‘To miss an opportunity to play in a World Cup is haunting my thoughts’

SPORT CAN BE so unspeakably cruel, and while it became clear very quickly on Saturday evening that Dan Leavy had suffered a serious injury as he lay stricken on the turf, nobody in those worrying moments could have comprehended the severity of the damage.

The fact host broadcasters BT Sport made the instant decision to not show any replays of the incident which led to Leavy requiring urgent medical attention from team medics, who administered him with oxygen, speaks of its trauma.

Leavy had only just come on before suffering the season-ending injury. Source: Billy Stickland/INPHO

This morning, after Leavy underwent an initial scan, Leinster confirmed the 24-year-old flanker’s worst fears — a complex knee ligament injury which not only requires further assessment, but will rule Leavy out of the game for a significant period, including Ireland’s World Cup campaign.

It is a cruel, cruel blow for the player, his province and indeed Joe Schmidt’s Ireland, as Leavy now faces into a lengthy period on the sidelines after working hard to come back from a recent calf injury.

Despite Saturday’s result and Leinster’s progression through to a third straight Heineken Champions Cup semi-final, the mood around the province’s UCD headquarters this morning was understandably muted as news of Leavy’s injury filtered around the organisation.

Leavy’s long-term absence is a major setback for Leo Cullen’s side as they head into the business end of the season, but also for Ireland as they gear up towards September’s World Cup in Japan. As the recent Six Nations showed, the flanker is absolutely key for Schmidt’s side.

But on a personal level, this is an unimaginably devastating blow for Leavy, who has had to contend with injury frustrations in the last 12 months, having developed into a totemic player for club and country in the number seven jersey.

Leavy, capped 11 times by Ireland, missed the entire Six Nations campaign and had played just 526 minutes of rugby this term, as he struggled with calf and neck problems before and after Christmas.

“Struggling to put into words how devastated I am with the injury,” Leavy said on social media this afternoon. “Firstly to miss the business end of the season with my Leinster brothers and our opportunity to pursue another European and league title.

“Secondly, to miss an opportunity to play in a World Cup in Japan is haunting my thoughts. All I have ever aimed for in my career is the opportunity to shine on the world stage for my country and do the nation and my family proud.

“I fully back the Ireland boys to make a little bit of history as they always do and will watch on as number one supporter. I have been blown away by the messages of support and encouragement I’ve received already. I am blessed to have the family and friends I do and thank everyone for their well wishes.

“Looking forward to starting the road to recovery soon. I will be back.”

Leinster will rally around Leavy as he begins his recovery. Source: Dan Sheridan/INPHO

Leinster team-mate Luke McGrath visited Leavy on Sunday as the pair watched Liverpool’s Premier League game against Tottenham together.

“I’m absolutely gutted for him,” the scrum-half said. “I met up with Dan yesterday, his spirits are as you can imagine, fairly low.

“It’s just such a long time out of the game, which is very challenging, but it’s important for us here that we support him as much as possible and try and stay positive with him because it’s a long-term injury. It’s a challenge.”

Watching on from the bench at the time, McGrath knew it was serious.

“Yeah, I knew it was bad when I saw the stretcher go on and he’s unbelievably tough, Dan, so you know when he’s getting stretchered off that it’s very serious.”

Hooker James Tracy added: “I’m absolutely gutted for him, he’d be one of my best friends in here, so it makes it a little bit worse. I see all the work he does behind the scenes and all the extras. I’m gutted for him but unfortunately, it’s the nature of the game.”

And as one door closes, another one opens for someone else. Ulster’s Jordi Murphy or the fit-again Jack O’Donoghue of Munster are the prime candidates to push for a place in Schmidt’s World Cup squad now, particularly with Josh van der Flier also ruled out for three months after groin surgery.

From a Leinster perspective, losing two of their openside flankers to long-term injuries in the space of two weeks is a big blow to their hopes of retaining their Champions Cup and Pro14 crowns.

Cullen’s back row options have suddenly taken a hit but Leinster will be confident that Sean O’Brien can hit peak form again for the run-in, while Max Deegan has impressed at seven in recent weeks and Scott Penny is back after helping Ireland to an U20 Grand Slam title.

“It’s such a huge blow for Dan,” Leinster scrum coach John Fogarty says. “He has been working hard to get back into a position physically and had just about had done that, so to get this type of injury is a huge loss for us here at Leinster and for Ireland as well.

“He offers so much, gives the team a lot of confidence and both sides of the ball is such a threat. It’s a massive loss and hopefully, he can get through the next few weeks and make a plan to get himself back.

“We saw each other after the match but I haven’t spoken to him since then. He’s not in the building today. He’s probably at home trying to figure it out at the moment. All the medics will make a good plan for him and he’ll make his way back.”

With two Pro14 games against Benetton and Glasgow Warriors to come ahead of their European semi-final against Toulouse on Easter Sunday, Leinster will explore their selection options for the end of the season.

“It’s something we need to get right,” Fogarty adds. “We had a mixed performance at the weekend and as coaches, it puts us under pressure to make sure we are selecting the right players.

“Sean, Max, Scott Penny are there and Will Connors will hopefully come back soon enough. That’s something we need to spend a lot of time on and get right because we need to have better performances than that if we want to win this thing and it starts this weekend against Benetton at the RDS.”