Leinster seeking perfect send-off
Coach Michael Cheika might not see the retirement of provincial legends Malcolm O’Kelly and Girvan Dempsey as the end of an era, but Kearney disagrees.
As he prepares for Leinster’s last game of the season, he admitted it would be sad to see the likes of O’Kelly, Bernard Jackman and coaches Cheika, Kurt McQuilkin and Alan Gaffney move on.
But he doesn’t hide the fact that he will miss legendary full-back Dempsey most.
He said of Dempsey: “I learned a huge amount from him and he did a lot for my game. He took me under his wing five years ago when I first came in so it will be sad to lose him especially, although there will be a sense of loss with the other boys too. Look at the likes of Mal, who has been the life and soul of the changing room; these are all the things that makes this place a really enjoyable place to be.
“It is important that we try to give them a really good send-off and to get some silverware for them. I suppose a little added emotion on the day is probably a good thing for us and it’s something we will try to use to our advantage.”
Kearney, now one of the most acclaimed full-backs in the world, heaped huge praise on Dempsey for his part in his development.
“In terms of positional play he was always a head above the rest and his line of running was top class. I suppose, at the start of my career, I was hugely impressed by that. Back then, it was top defensive positional play that I lacked most and I looked to him to gain a huge amount of improvement in those areas. Girv was the original Mr Consistency, something that defines a full-back.”
Kearney believes he will have to put into practice all the subtle lessons learnt from Dempsey in Saturday’s game, especially given the presence of his British and Irish Lions colleague and Welsh foe Lee Byrne.
Byrne is just one of a number of the Ospreys’ backs who kick long and accurately to establish territorial advantage, as Kearney observed: “They (Ospreys) do kick a huge amount, they rarely play ball from their own 22 and obviously Lee (Byrne) has a pretty big kick on him; so we will be trying to keep ball away from him.”
He added: “They’re an awesome side with a huge amount of internationals, so there is talent right across the board. Their back row is up there with the best in the competition, they have a great back three and then they have centres who can create things from nothing, so they are a huge danger. On top, an amount of play goes through Mike Phillips and obviously Marty Holah is disruptive at the breakdown.
“We need to be on to him if we want to get quick ball or even to get ball at all.”
Still, Kearney backs Leinster to produce the goods one final time this season, and he is pleased at his own return to form after a patchy spell.
“This season has been a bit up and down for me. It started off quite well but I had a poor opener in the Six Nations; on top of that, I picked up an injury against France.
“After that, it just took me a few weeks to get my full fitness back but these things happen. I suppose I was unfortunate my downturn in form came at an important part of the season but I’m feeling pretty good again.
“I suppose after the Scotland game it was nice to come back home to the RDS and to the Magners League and I just decided that it was maybe time to take the ball on a little bit more; it has been working fine for me of late,” he said.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
