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Bob Casey returns to Dublin tonight to face Heineken Cup holders Leinster with a
London Irish team he believes can become champions of Europe.
Skipper Casey led the Exiles into the semi-finals of the tournament two years ago and into the Guinness Premiership Final last season, when they lost to Leicester.
Tonight his side face a huge test of their credentials as they take on a team top of the Magners League and buoyant after a remarkable 30-0 drubbing of Munster last Saturday.
But Casey, who moved from Leinster to the Exiles in 2002, believes his side can lay down a marker for the rest of the tournament providing they attack from the start.
“Playing the Heineken Cup champions in their own backyard on a Friday night in front of a sell-out crowd — it doesn't get much better than that,” said the lock. “They have nine Lions and are the best team in Europe and that's what our players want to test themselves against.
“The Cup matches are as close in intensity to Test matches as you can have. You cannot afford to have even five minutes of sloppy play because you'll find yourself punished.
“In the Premiership, it's maybe a bit more forgiving against certain opposition. We have to stay true to the way we believe in playing and if we hang back and look at the opposition then it won't work. We have to go for it from the off.
We reached the semi-finals two years ago and this is a better squad, more experienced and with greater depth across the board.”
Victory tonight would enhance Casey's chances of an Ireland call-up, which have been damaged by his refusal to play club rugby in his homeland.
The 31-year-old from County Kildare (right) has won just six caps, with the fifth of those coming against Canada on the North America tour in the summer. That match was Casey's first for the national team after a nine-year break and came with Ireland's big-hitters away on Lions duty in South Africa.Leinster will feature prop Mike Ross, who left Harlequins last season, and scrum-half Eoin Reddan, who quit London Wasps in the summer after the Ireland selectors made it clear to both players their international futures would be considerably enhanced if their homes had an Irish postcode.
But Casey has no qualms about standing his ground while others headed back across the Irish Sea, and said: “I have spoken to the Ireland management and going back to Dublin would not be the right move for me and I am going to see my career out here at Irish. I knew I would be making it hard for myself if I stayed here, but I have no regrets.”
The three fly-halves Irish signed in the summer are all in the match squad with the experienced Chris Malone starting and Jamie Lennard and Ryan Lamb on the bench. Adam Thompstone, who broke his ankle at Sale a week ago, is replaced by the talented Tom Homer while Sailosi Tagicakibau, English rugby's top try scorer, is on the other wing.
Leinster will feature new signing Nathan Hines, the Lions and Scotland lock, who gets in ahead of veteran Malcolm O'Kelly. The reigning champions can afford to name Lions full-back Rob Kearney in the replacements and will rely heavily on the Test pairing of Brian O'Driscoll and Gordon D'Arcy at centre.
While Casey and the Exiles are attempting to establish their Cup-winning credentials by shocking the champions, Harlequins have their own important ambitions away to Cardiff Blues.
It was their quarter-final 6-5 loss to Leinster last season that featured the fake blood injury which saw the club embroiled in a scandal that rocked rugby.
The effects are still being felt and that is why when Quins No8 Nick Easter left the pitch on Saturday against Bath for stitches to repair a gaping wound, the spectre of Bloodgate loomed large in his thoughts. Despite the obvious evidence of his injury, Easter knew there would be sceptics watching who would want confirmation that Quins were not pulling another fast one.
Easter, with nine stitches holding together his cut forehead, returned to score the late try that gave Quins a 13-11 win over Bath — their first victory of the season.
The England international had been injured just before half time against Bath and will wear protective head tape over the injury tomorrow.
He said: “As I was running off the pitch. I couldn't help thinking that this was the first televised game of the season at the ground since all the saga unfolded and people watching may have been muttering about blood injuries, but it was pretty obvious I had a large gash in my head.
“There was quite a lot of blood and it looked a bit like a new piggy bank opportunity for anyone who wanted to stick a few coins in through the slot — it was that wide.”
