Question mark at 10 for Leinster

On Saturday evening, Leinsters new signing Jimmy Gopperth gave a match winning display kicking 6 out of 6 penalties against the Ospreys. This in turn has raised the question of who will be Leinsters starting number 10 this season.

Originally, at the start of the season, Gopperth was signed as the clear second choice to Irish international Ian Madigan. However a poor performance against Muster and the undeniable kicking skills of Gopperth led to the former Newcastle Falcons man getting the starting berth ahead of Madigan at the Liberty stadium.

This is a welcome headache for Coach Matt O’Connor, however it was not something that was expected at the start of the season. Standing in the shadow of Johnny Sexton for so long, Madigan showed his potential last season. He was Leinsters top try and point’s scorer in a successful double winning season.

However if there has ever been a question about Madigan, it has certainly not been his ability with the ball in hand; it has been his ability from the tee. This doubt is nothing new to Madigan who has experienced it before at a much younger age.

While playing for Blackrock in the Leinster Senior cup Madigan missed a kick in front of the posts in the last minute to win the game against Kilkenny College. After that game Madigan suffered serious confidence issues with the boot for years, but had a very good average last year in the absence of Sexton.

This is one of the possible issues that O’Connor faces. Although Madigan kicked well last year he was, by all accounts, second choice. This year he came in as number one and although his game time has been low he has not yet put in a performance anywhere near the quality of last year.

With regards to Gopperth it is very clear that he has not come to Leinster to simply make up the numbers. His performance against the Ospreys was the perfectly executed and faultless. However the most impressive aspect of his game is his goal kicking, winning the golden boot in the Premiership 2 times in a struggling Newcastle side.

Gopperth started against Castre a week later and is expected to retain his place for the upcoming crunch ties against Northamption and it is clear that Madigan will need to regain last season’s form if he is to dislodge the New Zealander. However this in turn could bring the best out of Madigan which can only be good for Leinster and for Ireland.