Gibson-Park a doubt for start of Champions Cup in France

Jamison Gibson-Park is a doubt for Leinster’s Champions Cup opener against Clermont Auvergne next Saturday, as the Ireland scrum-half is still sidelined through injury.

Gibson-Park was due to travel to South Africa as part of an extended Leinster squad. However, he hurt his groin in training, which ruled him out.

Leinster had hoped that the 34-year-old would be one of several returning Ireland internationals for tomorrow’s return to the RDS to face Cardiff (5.30), but Gibson-Park is now also in danger of missing next week’s trip to France.

Leinster head Leo Cullen has not yet definitively ruled Gibson-Park out of the clash with Clermont, but he is in a race to prove his fitness in time.

Ireland boss Andy Farrell will be monitoring the situation closely ahead of naming his squad for the November internationals in a couple of weeks.

However, Gibson-Park is expected to be included, as he aims to make his first appearance of the season against Munster at the Aviva Stadium on October 24, if he is unable to feature against Clermont.

“It’s week-to-week: he’s back doing some training. Whether he’s back next week or the week after, he’s not far, but this week is too soon. He just hasn’t done enough training with us,” Cullen said.

Fintan Gunne, who started both of Leinster’s defeats in South Africa, is primed to deputise, although he will begin on the bench against Cardiff tomorrow, with academy scrum-half Oliver Coffey set to make his first professional start.

Cullen revealed that Joey Carbery suffered a minor setback in his return from an ACL injury. The out-half rejoined Leinster from Bordeaux over the summer, but he will have to wait a little longer to make his return in blue.

Leinster’s other front-line internationals such as prop Andrew Porter, versatile back-row Ryan Baird and winger Tommy O’Brien are rested this week ahead of the Champions Cup.

Cullen is relishing Leinster’s return to the RDS following a two-year absence, and with a bumper crowd expected at the newly-named Laya Arena for the visit of Cardiff, the Leinster boss wants his side to make it a fortress.

“It’s a unique ground,” Cullen said. “And there’s lots of rugby clubs in and around the RDS. It’s an insane amount of rugby clubs in a very small area.

“And we’re playing in the showjumping arena, playing rugby. It’s an amazing thing. My mum breeds horses and ponies, as some of you may well be aware. I’ve been going there [to the RDS] since I was literally a baby.

“To think you’re playing rugby there: it is a cool venue. It’s quirky, but it’s got lots of character. It’s just different to every other rugby ground that’s out there.

“We haven’t been there for two years, so we need to work on making it a special place to play the game.

“What we can control as a team — as a group of coaches — is trying to get a performance right that fans ultimately want to come and see and support. And it sounds like it’s pretty close to being sold out now. You want it to be like that every week.

“There’s a demand to come and see the team play because that means we’re doing something OK on the pitch that people want to come and watch, which is a special thing.

“Not just specifically to rugby, but where it is in proximity to all the different things in the area, I think it’s a good day out for people.”

Cullen has many happy memories of the RDS — as a player and as a coach — and as he embarks on his last season in charge of Leinster, he is determined to make it a final chapter to remember.

“It’s the quirkiness,” Cullen added. “You have to say, it’s a bit more homely. It’s not got all bells and whistles because of the way the setup is now. There’s the ceiling at either end because that gets taken out for the horse show and all the rest.

“It just adds to the character of the place. It’s not like your natural pristine stadium, is it? It’s multi-purpose.

“I would be very nostalgic towards the place. I’ll use that word character again — it has more to it. But we need to make it feel homely for the fans in terms of what they see.

“They need to be able to connect ultimately with the performers on the stage, which is the field.

“Everyone’s geared towards that in this place: making sure we do everything we can for the players to give them every chance of a performance.”