Frustrated Jack Conan keen to make statement against Ospreys

Jack Conan wants to make a statement against the Ospreys on Saturday after growing frustrated by his lack of first-team opportunities with Leinster.

Conan makes his fifth start of the campaign for Leinster when they travel to Swansea seeking a 14th successive victory. The Ireland No 8 was limited to 26 minutes during the Christmas interpros, coming off the bench against Munster before dropping out of the match-day squad as Leo Cullen rotated his line-up for the New Year's Day demolition of Connacht.

Conan believes the competition for places in the Leinster back row has never been fiercer and revealed he was forced to change his approach in recent weeks as he battles to regain a regular starting spot.

"I can’t think of a time when the standard was higher than it is right now," said the 30-year-old.

"The training sessions are getting to a higher pace, with a higher level of skill and clinicalness. It really is such a competitive place to be at the moment.

"Rugby is attritional and people pick up knocks, everyone isn’t fit at the same time, but when the majority of lads are there the standard is incredibly high.

"For the 10 years I’ve been involved here, from academy to development and into senior, this is the strongest squad we’ve ever had. You’ve lads like Jason Jenkins and Charlie Ngatai who have come in and added massive value.

"The competition is always incredibly high at Leinster. My frustration for the last while is just probably not getting as many minutes as I would have liked. That’s a testament to how strong the back row is. Ryan Baird has slipped into the back row from the second row, he performed well at the weekend [against Connacht].

"You’ve got lads who were winning man of the match for two weeks in a row in Europe