Leinster Sign Triggs, But Kearney Suffers Injury Setback

Leinster have this afternoon confirmed that New Zealand Maori lock Hayden Triggs has signed a contract with the province until the end of the season.

Hayden Triggs, who has been capped nine times by the Maori side, will arrive into Leinster Rugby tomorrow having been granted a work permit.

The 33-year-old Wellington native has played 64 Super Rugby games for the Hurricanes, the Highlanders, the Chiefs and most recently the Blues where he made 24 appearances since joining them in 2014.

Prior to linking up with the Blues in Auckland, the former Army mechanic played with Honda Heat in Japan. He has scored ten tries in Super Rugby.

The second row will be familiar with some of his new colleagues having played against them in the 2007 Churchill Cup and again in the 2010 Centenary Series. Triggs lined out against the likes of Mike Ross, John Fogarty, Sean Cronin and Jonathan Sexton in the Maoris’ 50-22 win over Ireland Woflhounds in 2007.

He also played in the 2010 Centenary Series for the Maori team against Ireland which the New Zealand hosts won 31-28 in a game that Sexton scored 23 points with the boot.

Commenting on the new signing, Leinster head coach Leo Cullen said: “Hayden brings a wealth of experience to the squad at a time when we have a large chunk of our squad away at the Rugby World Cup. We look forward to welcoming him into the group in the next day or so.”

Triggs’ arrival could not come at a better time as Cullen also confirmed that another second row option had been ruled out until February.

“Mick Kearney (pictured above) returned to play with Clontarf the weekend before last and unfortunately has injured his toe again. He has had surgery and will be out until the new year. It is a terrible blow for Mick personally who has applied himself brilliantly since his arrival and was performing very well in training.

“Obviously with the news that Rhys (Ruddock) and now Mike (McCarthy) have been added to the Ireland squad, Hayden’s arrival is timely. Tom Denton, Ross Molony, Tadhg Beirne and Gavin Thornbury have all been pushing hard to get in the team and Hayden will add some good experience and further competition for places.”

Cullen also gave an injury update on the rest of the Leinster squad with Martin Moore taking a full part in training having come through the return-to-play protocols. Jack Conan is being assessed on a day-to-day basis for the ankle injury he picked up in the warm-up ahead of the Dragons game.

Cullen also confirmed that Royce Burke-Flynn injured his leg in the Leinster ‘A’ team’s win over Munster ‘A’ last week and that there is still some bruising. A final decision on the prop’s availability for Friday’s GUINNESS PRO12 encounter with the Scarlets in Llanelli will not be made until the Captain’s Run on Thursday.

Leinster play the Scarlets in the round 4 of the PRO12 on Friday (kick-off 7.35pm). Ireland fans in Wales for the Rugby World Cup can start their weekend at Parc y Scarlets by purchasing Scarlets v Leinster tickets here.