Horgan makes little bit of history with Leinster captaincy

SHANE HORGAN will make history when he becomes the first player from a junior club, Boyne, to captain Leinster for tonight’s Magners League clash with Glasgow at Firhill.

Even though the Irish international wing/centre will have little or no involvement with the club for the foreseeable future at least — he joined the County Louth based club from Lansdowne at the start of the season — it’s still a coup to have a junior team with a current Irish international on its books.

Horgan returns to Leinster team after his involvement in Ireland’s World Cup campaign and it is also his first shot at captaining Leinster in the absence, of course, of Brian O’Driscoll, who is expected to be eased back into action next weekend.

With Gordon D’Arcy also held back, Horgan partners Christian Warner at centre, while the other changes in the backline see Ireland ‘A’ cap Ross McCarron come in for his first start of the season at full-back.

Interestingly, 12 of the squad to face Glasgow have come through the academy system in recent years.

Leinster hooker Bernard Jackman is determined to re-focus Leinster’s Magners League dreams after the hideous hiding by Llanelli in Dublin last week.

“Coming off a defeat like we suffered last week, you can’t just block it out. You don’t just forget about it. You have to be hard on yourself, as we were when analysing the game in the early part of the week. You can then see what you did or didn’t do. It’s now about concentrating on putting in a strong performance and making amends.

“We got a monkey off our back by winning in Wales last time out, but it’s important that we finish on a high before the gap in the calendar next weekend.”

Jackman admitted that poor away form was a worry for Leinster, at least it was last year. He noted: “Our away form let us down last year, so I don’t think there’s any fear of admitting that there should be a positive reaction by Leinster this weekend. There’s no excuse for us not to come out with all guns blazing on Friday.”

LEINSTER: R. McCarron, L. Fitzgerald, S. Horgan (captain), C. Warner, R. Kearney, J. Sexton, C. Willis, S. Wright, B. Jackman, S. Knoop, C. Jowitt, D. Toner, S. Keogh, K. McLaughlin, S. Jennings

Replacements: B Blaney, C. Healy, M. O’Kelly, K. Gleeson, C. Keane, F McFadden, F. Carr

Referee: Hugh Watkins (WRU).