Devin Toner ready for Irish friend to become enemy

When it comes to provinces playing each other there is sometimes nothing to be said that hasn’t been said before. Testy matches between players who chum up at Ireland squad sessions with Joe Schmidt in Carton House and chow down on each other when it comes to competitive league matches.

In boxing they disapprove of brothers fighting each other. But the Pro12 seems to relish these meetings for exactly the same needle and edge that both Leinster and Ulster will bring to Kingspan Stadium.

Devin Toner, at 29-year-old is close to being called a veteran lock and has images tattooed in his memory to remind him how physical it will become. Intensity between the sides, especially at the business end of the season tends to rise and one of those players Toner would know up close, Iain Henderson, is also the player Leinster will not so much fear as show a healthy respect for in Belfast.

Unwanted break

Toner will fancy the meeting with Henderson at lock or as a flanker as both teams go into the match fresh from the unwanted break for European Rugby. Toner at least took his time off from everything. The Champions Cup?

“To be honest I didn’t watch them [matches],” he says. “I had the weekend off and when you get a weekend off you don’t really want to think about rugby. So if I get a chance to see it I will but I don’t really pay much attention. I just took it easy.”

It’s a deceptively laid back counter point to what he expects from South African Franco van der Merwe, Henderson and the rest of the Ulster pack.

“He’s been doing pretty well at six as well,” he says of Henderson who spent months on the sideline with a high grade hamstring injury. Last time out he played blindside with Sean Reidy and Roger Wilson.

“[Pete] Browne’s been doing great this season as well. You’ve got Franco there calling the shots. You’ve got a pretty solid pack there.”

Hendo, Hendy or Henderson is used to superlatives being chucked at him, although, not usually from the opposition secondrow. His value is in his strength and dynamic, high tempo ball carrying, which is why he can alternate between the second and backrow.

"He's unbelievable. We use to talk about Rhys Ruddock – 'Manchild'," says Toner."He is an unbelievable athlete, unbelievably strong. He doesn't even try in the gym and he's racking up PBs. His rise has been pretty good in the last couple of years. We missed him in the Six Nations. He is a character as well. I have a lot of time for him. He's a great man."

“Franco slotted in after Johann [Muller] and kept on doing what they were doing. I would say Johan put a lot of the structures in place around the lineout and forward play. He knows how to control the lineout and they have a good record there.”

With Tommy Bowe and Jared Payne sharing five tries against Zebre a couple of weeks ago, there's plenty of reason for the Leinster pack to do their job and prevent Ulster from building platforms or generating quick ball at the breakdown.

Payne and Bowe, Craig Gilroy, Luke Marshall, Stuart Olding, Paddy Jackson and Ruan Pienaar is a pretty looking set of back line players.

Expected big win

While Zebre have sadly become a 50 point team to those clubs at the top of the table, the try mountain as well as delivering the expected big win on demand will add to Ulster’s armoury.

“Yeah, they’re getting back into it now,” says Toner. “Obviously they had a great result against Zebre and they’re really getting back into it. I think they’re the best try-scorers in the league? Obviously they’ve got Gilly [Gilroy] there and I think he’s second best (on eight tries to current leader Matt Healy on nine) and I think with Tommy [Bowe] returning he’ll bring that experience back into it.

“I think they’ve only lost twice in the league at Ravenhill this year and by very, very narrow margins, so I think it’s going to be really tough.”

Another understatement and doesn’t he know it.