Rookie Ryan will meet fire with fire

LEINSTER being Leinster, it was the pair of young tyros in the back-line who garnered most of the attention after the gutsy team performance in France last weekend but a similar storyline unfolded among the grunts after the interval.

Dominic Ryan had less than half the time afforded to Fergus McFadden and Eoin O’Malley in which to make an impression but that is just what he did after replacing the injured Jamie Heaslip two minutes after the restart in the Stade Marcel Michelin.

Like the Irish number eight, he sought to stamp his presence on proceedings with a handful of thundering runs through the home defence but his tackling, one covering effort 20 minutes from time in particular, also caught the eye.