Josh van der Flier looked like a man with a point to prove in Saturday's Investec Champions Cup win against Sale Sharks at the RDS.The flanker was an easy choice for Player of the Match in his side's 37-27 win against the Premiership leaders on Saturday, where he scored a try, had another chalked off by the TMO, assisted a try for Jamison Gibson Park, won two turnovers, and combined for 17 tackles and carries.
Bundle it together and file it under "all-action".Stat lines like that aren't exactly unusual for Van der Flier considering he's a 57-cap Ireland international and a former World Player of the Year.However, it was a timely reminder that on his day the 30-year-old is still the best openside flanker in the country.
Van der Flier was back in the starting side having had to contend with a place on the bench for the previous week's win against La Rochelle in France.The back row didn't quite go full-Michael Jordan I-took-that-personally when asked about being dropped for the win against the defending champions.
However, playing second fiddle to Will Connors did light a fire in him."I suppose it was disappointing," he says."I had a word, Leo [Cullen] spoke to me before he named the team, told me his plan and I completely understood it, and was kind of happy to be in a position to come on and put a bit of impact into the game.