Leinster will take every piece of good news they can manage.
Bernard Laporte’s risky move of throwing star fullback Leigh Halfpenny into his starting line-up, this weekend, seems to have back-fired.
The Welshman has been troubled with shoulder issues all season and damaged it again, last night, in a 35-24 away win over Bernard Jackman’s Grenoble.
A groin injury caused Halfpenny to start his Top 14 in late September and, due to a concussion picked up against Italy, he sat out two game, including the Champions Cup quarter-final win over Wasps.
If Halfpenny fails to prove his fitness by midweek, he may also miss the upcoming Champions Cup semi against Leinster, in Marseilles.
Not perfect but great to play 80 again.. Merci a tous pour vos msgs… pic.twitter.com/amobhxjjg2
— Matt Giteau (@giteau_rugby) April 11, 2015
Halfpenny is the club’s top earning player, at €800,000 per year. The goal-kicking duties may now fall to Matt Giteau [€780k per annum], who has only recently returned to fitness after six weeks out. Frederic Michalak is the other option.
Toulon’s fall-back to take the No.15 jersey is not too shabby – English flyer Delon Armitage.
