Articles by Michael Scully

Leinster stars head for Ireland camp: 'You feel like you're abandoning the lads'

Josh van der Flier says it feels like Leinster's Ireland stars are "abandoning" the province in a time of real need. The Blues' 31-14 loss to Munster at Croke Park on Saturday was their third defeat in their opening four URC games. Leo Cullen's squad can salvage a second victory from the first block of games at Zebre on Saturday but will have to do so without the 21 players called up for Ireland duty in November . Those players are meeting up with the rest of Andy Farrell's squad this morning and while they will turn the page quickly with Ireland's clash with the All Blacks to come on Saturday week, the disappointment of Croker will certainly linger. “Yeah, it's tough," said van der Flier. "It’s a funny feeling. You feel like you're kind of abandoning the lads after a tough loss like that - you're just disappearing for training camp. “Leo mentioned it in the changing room afterwards that it’s a brilliant opportunity for a lot of lads to get a crack at Zebre this weekend and right a few things we didn't do well, but it is tricky. "Next time we'll be back together as a full group is probably Harlequins (in the Champions Cup in December), so it's not ideal. “As an individual, for me going into Irish camp now, you're thinking, ‘What could I have done better?’ and it’s definitely a lot of motivation to play the next game, whatever that is. But yeah, it's a tricky part of the season. "We're very lucky in that we don't have these conversations too many times in a season, which is obviously good. But we've had a few of them now to start the season, so it's definitely a different position to be in, but we'll have to keep our heads up and get on with it." Leinster had close to 30 players on Test duty in the summer with the British and Irish Lions - including van der Flier - and on Ireland's summer tour. Cullen acknowledged on Friday that level of disruption in terms of players returning late to pre-season and to competitive action would cause Leinster pain . But he told his players after this latest loss that they had to own the situation , and van der Flier insists there can be no excuses for their surprisingly slow start to the campaign. "It was obviously a few lads' first games (on Saturday), it's definitely been a different year in that way," he said. "And especially the amount of lads that were away quite late into the summer - e Lions lads, Irish lads, and the lads who were training, so it's been very kind of some lads in, some lads out. “Obviously the group goes off to South Africa and a lot of us were still doing pre-season training, so it has been quite disjointed. But I don't think we can take that as an excuse. “A lot of times we're used to it, that normally happens towards the end of the season. It happens that you have a good group away from the Six Nations and then we come back and then we've had those South Africa two weeks. "So it's not something we can use as an excuse, but it obviously does make it a bit trickier to a normal phase in the season, I suppose." Jack Conan's withdrawal with a twisted knee meant that, after captaining the team for the first time in Leinster's first win of the campaign against the Lions, van der Flier had to step up again for the Munster clash. Leinster began well and Rónan Kelleher scored the game's first try, but Munster took over to lead 21-7 at the break before shutting the Blues out for almost all of the second half. "Could I have maybe messaged to calm lads down or changed the messaging or something, that’s something I'm aware of," the experienced flanker commented. "Maybe I could have done that a bit better, stayed calm because obviously it can happen in any game where just a couple of strikes out of nowhere. "We were playing pretty well in the first half, other than those breakaway tries, but it probably comes down to having a bit better composure. We did well up to probably up to the 22 and then we kind of threw the ball away a bit. “So we spoke about it at half-time, that we probably just went away from the basics, holding onto the ball, going through the phases. We probably tried to force it a bit too much and the second half was a bit better, but we just couldn't couldn't break down the defence." In a normal season the 32-year-old would have four games under his belt in terms of match fitness but that isn't the case for the Leinster contingent heading to Chicago with Ireland on Tuesday. "But the coaches normally do it really well in Irish camp anyway," van der Flier said. "I'd say we'll work hard from a fitness point of view and then, it's actually good having those two weeks for a bit of continuity and that kind of thing. “So it should be good in that way. It's obviously tricky for lads, there's a point where you're really fresh and it's great and then there's a point where you would like more game time, but hopefully we can find the balance anyway.” At least Tadhg Beirne will be on his side the next time they play. The Munster skipper was magnificent on his season debut for Munster last Saturday. “Absolutely, yeah," said van der Flier. "He was very, very good, put in a really good performance. His first game back as well, I believe. He's been playing brilliantly in fairness to him. So, nice to have him on the team."

Oct 20, 2025

Articles by Michael Scully

Ireland boss Andy Farrell calls up two players for All Blacks clash but top back misses out

Leinster stars head for Ireland camp: 'You feel like you're abandoning the lads'