PRO 12:LEINSTER COACH Joe Schmidt promises to delve into a pool of players few people will have seen before such is the magnitude of his injury problems. Greatly compounded by having 14 players in New Zealand, the current tally of 23 unavailable bodies means Leinster will have to dip deeper into their academy than ever.
News that Dominic Ryan and Kevin McLaughlin, both stretchered from the pitch last Saturday, will be out for three weeks with ankle ligament damage, means players such as Jordi Murphy, Damian Browne, Ciarán Ruddock, Noel Reid and possibly Galway-born back Daniel Riordan could come into contention.
“We’ve lost Kevin McLaughlin, Steven Sykes, Matt Berquist, guys who should be leading the team, giving us the direction,” said Schmidt. “Dominic Ryan and those guys who got the experience here last year are massively important. Shane Horgan is another one who would be massive to us now.
“Take those five guys as well as the younger ones like Ian McKinley and Andrew Conway and yeah, it’s not ideal. If I wasn’t so scrawny and useless I’d play myself.”
Schmidt added that with injury comes opportunity and responsibility. Defeat to Glasgow last week still rankles because victory was within their ability. Leinster face Llanelli in this week’s RaboDirect PRO12 match.
“There’s going to be some guys who you haven’t seen before out there on Saturday. If you are here in the academy and we see a future for you that’s an opportunity but if you put the jersey on and you are playing for Leinster, that’s a responsibility,” said Schmidt. “Our responsibility wasn’t fully met last weekend and we have to redress that.”
Jordi Murphy appeared last week from the bench but has played more at number eight than at seven. There could be a rejig there. Ruddock, brother of captain Rhys, is a secondrow like Browne, whose experience of playing in France should give Leinster a physical dimension. Outhalf Noel Reid hasn’t had that much rugby but played with his club Clontarf last week, with secondrow Ben Marshall twisting his knee in the AIL and sidelined for three weeks.
“Ben Marshall ideally would have come in for Dominic Ryan or Kevin McLaughlin so we didn’t do ourselves any favours there,” said Schmidt. “Noel Reid got the game under his belt and he didn’t do a knee. It means he’s still got a few limbs he can throw into the mix on Saturday.”
Connacht will be missing George Naoupu for at least four weeks due to a knee injury following Friday night’s bonus-point loss to Edinburgh at Murrayfield while Cardiff flanker Martyn Williams broke an arm against Ulster and be out for at least six weeks.
