Leinster will be hoping that their new South African coach Jacques Nienaber brings them a change of fortune when they travel to France to play La Rochelle at the Stade Marcel Deflandre in the first round of the Heineken Champions Cup on Sunday next. The French club, who are coached by former Irish international Ronan O’Gara, beat Leinster by one point to retain the Heineken European Cup at the Aviva last May. O’Gara faces a French Disciplinary Commission in France today after he was cited following La Rochelle’s recent defeat to Racing 92.
La Rochelle will be looking for a fourth straight victory over the Irish province, having beaten them in the semi-final of the tournament in 2021, the final in Marseille in 2022 and again seven months ago in Dublin. Nienaber, who was South Africa’s coach when they won the World Cup in France in October, will work alongside head coach Leo Cullen. He had previously spent two seasons as defence coach with Munster when Rassie Erasmus was their Director of Coaching. Nienaber had his first session with the Leinster players last week and forwards coach Robin McBryde was impressed. He said: ‘‘Nienaber got stuck in from the word go in training. He has been doing his homework, so he is hitting the ground running. Everyone is waiting for him to impart his knowledge. You are willing to listen a bit more to someone with a proven track record as recently as the World Cup.’’
Connacht are the first Irish province in action in Europe’s top rugby competition this weekend when they play Bordeaux-Begles at the Sportsground on Friday night. On Saturday Ulster are away to Bath, with Munster home to Bayonne. Ulster’s solitary win in the Heineken Cup was at Lansdowne Road in 1999, while Munster won twice in Cardiff, in 2006 and 2008. It almost six years since Leinster won the Cup for the 4th time in Bilbao. Connacht, who are back in the top tier this season, have never reached the Heineken final.
ULSTER, MUNSTER
FINALS FOR SUNDAY
December is not a great month for hurling or football, but the GAA need to get their club provincial finals finished before Christmas and we have a lot of games coming up. On Sunday next it’s the Ulster and Munster club football finals. Glen from Derry and Monaghan champions Scotstown will meet. Glen won the Ulster title for the first time ever in 2022 and went on to reach the All-Ireland final where they lost narrowly to Kilmacud Crokes. Scotstown’s last Ulster win was in 1989, having won three in-a-row between 1978 and 1980. They have a possible match winner in goalkeeper Rory Beggan, who is an expert from free-kicks.
Meanwhile in Munster it’s a Cork-Kerry pairing with a difference. Cork county champions Castlehaven should be much too strong for Dingle, who are the Kerry club champions, but not the County champions. East Kerry are the county champions, but as they are a divisional team cannot play in the club championship. The Munster Council has chosen the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick as the venue for the final, which is long trek for both teams; Mallow or Killarney would be much more suitable, but of course neither of those venues is considered neutral.
WORLD CUP BID
COST IRISH €10M
IRFU CEO Kein Potts has revealed that Ireland’s 2023 World Cup bid cost the union in the region of €10 million. Andy Farrell’s team first came together for pre-season training in mid-June for an event that didn’t start until early September and it made for the union’s most expensive tournament ever. The loss of the annual November international, which were not fully offset by two home summer warm up games against Italy and England, played a huge part in that, but so did the spending required to prepare the team. Checks had to written for additional training camps and travel with the squad spending time in Dublin, Portugal and France before returning to France for the tournament itself. There was also additional support staff, logistics, player costs and accommodation.
KLEYN SIGNS FOR
TWO MORE YEARS
Munster Rugby has confirmed that second row RG Snyman will leave the province at the end of this season, but his fellow World Cup-winning Springbok lock Jean Kleyn has signed a new two-year contract with the province. Snyman’s time with Munster has been blighted by injuries, with the South African making just 10 appearances since joining in 2019. He is currently sidelined after surgery on a chest/shoulder injury in the wake of the Boks’ World Cup success. Snyman did get back to fitness to help Munster win their URC title last May but he will move on at the end of the current campaign to take up what has been described as a new playing opportunity. However, Munster have confirmed that Kleyn has signed a two-year contract extension to keep him with the southern province until the summer of 2026 at least. Kleyn is married to a girl from Galway and is building a house in the Limerick area. The 30-year-old who was born in Linden, South Africa won five Irish caps in 2019, having qualified through the residency rule, but then switched allegiance to his native South Africa earlier this year and helped them to their World Cup success in France
ENGLAND’S FARRELL
IS STEPPING BACK
England Rugby captain Owen Farrell has announced that he is taking a break from international rugby. The 32-year-old son of Irish coach Andy Farrell said he was stepping back from the national team to ‘‘prioritise his and his family’s mental well-being.’’ It means the fly-half will not be available for selection for the 2024 Six Nations. Farrell will continue to play for Saracens and captain the London club. England coach Steve Borthwick said in a statement that everyone in the England set-up was fully behind Owen’s decision. ‘‘Since making his debut, Owen has been an integral part of the England set-up for over a decade, and the demands on elite athletes are extremely challenging,’’ he added.
DONALD STAYS ON
AS EUROPE CAPTAIN
Luke Donald will remain Europe’s Ryder Cup captain for the 2025 edition in New York after leading his team to victory in Rome in October. Donald has been victorious in all four of his appearances as a player and one as captain, guiding Europe to a 16½ to 11½ win over the United States. He will become the first European captain to serve consecutive terms since Bernard Gallacher between 1991-1995.
Team Europe captain Luke Donald lifts the Ryder Cup in Rome on Oct. 1. [Inpho/Matteo Ciambelli]
