{"id":477838,"date":"2026-06-01T18:08:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T18:08:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/477838\/"},"modified":"2026-06-01T18:08:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T18:08:14","slug":"ireland-legend-accuses-leinster-of-tadhg-furlong-disrespect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/477838\/","title":{"rendered":"Ireland legend accuses Leinster of Tadhg Furlong ‘disrespect’"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Leinster\u2019s latest medical bulletin has confirmed that six current Ireland internationals \u2013 including tighthead Tadhg Furlong \u2013 are in a battle to be fit for Saturday\u2019s United Rugby Championship semi-final versus the Stormers.<\/p>\n

A statement from the Irish province on Monday read: \u201cJoe McCarthy, Dan Sheehan, Tommy O\u2019Brien, R\u00f3nan Kelleher, Garry Ringrose, Tadhg Furlong and Jordan Larmour will all be further assessed after picking up knocks in the previous two weeks, with a decision on their availability to be made on an individual basis later in the week.\u201d<\/p>\n

Furlong was due to start last Saturday\u2019s quarter-final at home to the Lions, but he was a late withdrawal. That unavailability was confirmed seven days after the 33-year-old front-row talisman was only chosen as a substitute for the Champions Cup final against Bordeaux in Bilbao.<\/p>\n

By the time the three-time Lions tourist was summoned from the bench just minutes into the second half, Leinster were already a well-beaten side as they were trailing 35-7 and battling against humiliation. With Furlong on the pitch, he was quickly on the carry in the move that resulted in the McCarthy try, and the team won the second period 12-6 with him involved.<\/p>\n

\u201cFurlong not starting is a bigger mistake than Barrett\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

His selection as a replacement didn\u2019t gain much attention in the immediate fall-out from the final, but former Ireland and Lions pick Donncha O\u2019Callaghan was in no mood to allow Furlong\u2019s naming on the bench pass without comment.<\/p>\n

So annoyed was the two-time Heineken Cup winner with Munster that he accused Leinster of being disrespectful to Furlong and claimed it was a bigger error than the much criticised 2025 decision to bench All Black Jordie Barrett for the semi-final that was lost to Northampton.<\/p>\n

Appearing on The Offload<\/a>, the podcast show he co-hosts with Tommy Bowe, another famed Ireland and Lions pick, O\u2019Callaghan didn\u2019t hold back in his assessment of the selection that had Thomas Clarkson starting for Leinster and Furlong providing cover from the bench.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel for the players,\u201d began O\u2019Callaghan, warming to the invitation to review Leinster\u2019s harrowing 22-point defeat. \u201cEveryone looks to point fingers, but I was surprised by some of it. I really was. When you don\u2019t start Tadhg Furlong, when you don\u2019t start (Jamie) Osborne. I know everyone will go on about the decision with Jordie Barrett that time \u2013 and Furlong not starting is a bigger mistake than that one.<\/p>\n

\u201cThink of it, one of the best tightheads to ever play the game is Tadhg Furlong, and he is going nowhere. He is going to the next World Cup, and you don\u2019t start him. I always feel that the players know the team that should start. Everyone in there would genuflect to Furlong\u2026 and if you are doing it to try and kick fells in the balls, you have got it wrong.<\/p>\n

James Lowe future uncertain as Leinster boss responds to exit speculation<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2018Spineless and spiteful\u2019 Leo Cullen slammed for Ciaran Frawley call as Leinster boss addresses controversial selection<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI always go back to when Tony McGahan started dropping David Wallace (at Munster), and it had a bad effect because all of us were there, \u2018No!\u2019 Like you can drop O\u2019Callaghan, you can drop anyone else, but you can\u2019t drop Wallace, he is just too good.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel that about Furlong and Osborne\u2019s performance all year, I just thought if you are a player, you know who is on it, and the two of them have been on it. Everyone banged the drum about Barrett but I thought that call was crazy.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s madness. It\u2019s madness all along. The one thing you have to do is you have to nail selection. I saw that some of the media are giving Jacques a hard time, saying that defensive thing didn\u2019t work, but selection is the most important area<\/a> and that has been off for an awful long time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like a dog with a tasty bone, O\u2019Callaghan wasn\u2019t prepared to leave the matter there. He continued: \u201cWould Andy Farrell leave Tadhg Furlong on the (Ireland) bench, and he is one of our greatest coaches? You just wouldn\u2019t do it, and that\u2019s why you need people to fall out.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople need to go, \u2018No, you\u2019re f***ing wrong, it\u2019s Tadhg Furlong. He walks into every team in the world, and he has earned the right\u2019. Even if he is not playing out of his skin, he is different. That one is hurting me because I actually think that one is disrespectful; it really p***ed me off. I was there, \u2018You\u2019re not togging off Tadhg Furlong, what are you at?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Leinster v Lions: Five takeaways as Jacques Nienaber\u2019s defence and Sam Prendergast \u2018swagger\u2019 fires Irish giants to emphatic victory after Bilbao disaster<\/a><\/p>\n

Matt Williams: Leinster will suffer \u2018another catastrophic failure\u2019 if Jacques Nienaber\u2019s system is not changed<\/a><\/p>\n

O\u2019Callaghan insisted his perspective wasn\u2019t a slight on Clarkson. \u201cWe hope for him, we hope that he can achieve everything Tadgh Furlong does in time\u2026 I understand there comes a time when he has to take it [the No.3 jersey], but I felt that was handed to him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way Tadhg Furlong goes out, it\u2019s when Thomas actually knifes him, does him, finishes him, but you can\u2019t hand it over\u2026 even the first scrum when he came on, he just fixed it. Tadhg Furlong has to prove nothing to no one, so just be respectful. It\u2019s driving me nuts; it\u2019s worse than Barrett<\/a>. F***ing Tadhg Furlong on your bench, it\u2019s crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n

O\u2019Callaghan\u2019s ire was restricted to selection. He also gave both barrels to assistant coach Tyler Bleyendaal, his former teammate at Munster. Having retired in May 2020 due to a persistent neck injury, the Kiwi has since gone on to become an attack coach, initially making his way at the Hurricanes before switching to Leinster and taking the spot left when Andrew Goodman, another New Zealander, joined the Ireland set-up.<\/p>\n

Leinster<\/a> had a reputation for all-out attack when Stuart Lancaster was their senior coach under Leo Cullen, but the emphasis has now switched with Jacques Nienaber becoming senior coach whose speciality is defence and O\u2019Callaghan isn\u2019t a fan of this attacking bluntness.<\/p>\n

Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us\u00a0as\u00a0a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a>\u00a0for world-class coverage you can trust<\/p>\n

\u201cYou look at Bordeaux<\/a>, and you\u2019ve chatted to Noel McNamara,\u201d said O\u2019Callaghan, referencing an interview Bowe did earlier in the show with the French club\u2019s attack coach. \u201cBut Leinster were the first to play that type of attacking rugby. Leinster ran the ball from everywhere. They were all showbiz; they were like the LA Lakers, and now their attack is so blunt. There\u2019s nothing to it. You look at the amount of entries in 22s, but you know what\u2019s coming\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cIt lands with the coaches\u2026 the Ospreys game before it, they didn\u2019t put a whole lot out, so they had a two-week lead-in and you\u2019re telling me that\u2019s a two-week lead-in what went out in the European Cup<\/a> final. They are all pointing fingers at Jacques, but Tyler Bleyendaal must go into work with a balaclava on because he is robbing them. Genuinely, there is nothing going on with their attack for the team that threw the ball around.\u201d<\/p>\n

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