Who Should Replace Isa Nacewa As Leinster Captain?
Christopher Brady
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New leader.
With the announcement of Isa Nacewa’s retirement at the end of the current season, the Leinster management have a serious task on their hand – choosing the next Leinster Captain.
A lot has changed since the first time we looked at this with Heaslip retiring and Sean O’Brien struggling with injury. Has anyone else stood out from the crowd?
The top 3 candidates
Rhys Ruddock
After sitting on the sidelines due to a long injury layoff, Ruddock is back in the fold for the Leinster captaincy. Having been made the captain of Ireland during the summer tour of the USA and Japan, it seems Joe Schmidt has been keeping his eye on the flanker for greater roles in his squad. He’s jumped in the rankings in terms of Ireland selection despite heavy competition. But could he find himself being his clubs next main man? He’s certainly in with a chance.
James Ryan
The former Ireland U20’s Captain has had a meteoric rise to stardom in Irish Rugby and World Rugby. He’s arguably Paul O’Connell 2.0. Remarkably, he’s yet to lose a single game in his professional career, he’s already a Grand Slam winner and could potentially be a Champions Cup winner come May 12th. He’s had the experience of being the Irish U20s captain during a successful U20 Championship and has already been tipped as a potential Ireland captain. But can he hack it in the PRO14 and in Europe?
Johnny Sexton
He was the main man during Saturday’s clash with Scarlets and did a good job as both captain whilst also having a blinder of a game. This is even with Nacewa on the pitch. He’s already captained Leinster a few times during some big games and come out the otherside on top. But we’ve seen Sexton choke on big occasions before, circa 2014 All Blacks, can he maintain his consistency from the boot and general form with the captaincy?
