Leinster head coach Leo Cullen is “optimistic” that the ankle injury which forced Rónan Kelleher to hobble from the pitch after 12 minutes at the Stadio Communale Monigo will not prevent him from playing against Munster in Croke Park next Saturday. Despite limping slightly on to the team coach en route to Venice airport, Kelleher himself was “hopeful that it’s nothing serious”.
“I think he’s okay in there, so we’ll see, but he didn’t look too bad,” Cullen said after the 35-5 win secured their third five-point haul in three games to move them clear atop the BKT URC table. Meanwhile, Munster responded from their contrasting miss-step in Parma to beat the Ospreys 23-0 and move above Connacht on points difference into third place.
With Dan Sheehan sidelined, Kelleher’s presence is all the more important for next Saturday’s renewal which, with more than 70,000 tickets sold, will be the biggest attendance in the competition’s history.
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A bigger concern is Jimmy O’Brien, especially given the hamstring issues which have sidelined Tommy O’Brien and ruled out Jordan Larmour from the bench for this game, in his case seemingly more as a precaution. This prompted a 6-2 bench and extensive reshuffle after O’Brien’s 37th-minute departure.
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But after unleashing another nine players here, including eight Irish front-liners and an eye-catching debut by RG Snyman, and so juggling 40 players in three games, Leinster look well primed for their seasonal renewal with the men in red.
“It was quite a cohesive first 30 minutes and maybe the reshuffle played a part after that, but it’s a positive that we’re up and running with three wins,” said Cullen.
“We’ve managed to nearly sell out next Saturday’s game now and it’s just an amazing rivalry. They are really special days. For the players to get the chance to play there is an absolute privilege and, hopefully, the supporters see two teams that are just going full at it. That’s what everyone wants to see because Croke Park is an incredibly special place in Irish society.”
It’s a game which everyone wants to play, including Jack Conan, one of only two players to start all three Leinster matches to date (along with Jamie Osborne).
“I feel great, the benefit of having a decent pre-season,” said the 32-year-old. “I feel the best I’ve felt in years, probably for a host of different reasons. I’m enjoying it a hell of a lot more than I possibly was in stages last season.
“I feel calm, I feel very present, which is the main thing, and just flowing with the punches. Yeah, loving it. It was class to be out there. It’s the first time in three or four years that I’ve started three games in a row for Leinster and I feel the benefit of it.”
While happy with his output on both sides of the ball, Conan admitted: “I thought Caelan [Doris] coming back in was class. So obviously my mother was ringing in voting for it, but some of the boys were brilliant and Ringer [Garry Ringrose] in the centre was class, and big Jimmy Lowe too.”
Cullen and the Leinster brains trust certainly seem to be appreciating Conan’s value on the pitch, often employed at 8 off the base of scrums, and he is as desperate to play against Munster at Croke Park as anyone.
“Everyone was aware that next week was on the horizon. It’s one of those things that you cannot focus on too much but now we can look forward to it. It’s special to come to Treviso and win and having the time with the lads, and you don’t want to wish it away, but lads will be bouncing into training on Monday.
“I’m feeling the benefit of playing a few games in a row so I’d like to keep on going, but these decisions are somewhat out of my hands. If I play, great, if not, I’ll be gutted but c’est la vie.”
Whether Conan’s value will be appreciated in the next contract offer to him amid apparent interest from Stuart Lancaster and Racing 92 remains to be determined.
“I’m out of contract at the end of the season and we’ll see what happens. No decisions made either way. Look, I love Leinster Rugby, I’ve given my entire career to here. I’ve no offers yet from anywhere, not yet. It’s all in the post,” said Cullen, smiling in what sounded awfully like a non-denial denial regarding Racing’s overtures.
“Last Monday everybody was saying to me: ‘You’re going?’ No lads, that’s the internet. We’ll have to wait and see. I’ve no answers for that.”
He’s in no rush.
“I’m a new father now, I’ve definitely different priorities. It’s given me a huge perspective on life, showing what’s important. It’s made me a calmer person,” Conan said regarding the recent birth of his first child, daughter Remi.
“The best thing that ever happened to me. We’re very lucky. My wife, Ally, is at home doing the lion’s share. Her mum, Fionnuala, is over at the moment helping her out, and my mother Anne has been brilliant as well, and the grandfathers and my twin sister Emily as well,” he stressed, laughing.
“It takes a village, doesn’t it?”
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