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Leinster to be without key players for Exeter match

James Ryan /PA

Leinster will not be getting a late injury boost ahead of their Heineken Champions Cup match with Exeter Chiefs, with a number of their first-choice stars confirmed as ‘unavailable for selection’.

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Leinster were given a walkover win over Toulon after one of the French team’s players tested positive for the Covid-19 ahead of their scheduled final 16 match last weekend in the RDS. The EPCR descision to award the game to the blues has left Toulon furious and the Irish province without valuable game time ahead of the showdown with the English champions.

The province has also now confirmed that Ireland stars James Ryan, Garry Ringrose, Caelan Doris, Will Connors and Dan Leevy will not be available for selection. Added to this is concern around Jamison Gibson-Park, who sustained a hamstring injury at training last week and “will be further assessed this week ahead of the game”.

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Devin Toner talks to Big Jim:

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Devin Toner talks to Big Jim:

There is some good news in that young prop talent Vakh Abdaladze has recovered from a long-standing back injury and will available for selection for the side’s trip to Sandy Park. Elsewhere Tommy O’Brien is due to increase his training load this week as he continues to recover from an ankle injury.

22-year-old second row Jack Dunne sustained an ankle fracture at training last week and will be unavailable for 16 weeks as a result.

Unavailable for Selection: Scott Penny (hand), Jimmy O’Brien (hamstring), Garry Ringrose (ankle), Will Connors (knee), James Ryan (concussion), Rowan Osborne (hand), Adam Byrne (quad), Caelan Doris (concussion), Dan Leavy (knee), Conor O’Brien (knee) and Max Deegan (knee), Jack Dunne (ankle).

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AM 42 minutes ago
'Freelancer' Izaia Perese shows the need for true inclusivity in Australian rugby

That's Cron's job though. Australia has had one of the most penalised scrums in international rugby for a long time. Just look at the scrum win loss percentage and scrum penalties. That is your evidence. AA has been the starter during that period. Pretty simple analysis. That Australia has had a poor scrum for a long time is hardly news. If bell and thor are not on the field they are woeful. So you are just plain wrong. They have very little time for the lions so doing the same old things that dont work is not going to get them there.


Ainsley is better than our next best tighthead options and has been playing well at scrum time for Lyon in the most competitive comp in the world. Superstar player? No. But better than the next best options. So that is a good enough guide. The scrummaging in the Prem is pretty good too so there is Sio's proof. Same analysis for him. Certainly better in both cases than Super, where the brumbies had the worst win loss and scrum pen in Super. Who plays there? Ohh yes... And the level of scrummaging in Super is well below the URC, prem and France with the SA teams out.


Nongorr is truly woeful. He's 130kg and gets shoved about. That just should not be happening at that weight for a specialist prop who has always played rugby cf pone with leauge. He has had enough time to develop at 23. You'd be better off with Pone who is at least good around the field for the moment and sending Nongorr on exchange to France or England to see if they can improve him with better coaching as happened with Skelton and Meafou. He isn't going to develop in time in super if he has it at all.


Latu is a better scrummaging hooker than BPA and Nasser. and he's the best aussie player over the ball at ruck time. McReight's super jackling percentage hasnt converted to international level but latu consistently does it at heniken level, which is similar to test level in the big games. With good coaching at La Rochelle he's much improved though still has the odd shocker. He should start the November games.

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