Bought in for the big games, Jordie Barrett won't cause Leo Cullen a hint of trouble no matter what role he is asked to play.
"I talked to him at the start of the week to say this is the plan and he was great," said Cullen on Friday, prior to the news that the unfortunate Tommy O'Brien had been ruled out after being named to start.
"I actually talked to him last week but his thing is that he is happy to do whatever the team needs. That’s the way he’s wired.
"We weren’t sure what he would be like as an individual but the sense we got was a guy happy to do whatever is required for the good of the group."
The news yesterday meant a reshuffle in the Leinster backline with Barrett (above) moving up from the bench to start at full-back, and Jamie Osborne switching to the wing.
Ciarán Frawley replaces Barrett on the bench.
"It’s still in the pool stages so the beauty of it is that Jordie gives us a lot of versatility," added Cullen of the 27-year-old, who has played three games, at full-back and centre, for Leinster since arriving in December.
"You want a big-game player with lots of experience on the field at the end of the game.
"So whatever point he comes on it is a great chess piece. What chess piece would you say he is? "I actually built a LEGO chess board over the Christmas with my ten-year old.
"What position would you put him down as? Is he the queen, is he?
"It’s a good kind of problem to have.
"And listen, we want to see some of our guys play as well so it is a round-three game. It is an unbelievably important game but it’s not a knockout game even if it feels like it. He is going to have a big role this week."
Beaten in the last three finals, twice by Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle, Cullen (above) was asked if the addition of Barrett, RG Snyman and Rabah Slimani to the ranks means there’s very little excuse for not getting the job done this season.
"It sounds very similar to the questions I’ve been asked in other years," said the former Ireland second row.
"It’s just another year. It is the here and the now.
"You can learn from the past but you can’t live in the past and you can’t live in the future either so you just have to live in the here and now.
"There’s always a pressure on us because we put it on ourselves.
"We want to be successful in this competition. And in the URC.
"It’s not like the pressure wasn’t there in the past and it won’t be in the future. We are a group that is building over the season."
