Players hopeful of Jennings reprieve
The independent Appeal Committee will be chaired by Christopher Quinlan (England) and will also comprise Rod McKenzie (Scotland) and Jean-Noel Couraud (France).
London Irish lock Nick Kennedy remonstrated wildly with Jennings during his side’s Heineken Cup victory over Leinster last Friday week but has since said that he over-reacted.
Jennings has been named in the Leinster squad for Saturday’s Magners League tie against Ulster in Ravenhill and both O’Driscoll and Fitzgerald are hopeful that their team-mate will be available, having sat out last weekend’s crucial Heineken Cup win in Brive.
“He’s our vice-captain, he’s one of the senior players, he’s a big voice for us and he’s been one of the in-form players for us” said O’Driscoll yesterday. “We just hope and wait for the outcome of the appeal and hopefully it will be overturned.”
O’Driscoll wouldn’t comment on the severity of the suspension for fear of prejudicing the appeal.
Fitzgerald pointed out that disciplinary committees had to be trusted as it was their job to protect players. He reasoned that Jennings’ excellent disciplinary record was not accidental however, with the open-side’s “impeccable reputation” as a tough but fair operator universally acknowledged.
“Shane has a fantastic reputation (from) his time in England, his time in Leinster before that and obviously at the moment” stated Fitzgerald. “Guys have massive respect for him. Anyone who’s ever played against Shane will tell you he’s a very tough player but he’s certainly not a dirty player so we were really disappointed with the findings the committee had.
“Hopefully, things will go our way in the appeal but we’ll just have to wait and see. We’ll have to trust them and trust their decision. At the end of the day we’ve got to back them because they’re looking after our safety on the field. But for someone like Shane who’s had an impeccable reputation; to have that tainted by something like this would be a real shame.”
Leinster return to Magners League action in good form having overcome that shock reverse at the RDS to London Irish, by getting the verdict in Brive.
Fitzgerald was pleased with the improved performance and the positive result, agreeing that had the Blues not returned to Dublin with a win, they would have faced an uphill battle to retain their title as European champions.
“We were a little more disciplined which was the key. We gave away some pretty stupid penalties and some inexcusable ones against London Irish. You can’t do that against quality opposition and we paid the price for that.
“We tightened up a little bit there but I still think there’s huge improvements to be made and that’s a good thing going forward. To be winning games when you’re not at your optimum level is good. We’re hoping things will get better.”
Ravenhill is acknowledged as a cauldron from which it is difficult to emerge with anything. Leinster have a good record in Belfast though, having been unbeaten there in the past four years.
Under former Irish skills coach Brian McLaughlin though, they are a better team now than has been the case in recent seasons.
“They’re playing with a lot more confidence” reasons O’Driscoll, who also had McLaughlin as his coach at Irish U21 level. “Winning gives you that confidence and it has a knock-on effect. They were unlucky at the weekend not to win their second European Cup game and they’re third in the Magners League.
“They’re pushing hard. People probably wrote them off a bit before they should have. They have a team out working hard for one another and that goes a long way.”
Fitzgerald and O’Driscoll were speaking at a function to launch the Investec Schools Rugby Festival being hosted by Blackrock College on Saturday and Sunday.
They were joined by other former ‘Rock past pupils Leo Cullen, Brendan Mullin, Hugo McNeill and Fergus Slattery as details were revealed for the event, which includes 20 of the top schools from Leinster, Munster, Ulster and the UK, and has been organised to celebrated the college’s 150th anniversary.
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