Leinster backing Tadhg Furlong’s good character over alleged groin-grabbing incident

Leinster assistant coach Robin McBryde has backed Tadhg Furlong’s character after the Ireland prop was cited over an alleged groin-grabbing incident involving Munster’s Gavin Coombes during last Saturday’s interprovincial derby at the Aviva Stadium.

McBryde said the disciplinary process must take its course but expressed confidence in Furlong’s record as Leinster began preparations for Friday’s United Rugby Championship (URC) trip to Connacht.

The 33-year-old tight head was cited over an incident in the 37th minute, when Coombes alleged his genitals had been grabbed. Referee Andrew Brace asked television match official Colin Stanley to review the footage, but no evidence of foul play was identified at the time.

Citing commissioner Peter Ferguson lodged a complaint on Monday under Law 9.27, which prohibits conduct contrary to good sportsmanship, including grabbing, twisting or squeezing an opponent’s genitals. A hearing date has yet to be announced.

If the charge is upheld, Furlong could be suspended for Ireland’s Nations Championship fixtures in November.

“We’re playing guessing games if anybody wants to comment on it, other than Tadhg, really. Just let the process take its course,” McBryde said after Leinster’s training session at UCD.

“You’d like to think that the good character Tadhg has shown over all the years – to my knowledge, nothing like this has come his way. So, I’d be confident in that. It is what it is.”

The Leinster forwards coach added: “I know Tadhg. If I was to give him a character reference, I wouldn’t hesitate. He’s got no history of anything like that.”

[ Gavin Coombes’ allegation his testicles were grabbed against Leinster to be investigatedOpens in new window ]

Asked whether he had sought a further review of the footage of the incident, McBryde said he preferred to focus on Connacht, who have been going well.

“I didn’t chase it. The process is there. I’ve got bigger fish to fry – we’ve got Connacht coming on Friday,” he said.

Munster head coach Clayton McMillan backed Coombes after the match, saying he trusted his players would not make such an allegation lightly. Leinster head coach Leo Cullen initially said it looked as though Coombes “had changed his mind halfway through that accusation”, but later acknowledged the seriousness of the matter once the citing commissioner became involved.

McBryde, meanwhile, underlined the importance of discipline to Leinster’s ambitions.

“If you haven’t got discipline, you’re not going to win anything or get into finals, because it’s massive desperation when you give away red cards, yellow cards; you’re not in control of things,” he said.

“Listen, in the big games, things happen. There’s a process there to go through, so just let that process go.”

The Welshman was also encouraged by Dan Sheehan’s first start at number eight against Munster. Injuries to Caelan Doris and Jack Conan prompted Leinster to deploy the Ireland hooker in an unfamiliar role, and the 28-year-old completed the 80 minutes there.

“There was nothing there to show that he couldn’t do it again,” McBryde said. “At the end of the day, you want your best rugby players on the field.

“On the back of the conversations we’ve had, that was the reason we said: these are Dan’s strengths that we see. It’s what we feel we need from an eight. He’s a good ball carrier. He’ll get you across the game line. He’s a good distributor.”

McBryde said the decision to use Sheehan at the base of the scrum, as well as other players out of their usual positions, would be considered on a “case-by-case, game-by-game, opposition-by-opposition” basis.

“You can’t force anybody in there. It depends a lot on the attitude, the abilities and the attributes that you’ve got,” he said.

“You need to keep them stimulated. You need to challenge them differently. They can’t just be doing the same thing over and over again, week in, week out.”

Further experience at number eight could help Sheehan develop, McBryde said, but Leinster would have to balance that against his value as “an out-and-out, world-class hooker”.

Saturday also marked Jamison Gibson-Park’s first appearance of the season and Joey Carbery made his first start since returning to the province.

“Was it as smooth as it could be? No, it wasn’t, because it was the first time everybody played together,” McBryde said. “We knew that, but was it a risk worth taking? Yes, of course.”