“It was all a bit mad.”
Dan Leavy is set for only his second start for Ireland, and his first at the Aviva Stadium.
The Leinster back-row has replaced the injured Josh van der Flier in the Ireland XV and will face off against Sergio Parisse & Co. this weekend.
The 23-year-old, a former Ireland U20 captain, starred off the bench, against France, last weekend and he is determined to stake a long-term claim on the No.7 jersey.
Leavy says he will not put him under any more pressure than usual this weekend and talked up the Italian side as an outfit to be taken with extreme seriousness. “I think I’m in the position I am for a reason,” he says, “so I don’t need to go out and reinvent the wheel and doing drop goals and stuff like that. Just keep doing what I’m doing, work hard and hopefully reap the rewards.”
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Leavy’s first taste of Six Nations action was dropped on him at very late notice last March when he was drafted onto the bench just before kick-off against England. Jamie Heaslip had pulled up in the warm-ups and the young Leinster flanker was needed.
Following a hard-fought victory over England, Schmidt revealed the short, sharp conversation he had with Peter O’Mahony, CJ Stander and Leavy. He commented:
“Dan Leavy got heck of a shock. I said, ‘You need to grab that jersey off Pete. Pete, you grab number six off CJ and CJ, you grab eight off Jamie because Jamie pulled his upper hamstring unable to play’.
“I don’t know if you all saw the warm-up but it happened very late when Jamie suddenly stepped aside. They had a look and tested him inside. I’d say the decision was made five minutes before kick-off.”
At Carton House, this afternoon, Leavy remarked that he ‘wasn’t in my civvies’.
“It was a bit mad,” he began.
“Usually when you’re 24th, you’re looking at a player who might be carrying a niggle or whatever and trying to keep an eye on him and if he doesn’t pull through you might know, but for me that was really a last ditch… I was walking in after the warm-up thinking I wasn’t going to be playing and Joe tapped me on the shoulder and asked how I was feeling.
“I was expecting him to say something like you might get a shot next year or November will be your opportunity but he kind of just said Jamie has pulled up and get the 20 jersey on.
“A couple of minutes later I was walking out in the tunnel. It was a bit of a shock to the system, I was rattled for a few minutes but once the game got going; I knew my role inside out. I had been in camp for the whole Six Nations and it was the same as every other game. It was a bit nuts.”
Leavy performed well off the bench in that match and got more chances for Ireland in the summer and November internationals.
With Sean O’Brien, Rhys Ruddock, Tommy O’Donnell and van der Flier all sidelined, Leavy has a prime opportunity to get himself a run of games in the green jersey. He’ll be even more prepared, this time, too.
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