éigin nua 

a chruthú idir na foirne seo, iomaíocht 

nua nach bhfacamar riamh. B’fhéidir go 

mbeidh teannas eatarthu; b’fhéidir go 

bhfeicfimid cluiche cóngarach fisiciúil 

nó b’fheidir go bhfeicfimid cluiche lán le 

hionsaí. Ní bheadh a fhios agat. 

Tosaíonn gach aon iomaíocht le cluiche 

amháin agus b’fheidir gur tús é seo 

d’iomaíochta fhada speisialta. Beidh 

dhá fhoireann ag iarraidh a stampa féin 

a chur ar an gcluiche. Beidh na Lions 

ag iarraidh Baile Átha Cliath a fhágail 

le bua agus beidh Laighin ag iarraidh a 

lucht leanúna baile a shásamh. Cé acu 

a bhéas an bua? Beidh a fhios againn 

go luath! 


THE SPIRIT OF 

UNITED RUGBY 

CHAMPIONSHIP. 

Enjoy responsibly 

DISCOVER THE SPIRIT WITHIN | 

#SAVOURTHEMOMENT

leinster 

squad 

2021/22 season 

Vakh Abdaladze #1263 

PROP 

DOB: 06/02/1996 

HEIGHT: 1.88m 

WEIGHT: 121kg 

Michael Ala’alatoa #1301 

prop 

DOB: 28/08/1991 

HEIGHT: 1.91m 

WEIGHT: 127kg 

7 

CAPS 

Ryan Baird #1278 

LOCK 

DOB: 26/07/1999 

HEIGHT: 1.98m 

WEIGHT: 113kg 

7 

CAPS 

Adam Byrne #1213 

WING / FULL BACK 

DOB: 10/04/1994 

HEIGHT: 1.91m 

WEIGHT: 98.18kg 

1 

CAP 

Ed Byrne #1222 

6 

CAPS 

Harry Byrne #1280 

2 

CAPS 

Ross Byrne #1236 

13 

CAPS 

Thomas Clarkson #1285 

PROP 

DOB: 09/09/1993 

HEIGHT: 1.8m 


FLY HALF 

DOB: 22/04/1999 

HEIGHT: 1.9m 

WEIGHT: 95kg 

FLY HALF 

DOB: 08/04/1995 

HEIGHT: 1.9m 

WEIGHT: 92kg 

PROP 

DOB: 22/02/2000 

HEIGHT: 1.85m 

WEIGHT: 118kg 


Jack Conan #1223 

24 

CAPS 

7 

CAPS 

Will Connors #1264 

9 

CAPS 

Sean Cronin #1202 

72 

CAPS 

Max Deegan #1256 

1 

CAP 

NO. 8 

DOB: 29/07/1992 

HEIGHT: 1.93m 


BACK ROW 

DOB: 04/04/1996 

HEIGHT: 1.96m 

WEIGHT: 100kg 

HOOKER 

DOB: 06/05/1986 

HEIGHT: 1.78m 


NO. 8 

DOB: 01/10/1996 

HEIGHT: 1.93m 

WEIGHT: 110kg 

Peter Dooley #1230 

Caelan Doris #1268 

14 

CAPS 

Jack Dunne #1276 

Ciaran Frawley #1265 

PROP 

DOB: 04/08/1994 

HEIGHT: 1.83m 

WEIGHT: 117kg 

BACK ROW 

DOB: 02/04/1998 

HEIGHT: 1.93m 

WEIGHT: 107kg 

LOCK 

DOB: 21/11/1998 

HEIGHT: 2.03m 

WEIGHT: 120kg 

FLY HALF 

DOB: 04/12/1997 

HEIGHT: 1.91m 

WEIGHT: 98kg 

Tadhg Furlong #1220 

PROP 

DOB: 14/11/1992 

HEIGHT: 1.83m 

WEIGHT: 125kg 

54 

CAPS 

13 

CAPS 

Jamison Gibson-Park #1247 

SCRUM HALF 

DOB: 23/02/1992 

HEIGHT: 1.75m 

WEIGHT: 80kg 

14 

CAPS 

David Hawkshaw #1290 

FLY HALF / Centre 

DOB: 03/07/1999 

HEIGHT: 1.75m ) 


Cian Healy #1142 

PROP 

DOB: 07/10/1987 

HEIGHT: 1.85m 


114 

CAPS 

2 

CAPS 

Robbie Henshaw #1251 

54 

CAPS 

9 

CAPS 

Dave Kearney #1158 

19 

CAPS 

Hugo Keenan #1253 

18 

CAPS 

Ronan Kelleher #1277 

18 

CAPS 

CENTRE 

DOB: 12/06/1993 

HEIGHT: 1.9m 



DOB: 19/06/1989 

HEIGHT: 1.8m 

WEIGHT: 90kg 

FULL BACK 

DOB: 18/06/1996 

HEIGHT: 1.85m 


HOOKER 

DOB: 24/01/1998 

HEIGHT: 1.83m 

WEIGHT: 105kg 


Jordan Larmour #1258 

30 

CAPS 

Dan Leavy #1231 

11 

CAPS 

WING 

DOB: 10/06/1997 

HEIGHT: 1.78m 

WEIGHT: 90kg 

FLANKER 

DOB: 23/05/1994 

HEIGHT: 1.91m 


for full squad profiles 

please click here 

James Lowe #1262 

9 

CAPS 

Nick McCarthy #1241 

Luke McGrath #1206 

19 

CAPS 

Michael Milne #1279 


DOB: 08/07/1992 

HEIGHT: 1.88m 

WEIGHT: 105kg 

SCRUM HALF 

DOB: 25/03/1995 

HEIGHT: 1.8m 


SCRUM HALF 

DOB: 03/02/1993 

HEIGHT: 1.75m 


PROP 

DOB: 05/02/1999 

HEIGHT: 1.83m 

WEIGHT: 115kg 

Jimmy O’Brien #1272 

Conor O’Brien #1260 

Josh Murphy #1261 

Ross Molony #1233 

LOCK 

DOB: 11/05/1994 

HEIGHT: 1.96m 

WEIGHT: 113kg 

FLANKER 

DOB: 17/02/1995 

HEIGHT: 1.98m 

WEIGHT: 110kg 

CENTRE 

DOB: 06/02/1996 

HEIGHT: 1.91m 

WEIGHT: 100kg 

CENTRE 

DOB: 27/11/1996 

HEIGHT: 1.83m 

WEIGHT: 88kg 

Tommy O’Brien #1283 

Rory O’Loughlin #1248 

1 

CAP 

Scott Penny #1271 

Andrew Porter #1246 

42 

CAPS 

CENTRE 

DOB: 28/05/1998 

HEIGHT: 1.83m 

WEIGHT: 95kg 

CENTRE 

DOB: 21/01/1994 

HEIGHT: 1.88m 


FLANKER 

DOB: 22/09/1999 

HEIGHT: 1.83m 

WEIGHT: 104kg 

PROP 

DOB: 16/01/1996 

HEIGHT: 1.83m 



Garry Ringrose #1237 

39 

CAPS 

Rhys Ruddock #1167 

27 

CAPS 

James Ryan #1259 

42 

CAPS 

Johnny Sexton #1127 

102 

CAPS 

14 

CAPS 

CENTRE 

DOB: 26/01/1995 

HEIGHT: 1.85m 

WEIGHT: 96kg 

BACK ROW 

DOB: 13/11/1990 

HEIGHT: 1.91m 


LOCK 

DOB: 24/07/1996 

HEIGHT: 2.03m 

WEIGHT: 115kg 

FLY HALF 

DOB: 11/07/1985 

HEIGHT: 1.88m 

WEIGHT: 90kg 

Dan Sheehan #1286 

HOOKER 

DOB: 17/09/1998 

HEIGHT: 1.91m 


4 

CAPS 

Devin Toner #1128 

LOCK 

DOB: 29/06/1986 

HEIGHT: 2.11m 

WEIGHT: 127kg 

70 

CAPS 

James Tracy #1211 

HOOKER 

DOB: 02/04/1991 

HEIGHT: 1.83m 

WEIGHT: 106kg 

6 

CAPS 

Josh van der Flier #1228 

FLANKER 

DOB: 25/04/1993 

HEIGHT: 1.85m 

WEIGHT: 103kg 

37 

CAPS 

Coaching 

Staff 

2021/22 season 

LEO CULLEN 

HEAD COACH 

STUART LANCASTER 

SENIOR COACH 

ROBIN MCBRYDE 

ASSISTANT COACH 

FELIPE CONTEPOMI 

BACKS COACH 

EMMET FARRELL 

KICKING COACH AND 

LEAD PERFORMANCE ANALYST 

GUY EASTERBY 

HEAD OF RUGBY OPERATIONS 

DENIS LEAMY 

CONTACT SKILLS COACH 


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and Wellbeing 

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Sports Capital and 

Equipment Grants 

Bumper windfall for 

clubs in the Southeast 

WORDS: DEBORAH CARTY 

In the latest round of funding 

from the Sports Capital and 

Equipment Grants, the South-East 

saw a bumper windfall of over 

€630,000 allocated over nine 

clubs. 

The lucky recipients were, Arklow RFC, 

Co Carlow FC, Enniscorthy RFC, Gorey 

RFC, Kilkenny RFC, New Ross RFC, 

Rathdrum RFC, Tullow RFC and Wexford 

Wanderers RFC. 

This latest funding will help hard-hit clubs 

buy new equipment, upgrade lighting, 

pitches, car parks and clubhouse facilities 

in the upcoming months. 

We asked some of the clubs in the South- 

East what were their plans for the funds: 

Arklow RFC 

Arklow RFC recently received €138,000 

under the Sports Capital and Equipment 

Grant. The application was for the 

replacement and the improvement of 

pitch floodlights from halogen to the 

energy efficient LED lights which will 

improve the overall light quality at the 

club. 

Arklow wish to express their gratitude 

to Senator Pat Casey for his help and 

guidance throughout the application 

process. 

Co Carlow FC 

County Carlow Football Club was 

awarded €100,999 in the recent round 

of sport grant announcements. 

The club requested the funding for 

pitch drainage, for the purchase of a 

lawnmower and for the erection of a 

shed for storage. 

It was thought that Carlow would host the 

final of the 2022 Towns Cup final. The 

club’s hope now is that Carlow will host 

the 2023 final which coincides with the 

150th anniversary. It is also hoped that 

by then, they will have the remedial work 

carried out on the main pitch, hence the 

importance of the grant. 

Enniscorthy RFC 

Enniscorthy received €51,500 in grant 

money which will got to providing ballstopper 

nets behind both pitches that 

back on to housing, this will be a huge 

help. 

The balance of the money will be used 

to purchase a new tractor mower. Many 

thanks to all involved. 

Kilkenny RFC 

An exciting day for Kilkenny RFC, who 

were successful with their Sports Capital 

Grant application, receiving €150,000 

in funding. The club recently self-funded 

and completed the latest phase in the 

upgrade of their complex in Foulkstown, 

extending their existing dressing room 

with two additional dressing rooms, 

shower block and referees’ room, with 

a large, state of the art gym added also 

added. 

The funds received through the 2022 

sports capital grant will be allocated 

to the next phase of their development 

plans. Works scheduled for completion 

under the Sports Capital Funding include 

the erection of an aluminium mesh fence 

around their main pitch and the upgrade 

of the existing flood lighting to LED 

lighting. 

Additionally, works will be completed to 

increase safety around Foulkstown. Fire 

safety upgrades will be completed with 

the clubhouse, while the car park will be 

marked with appropriate markings and 

increased directional signage. 

The successful grant application is the 

culmination of positive collaboration 

between various committee members. 

The club are very grateful to everyone 

who contributed towards helping and 

assisting with the application, including 

club committee members and TDs John 

McGuinness (Fianna Fail) and John Paul 

Phelan (Fine Gael). 

New Ross RFC 

The President and Committee of New 

Ross RFC are delighted to have been 

awarded €79,000 in the latest round of 

Sports Capital funding. 

The club has a long-held plan to 

floodlight, to match standards, the main 

pitch in order to facilitate evening kickoffs 

which will greatly benefit the club 

and its playing members. This funding will 

allow this aspiration to be realised. 

The Club Committee has already begun 

the process of detailed planning so that 

the project may be completed over the 

summer period. 

Great thanks are due to Club Secretary, 

Michael Seale, for the trojan work he 

performed in pursuit of this award. 


New Ross RFC, who have just been 

promoted to Div 2A, are looking forward 

to welcoming all visiting clubs to play at 

the new floodlit facilities in the coming 

seasons. 

Rathdrum RFC 

Rathdrum RFC are delighted to receive 

funding of €27,997 in the latest capital 

sports grants. The assistance with funding 

will allow the club to make important 

developments and enable them to 

continue to support grass roots rugby in 

Rathdrum from minis and youths up to 

Senior level. The Committee wishes to 

express its thanks to all involved in the 

process. 

Tullow RFC 

Tullow RFC and other clubs in Co Carlow 

received vital funding under the Sports 

Capital Grant. 

Tullow RFC received €21,760 in funding 

which will go towards gym equipment 

and energy efficient upgrades in the club. 

Thank you to everyone who helped with 

the application. 

Wexford Wanderers 

Wexford Wanderers RFC were 

delighted to announce that they have 

been awarded a sports capital grant of 

€145,284. 

This funding will enable the completion 

of Phase 1 of Project 24, their ambitious 

Centenary Project, which aims to 

redevelop and expand the club facilities. 

In recent years, Wexford has experienced 

an exponential growth in numbers 

attending minis, youths, girls and women’s 

sessions. This rapid and welcome influx of 

numbers has resulted in the club facilities 

operating at capacity and limiting their 

ability to support additional members. 

Club Chairman, Tony Connolly spoke of 

the pressing need to expand the current 

facilities: “This is an exciting time for the 

club with our centenary approaching 

and, on the field, we are going from 

strength to strength, we can see the hard 

work paying off and its fantastic to see 

the players getting the rewards. 

“But, we need to improve our facilities. 

We are operating above capacity; 

the club currently has four changing 

rooms and three pitches. The increase in 

membership numbers at underage level 

both male and female, means the club 

desperately needs to provide additional 

dressing rooms and toilet facilities 

especially with our growing numbers of 

children and women. 

“We have an ambitious plan, we 

are looking beyond this centenary 

celebration and looking to secure the 

long-term future of our club. This sports 

capital grant is a major first step along 

this path.” 

The club would like to thank all involved 

in this tough process. 

The South-East Area Committee and all 

clubs in the Area would like to thank all 

their committee members for their trojan 

work in getting the applications in, and to 

give special thanks to their various local 

Councillors and TDs for all their help and 

guidance in getting the funding over the 

line. 

We expect the clubs to be extremely busy 

over the summer period as they begin 

their works. 


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compiled by stuart farmer 

media services limited 

Leinster Player 

Statistics 

SQUAD 

CAP 

NO 

DEBUT 

2021/22 SEASON FOR LEINSTER LEINSTER CAREER 

ALL GAMES URC EPCR ALL GAMES PRO14/URC EPCR 

App Try Pts App Try Pts App Try Pts App Try Pts App Try Pts App Try Pts 

SINCE LAST TRY 

CAPS 

VAKH ABDALADZE 1263 2 DEC 17 0+4 1 5 0+3 1 5 0+1 - - 0+16 2 10 0+15 2 10 0+1 - - 1 - 

MICHAEL ALA'ALATOA 1301 25 SEP 21 8+4 1 5 7+2 - - 1+2 1 5 8+4 1 5 7+2 - - 1+2 1 5 5 WS 7 

RYAN BAIRD 1278 27 APR 19 5+4 1 5 4+3 1 5 1+1 - - 17+19 7 35 15+14 7 35 2+5 - - 4 IR 7 

ADAM BYRNE 1213 29 DEC 12 4+1 4 20 4+1 4 20 - - - 53+9 24 120 43+9 18 90 10 6 30 2 IR 1 

ED BYRNE 1222 9 FEB 14 4+3 1 5 4+3 1 5 - - - 23+54 11 55 23+43 10 50 0+11 1 5 5 IR 6 

HARRY BYRNE 1280 28 SEP 19 3+3 - 10 3+3 - 10 - - - 17+13 6 164 17+12 6 159 0+1 - 5 9 IR 2 

ROSS BYRNE 1236 4 SEP 15 8+4 2 93 6+3 1 60 2+1 1 33 78+38 8 743 64+21 3 531 14+17 5 212 5 IR 13 

THOMAS CLARKSON 1285 29 AUG 20 0+1 - - 0+1 - - - - - 2+9 - - 2+9 - - - - - - - 

JACK CONAN 1223 20 FEB 14 4 2 10 2 - - 2 2 10 84+25 25 125 61+15 16 80 23+10 9 45 2 IR 24 

WILL CONNORS 1264 9 FEB 18 1+1 - - 1+1 - - - - - 18+7 2 10 17+7 2 10 1 - - 12 IR 9 

TIM CORKERY 1298 12 MAR 21 - - - - - - - - - 0+2 - - 0+2 - - - - - - - 

SEAN CRONIN 1202 28 OCT 11 2+3 1 5 2+3 1 5 - - - 122+78 43 215 78+57 26 130 43+19 16 80 5 IR 72 

MAX DEEGAN 1256 3 DEC 16 3+8 3 15 3+5 3 15 0+3 - - 38+38 21 105 35+27 19 95 3+11 2 10 2 IR 1 

PETER DOOLEY 1230 31 OCT 14 0+5 - - 0+5 - - - - - 40+58 5 25 38+52 5 25 2+6 - - 13 - 

CAELAN DORIS 1268 28 APR 18 7 2 10 4 2 10 3 - - 39+8 7 35 30+6 5 25 9+2 2 10 4 IR 14 

JACK DUNNE 1276 16 FEB 19 0+1 - - 0+1 - - - - - 2+14 - - 2+14 - - - - - - - 

CORMAC FOLEY 1299 24 APR 21 - - - - - - - - - 0+1 - - 0+1 - - - - - - - 

CIARAN FRAWLEY 1265 17 FEB 18 9+2 1 7 7+1 - 2 2+1 1 5 26+20 5 150 23+15 3 134 3+5 2 16 3 - 

TADHG FURLONG 1220 1 NOV 13 5 1 5 3 - - 2 1 5 78+41 9 45 45+33 3 15 33+8 6 30 2 IR 54 

JAMISON GIBSON-PARK 1247 2 SEP 16 4+3 3 15 2+2 - - 2+1 3 15 53+55 20 100 46+30 14 70 7+25 6 30 2 IR 14 

MARCUS HANAN 1295 19 FEB 21 - - - - - - - - - 0+3 - - 0+3 - - - - - - - 

DAVID HAWKSHAW 1290 2 NOV 20 - - - - - - - - - 0+8 1 14 0+8 1 14 - - - 4 - 

CIAN HEALY 1142 5 MAY 07 3+7 2 10 3+4 2 10 0+3 - - 159+82 29 145 93+52 15 75 64+29 13 65 1 IR 114 

ROBBIE HENSHAW 1251 8 OCT 16 3 1 5 2 1 5 1 - - 59+1 12 60 27 6 30 32+1 6 30 3 IR 54 

DAVE KEARNEY 1158 16 MAY 09 2 - - 2 - - - - - 149+22 51 255 123+15 44 220 25+6 7 35 9 IR 19 

HUGO KEENAN 1253 5 NOV 16 8 3 15 5 1 5 3 2 10 35+3 7 35 27+3 5 25 8 2 10 1 IR 18 

RONAN KELLEHER 1277 22 FEB 19 5+2 4 20 2+2 3 15 3 1 5 25+7 13 65 16+5 11 55 9+2 2 10 3 IR 18 

JORDAN LARMOUR 1258 2 SEP 17 8 5 25 5 3 15 3 2 10 60+10 24 120 36+7 17 85 24+3 7 35 1 IR 30 

DAN LEAVY 1231 31 OCT 14 3+1 - - 3+1 - - - - - 46+30 17 85 38+20 13 65 8+10 4 20 5 IR 11 


SQUAD 

CAP 

NO 

DEBUT 


ALL GAMES URC EPCR ALL GAMES PRO14/URC EPCR 

App Try Pts App Try Pts App Try Pts App Try Pts App Try Pts App Try Pts 

SINCE LAST TRY 

CAPS 

JAMES LOWE 1262 2 DEC 17 5+2 3 15 4+1 1 5 1+1 2 10 57+2 37 185 38+1 26 130 19+1 11 55 1 IR 9 

JOE MCCARTHY 1303 29 JAN 22 1 - - 1 - - - - - 1 - - 1 - - - - - - - 

NICK MCCARTHY 1241 19 DEC 15 1+5 1 5 1+5 1 5 - - - 7+35 5 25 7+29 5 25 0+6 - - 2 - 

LUKE MCGRATH 1206 5 MAY 12 8+4 - - 7+2 - - 1+2 - - 110+53 39 195 76+45 31 155 34+8 8 40 14 IR 19 

MICHAEL MILNE 1279 28 SEP 19 - - - - - - - - - 1+15 2 10 1+15 2 10 - - - 14 - 

MARTIN MOLONEY 1300 24 APR 21 2 - - 2 - - - - - 2+1 - - 2+1 - - - - - - - 

ROSS MOLONY 1233 20 FEB 15 10+2 1 5 7+2 - - 3 1 5 74+54 5 25 69+39 4 20 5+15 1 5 5 - 

JOSH MURPHY 1261 3 NOV 17 3+1 - - 1+1 - - 2 - - 45+8 5 25 42+7 4 20 3+1 1 5 13 - 

JAMIE OSBORNE 1294 30 JAN 21 4+2 - - 4+2 - - - - - 6+6 1 5 6+6 1 5 - - - 7 - 

CONOR O'BRIEN 1260 3 NOV 17 1 - - 1 - - - - - 17+7 6 30 17+6 6 30 0+1 - - 10 - 

JIMMY O'BRIEN 1272 23 NOV 18 6+1 5 25 4 - - 2+1 5 25 32+10 12 62 28+9 6 32 4+1 6 30 3 - 

SEAN O'BRIEN 1297 12 MAR 21 - - - - - - - - - 0+2 - - 0+2 - - - - - - - 

TOMMY O'BRIEN 1283 20 DEC 19 1+5 - - 1+4 - - 0+1 - - 5+10 3 15 5+9 3 15 0+1 - - 11 - 

RORY O'LOUGHLIN 1248 2 SEP 16 4 - - 4 - - - - - 68+23 21 105 61+15 18 90 7+8 3 15 34 IR 1 

MAX O'REILLY 1291 2 JAN 21 - - - - - - - - - 6+1 1 5 6+1 1 5 - - - 6 - 

SCOTT PENNY 1271 23 NOV 18 5 4 20 5 4 20 - - - 28+6 20 100 28+6 20 100 - - - 1 - 

ANDREW PORTER 1246 2 SEP 16 6+1 3 15 3+1 2 10 3 1 5 34+50 14 70 26+31 10 50 8+19 4 20 1 IR 42 

GARRY RINGROSE 1237 12 SEP 15 8 1 5 5 1 5 3 - - 92+2 28 148 57+1 17 93 35+1 11 55 4 IR 39 

RHYS RUDDOCK 1167 6 DEC 09 7+4 1 5 6+3 1 5 1+1 - - 150+49 12 60 112+34 10 50 37+13 2 10 5 IR 27 

ROB RUSSELL 1302 3 OCT 21 1+2 - - 1+2 - - - - - 1+2 - - 1+2 - - - - - - - 

JAMES RYAN 1259 2 SEP 17 3 - - 3 - - - - - 47+6 3 15 25+1 1 5 22+5 2 10 13 IR 42 

JOHNNY SEXTON 1127 27 JAN 06 3+2 - 42 2+1 - 22 1+1 - 20 151+27 26 1549 89+20 13 855 60+7 12 663 18 IR 102 

DAN SHEEHAN 1286 23 OCT 20 3+5 7 35 3+2 4 20 0+3 3 15 6+15 13 65 6+12 10 50 0+3 3 15 1 IR 4 

ANDREW SMITH 1292 2 JAN 21 - - - - - - - - - 1+1 - - 1+1 - - - - - - - 

ALEX SOROKA 1296 28 FEB 21 0+1 - - 0+1 - - - - - 1+2 - - 1+2 - - - - - - - 

DEVIN TONER 1128 27 JAN 06 4+3 - - 4+2 - - 0+1 - - 210+63 4 20 144+44 4 20 63+19 - - 56 IR 70 

JAMES TRACY 1211 4 NOV 12 3+3 2 10 3+3 2 10 - - - 60+75 16 80 53+47 15 75 7+28 1 5 3 IR 6 

LIAM TURNER 1287 23 OCT 20 - - - - - - - - - 4+2 - - 4+2 - - - - - - - 

JOSH VAN DER FLIER 1228 11 OCT 14 7+1 5 25 4+1 1 5 3 4 20 82+24 16 80 49+18 8 40 33+6 8 40 1 IR 37 


ALL GAMES URC EPCR ALL GAMES PRO14/URC EPCR OVERALL 

KICKING 

SUCCESS 

RATE 

C PG DG C PG DG C PG DG C PG DG C PG DG C PG DG ATT Career 

% 

- - - HARRY BYRNE 62.50% 5 - - 5 - - - - - 58 6 57 5 1 1 82 78.05% 

ROSS BYRNE 87.50% 31 4 - 17 4 - 14 - - 227 79 1 171 54 1 56 25 - 394 77.66% 

CIARAN FRAWLEY 100.00% 1 - - 1 - - - - - 52 7 - 49 7 - 3 - - 73 80.82% 

DAVID HAWKSHAW - - - - - - - - - - 3 1 - 3 1 - - - - 6 66.67% 

JIMMY O'BRIEN - - - - - - - - - - 1 - - 1 - - - - - 3 33.33% 

GARRY RINGROSE - - - - - - - - - - 4 - - 4 - - - - - 6 66.67% 

JOHNNY SEXTON 80.00% 18 2 - 8 2 - 10 - - 252 294 11 128 171 7 117 119 4 685 79.71% 


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ig picture 

19 February 2022 

Seán Cronin of Leinster is 

congratulated by teammates 

after making his 200th Leinster 

appearance after the United Rugby 

Championship match between 

Leinster and Ospreys at RDS Arena 

in Dublin. 


Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile 



offical leinster 

supporters club 

We’re back 

once again 

to Friday 

Night 

Lights for 

what is the 

last of the 

three home 

fixtures 

in quick 

succession 

at the RDS 

Arena. 

54 | www.leinsterrugby.ie 

Last Saturday evening was one 

that the 11,586 Leinster Rugby 

supporters in attendance will 

certainly be hoping doesn’t occur 

again for a long time as, whilst 

the team look to continue driving 

forward this weekend, we hope 

it’ll be on the pitch only and not 

in the stands where we were 

sitting through the driving wind 

and rain! 

Few teams it would seem escaped 

the misery of those elements and it 

was a testament to both the team and 

supporters who stayed ‘til the end to 

applaud all off. 

We’re back in action again this weekend 

where we welcome Emirates Lions to 

the RDS for what is the first encounter 

between both of these sides in the URC 

Championship. Not just this season, but 

ever, so this really is a case of entering 

into the unknown and trying to get an 

understanding and some insight into a 

team we’ve never played before. 

This fixture is the only one in the 

upcoming schedule for the Emirates Lions 

where they are playing away from home 

and so they’ll want to ensure that this 

quick visit to Europe is not in vain. 

For ourselves though, after returning to 

the top of the table last week, and with 

our nearest rivals Ulster not in action 

until the following week, this is a game 

that Leo and co will simply be looking to 

ensure we take another five points away 

with us. 

Following this it’s a trip away to Benetton 

and so the win here would give some 

comfort before we travel and also to 

ensure the pressure stays on Ulster. 

LEINSTER 

Played 10 Won 8 Drawn 0 Lost 2 

For 301 Against 128 

Bonus 7 Points 40 

EMIRATES LIONS 

Played 9 Won 2 Drawn 0 Lost 7 

For 177 Against 254 

Bonus 3 Points 12 

Emirates Lions come into this game 

having lost four of their last five fixtures, 

however, like a wounded animal, taking 

this for granted is the last thing we should 

be doing. 

We need to ensure that the focus is on 

the job in hand, and what’s on the pitch 

in front of us as opposed to looking at the 

form of our visitors and just assuming our 

home form will continue. 

As stated so often, but so accurately, this 

is a game neither side will want to lose 

as we look to build on recent form and 

our visitors look to stem the flow of recent 

losses. 

As always, we’re thankful for the support 

we as a committee get from Leinster 

Rugby, as well as you the supporters, and 

we encourage you to continue to show 

your support for the team through our 

social media channels. 

Yours in Rugby, 

Your OLSC Committee

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GETTING 

We check social media 

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SOCIAL 

the 12 counties 



Virtual Mascot 

Tadhg 

Gearty 

Age: 7 

School: St Colmcille’s Junior National School, 

Knocklyon 

Hobbies: Rugby 

Favourite Player: Tadhg Furlong 


WHERE ARE 

THEY NOW? 

JASON 

HARRIS-WRIGHT 

THEN: Jason 

played 17 

times for 

Leinster in 

the 2009/10 

and 2010/11 

seasons. 

NOW: He 

lives in 

Carrickmines 

with his 

girlfriend 

and they are 

about to 

launch a new 

venture www. 

mypuppal.com, 

an outdoor 

doggy daycare 

business. 


I do also 

remember 

how Johnny 

Sexton spoke 

really calmly, 

referencing 

how Liverpool 

had previously 

come back 

from 3-0 

against AC 

Milan in the 

Champions 

League final, 

how we could 

do the same. 

Jason Harris-Wright was both 

a beneficiary and a victim of 

circumstance in his time at Leinster 

Rugby. 

Originally an explosive No 8 at 

Presentation College Bray and Blackrock 

College, he was convinced to move into 

the front row by the advice of Leinster 

Academy duo Collie McEntee and Richie 

Murphy, his former coach at Pres Bray. 

It was a matter of genetics really. The 

hooker stood 5’10” tall, the measurables 

not conducive to playing professional 

rugby as a loose forward. 

He swapped the freedom of the back row 

for the claustrophobic, surrounded-onall-sides 

nuance of scrummaging and the 

isolated life of a thrower. 

“Initially, I was a bit reluctant, but Collie 

and Richie knew what they were talking 

about. It was a better chance for me to 

make it,” he says. 

“I felt I could still bring my strengths of 

physicality and ball-carrying and try to 

add them to the basics of the position. It 

helped that, growing up, Keith Wood was 

an idol of mine.” 

The process of learning the details of 

the front row always involves humiliation 

at the set-piece, known as ‘getting your 

wings’. 

“Anyone who tells you they haven’t been 

through that is spoofing,” he says. 

“There were plenty of days when we 

would have been preparing the first team 

scrum of, say, CJ van de Linde, Bernard 

Jackman and Stan Wright in the week of 

a game and we would be either going 

upwards or backwards. 

“You learn the most from ‘getting your 

wings’ because it forces you to find out 

why it is happening and what you can try 

and do about it in future.” 

The throwing was a different challenge 

entirely where the hooker was taken out 

of the almost anonymous nature of the 

scrum and given a stage on which to fail 

or succeed in a very public, personal 

way. 

“It was the lineout I was always more 

concerned about. It is so mental. It is 

something I am still very intrigued by, 

probably part of the reason I decided to 

do a masters in performance psychology. 


“It is such a mental challenge. One of 

the main reasons you have a routine 

as a goal-kicker, a golfer, a lineout 

thrower is to take away pressure, to 

remove the crowd and any other outside 

influences.” 

The transition from the back row to the 

front went very well. Jason stayed just 

one year in the Academy. In 2009, 

the second year meant a move up to 

a development contract, despite his 

inexperience in the position, earning 

a place beside Ian Madigan as the 

youngest members of an experienced 

squad that had just conquered Europe 

for the first time. 

“I was there learning, trying to pick up 

as much as I could from the senior guys, 

like Bernard and Ronnie McCormack, 

making one appearance against 

Glasgow late in the season,” he says. 

In 2010, Jason was the beneficiary of 

the misfortune of others. Jackman had 

just retired to offer an opening for a 

senior contract behind Richardt Strauss 

and John Fogarty. 

Then, in an unexpected turn of events, 

Fogarty made the decision to bring 

his career to a close, leaving Jason 

as second-choice to Strauss. This was 

the foundation for 16 more caps that 

season, three from the start against 

Ospreys, an Irish interprovincial against 

Ulster and Italians Aironi. 

In addition, there was Heineken Cup 

exposure against Racing 92 (twice), 

Saracens and in the final minutes of 

the 2011 Heineken Cup final against 

Northampton Saints. 

A little known fact is Jason could have 

started the final. Strauss picked up a 

nasty rib injury against Ulster the week 

before and couldn’t train all week. 

“I was preparing to start if Richardt 

didn’t pull through. It was pretty nervewracking, 

not knowing that week. Even 

10 minutes into the game, he went down 

with the rib. I thought I was coming on. 

But, Richardt shook it off. 

“If you had told me a year earlier, I 

would have been in that scenario, I 

wouldn’t have believed you.” 


He also had an interesting perspective 

on the legendary half-time talk as 

Leinster trailed 22-6 to The Saints. 

“The two main points I remember were, 

first, the scrum had come under immense 

pressure. Greg Feek put a plan in place 

which ended up being a huge part of 

the reason we came back. 

“The tweak, without getting too 

technical, was that we needed to lower 

our body height at scrum time and try 

to block their tighthead (Brian) Mujati 

from shearing in between our loosehead 

and hooker and also try and stop them 

from popping our front row up in order 

for them to move the scrum forward, 

which, thankfully, in the end, made a big 

difference to the outcome. 

“Second, I do also remember how 

Johnny Sexton spoke really calmly, 

referencing how Liverpool had 

previously come back from 3-0 against 

AC Milan in the Champions League 

final, how we could do the same. And 

how we had to score first in the second 

half.” 

In the aftermath, Jason felt it was just 

the start of a long career in blue even 

though the news had broken months 

before of the signing of Seán Cronin 

from Connacht. 

A conversation with coach Joe Schmidt 

confirmed the impression that the right 

decision was to move on. 

“That was disappointing for me. I 

wanted the challenge. But there was 

nothing I could do about it. I didn’t want 

to have the label as a Leinster Rugby 

player, but not play for Leinster,” Jason 

notes. 

The rest of the playing journey included 

stops at Bristol (2011-2012), Connacht 

(2012-2016), London Irish (2016-2017) 

and Bristol again (2017-2018). 

It all ended prematurely when the 

injuries started to pile up, a bad 

shoulder dislocation and torn cruciate 

ligament took away 18 months at 

Connacht and an unresolved meniscus 

issue in the other knee, requiring two 

operations, brought an end to it all. 

“I never managed to get back from 

that knee injury, and after the second 

surgery, the surgeon told me that I, 

unfortunately would have to retire,” he 

shares. 

A year in Houston to play in Major 

League Rugby turned into coaching 

for the season in the United States, an 

experience positive enough for Jason to 

continue when he came home. 

He is an assistant, handling the 

forwards and the breakdown, for both 

Castleknock College’s SCT and Navan 

in Division 1B of the All-Ireland League. 

He is also about to launch an outdoor 

doggy daycare business in April 

2022, called ‘My Pup Pal’ with his 

girlfriend Niamh Kiely on a plot of land 

they recently purchased in the Dublin 

mountains, on the way to Roundwood. 

The life of a professional coach might 

not be for him: “Never say never, but I 

don’t know if I have a burning desire to 

go into it, to be honest. 

“I put everything into playing, sacrificed 

so much. Every decision I made was 

around whether it would affect my 

performance. 

“It was all I thought about. It was my 

whole life. I don’t regret one minute of 

it. But, I have more balance in my life 

now.” 


Referees 

Corner 

BY DAN WALLACE 

Welcome to another edition 

of Referees Corner. 

We start on a sad note this 

week as we learned with great 

sadness of the death of longserving 

member, Greg Larkin. 

Greg was a long-time referee, 

mentor and assessor in the 

association and gave many 

great years of service to Leinster 

Rugby Referees. 

A proud Seapoint man, he assessed 

many referees, including myself, in their 

trial games and helped them on their 

refereeing journeys. We pass on our 

deepest sympathies to his family. 

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a h-anam dílis. 

Today’s match referee is Craig Evans 

from Wales assisted by Peter Martin and 

Want to get 

involved? 

Feel free to make contact with the Leinster Rugby Referees 

at hayley.whyte@leinsterrugby.ie If you are interested 

in becoming a referee get in contact with us through our 

Facebook, our website www.leinsterrugbyreferees.ie or 

through twitter @leinsterreferee. 


Stuart Gaffikin with Colin Stanley in the 

TMO box. Craig began refereeing in 

the World Rugby Sevens Series in 2016. 

He also refereed during the 2020 

Olympics. He made his URC, then 

PRO14, refereeing debut in 2018, 

and was awarded his first Six Nations 

Championship match between Italy 

and Ireland in the 2021 Six Nations 

Championship. He was appointed to the 

Tier One select group of referees in June 

2021. We wish the team well today. 

This season so far has seen 34 trainee 

referees come through the process of 

becoming a full member of Leinster 

Rugby Referees. Our trainee referees 

are managed through the process of 

becoming full members with support 

from Tom Colton (Trainee Referees 

Manager), Gordon Condell (Trainee 

Referees Assistant Manager), Sean 

Gallagher (IRFU Referee Manager 

for Leinster), Norman Carter (Head of 

Mentoring) and Jim Breen (Head of 

Evaluation). And, of course, the area 

representatives in each of the areas, 

Kevin McDermott in the South East, 

John Dunne in the North Midlands, Joe 

McDermott in the North East and Paddy 

Curran in the Midlands 

Our new recruits did their induction 

workshop, facilitated by Sean Gallagher 

last September, and then were sent out 

to referee youth games to get match 

experience. Our trainee refs received 

mentoring over a number of weeks and 

then did their assessment game. 

If they pass the assessment they are then 

put forward to become full members of 

Leinster Rugby Referees. Their name are 

submitted to the Executive Committee 

of Leinster Rugby Referees where they 

are nominated by their area rep to 

become full members. Once elected as 

full members the new referees are issued 

with their official kit and they continue to 

be appointed to youth matches as well 

as adult matches. 

The new referees then receive further 

mentoring and evaluation over the 

following months to help support them 

on their journey as a Leinster Rugby 

Referee. All our referees attend monthly 

meetings where different topics are 

discussed, for example scrum, line out or 

game management for example. Here 

is the experience of one of our newly 

qualified referees. 

Mentoring Objectives: 

• To support the referee with a view 

to retention 

• To assist and participate in the 

education and development of the 

referee 

• To identify and reinforce positive 

aspects of the performance 

• To suggest actions which the referee 

can implement to improve their 

performance 

Our main focus is on new trial members 

to support them at the start of their 

refereeing careers to get up to a 

standard to complete trial match, follow 

up mentoring is to assist with further 

development. Leinster Rugby referees 

have a panel of approximately 40 

members who have agreed to make 

themselves available to act as mentors. 

After a referee has been mentored, 

a report is completed by the mentor, 

this report focusing on actions which 

the referee can implement to improve 

their performance. The mentor process 

is also used to identify new referees 

who show particular potential and can 

be put forward for further coaching 

and development. The appointment of 

mentors is arranged by ‘Manager of 

Mentors’ in co-ordination with the area 

reps who appoint trial members in their 

area. 

Referee coaching is a valuable piece in 

the jigsaw of referee development. 

There is a panel of development 

referees who have been 

identified as having potential 

to progress their refereeing 

careers to a higher level. 

To help them achieve this, 

we have a focused group 

of coaches who mainly 

support this panel. 

There are two ways the 

coaches review games. They 

go out in person to watch games 

and then discuss the game with 

the referee afterwards and identify 

areas of improvement. We also have 

two ‘ref cams’ in operation. This is an 

excellent development tool for referees 

as they get to replay the game with an 

experienced coach. 

Rather than criticising the referee’s 

performance, the coaches aim to help 

the referee find their own solutions. 

Our referee coaches themselves are an 

experienced group who have refereed 

at the highest levels and really enjoy 

sharing their wisdom and experience 

with the next generation of referees. 


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MATCHDAY MINIS 

Kilkenny RFC 

Back L to R: Sonny McGlynn, Tadhg Leahy, 

Henry Comerford, Robert Selmon, John Holden, 

David Blanchfield, Matthew Cooke, Robbie Lodge, 

James Travers, Conor Hughes 

Front L to R: Billy Wyse, Keilan Egan, Darragh Ryan, 

Cormac Phelan, Max Egan, Darragh McDermott, 

Tadhg Maher Robbie Sheehan, Jamie Cahill, Gavin Ryan 

Coaches: Paddy Phelan (L) Pat Holden (R) 

Coaches not in picture: Brian Comerford, Victor Ryan, 

Lee Selmon, Shane McGlynn 

North Kildare RFC 

Players: Isaac Moran, Adam Groom, Josh Groom, 

Kit Cosgrave, Sean McEnerney, Sean Houlihan, 

Bobby Weld, Sam Foley, Bobby Dunne, Tadhg Farrell, 

Oisin O’Reilly, Robert Cullen, Coili Considine, Jamie Cleere, 

Max Woodward, Matthew Fogarty, Cian Igoe, 

Thomas Dunne, Andrew Dunne, Dylan Mooney 

Coaches: Ross Moran, John Houlihan, Jamie Groom, 

Davey Dunne, Brian O’Reilly 

Clontarf FC 

Players: Casey Feeney, Conor Shields, Daniel Armour, 

Daniel Cassidy, Daniel Hogan, Ethan O’Beirne, 

Finn Mullarkey, Hector O’Mahony, Hugo Stafford, 

James Morrissey, Joe Morrissey, Maxwell Blake, 

Kevin Dolan, Oisin Grogan, Sam Kennedy, Sam McKeown, 

Thristan Kennedy, Tim Kilfeather, Ultan Caulfield, 

Xavier Lonergan 

Coaches: Fintan Mullarkey, Tony Stafford 

Ratoath RFC 

Players: Ali Evans, Cian O’Callaghan, Conor McElvaney, 

Eoghan Murphy, Eoghan Kinsella, Finn Watsham, 

Hugo Cooke, Hugo Watsham, Jack Sheils, Jack Meehan, 

Liam Wade, Oscar Hennessy, Pierce Ryan, Rian Joyce, 

Theo De Bonis, Tom McNerney, Adam McIntyre, 

Adam McLoughlin, Daniel De Antolin-Rodriguez, 

Dylan Conway, Mark McNerney, Michael Kelly, 

Nevan McNally 

Coaches: Dermot Hennessy, Eoin Cooke, Jonathan Palmer, 

Adam Malone 


First, I want to start by welcoming you to my 

first column and thank you for reading. It’s 

been nice to reconnect with the Leinster Rugby 

supporters over the last few weeks and being 

able to tell the story of what I’ve been up to 

since hanging up the boots. 

As an introverted person, coming 

from the larger stadiums in South 

Africa that club teams play in to 

some of the smaller ones that you 

encounter in Ireland and Wales, 

it was quite exciting to be in that 

environment and atmosphere. It 

was so much more personal if I 

can put it that way which is why 

I’m so happy to be engaging with 

you again. 

We spoke about the Leinster faithful on a 

weekly basis regardless of conditions and 

whatever other elements were in play. 

They were fully behind the team and I 

think that type of commitment that you see 

from those fans, it makes it so much easier 

to want to play for them. 

Those of you who read my ‘Where Are 

They Now?’ piece will know that much of 

my work since retiring from the game has 

been centred around ‘Bookz and Bootz’, 

a foundation that I have set up to help 

young people from around the same area 

that I grew up in by introducing them to 

sport and, hopefully, some of the positive 

behavioural traits that it can help them to 

develop. 

As a person who is keen on providing 

those pathways and enabling 

development for those who might not 

have easy access to positive influences, 

I’ve been able to learn from my time 

at Leinster Rugby about putting those 

foundations in place for player and 

personal development. 

To see the success within the region and 

the production phase, that conveyor belt 

that everyone talks about that’s running 

through Leinster, is incredible. And, if you 

look at the Irish selection, the youth of 

those guys and the confidence of them 

coming through, it’s something that I’m 

quite keen to get a greater understanding 

for and I think it’s something that I can 

definitely see working in the region where 

I’m from in South Africa. 

As part of that, I have also partnered 

with a youth care facility which sees me 

spend three or four days a week doing 

on-pitch sessions with young boys, most of 

whom have found themselves in difficult 

positions from their social upbringing or 

in trouble with the law. 

Moving on to the on-field action, I’m 

going to add the South African viewpoint 

to this week’s action between Leinster and 

the Emirates Lions, one of the four new 

South African teams to join the United 

Rugby Championship this season. 

After winning in their first game against 

Zebre in Parma, results haven’t quite 

gone the way of the Lions, winning just 

one more of their eight games since 

then which can be down to a number of 

different factors. 

One of those is the new coaching team 

– as the years have passed by, I’m now 

in a position where I know more coaches 

than players involved in these teams – 

who will be trying to find their feet in a 

new environment while the franchise as 

a whole is experiencing a change to the 

northern hemisphere league. 

Trying to get that smoothness running, 

those things normally take half a season 

to a season, if not more. Now, they’ve 

found themselves a little bit on the 

back foot, whether that’s in the URC or 

the Currie Cup here locally, they are 

struggling a little bit in terms of finding 

that result. 


that bedding in process is completed for 

their new coaches. 

As a whole, it’s been a year of discovery 

for the new sides in the league, adapting 

to the European style of play and some 

of the weather that the players might not 

be too familiar with in South Africa. 

They’ve started to understand the 

different style and different approach. 

The expectation is that the conditions 

on that side of Europe can be quite 

limiting. If you look at the style of how 

the European teams are playing from a 

handling perspective, it’s class. In ball 

retention, they’ve reduced the errors that 

they do make. 

This weekend, they’re coming to the RDS, 

they want something to breed a bit of 

confidence for them, coming in as the 

underdogs, they’ll be thinking what better 

way than to get an away win against the 

leaders of the league. 

Being on a losing side as a professional 

rugby player is a strange situation to find 

yourself in, and in doing some coaching, 

assisting the backs with a local provincial 

side, SWD, I’ve noticed how important 

the small moments are in games. 

I like to try and understand a team’s 

system, how it works and how successfully 

it is driven before looking at any 

individuals within it. The Lions want to be 

exciting, they want to get the ball over 

the park. 

They are similar to Leinster from a fastgame 

perspective but at the moment 

they are struggling with ball retention, 

especially in transition, if you look at 

some of the tries that have been scored 

against them. 

Normally what would happen is when 

you find yourself in a transition period, 

from a coaching stance, that’s when 

you’ll find the small little things not adding 

up. I think if you look into and fix those 

little things, that’s when it’ll lead to better 

results at the end of the 80 minutes. 

It’s one little forced pass here, it’s one 

kick extra there, it’s one little slipped 

tackle, those are things that lead to a 

couple of tries being scored against you. 

Those are small things that have affected 

the Lions lately but may come right once 

The South African teams have to adapt 

to that, these guys can actually play, 

they’ve adapted well to it so now, 

how quickly can we adapt to it? 

Finding their feet, altering the 

style of play, especially at the 

set-piece, how the Europeans 

are thinking about certain 

things. In South Africa, you 

get accustomed to what might 

come when you’re at a set-piece, 

it’s slightly one-dimensional 

and predictable. The European 

teams’ model is smarter, they bring 

something that you might not have seen. 

That’s one of the things that only time will 

tell – how will they react to that? 

It’s going to take a season or two but 

statements like Sharks signing Eben 

Etzebeth last week show just how 

seriously these teams are taking the 

competition and will do in the coming 

years. 

Finally, as someone who made the move 

to Dublin, and later Wales, to play, some 

advice that I will give to the full-back 

ahead of the visit to the RDS is to wear 

longer studs! 

I remember my first season it was freezing 

so I was trying to feel my ears, my feet 

and then still have to catch a ball. I 

think I’m right in saying after the last 

week in Ireland that they could find 

themselves caught up in a storm on 

Friday. And where they are coming 

from at altitude as well! Dress up 

warm! 


TO MAXIMISE YOUR SPORTS AND EXERCISE 

PERFORMANCE THROUGH NUTRITION 

Optimum Nutrition and Leinster Rugby have partnered to help share good nutrition tips throughout 

the season to help you achieve your performance goals. Here are some simple tips and things to 

remember to help maximise your performance and help you recover quickly to come back stronger. 

Protein Rich. 

Protein provides your muscles with 

the building blocks to repair & grow. 

Carb-Up. 

Carbohydrate foods are king as they 

power high intensity play. 

Fuel-Up. 

Consume the majority of your 

carbohydrates around training to 

support fuelling and recovery. 

Recover. 

Quality rest & nutrition between 

training sessions is the key to 

recovery. Remember to: 

Repair with protein, 

Refuel with carbohydrate, 

Rehydrate with fluid. 

Hydrate. 

Dehydration can lead to a drop in 

exercise intensity & can impact your 

decision making. Drink 2-3 litres of 

fluid each day to ensure hydration. 

Game Day. 

To fuel performance on the field, 

consume a large carbohydrate rich 

meal 2-3 hours before kick-off, i.e. 

chicken & pasta, turkey bolognaise 

wraps. 

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using code Leinster20 on optimumnutrition.ie

KNOWING WHAT ADVICE TO TAKE 

IS ESSENTIAL IN THIS GAME. 

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COUNTRY 

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HOME GROUND 

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Opposition News 

eimirates 

lions 

Words: lionsrugby.co.za 

Emirates Lions head coach Ivan 

van Rooyen is set to unleash Ruan 

Venter and Junior Springbok, 

Quan Horn, when his side takes 

on Leinster Rugby in the United 

Rugby Championship at the RDS 

Arena. 

The two, who have been impressive in 

junior and senior provincial competitions 

in the last year, will line up in a match 23 

which sees centre Wandisile Simelane 

and Jordan Hendrikse make their return 

to the starting XV. 

“We’re excited to see how Ruan and 

Quan go tomorrow. It’s an extended 

opportunity for them to immerse 

themselves into our system and 

ultimately express their talent on the big 

stage,” said Van Rooyen. 

Van Rooyen further went on to comment 

on the privilege of touring as a team but 

at the same focusing on the job at hand 

come the weekend. 

“Touring is always a great opportunity for 

the guys to strengthen bonds and build 

on our culture, which bodes well for team 

culture and ultimately on-field synergy.” 

“In terms of our approach tomorrow 

night, the catalyst for us will be the 

ability to adapt our style of play and our 

decision making at key moments during 

the game,” cautions Van Rooyen. 


Van Rooyen is optimistic about his side’s 

set piece play despite the challenges at 

lock, with a considerable amount of his 

jumpers out with injury. 

“The focus will be ensuring we get 

accurate line-out ball to create a platform 

for us to launch our attack and hold onto 

possession for as long as we can. Leinster 

is a side that thrives on getting their hands 

on the ball,” he concluded. 

Elsewhere, Lunga Ncube and Nico Steyn 

are in line to make their competition 

debuts. 

The Lions made an ideal start to their 

campaign, winning 38-26 at Zebre 

Parma in the URC’s curtain-raiser. 

Jamba Ulengo scored the competition’s 

first try – one of five in the first half for the 

Lions as they raced into a 35-0 lead. 

However, Ivan van Rooyen’s men were 

unable to maintain their blistering start to 

the campaign when beaten 36-13 by the 

Scarlets in Llanelli the following week. 

Losses to Glasgow Warriors (13-9) 

and Ulster (26-10) followed before 

the Lions finally registered their second 

victory of the season upon their return to 

South Africa, winning 37-19 against the 

Stormers in Cape Town. 

That proved to be their only victory of the 

block of derbies, however, and they sit 

two places off the foot of the URC. 


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Head Coach 

Ivan van Rooyen 

Ivan van Rooyen initially joined 

the Lions as a strength and 

conditioning coach in 2009 and 

has since moved his way to the 

club’s top coaching job. 

He was credited with transforming the 

physical performance of the side over 

his years in the backroom staff and 

has highlighted the likes of Jacques 

Nienaber, a one-time physio, as one of 

his inspirations in switching to a more 

on-field position. 

He has been deeply involved in the side’s 

planning and process for years and 

represents a level of continuity in their 

choice as head coach. 

Captain 

Jaco Kriel 

Tonight’s captain for the Emirates 

Lions is Springbok Jaco Kriel, 

an 11-times capped flanker who 

made his international debut 

against Ireland in June 2016. 

He played all of his rugby up through 

the ranks with the Lions before moving to 

Gloucester in 2018. 

The 32-year-old spent two years with the 

English Premiership club before returning 

in 2020 to the Lions. 

lions squad 

FORWARDS 

WILLEM ALBERTS 

FLANKER 

PJ BOTHA 

HOOKER 

MORNE BRANDON 

HOOKER 

RUAN DREYER 

PROP 

JANNIE DU PLESSIS 

PROP 

FRANCKE HORN 

NO. 8 

PIETER JANSEN VAN VUREN 

LOCK 

JACO KRIEL 

FLANKER 

MORGAN NAUDE 

PROP 

REINHARD NOTHNAGEL 

LOCK 

ASENATHI NTLABAKANYE 

PROP 

CARLU SADIE 

PROP 

SIBUSISO SANGWENI 

FLANKER 

RUBEN SCHOEMAN 

LOCK 

STI SITHOLE 

PROP 

JEAN-PIERRE SMITH 

PROP 

PJ STEENKAMP 

LOCK 

RUHAN STRAEULI 

FLANKER 

VINCENT TSHITUKA 

LOCK 

EMMANUEL TSHITUKA 

FLANKER 

WILHELM VAN DER SLUYS 

LOCK 

RUAN VENTER 

LOCK 

JACO VISAGIE 

HOOKER 

BACKS 

EDDIE FOUCHE 

FLY-HALF 

JORDAN HENDRIKSE 

FLY-HALF 

QUAN HORN 

CENTRE 

RABZ MAXWANE 

WING 

MATT MORE 

CENTRE 

BURGER ODENDAAL 

CENTRE 

STEAN PIENAAR 

WING 

MANUEL RASS 

CENTRE 

DIVAN ROSSOUW 

FULLBACK 

WANDISILE SIMELANE 

CENTRE 

TIAAN SWANEPOEL 

FULLBACK 

JAMBA ULENGO 

WING 

MORNE VAN DEN BERG 

SCRUM-HALF 

EW VILJOEN 

CENTRE 

ANDRE WARNER 

SCRUM-HALF 

FRED ZEILINGA 

FLY-HALF 


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Club in Focus 

BALBRIGGAN 

RFC 

It happened even 

earlier than 

Caroline McFadden 

had expected. 

There were just 35 minutes gone 

when Ireland U-20 full-back 

Patrick Campbell withdrew 

with an injury for Aitzol King to 

complete the journey from wideeyed 

Balbriggan boy to young 

man in green against Wales on 

Friday, 4 February. 

Make no mistake, King would not have 

been there without the north Dublin club 

and those who gave of their time and 

energy to drill down on the basics of the 

game. 

“Aitzol came through the Balbriggan 

mini and youths system with his triplet 

brothers Kealan and Iker where they 

were coached by their dad Victor,” says 

McFadden, the Club President. 

“Aitzol got two run-outs at Christmas 

in the Ireland U-20 warm-up matches. 

He played really well in both games 

and there was an incredible amount of 

support for Aitzol from Balbriggan club 

members and from the wider community 

at those two matches. 

“His road to becoming an Ireland 

International has inspired so many in our 

club. It was a proud moment for Aitzol, 

for his family and for Balbriggan RFC.” 

The ambition to grow, progress and 

produce players, like Aitzol, would not 

be possible without the volunteerism 

that is the bedrock of every sporting 

organisation in the nation. 

“It is the dedication of the coaches that 

makes all the difference,” Caroline 

agrees. 

“They are at the club week-in, week-out. 

For instance the U-18 head coach, Kevin 


Colman, has brought those players 

right through from minis. He has been 

with them since they were U-6. Kevin is 

also the Club Youth Co-ordinator and is 

currently the Chairman of the North East 

Area Youths Committee. 

We are a community club. We 

always encourage new players to 

come in. We want to keep growing 

our numbers. 

“As with Kevin, the same goes for most of 

our coaches and volunteers in the club. 

For example, Eamon Darcy, who is the 

current U-15 head coach, has brought 

that team right through from minis. 

Eamon, a former Club President, is also 

on the Club Executive Committee. 

“Of course, we would hope coaches stay 

with the kids on their journey. It doesn’t 

always happen. People come in and out, 

do what they can do.” 

It is this time together that forges a bond 

between players, giving them a sense of 

community that comes through in their 

game. 

“The current crop of 15s, 16s, 17s, have 

gone on lots of tours together, to Italy 

(twice), to Spain and to Portugal where 

the relationships between the players 

and with the coaches became stronger,” 

she says. 

“Sadly, Covid has meant that the U-12, 

U-13, U-14s have missed out on so much, 

the blitzes, the chance to appear at halftime 

during Leinster’s matches, to go on 

tour to forge those lovely memories and 

cement relationships.” 

The opening up of society does offer 

a glimmer of hope that Balbriggan 

can get back to offering those special 

experiences. 

“We are just beginning to look forward 

to a time when those blitzes and tours will 


ecome an exciting part of the seasons 

ahead.” 

In fairness, Balbriggan is finally in a 

good place to offer their players the 

facilities that had been lacking for so 

long. 

“It was the end of February 2020, 

literally just before Covid, when the keys 

of the new clubhouse were handed over 

to Balbriggan,” she says. 

“We were established in 1925. We are 

a long time on the go. We reformed in 

1969 initially as a youth club, one of 

the first clubs to play youths rugby in the 

country, and we have been continuously 

in existence since then.” 

All the time, the members of Balbriggan 

craved the sense of home that a 

clubhouse would bring to what was 

otherwise just a pitch, a place to play. 

“We didn’t have a permanent home until 

that moment when we received the keys,” 

says Caroline. 

“We purchased farmland, developed top 

quality pitches and left them to rest for a 

year. We officially opened the grounds 

on September 1, 2007. 

“First, we developed three very good 

pitches, put in high-quality floodlights, 

training quality lights on two pitches and 

match quality lights on the main pitch. 

That was our focus.” 

Then came the drive and the passion to 

build the clubhouse, the €1m project 

delivering a rugby home to the club. 

“It consists of four changing-rooms, 

shared showering facilities, toilets, 

disabled toilets, a referees room, a small 

meeting room, a kitchen and a members 

area, where we can all come together 

for post-match hospitality. In time, fully 

post-Covid, it will act as the hub or the 

heartbeat of the club. 

“It means, finally, we have it off our back 

that we have what we have wanted for 

so long, a proper, complete club. Now, 

we can get on with concentrating on 

the reason why we are there – to play 

rugby.” 

There has been a dedication to entice 

the local population into the grounds at 


Bowhill, to sample what the game has 

to offer. 

“For the last number of years, we have 

worked very hard to build up the club. 

The town of Balbriggan is growing at an 

incredible rate. It is the youngest town in 

Ireland,” she reveals. 

“We are a community club. We always 

encourage new players to come in. We 

want to keep growing our numbers. 

“We realise it is hard to keep kids. They 

have so many options today. You do 

lose some. But, you gain some too, those 

who come later to the game. The door is 

always open. 

“Overall, our playing membership is 

around 350. We are now in a position to 

provide rugby for everybody, boys and 

girls, from ages five to 18. After that, we 

have the men’s and women’s teams and 

our special needs team, ‘The Stingers’.” 

They have gone the extra mile to 

ensure their girls can satisfy a need for 

competition. 

“Our youths girls are combined with 

Ashbourne at U-14, U-16 and U-18. It 

is important to mention that is how we 

found the best fit for developing girls 

rugby. It has been very successful. They 

are developing by playing in the Leinster 

Leagues. 

“Getting youths girls rugby started in the 

club was a vital step towards our club 

goal of providing rugby for everyone 

in our community. Credit to coaches 

Damian Sheridan, Steph Campbell, 

Darren Nulty and manager Emma 

O’Kennedy in all the work they do to 

ensure the development of this important 

newer section of our club.” 

The club is in a good place. That doesn’t 

mean the members are content to sit 

where they are now. 

“We are always striving to move 

forward,” adds McFadden. 

“Our next step is to develop pitches 

four and five, one as an all-weather 

sand-based grass pitch and the other for 

summer training and tag competitions.” 

It is all part of the plan to keep moving, 

keep improving. 



lee 

barron 

THE ACADEMY 

INTERVIEW 

BY PAUL CAHILL 

Most people can 

pinpoint the moment 

they fell in love 

with a sport. The 

result on the day 

isn’t necessarily 

important, but more 

the setting and the 

people you are with. 

For Academy player Lee Barron, 

his first big memory was pretty 

special. 

“My first ever Leinster Rugby game was 

against Munster in Croke Park in 2009. 

I remember that I went along with my 

dad, John, and my grandad, Sean. I was 

probably about eight years old. It was 

such a massive game to be at.” 

That famous 26-5 win in front of 80,000 

people had the Barron family hooked, 

and started their long association with 

Leinster Rugby that is still going strong. 

“We got a family season ticket at the RDS 

the following year. We went to every 

game for a few years, but then my own 

rugby kind of took over.” 

John Barron can also be thanked for 

starting Lee’s journey on the rugby field 


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as he brought him down for the first time 

to Lansdowne FC minis. 

“I joined Lansdowne FC when I was four 

or five years old. My dad dragged me 

down. A few of my pals were down there 

already so it was easy to get involved. It 

was great. I played there until I went into 

St Michael’s College.” 

It was after entering the gates of St 

Michael’s College that Barron really 

began to take his rugby seriously. 

One of his first coaches in the school 

would become a future team-mate, 

and someone who clearly had a big 

impression on the young hooker. 

“Josh Murphy came back and coached 

us at U-13 level when I was in first year. 

He would have been about 19 or 20 

years old. He helped us all of the way 

up. It’s a little but surreal playing with 

him now. Ross Byrne and Ross Molony 

helped our team along the way too. They 

were really committed to the coaching.” 

Winning the 2017 Bank of Ireland 

Leinster Rugby Schools Junior Cup was 

the perfect launch pad to prepare the 

hooker for Senior Cup rugby. 

In fourth year, Lee would earn the starting 

number two jersey, with his older brother 

Jay starting at first centre in the number 

12 jersey. It was a big few months in the 

Barron house. 

“Yeah, it was big for the family that we 

got to play one Senior Cup campaign 

together. I was in fourth year and my 

brother Jay was in sixth year. It felt 

strange at the start playing with him. I felt 

I had to protect him a bit more and he 

probably felt the same with me. You keep 

an eye out for each other. 

“He really helped me all of the way up. It 

was great for the family to see the two of 

us out there.” 

The campaign got off to a fine start as St 

Michael’s College beat Terenure College 

in the opening round and then beat 

Clongowes Wood College in the quarterfinal 

to set up a clash with reigning 

champions, Belvedere College. 

St Michael’s were leading Belvedere 

19-3 with just 10 minutes remaining 

and looked set for a spot in that year’s 

showpiece final. Jay scoring two of 

their three tries to give St Michael’s a 

commanding lead. 

But, a penalty and converted try later, 

Belvedere trailed by just six points as the 

clock went into the red. 

The most unlikely comeback was 

complete as the replacement Belvedere 

prop, Mateusz Galinski crashed over 

with the final play to make it a one 

point game. David Lacey landed the 

conversion to break St Michael’s fans 

hearts giving Belvedere a 20-19 victory. 

The Barron home was a quiet place that 

evening. 

“Our house was always on edge on 

game days, and the day after if we didn’t 

win. It was really tough to take that loss. 

A few of the doors were getting banged 

around when we got home that night.” 

That St Michael’s team included senior 

Leinster players Ryan Baird and Scott 

Penny, as well as current Academy 

players Chris Cosgrave, Andrew Smith, 

Jack Boyle and Mark Hernan. 

With talent like that in your ranks, it 

didn’t take long for success to come. The 

following year, St Michael’s College beat 

Gonzaga College 28-5 to lift the Senior 

Cup. 

Now, Lee Barron plays alongside a 

number of those teammates each day in 

the Leinster Rugby professional set up in 

UCD. 


“I’ve been playing with these guys for 12 

or 13 seasons now. It is strange moving 

into the professional game with so many 

lads I played with growing up. But that all 

goes down to St Michael’s. The coaching 

they provide is great. Everything is so 

professional. 

“I would have gone to watch Leinster with 

some of those lads in first and second 

year. It’s strange that we’re close to 

playing for the team now.” 

One of the biggest steps for an aspiring 

professional rugby player is moving into 

the full Leinster Academy. 

The physical demands jump significantly 

as you go from training part-time, to 

training with the senior team every day. 

It’s a move that every player can struggle 

with at times. 

“I found it very hard at the start as 

there is an expectation on you to know 

how everything works straight away. It 

definitely makes it easier having some of 

the older lads like Dan Leavy and Ross 

Molony always there to help.” 

There is one clear goal of every young 

player when they enter the Leinster Rugby 

Academy; to earn that first senior cap. 

With 11 of the current Leinster Academy 

players having already made their senior 

debut, it’s clear that the coaches are 

willing to give youth a chance. 

That is the incentive that drives Barron 

and his Academy teammates on. 


I have played 

seven games in 

the AIL so far. 

I definitely 

feel like I’m in 

a good place 

if I’m ever 

called upon. I’m 

staying match 

ready. 

“I am pushing hard and hopefully I can 

get that chance. It’s just about staying in 

there and getting that opportunity. You 

just have to stay ready. We usually have 

six hookers when the internationals are 

here, but we’ve four now, so any injuries 

or changes and you might get your 

chance.” 

But, Lee is clear that he doesn’t want to 

focus too far forward. He is happy to 

work on his short term goals. One of 

which is a strong finish in Division 1A of 

the Energia All-Ireland League. 

“I have been playing with Trinity this year 

too, so hopefully we can push for the top 

four, and if a Leinster Rugby cap comes 

too, that would be great. 

“Other Leinster lads like Jack Dunne, Joe 

McCarthy and Thomas Clarkson are 

playing with Trinity, so there’s loads of 

lads getting minutes with the team this 

year. It has definitely helped me. I have 

played seven games in the AIL so far. I 

definitely feel like I’m in a good place if 

I’m ever called upon. I’m staying match 

ready. 

“I don’t ever look too far down the road. 

I’m very much focused on what is in front 

of me. There are lots of things I would like 

to accomplish in my career, but right now 

I’m just thinking about getting Trinity into 

the top four of Division 1A and earning 

my first Leinster cap.” 

That clear focus has been key in getting 

Barron to where he is today. But, the 

Academy hooker is quick to point out the 

people who have been key to his journey. 

“My mum, Barbara, and my dad, Sean, 

have been great for me and my brother. 

They supported us the whole way. 

“The coaches from St Michael’s have 

also been a huge influence on me. Andy 

Skehan and Emmet McMahon were 

really great. I would talk to Andy twice 

a week at least. We would talk about 

rugby, how things are going in Michael’s 

and just about anything really. He was a 

big help in getting me to this point.” 

Closer to the pitch, Barron knows he can 

lean on the players who have walked the 

same path as him just a few years ago. 

“I’m lucky that I can talk to any of the 

lads who play in my position. 

“Rónan Kelleher is a Michael’s guy too. 

We talk quite a bit. Seán Cronin and 

James Tracy are great to talk to too and 

are always there to offer some advice. 

Everyone is always talking so it’s a very 

healthy environment for the Academy 

lads.” 


Leinster Rugby Academy 

Year Three 2021/22: 


Year two 2021/22: 

Second Row 

Brian Deeny 

DOB: 02/03/2000 

HEIGHT: 1.99m WEIGHT: 121kg 

HONOURS: Ireland U20 (8 caps) 

Did You Know: Brian played youth rugby with Wexford 

Wanderers RFC. He got his first Irish cap playing for 

Ireland Under-18 Sevens. Brian played midfield for 

his school St Peter’s College in Gaelic football and 

reached the All-Ireland Colleges Final in 2017. He is 

currently studying Science in Trinity and lives in Abbey 

House B&B, Wexford...if you are looking for a room?! 

Instagram: brian_deeny 

wing 

Niall Comerford 

DOB: 06/04/2000 


HONOURS: Ireland U20 

Did You Know: Niall played both hurling and Gaelic 

football with Kilmacud Crokes for 14 years. He also 

represented Dublin in Gaelic football in the U17 

Leinster Championship. He is currently studying 

Commerce in UCD. 

Instagram: niall_c123 

Cormac Foley #1299 

DOB: 24/10/1999 



& Leinster Rugby (1 cap) 

Marcus Hanan #1295 

DOB: 03/10/2000 

HEIGHT:1.8m WEIGHT:110.91kg 


& Leinster Rugby (3 caps) 

Scrum Half 

Did You Know: Started playing rugby with Greystones 

RFC when he was nine. Growing up, Cormac did a lot 

of show jumping and he is now studying Economics and 

Finance in UCD. 

Instagram: cormacfoley6 

prop 

Did You Know? Marcus is from Clane in Kildare and is the 

youngest of three. His dad went to the High School and then 

played rugby in Old Wesley before coaching back at Clane 

RFC. Marcus has Italian connections on his mother’s side with her 

father, Luigi Rea, being from Italy. Marcus is studying Business 

Management in Griffith College. Instagram: @marcus_hanan 

Back Row 

Martin Moloney #1300 

DOB: 19/10/1999 


HONOURS: Ireland U20 (5 caps) & 

Leinster Rugby (3 caps) 

Did You Know: Martin played hurling for Kildare and 

played GAA and basketball for his secondary school, 

Knockbeg College, and local GAA club, St Laurence’s. 

He played his youth rugby with Athy RFC. He is now 

studying Business and Law in UCD, He also enjoys 

working on the family farm. Instagram: martin_moloney 

Second Row 

Joe McCarthy #1303 

DOB: 26/03/2001 



Leinster Rugby (1 cap) 

Did You Know: Joe started playing rugby with Blackrock 

College RFC at the age of six before moving to 

Willow Park and then Blackrock College. He was also 

on the Blackrock swim team for five years. He’s currently 

studying Global Business in Trinity College Dublin. 

Instagram: joetmmcc 

Second Row 

Charlie Ryan 

DOB: 03/02/1999 



Did You Know: Charlie played youth rugby at Blackrock 

College RFC while also attending the school since 

Senior Infants. He captained Ireland to the U20 Grand 

Slam in 2019 and again for the U20s World Cup. His 

friends call him Chuck! He is currently studying Business 

and Legal Studies in UCD. 

Instagram: chuck_ryan5 

hooker 

John McKee 

DOB: 15/02/2000 



Did You Know: John grew up in Belfast going to school 

at Campbell College where he won a Senior Cup. He 

was involved with Ulster at age grade level until moving 

to Dublin after school. He also has multiple medals 

from Northern Irish Schools Judo competitions. 

Instagram: johnmckee_ 

Centre 

Liam Turner #1287 

DOB: 14/07/1999 




Did You Know: Liam started to play rugby at the age 

of six at Blackrock College RFC. He later joined 

Blackrock College and was part of the 2018 Senior Cup 

winning team. He was also part of the Ireland U20 team 

that went on to win the 2019 Grand Slam. Liam currently 

studys BESS in Trinity College. Instagram: liamtn123 

Centre / Full Back 

Jamie Osborne #1294 

DOB: 16/11/2001 

HEIGHT:1.93m WEIGHT:96.82kg 

HONOURS: Leinster Rugby (12 caps) 

Did you know? Jamie is studying commerce in UCD. His 

grandad, Paddy Osborne, was a horse trainer in Naas, 

while his dad played rugby all throughout his life and 

his mum played hockey. Other than rugby, Jamie loves 

all sports especially soccer, GAA and NFL. Jamie is 

currently in a house with fellow Leinster Academy players 

Brian Deeny, Martin Moloney and Max O’Reilly. 

Instagram: @jamieosborne01 


Seán O’Brien #1297 

Lee Barron 

Back Row 

DOB: 31/07/2000 




Did You Know: Seán started playing rugby at age 

six with Greystones RFC where he played up until Under-13. 

He then played on the Junior and Senior Cup 

teams in Blackrock College. He is currently studying 

Economics and Finance in UCD 

Instagram: seanobrien456 

Hooker 

DOB: 15/02/2001 


Did You Know: Lee played golf growing up in the 

Castle Golf Club and in the end was playing off a 

handicap of eight. He has family roots in Carlow but 

went to school in Dublin and attended St Michael’s College. 

As well as rugby with his school, he also played 

GAA and even lined out in Croke Park. 

Instagram: @lleebarron 

Max O’Reilly #1291 

Chris Cosgrave 

Full Back 

DOB: 26/02/2000 




Did You Know: Max is currently in his third year of 

Business and Management in DIT. His preferred sport 

was soccer until about the age of 15, which he had 

played at centre midfield with Enniskerry FC for over 10 

years and also for Wicklow. 

Instagram: max_oreilly 

full back 

DOB: 24/07/2001 

HEIGHT:1.83m WEIGHT:85kg 

Did You Know: Chris is a member of UCD RFC, where 

he is also an Ad Astra scholar studying Agricultural 

Science. His athleticism is best highlighted by his feats 

in the field of Athletics with All-Ireland honours to his 

name in both the 4x100m relay and the Discus. Before 

the UCD and St Michael’s College days, he played at 

a young age with Old Belvedere RFC. 

Instagram: @chriscosgrave1 

Andrew Smith #1292 

Mark Hernan 

DOB: 21/07/2000 




DOB: 04/07/2000 


Back Three 

Did You Know: Andrew is currently studying Quantity 

Surveying and Construction Economics in TUD. In 

2019, he won the Leinster Schools Senior Cup with St 

Michael’s College. Andrew also played Gaelic football 

with his local club - Clanna Gael Fontenoy GAA Club. 

Instagram: andrew.sm1th 

Flanker 

Did You Know: Mark was coached by Ross Molony, 

Josh Murphy, Ross Byrne and Nick McCarthy when in 

St. Michael’s College. His grandfather Fergus O’Brien 

was Lord Mayor of Dublin and his father, Ray, played 

for Connacht seniors and Ireland u25s. 

Instagram: @mark_hernani 

Alex Soroka #1296 

Temi Lasisi 

Back Row 

DOB: 19/02/2001 

HEIGHT: 1.95m WEIGHT: 104.5kg 



Did You Know: Alex’s family moved to Ireland from 

Ukraine shortly before his birth. He was born in Cork 

before moving to Dublin. 

Instagram: alex._.soroka 

prop 

DOB: 09/05/2001 

HEIGHT: 1.78m WEIGHT: 115.8kg 

Did You Know: The TUD Mechanical Engineering 

student originally picked up the oval ball in Enniscorthy 

before later moving to Lansdowne FC. Temi rose 

through the ranks in the Youths system, his first outing 

with the province came at U-18 level against Northampton. 

He also describes himself as a ‘competent 

pianist’. 

Instagram: @lasisi.temi 


Year one 2021/22: 

Scrum half 

Ben Murphy 

DOB: 23/04/2001 



& Leinster Rugby (1 cap) 

Did You Know: Ben played all different sports growing 

up including football, GAA and golf and won an 800m 

gold in the U-14 East Leinsters. He is studying economics 

in UCD. Ben’s father Richie played for Leinster 

Rugby and has coached at all levels of the game and is 

the current Ireland U-20s head coach. I 

nstagram: @ben._murphy01 

Jack Boyle 

DOB: 10/03/2002 



Rob Russell #1302 

DOB: 13/01/1999 



Prop 

Did You Know: Jack’s father, Herbie, and uncles, Colon 

and Eric, all represented Old Wesley rugby club for 

years. His cousin Stephen Boyle also represented the 

Leinster Rugby youths. Jack is currently studying for a 

Commerce Degree in UCD. 

Instagram: @jackboyle1 

Full Back / Wing 

Did You Know: Rob is currently in his final year of 

Business and Management in DIT. He started playing 

rugby at the age of five with Wanderers RFC. He also 

played football up to minor level with Kilmacud Crokes 

and it took priority over rugby until he left school. 

Instagram: @robrussell7 


Date 

25/09 

03/10 

09/10 

16/10 

22/10 

27/11 

03/12 

11/12 

1/12 

1/01 

22/01 

29/01 

11/02 

19/02 

KO/ 

Result 

W 

31-3 

W 

7-6 

W 

43-7 

Opposiotion Venue 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 1 2 

URC VODACOM 

BULLS 

URC DRAGONS 

Aviva 

Stadium 

Rodney 

Parade 

URC ZEBRE RDS Arena J O’BRIEN 

KEENAN O’LOUGHLIN RINGROSE FRAWLEY LOWE 

SEXTON 

3C 1P 

MCGRATH 

PORTER 

1T 

SHEEHAN 

KEENAN RUSSELL RINGROSE C O’BRIEN O’LOUGHLIN R BYRNE GIBSON-PARK PORTER SHEEHAN 

A BYRNE 

2T 

OSBORNE 

FRAWLEY 

W 

50-15 URC SCARLETS RDS Arena KEENAN LARMOUR RINGROSE FRAWLEY 

1C 

W 

31-15 

URC GLASGOW 

Scotstoun 

Stadium 

KEENAN 

1T 

A BYRNE 

1T 

L 

10-20 URC ULSTER RDS Arena J O’BRIEN A BYRNE HENSHAW 

1T 

W 

47-19 URC CONNACHT RDS Arena KEENAN LARMOUR 1T RINGROSE 

1T 

W 

45-20 HCC BATH Aviva 

Stadium 

L 

0-28 

W 

89-7 

W 

64-7 

L 

29-27 

W 

26-7 

W 

29-7 

HCC MONTPELLIER 

GGL (Altrad) 

Stadium 

KEENAN 

1T 

HCC MONTPELLIER RDS Arena KEENAN 

HCC BATH 

URC 

CARDIFF 

RUGBY 

25/02 19:35 URC EMIRATES 

LIONS 

05/03 12:55 URC BENETTON 

12/03 19:35 URC ULSTER 

Recreation 

Ground 

Cardiff Arms 

Park 

LARMOUR 

1T 

LOWE 

RINGROSE FRAWLEY LOWE 

FRAWLEY 

HENSHAW 

LARMOUR RINGROSE FRAWLEY 

LARMOUR 

LOWE 

LOWE 

1T 

H BYRNE 

SEXTON 

1C 1P 

R BYRNE 

4C 1P 

R BYRNE 

1C 1P 

H BYRNE 

5C 

R BYRNE 

5C 

MCGRATH 

GIBSON-PARK 

MCGRATH 

E BYRNE 

1T 

PORTER 

1T 

HEALY 

CRONIN 

1T 

KELLEHER 

1T 

KELLEHER 

1T 

MCGRATH E BYRNE TRACY 

MCGRATH 

GIBSON-PARK 

2T 

HEALY 

PORTER 

- - - - - - - - - 

KEENAN 

1T 

LARMOUR 

1T 

LARMOUR 

1T 

RINGROSE 

RINGROSE 

FRAWLEY 

HENSHAW 

J O’BRIEN 

1T 

J O’BRIEN 

4T 

J O’BRIEN A BYRNE 1T OSBORNE FRAWLEY O’LOUGHLIN 

URC EDINBURGH RDS Arena OSBORNE T O’BRIEN O’LOUGHLIN FRAWLEY KEARNEY 

URC OSPREYS RDS Arena J O’BRIEN 

RDS Arena 

Stadio 

Monigo 

Kingspan 

Stadium 

26/03 19:35 URC CONNACHT Sportsground 

fixtures and 

results 2021/22 

LARMOUR 

1T 

OSBORNE H BYRNE KEARNEY 

R BYRNE 

1T 7C 

SEXTON 

5C 

R BYRNE 

3C 2P 

R BYRNE 

3C 

R BYRNE 

3C 1P 

GIBSON-PARK 

1T 

MCGRATH 

PORTER 

PORTER 

1T 

SHEEHAN 

1T 

KELLEHER 

1T 

KELLEHER 

KELLEHER 

MCGRATH E BYRNE CRONIN 

N MCCARTHY 

1T 

MCGRATH 

E BYRNE 

HEALY 

1T 

TRACY 

TRACY 

02/05 19:00 URC MUNSTER 

Thomond 

Park 

08/04 20:00 HCC CONNACHT Sportsground 

15/04 17:30 HCC CONNACHT 

23/04 17:15 URC CELL C 

SHARKS 

30/04 16:15 URC DHL 

STORMERS 

20|21/05 19:00 URC MUNSTER 

Aviva 

Stadium 

Jonsson 

Kings Park 

Green Point 

Stadium 

Aviva 

Stadium 


3 4 5 6 7 8 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 

ALAALATOA MOLONY J RYAN RUDDOCK 

VAN DER FLIER 

1T 

ALAALATOA MOLONY RYAN RUDDOCK VAN DER FLIER 

ALAALATOA BAIRD TONER LEAVY 

FURLONG MOLONY RYAN 

DORIS 

2T 

PENNY 

1T 

VAN DER FLIER 

DORIS 

DEEGAN 

1T 

RUDDOCK 

CONAN 

FURLONG MOLONY BAIRD DORIS LEAVY CONAN 

TRACY 

1T 

E BYRNE HEALY BAIRD DEEGAN GIBSON-PARK 

R BYRNE 

1T 1C 

TRACY E BYRNE HEALY BAIRD LEAVY N MCCARTHY C FRAWLEY 

KELLEHER 

1T 

SHEEHAN 

2T 

SHEEHAN 

1T 

DOOLEY HEALY MOLONY DEEGAN N MCCARTHY 

HEALY 

1T 

ALAALATOA BAIRD RUDDOCK MCGRATH 

SEXTON 

4C 

R BYRNE 

3C 

OSBORNE 

S PENNY 

[UNUSED] 

RUSSELL 

T O’BRIEN 

E BYRNE ALAALATOA TONER RUDDOCK GIBSON-PARK OSBORNE VAN DER FLIER 

FURLONG MOLONY TONER LEAVY PENNY RUDDOCK CRONIN DOOLEY ABDALADZE DEEGAN CONNORS N MCCARTHY H BYRNE T O’BRIEN 

ALA’ALATOA 

BAIRD 

1T 

TONER 

RUDDOCK 

1T 

VAN DER FLIER 

DORIS 

1T 

KELLEHER PORTER ABDALADZE J MURPHY 

DEEGAN 

1T 

N MCCARTHY 

R BYRNE 

1C 

T O’BRIEN 

FURLONG 

1T 

MOLONY BAIRD RUDDOCK 

VAN DER FLIER 

1T 

DORIS SHEEHAN HEALY ALAALATOA TONER DEEGAN MCGRATH J O’BRIEN T O’BRIEN 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

FURLONG 

MOLONY 

1T 

J MURPHY 

DORIS 

VAN DER FLIER 

2T 

CONAN 

2T 

SHEEHAN 

2T 

HEALY 

ALAALATOA 

1T 

RUDDOCK DEEGAN MCGRATH 

SEXTON 

5C 

LOWE 

1T 

ALAALATOA MOLONY MURPHY DORIS 

VAN DER FLIER 

1T 

CONAN 

SHEEHAN 

1T 

HEALY ABDALADZE BAIRD DEEGAN GIBSON-PARK 

R BYRNE 

2C 

FRAWLEY 

1T 

ALAALATOA TONER J MCCARTHY RUDDOCK CONNORS PENNY 1T TRACY 1T DOOLEY ABDALADZE MOLONY DEEGAN N MCCARTHY H BYRNE T O’BRIEN 

ALAALATOA MOLONY J MURPHY MOLONEY 

ALAALATOA MOLONY BAIRD MOLONEY 

PENNY 

1T 

PENNY 

1T 

DEEGAN 

1T 

CRONIN 

DOOLEY 

ABDALADZE 

1T 

TONER SOROKA MCGRATH H BYRNE RUSSELL 

DEEGAN CRONIN DOOLEY CLARKSON DUNNE RUDDOCK N MCCARTHY A BYRNE 

LOWE 

1T 


matchday 

Squads 

officials 

Max O’Reilly 

Tommy O’Brien 

Jamie Osborne 

Harry Byrne 

Dave Kearney 

Ross Byrne 

Nick McCarthy 

15 

14 

13 

12 

11 

10 

9 

FULL BACK 

RIGHT WING 

OUTSIDE CENTRE 

INSIDE CENTRE 

LEFT WING 

FLY HALF 

SCRUM HALF 

Quan Horn 

Stean Pienaar 

Wandisile Simelane 

Burger Odendaal 

Edwill van der Merwe 

Jordan Hendrikse 

Morne van den Berg 

REFEREE 

CRAIG EVANS 

(WRU, 28TH COMPETITION GAME) 

ASSISTANT REFEREE 

PETER MARTIN (IRFU) 

ASSISTANT REFEREE 

STUART GAFFIKIN (IRFU) 

TMO 

COLIN STANLEY (IRFU) 

Ed Byrne 

James Tracy 

Michael Ala’alatoa 

Devin Toner 

Joe McCarthy 

Josh Murphy 

Dan Leavy 

Rhys Ruddock [C] 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

LOOSE HEAD PROP 

HOOKER 

TIGHT HEAD PROP 

SECOND ROW 

SECOND ROW 

BLINDSIDE FLANKER 

OPENSIDE FLANKER 

NUMBER 8 

Sti Sithole 

Jaco Visagie 

Carlu Sadie 

PJ Steenkamp 

Ruben Schoeman 

Jaco Kriel [C] 

Ruan Venter 

Francke Horn 

Seán Cronin 

Peter Dooley 

Thomas Clarkson 

Jack Dunne 

Max Deegan 

Luke McGrath 

Adam Byrne 

Scott Penny 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

REPLACEMENT 

REPLACEMENT 

REPLACEMENT 

REPLACEMENT 

REPLACEMENT 

REPLACEMENT 

REPLACEMENT 

REPLACEMENT 

PJ Botha 

Morgan Naude 

Ruan Dreyer 

Lunga Ncube 

Sibusiso Sangweni 

Nico Steyn 

Manuel Rass 

Tiaan Swanepoel

At Sword we know how important the Game is. 

We know how important your memories are ....so relax 

and enjoy yourself, you're in safe hands. 

LEINSTER RUGBY FANS .... Secured by the team at Sword 

Dublin: 01-6688220 

info@swordsecurity.com 

www.swordsecurity.com 

Securing Sports Fans around the World.

Parting Shot 

19 February 2022 

Michael Ala’alatoa of Leinster 

during the United Rugby 

Championship match between 

Leinster and Ospreys at RDS 

Arena in Dublin. 


Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

Leinster vs Emirates Lions

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