Henshaw And O’Brien Return For Leinster’s Cardiff Clash
Athlone man Robbie Henshaw is pictured running in Leinster's bonus point try against La Rochelle last month ©Seb Daly/Sportsfile
Robbie Henshaw and Jimmy O’Brien have recovered from their respective knee and hamstring injuries to start for Leinster in Friday’s BKT United Rugby Championship match against Cardiff at the Arms Park (kick-off 7pm).
The pair were both sidelined when Andy Farrell announced his Ireland squad for the Guinness Men’s Six Nations last month, but have since returned to training. They are two of Leo Cullen’s six peronnel changes for the trip to the Welsh capital.
Max Deegan, who captained the Ireland XV recently, will lead Leinster on the occasion of his 150th senior provincial cap. It is the URC’s Origin Round this weekend, an opportunity to celebrate the clubs, schools, and communities which produced the league’s players and coaches.
Released from Ireland camp this week, Harry Byrne features at half-back alongside Fintan Gunne. Henshaw returns to partner Rieko Ioane in the centre, and O’Brien slots in at full-back with the wing berths again filled by Joshua Kenny and Ruben Moloney, who makes his second successive start.
Most of the pack from Leinster’s 28-20 round 11 win over Edinburgh are retained. James Culhane will line out at number 8 for his first start since October, joining Scott Penny, the hat-trick hero against the Scottish outfit, and captain Deegan in the back row.
Towering Academy lock Alan Spicer is rewarded with his first start at this level, packing down alongside Brian Deeny, and Jerry Cahir, John McKee, and Andrew Sparrow make up an unchanged front row.
Fresh from his recent recall to the France squad, veteran prop Rabah Slimani returns to Leinster’s matchday 23 for the first time since before Christmas.
Gus McCarthy and 20-year-old loosehead Alex Usanov also offer front row cover, as RG Snyman and two-times capped back rowr Josh Ericson complete the forward replacements.
Luke McGrath, Charlie Tector, and Andrew Osborne round out the the defending champions’ squad, as they look to continue where they left off. With 11 straight wins in all competitions, Cullen’s charges are sitting second in the URC table, four points behind Glasgow Warriors.
Leinster’s only loss in their last six visits to Wales was a 22-16 defeat at the hands of the Scarlets last April. Cardiff’s only victory over the province at the Arms Park since 2007 was a 29-27 triumph in January 2022.
Speaking ahead of his side’s return to action, head coach Cullen said: “I thought we were quite poor in the first half against Edinburgh. A little bit passive. Maybe we over-respected the opposition or didn’t try to impose ourselves enough in the game.
“But what was pleasing was there was a great composure at half-time. It was a really important bonus point win for us against Edinburgh who were not missing a huge amount of players, and we were missing plenty.
“It was a good couple of weeks for us, the senior coaches working with some of the younger players. We have a younger cohort but there’s some experienced guys coming back into the mix. Robbie is back, as is Jimmy.
“It helps us build depth. It looks to the future and all that good stuff. We just need to try and produce a better overall performance. Because, as I said, we were too standoffish in the first half in our last game.”
He added: “Cardiff are going well, the best of all the Welsh teams at the moment (in fifth place). They have a lot of cohesion and they’ve not lost a ton of players to Wales (during this Six Nations window).
“They have a lot of consistency over the last couple of seasons. Amongst all the goings on in Wales at the moment, they’ve probably been the most stable. It will be a proper test for our guys.”
LEINSTER (v Cardiff): Jimmy O’Brien (Newbridge College/Naas RFC); Joshua Kenny (Presentation College Bray/Greystones RFC), Rieko Ioane (Auckland Grammar School/Ponsonby Rugby Club), Robbie Henshaw (Marist College/Buccaneers RFC), Ruben Moloney (Blackrock College/Blackrock College RFC); Harry Byrne (St. Michael’s College/Old Belvedere RFC), Fintan Gunne (St. Michael’s College/Old Belvedere RFC); Jerry Cahir (Cistercian College Roscrea/Lansdowne FC), John McKee (Campbell College/Ards RFC & Terenure College RFC), Andrew Sparrow (St. Mary’s College/St. Mary’s College RFC), Alan Spicer (Belvedere College/Malahide RFC), Brian Deeny (St. Peter’s College/Wexford Wanderers RFC), Max Deegan (St. Michael’s College/Wanderers FC) (capt), Scott Penny (St. Michael’s College/UCD RFC), James Culhane (Blackrock College/De La Salle Palmerston FC).
Replacements: Gus McCarthy (Blackrock College/Old Belvedere RFC), Alex Usanov (Belvedere College/Malahide RFC), Rabah Slimani (AAS Sarcelles), RG Snyman (Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool), Josh Ericson (Skerries Community College/Skerries RFC), Luke McGrath (St. Michael’s College/Old Belvedere RFC), Charlie Tector (Kilkenny College/Enniscorthy RFC), Andrew Osborne (Naas CBS/Naas RFC).