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Leinster in hunt for 'big name' lock as Ulster miss out on 'bomb squad' Bok
By Ian Cameron
Leinster are in the market for a 'big name' southern hemisphere second row as they look to reinforce their options in the engine room.
The likelihood that the URC heavyweights will be without the services of both James Ryan and Ryan Baird during internationals window into the foreseeable, combined with the inevitable retirement of stalwart Devin Toner, appears to be behind the move.
Toner, who signed a one-year contract extension last season after much toing and froing, hasn't featured for Ireland since February 2020. Though the 35-year-old may have a season or even two left in the tank, Leinster may have half an eye on a longer-term mix.
Leinster regular Ross Moloney has proved to be an able lieutenant for the Dublin-based side, having amassed well over one hundred caps for the province since he debuted in 2015. Beneath him there's a significant experience gap with 23-year-old prospect Jack Dunne. The 6'8, 120kg lock has made 15 appearances to date and is still very much in his professional rugby infancy.
Head coach Leo Cullen never replaced Wallaby utility forward Scott Fardy with a like-for-like. The Australian retired at the end of 2020/21 after four successful seasons.
Leinster have a track record of big-name forwards penning contracts to come to Dublin and experience brand Leinster. Some have been hugely successful - others not so much.
Brad Thorn, Rocky Elsom, Nathan Hines and Ollie Le Roux [as well as the aforementioned Fardy], all enjoyed celebrated stints in the RDS, becoming firm fan favourites in the process.
They've been misses too of course - with Steven Sykes, Owen Finnegan and Kane Douglas all notable flops.
Meanwhile, Ulster appear to have missed out on adding another Springbok signing to the roster.
RugbyPass understands that the northern province have missed out on Stormers loosehead Steven Kitshoff. Kitshoff does not have an exit clause in his current contract, meaning any move would have to be facilitated with a hefty 'transfer fee' that apparently ruled out Ulster's interest.
In all likelihood, this means that he's most likely heading to France, where he previously spent three seasons with Bordeaux Begles.
Ulster will have to make do with No.8 Duane Vermeulen.
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Latest Comments
You’ve got to look forward to next weekend more than anything too.
They really use this sorta system? Much smaller pool of bonus points available, that would mean they have far less impact. Interestingly you must be withen winning range/chance in France’s Top 14 league, rather that just draw territory, so 6 points instead of 7. Fairly arbitrary and pointless (something the NRL would do to try and look cool), but kinda cool.
I said it Nick’s and other articles, I’m not sure about the fixed nature of matchups in these opening rounds. For instance, I would be interested in seeing an improved ranking/prediction/reflection ladder to what we had last year, were some author here game so rejigged list of teams purely based of ‘who had played who’ so far in the competition. It was designed to analyze the ladder and better predict what the real order would be after the full round robin had completed. It needed some improvement, like factoring in historical data as well, as it was a bit skiwif, but it is the sort of thing that would give a better depiction of what sort of contests weve had so far, because just using my intuition, the matchups have been very ‘level appropriate’ so far, and were jet to get the other end of the spectrum, season ranked bottom sides v top sides etc.
Go to commentsAs a former rugby player, I spent 20 years as a specialist tackling coach in the AFL, SANFL, and Southern Football League. During this time, I was fortunate to be part of teams winning seven premierships. I believe there is a valuable place for cross-code coaching in these sports. I made many lifelong friends and enjoyed sharing knowledge and skills from different sporting backgrounds, which is encouraged at many elite levels.
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