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Harry Byrne gets the nod as Leinster face Ronan O'Gara's La Rochelle
By Ian Cameron
Leinster has confirmed their lineup for the upcoming Champions Cup clash against La Rochelle, with Harry Byrne winning the race for the flyhalf jersey.
The spotlight will very much be on the junior Byrne, who steps into the role, replacing his sidelined brother, Ross Byrne, who won't feature again this year after suffering a nasty arm injury. Harry earns his maiden start in the Champions Cup after making a notable impact in seven previous appearances off the bench.
With Ireland and Leinster icon Johnny Sexton retired, the three-way tussle for the Leinster 10 spot has become a fascinating sub-plot. Ciaran Frawley - who many favoured to start at standoff this weekend- will have to make do with a spot on the bench as Leinster look to upset Ronan O'Gara La Rochelle on the road. The two sides haven't met since an explosive encounter on and off the field at the Aviva Stadium last May when La Rochelle once again beat the Irish province to claim the Champions Cup. Several incidents between Sexton and O'Gara and the matchday officials made headlines and led to a match ban for the then-injured Leinster 10.
O'Gara won't be on the sidelines for this one however, as he will be serving a sideline ban due to his latest histrionics in the Top 14.
Elsewhere, Garry Ringrose and James Ryan will co-captain the squad for the first time in European competition. Additionally, hooker Dan Sheehan is poised to mark his 50th appearance for Leinster. The team's backbone includes nine players from last season's Champions Cup Final.
Full-back Hugo Keenan, wings Jordan Larmour and Jimmy O'Brien, and centres Ringrose and Robbie Henshaw contribute to the formidable lineup.
LEINSTER:
15. Hugo Keenan
14. Jordan Larmour
13. Garry Ringrose
12. Robbie Henshaw
11. Jimmy O’Brien
10. Harry Byrne
9. Jamison Gibson-Park
1. Andrew Porter
2. Dan Sheehan
3. Michael Ala’alatoa
4. Joe McCarthy
5. James Ryan CO-CAPTAIN
6. Ryan Baird
7. Will Connors
8. Caelan Doris
REPLACEMENTS:
16. Rónan Kelleher
17. Cian Healy
18. Thomas Clarkson
19. Jason Jenkins
20. Josh van der Flier
21. Ben Murphy
22. Ciarán Frawley
23. Charlie Ngatai
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Dead time reductions are important as is ball in play time increases. Premiership leads the way in terms of ball in play and Northern refereeing standards around the breakdown has sped up the game significantly. Super Rugby is trying new things but its not leading the way in terms of making gains in reducing dead time and ball in play time. Northern administrators are also not against speeding up the game, on the contrary they want a faster game and have been trying things and are embracing increasing the speed of rugby. Super Rugby isnt providing a blueprint for anything, its just part the agreed upon blueprint that administrators across the world are moving to.
Go to commentsIt’s a good, timely wake up call for NZ Rugby (seem to be a few of them lately!) - sort out the bureaucratic nonsense at board level. We can’t expect to stay the number one option without keeping fans/players engaged. We’ve obviously been bleeding players to league for years but can’t let the floodgates open (although I think this headline is hyperbolic as it’s a result of a recent Warriors pathways system where they are tracking things more closely) Understand the need to focus boys on rugby if they’re at a proud rugby school too, don’t think it’s harsh at all re Barakat in Hamilton. Reward the committed players with squad positions. An elite 1st XV system in NZ has done more for league than they even realise, think it’s good to protect our game further.
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