D’Arcy: Up to next generation to drive us on

Leinster will look to the latest crop of academy graduates and not the open market as the province looks to bounce back from their Heineken Cup quarter-final loss to Toulon.

The three-time champions were outmuscled and outplayed by the French side last Sunday but there will be no global search for superstars in the bid to recapture the ground lost since claiming their third title in three years in 2012.

Coach Matt O’Connor pointed out that IRFU rules and regulations on the number of foreign players in the three leading provinces ties their hands anyway and Gordon D’Arcy spoke about the need for the younger brigade to steer the ship.

“We’ve got to look at the collective rather than the individual,” said D’Arcy yesterday as the squad returned to training at their UCD base ahead of Friday’s PRO12 visit to Wales where they will face the Ospreys.

“When individual brilliance happens then great but we have got to look more at the collective. That’s worked for us, it’s a proven thing for us. When the team functions, that collective, we’re pretty hard to deal with.

“The young guys coming through … all these lads like Jordi Murphy getting a bit of time on the pitch, Dave Kearney, they have had a lot of success and now they have the bitter side of it. That’s going to spur them on for the next few years.”

Leinster did at least come away from the Cote D’Azur with a relatively light injury load. Fergus McFadden limped off but with what turns out to be a medial ligament strain which will keep him out for weeks rather than months.

Luke Fitzgerald, dropped from the 23 last week, “should be in and around the mix” this week, according to O’Connor who was asked if the size difference between the Leinster and Toulon squads is a concern for the province going forward.

“You can’t get away from the bulk of the French Top 14. They have very big squads and at the very top end it matters. We are pretty comfortable with the group that we’ve got. We didn’t perform anywhere near our best, so it’s a little bit skewed in the wash-up.

“At the same time, if we had put out what we wanted to deliver on it wouldn’t have been as glaring that they have bigger blokes than us. We’ve got to address those issues. We want to make sure that we’re in the mix to win the premier competition in Europe.”

For now, all they can do is focus on the PRO12 which they lead by four points from Munster with four rounds to go. After that come the playoffs and D’Arcy is determined they finish at least one job off this season.

“Time heals all,” he said of the Toulon loss. “It was a lot worse yesterday, it was a little bit better today and it will be a bit better again tomorrow and then you’re playing again. You have to be a good professional, you have to let this kick you on to the next challenge and there is still more silverware.

“It would be an awful lot worse place if we didn’t have something to compete for. We have the PRO12 to go after and get that comfort of a home semi. We’ve just seen how hard it is for an away team.

“The stats go with the home team in the knockouts. It is hard. You want to be competing at Heineken Cup level but we did leave a few opportunities out there.”