D’Arcy on the bench for Leinster

As suspected by some, A.N. Other on the Leinster bench for the Edinburgh match has turned out to be one Gordon D’Arcy.

As suspected by some, A.N. Other on the Leinster bench for the Edinburgh match has turned out to be one Gordon D’Arcy.

In a week when he has been nominated for the IRB World Player of the Year, this might add a few more onto the gate at Donnybrook. And they will be delighted if he is given a first run of the season.

It’s not a bad bench, to say the least, featuring D’Arcy, Denis Hickie and Guy Easterby, amongst others.

But Leinster will have to overturn a terrible record against Edinburgh if the crowd are to leave happy. They have drawn one and lost three of the four matches between the sides. In fact, the drawn match was the most damaging, coming at home in the Heineken Cup in a match that Leinster appeared to have sewn up.

Much attention will centre on how David Holwell, the newly-arrived and highly-rated outhalf recruited from the Hurricanes, performs with many hoping he will become the final piece of the backline puzzle.

Edinburgh showed signs last week, in beating Cardiff 35-16 for their first win of the campaign, that they are recovering some of their fine form of last season. They reached the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup, becoming the first Scottish side to do so. Todd Blackadder has been restored from injury to their lineup this season, in part compensating for the long-term injury suffered by Simon Taylor in the Ireland-Scotland fixture last year.

Despite last week’s impressive scoreline, they missed out on a bonus point as they only scored two tries. This lack of potency has been their major problem, mirroring the Scottish national side.

Captain Blackadder, speaking after last week’s win, maintained that their attitude was spot on and that they can do it when they get that part right, saying

In our first few games we under performed, it was a do or die performance today. We owed it to ourselves, our team-mates, our loyal supporters and sponsors to put in a good performance. Our guys turned up with the right attitude and showed what we can do when the attitude is right.