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Tadhg Furlong to play first game in 11 months

Tadhg Furlong (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Ireland and Lions star Tadhg Furlong is set to play his first game of rugby in 11 months after being named in the Leinster side that will face the Scarlets in the PRO14 this weekend.

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Furlong hasn’t played since facing England in the 2020 Six Nations on February 23rd. It will be his first game for Leinster Rugby since last January against Benetton Rugby. Furlong has battled back from calf and hamstring issues and will be hopeful of getting game time for Ireland after being named in Andy Farrell’s Six Nations squad.

“There’s a natural progression that needs to happen for Tadhg himself to be physically and mentally right and to earn the right to be available for Wales,” Andy Farrell said earlier this week. “Speaking to Tadhg on Tuesday, he was feeling good, feeling fit, strong, meeting all the requirements.

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Andy Farrell and Jonathan Sexton press conference | 2021 Six nations

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Andy Farrell and Jonathan Sexton press conference | 2021 Six nations

“He feels in good spirits so hopefully we get him through to the end of the week, get him some minutes under his belt for Leinster if selected, and then the plan would be that he comes back into camp on Sunday with us and we can assess where he is at.”

That selection has happened with Furlong named in a youthful Leinster squad for the trip to Llanelli.

Notably, Ryan Baird returns to the second row after being trialled as a blindside in recent outings, with Josh Murphy, Dan Leavy and Jack Conan making up the back row unit.

Ireland scrumhalf Luke McGrath captains the side, while there is a possible debut off the bench for 19-year-old Naas Rugby Club player Jamie Osborne.

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LEINSTER RUGBY
15. Max O’Reilly
14. Cian Kelleher
13. Liam Turner
12. Ciarán Frawley
11. Dave Kearney
10. Harry Byrne
9. Luke McGrath CAPTAIN
1. Peter Dooley
2. James Tracy
3. Tadhg Furlong
4. Ross Molony
5. Ryan Baird
6. Josh Murphy
7. Dan Leavy
8. Jack Conan

16. Seán Cronin
17. Ed Byrne
18. Tom Clarkson
19. Jack Dunne
20. Scott Fardy
21. Hugh O’Sullivan
22. David Hawkshaw
23. Jamie Osborne

Referee: Mike Adamson (SRU)

SCARLETS
15 Johnny McNicholl, 14 Tom Prydie, 13 Tyler Morgan, 12 Steff Hughes (capt), 11 Ryan Conbeer; 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Dane Blacker; 1 Phil Price, 2 Marc Jones, 3 Javan Sebastian, 4 Morgan Jones, 5 Sam Lousi, 6 Blade Thomson, 7 Dan Davis, 8 Uzair Cassiem

Reps: 16 Taylor Davies, 17 Kemsley Mathias, 18 Werner Kruger, 19 Tevita Ratuva, 20 Carwyn Tuipulotu, 21 Will Homer, 22 Angus O’Brien, 23 Paul Asquith.

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AM 43 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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