Josh van der Flier says Dan Leavy’s horror injury has helped him to put his own bad luck into perspective. So when van der Flier, who spent seven months out last year with knee ligament damage of his own, considers his current situation, just looking to his fellow flanker gives him plenty to think about. “It is a long time out for him and missing the World Cup is unfortunate for him. A return to training in June gives van der Flier a decent run in to Ireland’s four warm-up games later that summer. The absence of Leavy in Joe Schmidt’s World Cup squad leaves a slot open for someone else, but has van der Flier done enough already to have his name on a reserved seat?

Source: Irish Examiner April 05, 2019 04:41 UTC