He had big shoes to fill in the absence of Hugo Keenan, but Leinster assistant coach Andrew Goodman was impressed with the way Ciaran Frawley handled himself in Ireland’s victory over Wales at the Aviva Stadium last Saturday.
For just the second time since making his debut in the tournament against Italy back in October 2020, Keenan found himself missing out on a spot in an Irish starting line-up for a Six Nations encounter. Whereas the Dubliner was rested when Ulster’s Michael Lowry donned the number 15 jersey for a third round success at the expense of the same opposition in the 2022 championship, a knee injury sustained in Ireland’s 36-0 triumph over the Italians on February 11th ultimately ruled Keenan out of contention at the weekend.
This meant that Frawley was entrusted with fullback duties for what was also his first start as a senior international, but the Skerries man capped an accomplished display with a 66th minute try.
“It was great to see someone like Frawls play so well in that 15 jersey. It was great for us as Leinster coaches and players to see him go out there and do his thing as a 15 at that level. It was awesome,” Goodman remarked at a Leinster media briefing on Monday.
“He is a composed lad, isn’t he? No matter what position he plays he is pretty calm. I’m always impressed by the way he just goes about his work. There were lots of positive bits, and I’m sure he was really happy with his starting debut. It was great for us.”
Although he is set to take over from Mike Catt as Ireland attack coach following the completion of this summer’s two-test series against world champions South Africa, Goodman remains fully committed to the Leinster cause.
Last Friday saw the eastern province losing out on a scoreline of 31-19 to Saracens in a friendly clash at the StoneX Stadium in London and while the result didn’t go their way the New Zealander felt it was an ideal run-out for an experimental Leinster side ahead of their return to the United Rugby Championship away to Cardiff this weekend.
“Overall a great experience for a lot of those lads. It was a very good Saracens side they played against. Obviously we’re always wanting to get the results, but if you look at the bigger picture, there’s some great learnings for our young guys,” said Goodman.
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