‘P***ed off’ Ireland legend accuses Leinster of Tadhg Furlong ‘disrespect’ and claims assistant ‘must go into work with a balaclava on because he is robbing them’
Tadhg Furlong only getting chosen as a Champions Cup final sub and the lack of general impact from assistant coach Tyler Bleyendaal, inset, has drawn fire from Donncha O'Callaghan (INPHO/Dan Sheridan and James Crombie)
Leinster’s latest medical bulletin has confirmed that six current Ireland internationals – including tighthead Tadhg Furlong – are in a battle to be fit for Saturday’s United Rugby Championship semi-final versus the Stormers.
A statement from the Irish province on Monday read: “Joe McCarthy, Dan Sheehan, Tommy O’Brien, Rónan 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.”
Furlong was due to start last Saturday’s 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.
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.
“Furlong not starting is a bigger mistake than Barrett…”
His selection as a replacement didn’t gain much attention in the immediate fall-out from the final, but former Ireland and Lions pick Donncha O’Callaghan was in no mood to allow Furlong’s naming on the bench pass without comment.
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.
Appearing on The Offload, the podcast show he co-hosts with Tommy Bowe, another famed Ireland and Lions pick, O’Callaghan didn’t hold back in his assessment of the selection that had Thomas Clarkson starting for Leinster and Furlong providing cover from the bench.
“I feel for the players,” began O’Callaghan, warming to the invitation to review Leinster’s harrowing 22-point defeat. “Everyone looks to point fingers, but I was surprised by some of it. I really was. When you don’t start Tadhg Furlong, when you don’t start (Jamie) Osborne. I know everyone will go on about the decision with Jordie Barrett that time – and Furlong not starting is a bigger mistake than that one.
“Think 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’t start him. I always feel that the players know the team that should start. Everyone in there would genuflect to Furlong… and if you are doing it to try and kick fells in the balls, you have got it wrong.
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“I 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, ‘No!’ Like you can drop O’Callaghan, you can drop anyone else, but you can’t drop Wallace, he is just too good.
“I feel that about Furlong and Osborne’s 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.
“It’s madness. It’s 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’t work, but selection is the most important area and that has been off for an awful long time.”
Like a dog with a tasty bone, O’Callaghan wasn’t prepared to leave the matter there. He continued: “Would Andy Farrell leave Tadhg Furlong on the (Ireland) bench, and he is one of our greatest coaches? You just wouldn’t do it, and that’s why you need people to fall out.
“People need to go, ‘No, you’re f***ing wrong, it’s Tadhg Furlong. He walks into every team in the world, and he has earned the right’. 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, ‘You’re not togging off Tadhg Furlong, what are you at?’”
O’Callaghan insisted his perspective wasn’t a slight on Clarkson. “We hope for him, we hope that he can achieve everything Tadgh Furlong does in time… I understand there comes a time when he has to take it [the No.3 jersey], but I felt that was handed to him.
“The way Tadhg Furlong goes out, it’s when Thomas actually knifes him, does him, finishes him, but you can’t hand it over… 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’s driving me nuts; it’s worse than Barrett. F***ing Tadhg Furlong on your bench, it’s crazy.”
O’Callaghan’s 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.
Leinster 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’Callaghan isn’t a fan of this attacking bluntness.
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“You look at Bordeaux, and you’ve chatted to Noel McNamara,” said O’Callaghan, referencing an interview Bowe did earlier in the show with the French club’s attack coach. “But 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’s nothing to it. You look at the amount of entries in 22s, but you know what’s coming…
“It lands with the coaches… the Ospreys game before it, they didn’t put a whole lot out, so they had a two-week lead-in and you’re telling me that’s a two-week lead-in what went out in the European Cup 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.”
