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Shane O’Leary’s league-leading form for Nottingham in the RFU Championship continued on Saturday. The Canadian international kicked the match-winning penalty in the 77th minute to clinch an important 25-23 road win at Castle Park. Nottingham are not in contention for promotion but are now just nine points out of 4th place after finishing 8th last season.
With his four-from-five kicking performance O’Leary has now scored 147 points for Nottingham this season, good for first place in the Championship with Ealing’s Peter Lydon the only other player to reach a century this far with 119. O’Leary has started all 15 matches in the current campaign, playing all but six minutes in his most accomplished season as a professional to date.
It’s good news for Canadian fans, who remain hopeful of some stability at the problem position with the 25-year-old surprisingly overlooked for November’s Repechage series by coach Kingsley Jones. While O’Leary was not available for the Americas Rugby Championship, his consistent play should see him recalled for the World Cup run-in that will start with the Pacific Nations Cup in July.
