Star in the making.
Dan Leavy edged out Ireland internationals Josh van der Flier and Rhys Ruddock to earn a start at blindside for Leinster’s Champions Cup quarter final against Wasps.
For Leavy, it is an endorsement of his talent and recognition of the hard work he has put in this season. The 22-year-old was there on merit.
He backed up the call with a superb performance in Leinster’s 32-17 victory, leading the tackle count [11] for the home side and making 10 forceful carries that set Wasps on their heels.
It is looking more than likely that Leavy will, fitness willing, be in Ireland’s squad to tour the United States and Japan this summer, adding to caps earned against Canada and England.
Speaking on The Hard Yards rugby podcast this week, Stephen Ferris had nothing but praise for Leavy. His glowing, earnest words [from 13:00 below] were a huge endorsement considering Ferris was voted Ireland’s best blindside of the professional era.
https://soundcloud.com/thehardyardssportsjoe/episode-9-champions-cup-preview-irish-squad-initiations-and-donnacha-ryans-contract
Ferris could hardly get his head around the wealth of back row options Leinster have at their disposal despite injuries to the likes of Jamie Heaslip and Jordi Murphy. He said:
Dan Leavy with another handy blindside, CJ Stander.“Dan Leavy is an incredible talent. Every time I watch him, he is either man of the match or should get man of the match.
“It’s just brilliant for Leo Cullen to have so many options.”
Former Leinster and Ireland flanker Kevin McLaughlin also praised Leavy before turning his attention to a player his old province are holding in reserve.
“I think Josh van der Flier has done incredible work over the last couple of years to get to the level he is at but he has also benefited from Stuart Lancaster coming in and the way Leinster play,” said McLaughlin:
“He is one of the fittest players I know. He would just run all day. He’s in incredible shape, he always trains hard and he’s a good professional. He’s got a great natural engine. He’s like Chris Henry, at Ulster, in that he does does not run out of gas. I could play for 150 minutes and would still be going.
“He gets through a lot of work across the park and he’s a really good link player for Leinster. You’ll notice he gets involved in open play and passing on to backs. That link man and the ground-hog that frees ball up for other players.”
Ferris is a big fan of van der Flier too and described his Ireland performances – before injury ended his good run – as ‘explosive and powerful’.
With Sean O’Brien and Jack Conan in good form at the Aviva Stadium and Heaslip back before the end of the season, Leinster are in good shape for a run at European Cup number four.
