Schmidt salutes veteran Horgan
Schmidt made no secret of his respect for Horgan at a press conference in Dublin yesterday when he declared the player has been “rejuvenated.”
The coach elaborated by highlighting the importance of Horgan’s contribution this season.
“He has been really good for us especially in his ability to aerially dominate his area of the pitch. He has given us a bit of a platform when we have been stuck in our own half; he just tends to give us a second shot at the ball (possession), carries strongly and drags tacklers with him. Overall, I’d say that Shane Horgan has decided it’s not yet time to finish off in this game.”
Schmidt revealed he may well offer a place in the side — for some part of the game — to Kiwi newcomer Clint Newland, a prop signed on short term contract from Super 14 side the Highlanders.
Newland, 30, has amassed a wealth of experience having featured for Hawke’s Bay 94 times in the NPC (since his debut in 1999) and in 24 games for the Highlanders in the Super 14/15 since 2008.
He is immediately available for selection after arriving in Ireland on Tuesday. Mike Ross should also see game time but the coach has yet to make up his mind and will decide today.
Significantly, Leinster will be forced to introduce some lesser-used players but Schmidt believes they are capable of making an impact. Stephen Keogh is certain to start in the back row and the coach said his experience of having played against Edinburgh a short few weeks ago should be of particular benefit.
The talented Dominic Ryan will most likely start alongside Keogh as Schmidt holds Irish U20 captain Rhys Ruddock for the bench.
Ruddock is undoubtedly one for the future, according to Schmidt: “Rhys wasn’t available for the first couple of games because he was on the same international (pre-season) programme so he missed out. He played against Treviso but got a knock and then the Heineken Cup games followed on so he didn’t have much opportunity.
“Dominic (Ryan) was available, got some game time and he has had a fantastic start to the season. We’ll probably see what progress Rhys has made on Saturday, but certainly he’s a great young guy, he’s very keen, built to play the game and I think he will benefit from any experience he gets. He’s not worried about expectations (of others) because he has high expectations of himself; he has already been on a full Irish tour and has captained an U20 tour so he has leadership potential.”
Whatever about individuals, Schmidt is anticipating a collective will to win tomorrow and is confident the newcomers will buy in to the defensive improvement made by the province since the teams last met in Edinburgh.
“We’ve conceded just two tries in the last four games, we have a bit more steel about our defence, but the word of warning is that we conceded four tries to Edinburgh last time and that’s something we have worked pretty hard on to avoid happening again.
“The way they play (Edinburgh) they certainly try to open up the game and the last Heineken Cup fixture against Northampton was certainly a great game of footy; if they do get to accelerate the ball they get they’re very effective at offloading and creating chances.”
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