Leinster’s success in the Investec Champions’ Cup has left them with a head-scratcher as they get ready to host the Fidelity Securedrive Lions in their Vodacom United Rugby Championship match in Dublin on Saturday.
After the satisfaction of downing Toulon at home and booking themselves into the final of the Champions’ Cup, the reality hit on Monday as they were without Robbie Henshaw, stretchered off in the first half with a concussion and won’t be available this weekend.
Tommy O’Brien, the winger, is waiting an assessment after picking up an injury during the win, while Josh van der Flier, who scored one of the tries on Saturday, is also on a return to play protocol and may miss out as well.
Depending on how serious they are about facing the Lions, there are a few players that could return to face the Lions, or sit it out, depending on the need for the victory.
The Lions are third on the log, and face a tough task in Dublin against a Leinster side now intent on doing the double, and the winner of the clash will have a significant advantage going into the last week of the competition.
The team’s injury assessment announced that Tadhg Furlong and James Lowe were both “integrating into training” with decisions on their availability to be taken later in the week.
Both are key players and will boost Leinster, but the Irish side have incredible depth so it may be that both will miss out this week for the bigger clashes down the line.
There is also an injury to Jack Conan, another hugely influential player and Leinster will only know his availability later in the week as well.
While there may be some mind games being played ahead of the clash, Leinster are the one side that always backs their wider squad and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them do it again this week, especially after the bruising encounter against Toulon.
The Lions have never qualified for the playoffs and are a point away from doing that for the first time, and now have the opportunity to make a statement that they aren’t the same side that suffered from inconsistency over the past four seasons.
Playing with confidence, a win in Dublin will do more than underline their status as one of the top sides in the competition, it will add them to the list of potential title winners as well.
For now, the belief is that while the Lions are good, they still have to prove themselves in a match like this to be taken seriously as title contenders.
On Saturday they will have the opportunity and motivation to prove all their critics wrong.