Rugby Daily | Nacewa "shocked" by Lowe exit, no Crowley in Ireland squad
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Football on Off the Ball.
I think they can go and win it. They're a very, very difficult team to beat. They don't lose an awful lot of games. I think Morocco are better than Germany. I think people have said to me they fancy Germany as dark horse. People have said they fancy Ecuador or I personally fancy Colombia as a bit of a dark horse. I think Morocco are ahead of all those teams.
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You're very welcome along to Thursday's Rugby Daily. I'm Cameron Hill. Now coming up for you today, the Leinster and Bulls teams are out for the URC Grand Final tomorrow. A few big names have been left out of the Ireland squad for their Nations Championship games this July. Isa Nasewa admits he was shocked to hear that James Lowe is leaving Leinster and Ireland this summer. And are we inching closer to tackles above the sternum being outlawed in elite rugby? First up today, Leinster and the Bulls have named their teams for tomorrow's URC Grand Final at Croke Park. Head coach Leo Cullen has made three changes from the semi-final win over the Stormers, with Taig Furlong and Gerry Kerr promoted to the starting front row.
Furlong has been absent from the Leinster team for the playoffs up to this point due to injury, while Kerr comes in for Andrew Porter, who was ruled out earlier this week with a calf issue. The other change is in the back three. Winger Tommy O'Brien has overcome a back problem to start alongside Hugo Keenan and James Lowe, who will be playing his final game in Dublin. In the centre, it's as you were. In the centres, it's as you were, with Jamie Osborne and Rico Ioane once again. Jamison Gibson-Park and Sam Prendergast are the half-back partnership, while Ronan Kelleher is preferred to Dan Sheehan at hooker. Joe McCarthy and James Ryan continue in the second row, while Caelan Dorris is past fit and captains the side at number eight, joined in the back row by Max Deegan and Josh van der Vlier.
It's a 5-3 split on the bench this week, so joining Sheehan among the forwards are Alex Usinov, Thomas McCarthy, Dermot Mangan and Jack Conan. The backs options consist of Luke McGrath in what's also his final game for Leinster, of course, alongside Harry Byrne and Gary Ringrose. Head coach Leo Cullen highlighted how they took a less familiar path to the decider this time round.
If you'd asked me when we were sitting here last, do you remember when that was? After round four, when we lost three of our first four games, would we be in the situation we're playing in a final in Croke Park? I think everyone would have thought we were crazy at that point because we'd already lost more games in the regular season than we had during the entire regular season last season.
What teams are competing in the URC Grand Final?
We were, as I said, four rounds in and we had 20-odd players heading off to international camp so they weren't going to be playing in the next couple of games. It's been an amazing squad effort to get to this stage. It's great to still be playing rugby this time of year. and hopefully we'll have a great day. But we know it's going to be a serious challenge because we're up against a serious team. So I'm sort of flip-flopping here. Yeah, we want to be really respectful to the opposition, but we also need to be very focused on ourselves and what makes Leinster great. And we've got some great individuals in our team that will be potentially playing for Leinster for the last time tomorrow as well. So we want to make sure we put in a big performance for all the right reasons.
Leinster are bidding to win back-to-back titles for the first time since 2021.
Who are the notable omissions from the Ireland squad for the Nations Championship?
Our own Susanna Mollen caught up with Tommy O'Brien earlier this week and he explained what motivates him to continue trying to make finals.
I think just knowing how good it was last year when we won and the sense of kind of relief but also the celebrations and being able to share winning a trophy with
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–2:44
2
What teams are competing in the URC Grand Final?
2:44–3:31
3
Who are the notable omissions from the Ireland squad for the Nations Championship?
3:31–4:13
4
Why was Isa Nacewa shocked by James Lowe's exit?
4:13–4:41
5
What changes are being made to tackle height in rugby?
4:41–5:00
6
How did Leinster prepare for the URC Grand Final?
5:00–14:20
Speakers
7 identifiedMore from OTB Rugby
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