Ahead of the match against Glasgow this weekend, Shane Jennings spoke about the positive impact of the younger players in the Leinster squad…
With several players absent due to international commitments, Leinster teams over the past few weeks have consisted of a strong blend of youth and experience.
Both sets of players have made key contributions in Leinster’s RaboDirect PRO12 games in recent weeks and Shane Jennings believes that young and experienced players alike are just as eager put in good performances and impress the coaching staff.
“Young guys are doing very, very well but I think there’s a massive onus that we have to each take these opportunities as they come our way, whoever’s going to be picked this week.
“I think it’s probably a huge opportunity for all of us, not just the young guys.”
The Leinster back row also noted the impact of Tadhg Furlong and Jack Conan in particular on last week’s game against Cardiff Blues, with Conan scoring the game’s opening try on his senior team debut.
“I think they’ve done very well over the last couple of weeks, and especially last week (against Cardiff). Tadhg (Furlong) again played very, very well in the front row and Jack (Conan) obviously with his first start.
“Jack is quite realistic with what would’ve gone on, I don’t think he was overly happy with his game but his involvements were good, he’s a big strong guy, he’s a good ball carrier and he knows how to defend. Those parts of his game are very very good and we all want him to continue in that way.”
This weekend sees Leinster take on Glasgow, with the Scottish side looking to record a PRO12 double over Leinster.
“I think they’ve got a very good squad. We’ve always had very difficult games against them and we’ve played them in a few semis in the league and we’ve a lot of respect for them. This season their away form has been really good. They’ve beaten us over there already so I think they’ll be pretty confident that they can come over here and do a job.
“Obviously we want to rectify what happened earlier on this season (losing away to Glasgow). But at the same time the most important thing is that we win and we perform and we get better. We’ve got to start improving, we’ve got to start taking ownership as players and making sure that we’re doing things better and that’ll put us in better positions for weeks to come.”
