RUGBY PRO12 LEAGUE: Leinster V Cardiff Blues: Venue: RDS, Kick-off:8.05pm, On TV: TG4:SO WHERE do we imagine are the heads of European champions Leinster? Cheerily wondering how many points they are going to put on their Welsh visitors and maybe hoping to impress Joe Schmidt along the way for a start in next week's Heineken Cup? Looking at it like true professionals. Get in, take the points and get out?
Cardiff are without eight players, who are in the Wales squad to face Australia: Leigh Halfpenny, Jamie Roberts, Alex Cuthbert, Lloyd Williams, Gethin Jenkins, Scott Andrews, Bradley Davies and Sam Warburton.
Whatever the players say about squad depth, that does affect the dynamic of the match. The complexion changes from two evenly balanced teams to an event tilted towards the home side.
Had Cardiff come tooled up with their stars, would Schmidt have picked the same team a week out from Bath in The Rec? Tonight Leinster, even more than usually, are expected to win.
It’s a difficult call and this week Shane Jennings admitted that while it’s impossible to dismiss the obvious, that Cardiff come to Dublin gutted, there are more factors at stake, the strongest of those apart from Pro12 points, being players looking for starting positions.
Schmidt has left the talented Eoin O’Malley at outside centre in the hope that his attacking instincts and pace can mature from rich potential into a more nuanced management of the position.
Fergus McFadden, who kicked 15 points last week vacates the wing for Dave Kearney and moves to inside centre, where venerable Gordon D’Arcy was last week. Yes, McFadden is versatile.
Leo Cullen leads the team and partners Steven Sykes at secondrow with Sean O’Brien joining fellow Ireland internationals Shane Jennings and Rhys Ruddock in the backrow.
Cardiff also come without the boot of Dan Parks, whose hand injury should have recovered by next week. Gavin Henson is also injured. But the Welsh teams have been performing and that feelgood factor has been growing.
“That’s all built up from the World Cup,” says Leinster backs coach, Guy Easterby. “Obviously a lot of the confidence came out of that. Even from speaking to Simon (brother and coach in Llanelli) . . . as much as the clubs struggle in the World Cup years because the clubs are losing a certain amount of players, it’s also a great opportunity to give players a run of four or five games where they end up getting a bit of performance.”
With Rob Kearney, Mike Ross and Jonathan Sexton on the bench and the rotated Jamie Heaslip nowhere to be seen, this is not Leinster’s strongest team. Still Schmidt will advise caution, while Cardiff coach Justin Burnell expects some fire.
“We’ve got Leinster who are the number one team in Europe and are a formidable force,” said Burnell. “We are going there with a view that we have to perform and I would be absolutely devastated if we didn’t.”
And how close to Schmidt’s thoughts is that?
LEINSTER:I Nacewa; D Kearney, E O'Malley, F McFadden, F Carr; I Madigan, I Boss; C Healy, R Strauss, N White, L Cullen, S Sykes, R Ruddock, S Jennings, S O'Brien. Replacements: S Cronin. H van der Merwe, M Ross, D Browne, L Auva'a, E Redden. J Sexton, R Kearney.
CARDIFF:C Czekaj; R Mustoe, C Laulala, G Evans, T James; C Sweeney R Rees; J Tayy, R Tyrell, T Filise, C Hill, P Tito (capt), M Molitika, J Navidi, X Rush. Replacements: M Breeze, N Trevett, S Hobbs, M Cook, M Paterson, L Jones, G Davies, D Hewitt.
Referee:Andrew Macpherson (SRU).
Verdict:Leinster.
