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Dan Leavy’s world of rugby came full circle in Montpellier when he marked his first Heineken Champions Cup appearance since March 2019 with the bonus point attempt for Leinster in their 35-14 win.
The former Ireland winger suffered a terrible quarter-final injury against Ulster in Dublin on his previous European outing and has barely been able to resume his game. When he crossed from a driving lineout in the 69th minute for the fourth of Leinster’s five attempts, he was especially congratulated by his teammates.
“Dan is back this season with the internationals out. Everyone is delighted to see him return to this level and that attempt will have buried some demons for him, ”said Leinster head coach Leo Cullen delighted.
“It was always going to be a tough week for us with several guys who had been away for a good amount of time. Six internationals in seven weeks and another week before that.
“You’re not really sure how the guys turn out, but they all jumped in and were eager to participate.”
Still, Cullen put seven of his top international players on the bench and put his faith in the players who had won all seven Pro 14 games to date this season, even against a Montpellier team that had won in Clermont Auvergne last weekend. .
“We had to do some evaluations on what we already had and, as we did not have a game last week, we had the opportunity to see Montpellier in a little more detail with that group. That’s why we made some of the calls that we made, ”Cullen added.
“In general, we are also very happy to have obtained an extra point. There was a good tempo and the fact that Josh [van der Flier] I beat so early to score that the attempt made a difference because it meant we weren’t chasing the game.
“We had good variety in our attack and Ross’s kick [Byrne] to Dave [Kearney] it was an important score for us. He had a bit of a stop when the substitutes arrived during the second half. “
Irish captain Johnny Sexton was removed from the team for the day earlier in the day after feeling some strain on a dead leg he suffered during the Nations Cup. He should be ready to face Northampton next weekend.
“There was a little bit of uncertainty with Johnny at the beginning of the week, but he got to practice on Thursday,” Cullen said.
“I still felt a little tension on my dead leg during the team’s career. He was crazy to want to participate, that’s why we named him, but we made the call on match day to get him out. “
Northampton lost to Bordeaux-Begles at home on Friday and rugby director Chris Boyd suggested it could bring a second team to Dublin for the second round.
“Sometimes you are nervous playing younger teams and I know Northampton has a lot of young talents in their ranks. We just have to prepare well, ”Cullen added.
“There have been a great number of wins away from home in the competition during the first weekend. The absence of crowds takes away the advantage of the home field a bit, so we just need to have a good week to start as a group. “
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