Leinster have been beset by injuries across several positions this season but one spot that has remained relatively immune from disruption is scrumhalf. Only Jamison Gibson-Park has yet to play for the province in the current campaign, though his recovery from a hamstring issue enabled him to line out with Ireland in the Autumn Nations series.
In his absence, Luke McGrath has started six of the seven United Rugby Championship (URC) matches. Cormac Foley was in the run-on team against Connacht in his three appearances, while Nick McCarthy has been on the bench on five occasions.
The 29-year-old McGrath is highly regarded and respected, a leader as much as a captain, and with his three tries this season he has crept up to ninth place in the province’s all-time list with 44 in 181 appearances, one behind Seán Cronin. James Lowe (47) and Dave Kearney (53) are the other active players in the top 10.
McGrath won the last of his 19 caps for Ireland in the 2019 World Cup and under new eligibility rules could switch allegiance to Canada, having been born and lived in Hamilton, Ontario until he was four-years-old.
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The rule states that a player must stand down from international rugby for three years and, thereafter, may switch allegiance to another country if he was born there or had a parent or grandparent born in that country. McGrath confirmed that he had received an inquiry on LinkedIn to see whether he was interested. He responded: “Not yet anyway, no.”
The obvious question followed as to whether he still harboured an ambition to get back into contention for an Ireland jersey. “Absolutely. It’s obviously frustrating not being picked, but in saying that, it’s such a competitive squad. It’s so hard to get into. Especially when they’re going so well.
“I’m just focusing on Leinster at the minute. Hopefully playing as well as I can for them. Who knows what can happen in the future, but my ambitions would very much to still be with Ireland. Definitely.”
McGrath doesn’t have to look far for inspiration, with Ross Byrne nailing the match-winning penalty against Australia last weekend, some 20 months after winning his previous cap for Ireland. The scrumhalf said: “That’s exactly what I was going to say. Ross and I would have been in a probably similar boat, where we hadn’t been in camp in a long, long time. He texted me [last] Monday night [week] saying: ‘I’m in camp’.
“I was obviously delighted for him. Sometimes when there’s a late change, you might have been told the morning of or something like that if Johnny [Sexton] was carrying an injury, but he told me it was literally five or 10 minutes before. For him to come on and kick that kick, it was great to see.
“I knew he was going to get it. Sometimes I’ve captained when Ross is there and when he points to the posts, you just let him at it. It was a great kick.”
It will be interesting to see if the McGrath and Byrne are in tandem at halfback in the RDS on Saturday afternoon (3.15) when Leinster put up their unbeaten record against Glasgow Warriors. The Scottish side have won three of six matches and are under new management this season with Franco Smith having taken over from Danny Wilson.
Leinster forwards’ coach Robin McBryde is pretty sure that the visitors won’t have forgotten the 76 points they shipped in last season’s quarter-final in Dublin. “I expect them to turn up with plenty of edge about them. They contest everything. After the last game last season, they’re probably still smarting from that, and they’ll want to come back and set the record straight.
“Obviously there has been a bit of change with their coaching structure. They’ve got good variation in their attacking strike plays. It will be a good test for us undoubtedly.
“We’ve got to make sure that we transition the boys back in as smoothly as we can really. To make sure everybody is comfortable with our language and the way we do things. It will be a tough match for us on Saturday.”
McBryde admitted that Leinster benefited appreciably from being able to prep a young team for their 40-3 victory over Chile recently. He paid tribute to some of the All-Ireland League players who contributed to the win, notably Clontarf’s Cormac Daly and Conall Boomer of Terenure College.
“On the Captain’s run, Cormac Daly turns up in his work gear. He’s getting changed at the side of the pitch. That’s how it was back in the day, wasn’t it? It was just pure enjoyment. Conall Boomer, his class were watching the game in class in school, with him playing. It was just a great experience for them.
“It was good for the Academy boys here as well, to see there is more to life than rugby. There was a bit more of a rounded approach, but it gave us that focus.” That now turns to Glasgow and the pursuit of an eighth straight win.
