Fired up Josh Van der Flier 'inspired' by Jacques Nienaber arrival

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. I was delighted to be on the field, to be able to win that game as well."

While Leinster took a while to warm up in their final game before Christmas, Van der Flier looked on it from the start against the Sharks. On eight minutes he bundled his way over for a try which was ultimately ruled out for a Ryan Baird knock-on in the build-up, before touching down jus before half time, as Leinster pulled back