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Leinster vs Edinburgh

Leinster | Official Matchday Programme of Leinster Rugby | Issue 08 Leinster vs Edinburgh | United Rugby Championship Friday 11th February, 2022 | KO 6pm | RDS Arena

Leinster | Official Matchday Programme of Leinster Rugby | Issue 08
Leinster vs Edinburgh | United Rugby Championship
Friday 11th February, 2022 | KO 6pm | RDS Arena

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also two great mates of mine. They’ve<br />

picked up one or two little injuries as well<br />

on the back of it which is terrible to see,<br />

and you feel for them so I’m keen to see<br />

them bounce back and really get going.”<br />

So, with that phase of his career in the<br />

rearview mirror, it’s back to the present<br />

for Deegan and how he can once again<br />

hit the heights of 2019/20 that saw him<br />

included in that Ireland squad.<br />

Coming off the back of that loss to Cardiff<br />

where he replaced Connors after half an<br />

hour, he has a chance to start his second<br />

game of the campaign and is quietly<br />

appreciative of having some rescheduled<br />

games added to this window allowing<br />

him to stake his claim for further inclusion.<br />

“The Cardiff loss was unbelievably<br />

disappointing. I thought there were parts<br />

of the game that we did well in but at the<br />

end of the day we just coughed up too<br />

many penalties. There were some things<br />

that we got wrong,” he reflects.<br />

“It’s a tough place to go. There was a<br />

big crowd and it’s the first time they’ve<br />

had fans back so it was very loud and<br />

passionate from their fans. Some of<br />

our decisions and accuracy around the<br />

breakdown just wasn’t good enough. That<br />

leads to points and then they start getting<br />

on top of us and score some nice tries<br />

when we missed a few chances. We have<br />

to take those chances when we get them<br />

while not giving them the opportunities to<br />

score like we did late in the game.<br />

“It’s a game we easily could have won<br />

too so it’s frustrating. You could see it in<br />

the changing room after, everyone was<br />

bitterly disappointed with how the result<br />

went but there are still positives to take<br />

away from it. Positives that we’ll bring<br />

into this next game and of course a few<br />

fix-ups.”<br />

That loss gives added impetus to the<br />

visit of <strong>Edinburgh</strong> to the RDS Arena this<br />

evening.<br />

The Scottish capital side sit ahead of<br />

<strong>Leinster</strong> in the table but both sides have<br />

fallen spots in the last fortnight having<br />

suffered defeats in Wales – <strong>Edinburgh</strong><br />

going down to Ospreys in Swansea.<br />

For every bit of motivation losing to<br />

Cardiff can add to <strong>Leinster</strong>’s mindset<br />

this evening, it’ll be matched by their<br />

www.leinsterrugby.ie | 19

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