Ten out of ten for Leinster's conveyor belt of talent

Ross Byrne is 25 now but has at least managed 84 appearances for the province, many of them in key European fixtures thanks to injuries suffered by the man a decade his senior. Picture: ©INPHO/Laszlo Geczo

The mood music from Leinster every time they lose a player to another province is half lament, half Rage Against the Machine. It's perfectly understandable when viewed through their eyes yet there never seems to be a deficit in numbers ready and willing to claim the mic.

The move by prop Roman Salanoa to Munster this summer was the latest to put noses out of joint but Stuart Lancaster and others in the coaching staff have been at pains to tell us since how Tom Clarkson has stepped so impressively into the breach in training as the game returns from lockdown.