Robin McBryde says Frawley has 'put the ball in the rivals court'
Michael Bolton
Leinster forwards coach Robin McBryde says Ciaran Frawley has "put the ball in the rivals' court" when it comes to the battle for the fly-half position.
In the first three games of the season, Leinster started with three different fly-halfs.
Since the retirement of Johnny Sexton, Ross Byrne has been selected to start in the biggest games for Leinster, with Frawley often playing at centre of full-back, or amongst the replacements, despite being seen as a 10 for Ireland, where he kicked the winning drop goal against South Africa in the summer.
Last Saturday saw Frawley start ahead of both Byrne brothers, and ahead of the game against Munster, McBryde spoke about the competition for the number 10 jersey.
"If you are given the shirt and opportunity and take your chance, and you don’t give the coaches a reason not to select you, that’s the goal.
"You put the ball in the other fella’s court, and you say, 'right, you have to bring your ‘A’ game to training, day in, day out, good habits every training session’.
"That’s what we strive for, we want them to drive each in order to be successful, and we haven’t done that for three years, so it’s about time we upped our game a little bit."
With several players away on the Emerging Ireland tour, and a number of Ireland internationals only returning last weekend, Leinster have had to use the depth of their squad early in the season.
Now with their biggest rivals Munster coming to Dublin on Saturday, some big decisions will be made by coaches as to who starts in Croke Park.
McBryde is encouraging players to take their chances, and warned opportunities for those who don't could be limited.
"The competition for places now is going to be at its highest. The players who played the pre-season games leading into the season have been given their opportunity.
"The internationals are back and needed to get up to speed, which they now are. If you are not at your best currently, your opportunities are going to be few and far between.
"The nature of Munster and the threats they pose, that focusses the mind, so hopefully, you would like to see all those players at their best on Saturday, knowing they have got to make the most of their opportunity."