Buoyed by All Black arrival, Leinster must view Harlequins clash as chance to hit stride

Leinster v Harlequins

Aviva Stadium (Saturday, 5.30pm, Premier Sports)

Perspective belongs to the individual, so the semantics regarding team sheets being half-full or half-empty will be debated ad nauseam in the build-up. The only respite from all of that will be signalled by referee Craig Evans’ first whistle on Saturday evening. There is no wrong answer, just a viewpoint.

When it comes to frontliners, Harlequins travel to Dublin for this Champions Cup Group A clash in an emaciated state. A number of England internationals – outhalf Marcus Smith, prop Fin Baxter, and flankers Chandler Cunningham-South and Jack Kenningham – are not available because of mandatory rest for player welfare reasons. Additionally, Alex Dombrandt, James Chisholm, Tyrone Green, Titi Lamositele and Guido Petti are also absent.

That’s by no means an exhaustive list. There are a few more to add, but what’s the point? It’s perhaps more relevant to highlight the fact that Harlequins have four survivors – centre Oscar Beard, scrumhalf Will Porter, hooker Jack Walker and flanker Will Evans – from the starting team beaten 62-0 by Leinster at Croke Park in last season’s Champions Cup round-of-16 clash.

In comparison, the Irish province retain nine from the run-on team that day. Leo Cullen’s charges also have injury issues, but there was some good news on that front, as the head coach confirmed that James Lowe (calf) and Robbie Henshaw (hamstring) had trained this week and should be fit for the Leicester Tigers match at Welford Road next Friday. Andrew Porter (arm) might be another week beyond that mark.

Argentina prop Boris Wenger makes a first start for Harlequins, Irish international Kieran Treadwell is in the secondrow and the rapid Cadan Murley captains the team from the left wing. Another Pumas prop, Pedro Delgado, is on the bench, as is England international Joe Launchbury.

RG Snyman will know more than he might care to about the Book of Kells, as well as The Buttery and The Pav, given he is surrounded by four Trinity students in the front five in the pack. Jack Conan and Caelan Doris join Josh van der Flier in the backrow. Alex Soroka, consistently excellent in the United Rugby Championship, was close to squeezing into the 23.

Several backline places have been defined by injury but with that comes opportunity. Ciarán Frawley gets a run at inside centre, a position that may be the best fit for a player who can also play outhalf and fullback. Jordan Larmour has been ridiculously unlucky with injury, so he just craves a run in every sense.

Leinster’s Joe McCarthy is set for his first action since the Lions tour. Photograph: Andrew Conan/Inpho

Joe McCarthy plays his first match since the Lions tour; Doris and Conan haven’t worn a Leinster jersey this season. The player who has dominated the pregame headlines is the 28-year-old New Zealander Rieko Ioane, who will make a first appearance for Leinster off the bench.

The 88-time capped All Black has already made a positive impression. Cullen elaborated: “He [spoke] about his motivations for wanting to come here and challenge himself. That’s the thing for us, when we bring in a foreign player, or a coach, or any member of staff for that matter – you want to get characters in that are a little bit different.

Ireland’s path to World Cup redemption + European preview

“Rieko is definitely a bit different, but he’s a great competitor and he wants to progress his own career. He’s talked to (fellow All Black) Jordie (Barrett) quite a bit. He (Ioane) wants to challenge himself in the northern hemisphere and grow as a player; he’s serious about his work. Hopefully as everyone comes to watch the games over the next weeks and months, that’s what they’ll see.

“The players need to work hard to integrate him into the group, so it’s been a good few days this week.” The All Black ran at both outside centre and left-wing during training.

New Zealand international Rieko Ioane during training for Leinster at UCD in Dublin this week. Photograph: Andrew Conan/Inpho

The tournament has treated Leinster as a jilted suitor in recent years but the heartbreak of losing finals and semi-finals won’t diminish the ardour with which they’ll pursue that quest for silverware once again.

Cullen said: “We still have the same love for the tournament and we’ll do everything we possibly can to try and progress through to the knockout stages. But that’s week on week, there’s no point looking too far ahead or looking at the past now.

“I think we have a great group of players, coaches and backroom team that work incredibly hard. I hope we see that over the next couple of weeks in terms of some of the performances because I see how much everyone puts into it.”

The players must grasp the opportunity and strive to improve the collective performance. Even in victory this season, there’s been a lack of rhythm and a clunkiness at times. While some of that may be attributable to the turnover in personnel from match to match, it doesn’t excuse all the shortcomings.

There is no doubting the talent within Leinster or the capacity to reach the loftiest of standards, but that needs to come to the fore on a more regular basis, especially with some testing fixtures across two competitions to come this month.

Leinster: J O’Brien; T O’Brien, G Ringrose, C Frawley, J Larmour; S Prendergast, J Gibson-Park; P McCarthy, D Sheehan, T Clarkson; RG Snyman, J McCarthy; J Conan, J van der Flier, C Doris (capt). Replacements: R Kelleher, J Boyle, T Furlong, D Mangan, M Deegan, L McGrath, H Byrne, R Ioane.

Harlequins: C Anderson; C Cleaves, O Beard, L Northmore, C Murley (capt); J Evans, W Porter; B Wenger, J Walker, H Williams; K Treadwell, S Lewies; Z Carr, W Evans, T Lawday. Replacements: G Turner, W Hobson, P Delgado, J Launchbury, L Schmid, L Friday, J Benson, B Bradley.

Referee: C Evans (Wales)