Will Slattery

Yeah, something in my mind's eye tells me Ryan, James Ryan, kind of man of the match level performance, Leinster potentially win.

I just, for some reason, I just, I see him kind of having that La Rochelle first 25 minutes in 2023 over the course of an 80 being a decisive battle for Leinster potentially getting over the line.

And so we need to see how he goes.

Yeah, just to go back to Thomas Clarkson, it's funny because, you know, saying like this is such a star-studded first 15 on paper, and it's a testament to how good Clarkson has been and how much he has improved, that like him being there and Furlong being on the bench doesn't seem like out of place or doesn't seem particularly strange as I'm reading it out.

He's been so good.

Huge test from this weekend, obviously, but he's kind of been able to meet every, like, kind of...

kind of raising of levels and I've just found him like improving kind of slightly every time I've seen him play and I just think he's really impressive because even this time last summer when he went in that Lions tour I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that Rudd had told me that on the Lions tour the English press were kind of like baffled like who is this guy why is Andy Vail calling up the Leinster like third choice tight head prop but from then till now he's actually come on leaps and bounds and it wouldn't be as fanciful now if it happened this summer say as maybe it seemed to those English press journalists last summer

And the front row they can bring on now, Keller, Paddy McCarthy and Tyke Furlong, that's seriously formidable.

Although Paddy McCarthy will be going up against Ben Tamifuna in the second half.

The two subs will come on at the same time.

And that first scrum for a man who hasn't played since January against La Rochelle will be an immense test for him.

But that looks so powerful and kind of impactful coming on.

So yeah, I'd be fascinated to see how the bench is used generally.

I expect the front row to obviously play a significant piece

After that, is Mangan kind of the only come on?

If there's an injury at second row, is Deegan the first guy off the bench there in the back row?

Does Frawley get game time?

Do they go with Harry Byrne?

Obviously, Frawley, when he was at the Sobe in 2024 and Ross Byrne came on, was very impactful against Toulouse.

Jamie Osborne, obviously, I expect him to probably play a key role too.