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Leinster assemble international laden squad for visit of Bulls
By Ian Cameron
Leinster have named a strong side for the visit of the Bulls to a 75 per cent capacity Aviva Stadium in Dublin tomorrow for their inaugural United Rugby Championship (URC) game.
Jake White's men can expect a baptism of fire in the Irish capital. The last time the Bulls played European opposition saw the Pretorians humbled by Treviso in the final of the Rainbow Cup. The Currie Cup champions went into that game as favorites but left Italy on the end of a 35 - 8 thrashing, albeit with a somewhat depleted squad.
Leinster head coach Leo Cullen has included seasoned Ireland internationals Johnny Sexton, Garry Ringrose, Johnny Sexton, Luke McGrath, James Ryan, Rhys Ruddock and Van Der Flier in the staring fifteen.
There will also be a return for Andrew Porter, who missed out on the British & Irish Lions tour due to a foot injury. A tighthead of late, Porter will start at loosehead, the first time he has done so since 2016.
There will be a debut at tighthead for Samoan international Michael Ala’alatoa, while Leinster will have plenty of experience and talent on the bench with 231 times capped Cian Healy, Ryan Baird, Ross Byrne and Jamison Gibson-Park to call upon.
Meanwhile, Springbok veteran Bismarck du Plessis will make his debut for the Vodacom Bulls after joining the side earlier this month.
Leinster: Hugo Keenan, Rory O’Loughlin, Garry Ringrose, Ciarán Frawley, James Lowe, Johnny Sexton (CAPT), Luke McGrath, Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan, Michael Ala’alatoa, Ross Molony, James Ryan, Rhys Ruddock, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris
Replacements: James Tracy, Ed Byrne, Cian Healy, Ryan Baird, Max Deegan, Jamison Gibson-Park, Ross Byrne, Jamie Osborne
Vodacom Bulls: David Kriel, Cornal Hendricks, Lionel Mapoe, Harold Vorster, Madosh Tambwe, Johan Goosen, Zak Burger; Gerhard Steenekamp, Bismarck du Plessis, Mornay Smith, Walt Steenkamp, Ruan Nortje, Marcell Coetzee (CAPT), Arno Botha, Elrigh Louw
Replacements: Joe van Zyl, Simphiwe Matanzima, Jacques van Rooyen, Janko Swanepoel, Jacques du Plessis, Keagan Johannes, Chris Smith, Stedman Gans
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Latest Comments
Who got the benefits out of Schmidt, Lowe, Aki, and Gibson Park?
Go to commentsI’m all for speeding up the game. But can we be certain that the slowness of the game contributed to fans walking out? I’m not so sure. Super rugby largely suffered from most fans only being able to, really, follow the games played in their own time zone. So at least a third of the fan base wasn’t engaged at any point in time. As a Saffer following SA teams in the URC - I now watch virtually every European game played on the weekend. In SR, I wouldn’t be bothered to follow the games being played on the other side of the world, at weird hours, if my team wasn’t playing. I now follow the whole tournament and not just the games in my time zone. Second, with New Zealand teams always winning. It’s like formula one. When one team dominates, people lose interest. After COVID, with SA leaving and Australia dipping in form, SR became an even greater one horse race. Thats why I think Japan’s league needs to get in the mix. The international flavor of those teams could make for a great spectacle. But surely if we believe that shaving seconds off lost time events in rugby is going to draw fans back, we should be shown some figures that supports this idea before we draw any major conclusions. Where are the stats that shows these changes have made that sort of impact? We’ve measured down to the average no. Of seconds per game. Where the measurement of the impact on the fanbase? Does a rugby “fan” who lost interest because of ball in play time suddenly have a revived interest because we’ve saved or brought back into play a matter of seconds or a few minutes each game? I doubt it. I don’t thinks it’s even a noticeable difference to be impactful. The 20 min red card idea. Agreed. Let’s give it a go. But I think it’s fairer that the player sent off is substituted and plays no further part in the game as a consequence.
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