Leinster v Connacht Friday 2nd KO 7.30pm

Shelflife

ahhh seeing as neither of the front rows were binding properly and he only penalised 1 and then sent him to the bin i would saw that he didnt control the scrum. also why was wright not sent to the bin for infringements when he pinged leinster 3 times in the 2nd half ???

making arbitary decisions not based on fact is anything but control.

Neil3030

Was at the game myself and aside from the ref and the largely poor performance, there was something else that really irked me.

When some people in the crowd started counting Keatley's squats, I admit I didn't really have too much of a problem with it. Likewise, I didn't really have a problem when the rest of the crowed shusshed them or told them to shut the **** up. At the end of the day, it is not against the rules to make noise while a kicker lines up his kick so the decision to be silent is solely that of the crowd. So when that muppet came on the intercom reminding fans to "respect the kicker" it really pissed me off. Who the hell do they think they are? They can't enforce tradition, tradition is decided by and policed by the people. What the heck does it matter to Leinster Admin if there isn't pin-drop silence for kicks, are they ashamed Leinster fans aren't as "respectful" as Munster fans? Just a theory, but it really wouldn't surprise me.

Bit of a pointless rant here I know, but it really got my back up. Bottom line it should be up to the crowd to decide if they want silence during kicks and if so, they should put pressure on noisemakers to shut up, not the dickhead on the intercom. I think it's a really ominous sign when the farts up in the office start policing crowds to behave in a certain way, and further, if it's a sign of where the admin has its priorities it stands to reason the team were so flaccid last night.

banshee_bones

I still cant believe that Connaught actually beat Munster!

im still in shock after that!! so this game should be interesting indeed!

banshee_bones

banshee_bones wrote: »

I still cant believe that Connaught actually beat Munster!

im still in shock after that!! so this game should be interesting indeed!

Eh it was a few days ago.

Leinster won 26 - 18

Serenity Now!

Shelflife wrote: »

ahhh seeing as neither of the front rows were binding properly and he only penalised 1 and then sent him to the bin i would saw that he didnt control the scrum. also why was wright not sent to the bin for infringements when he pinged leinster 3 times in the 2nd half ???

making arbitary decisions not based on fact is anything but control.

He didn't "only penalise 1". He pinged the front frows almost everytime. Only two scrums in the entire game led to play continuing. Why because the front rows wouldn't bind or scrummage properly.
If its cards you're after then be thankful he didn't ping the Connacht backrow for continually going in off their feet or through the sides at the ruck. Leinster were the same but it seems cards are what you're looking for so there ya go.

Shelflife

well the players will play the ref , so as you said he let alot of messing from both sides go , so what you then get is a messy game.

the point in relation to only penalising 1 player was that lyne was the only one who got carded yet wright was just as bad, also 6 points , 11 if you include the try were the result of the lyne pens.

i dont agree with pens for front row offenses because being honest the refs havent a clue, and giving away 3 points over a coin toss is unfair.

barnesd

Shelflife wrote: »

well the players will play the ref , so as you said he let alot of messing from both sides go , so what you then get is a messy game.

the point in relation to only penalising 1 player was that lyne was the only one who got carded yet wright was just as bad, also 6 points , 11 if you include the try were the result of the lyne pens.

i dont agree with pens for front row offenses because being honest the refs havent a clue, and giving away 3 points over a coin toss is unfair.

Wright wasn't as bad imo, scrums started staying up when Lyne went off.

It would have been impossible to 'play the ref' the other night he was that inconsistent. His calls were just all over the place.

Shelflife

i agree that lyne was the worst of the two, but neither of them were binding (did one bind less then the other )

it made for a very poor spectacle , exciting but poor fayre.

could he have ordered uncontested scrums on safety grounds???

Zzippy

phog wrote: »

That was the TJs decision, the ref asked him was he happy with the yc for Wright and the penalty and both TJs agreed even though one of them said he saw Fogarty punching.

Saw the replay on Setanta last night and you're right, the TJ didn't cover himself in glory, he said he spotted the repeated punching but didn't recommend any sanction - a joke really.

Serenity Now! wrote: »

He's one of the best refs there is in this country :rolleyes:

Fogarty will be cited.

Bit desperate to be clutching at straws by blaming the ref for not sending off a player. Why not bemoan inability to pentrate a defensive line when in possession? Or the amount of penalties given away due to insistance on cynical ruckplay?
Thats what I saw was Connacht's problem anyway. All very well getting psyched up and running on a head of steam when you encounter a rival province but you've got to use possession instead of constantly squandering it. Some maturity is definitely required by the key players in that pack.
How many times did those two packs yesterday enter rucks off their feet and not through the 'gate'?

Woeful game to watch.

I'm not clutching at straws, I also mentioned our terrible scrum and our inability to get near the try line as big disappointments. I believe Leinster would probably have won the game regardless, but not by 8 points - a man down would have been a handicap and also the last try was not a try.

Would not be surprised if Fogarty isn't cited - remember the last match when Cullen wasn't cited yet McCarthy was. Leinster might have a problem with available hookers if he is suspended - we couldn't have that now could we? :rolleyes:

Diom

ajeffares wrote: »

Just back from the match, I was in the south stand and I had some Pr!cks sitting behind me who were "supporting" Connacht. Very annoying.
Anyway the match wasn't great but the Leinster supporters around me were good so there was a decent atmosphere around me. The last 10-15 minutes were good.

How funny, I was in the South Stand. On the left as you look out on the pitch. I was supporting Connacht, and had a few Leinster fans in front of us who really didn't seem to know what supporting was. One of them in particular took it quite personally that we were actually shouting for our team. After the last try he turned around and shook his fist at us...pathetic.

So if it sounds to you like we were the pr!cks that were upsetting you, please tell me exactly how were managed to do that. Should we have been shouting for Leinster? Or rather have been sitting quietly?

Paulw

Serenity Now! wrote: »

He did take control. He warned the front rows and penalised infringements when foul scrummaging occurred.
Its not a ref's job to coach a team. That would be the erm...coach's job

Have to disagree. I felt that the ref was allowing the scrum to collapse. There were simple ways to deal with it - award a penalty each time the scrum collapses (one each way, alternating). Yellow card the prop that can be seen to bring down the scrum.

As Cheika said after, Leinster will work closely with the refs to see what they want and how they rule on scrums.

I don't think I've seen a match in a long time, where so many scrums collapsed, without the ref taking stronger action.

Zzippy

Diom wrote: »

How funny, I was in the South Stand. On the left as you look out on the pitch. I was supporting Connacht, and had a few Leinster fans in front of us who really didn't seem to know what supporting was. One of them in particular took it quite personally that we were actually shouting for our team. After the last try he turned around and shook his fist at us...pathetic.

So if it sounds to you like we were the pr!cks that were upsetting you, please tell me exactly how were managed to do that. Should we have been shouting for Leinster? Or rather have been sitting quietly?

I wondered about his post too... whats wrong with supporting your team? Surely he must have experienced visiting supporters before!

I was in the Anglesea stand and loudly supporting Connacht, but had a great time, good banter with the Leinster fans around me, some knowledgeable discussion of the game, and handshakes afterwards, they knew they had been in a match and were very complimentary to our team. I'll stay away from the south stand in future :pac:

Serenity Now!

Zzippy wrote: »

Would not be surprised if Fogarty isn't cited - remember the last match when Cullen wasn't cited yet McCarthy was. Leinster might have a problem with available hookers if he is suspended - we couldn't have that now could we? :rolleyes:

Well you can put away your conspiracy-card now.
Fogarty, Jennings and Pucchiarello have all been cited from the weekend's games.

Zzippy

Serenity Now! wrote: »

Well you can put away your conspiracy-card now.
Fogarty, Jennings and Pucchiarello have all been cited from the weekend's games.

Link? What was Jennings cited for?

Sangre

Probably for a vicious face stamp one of the Connacht player's got. Didn't see who did it.

Zzippy

Just saw it on planetrugby http://www.planetrugby.com/Story/0,18259,3551_4750053,00.html

Jennings and Fogarty cited for punching. Didn't see Jennings hit anyone, thought if anyone else was cited it would have been Wright...

RugbyFanatic

Zzippy wrote: »

Just saw it on planetrugby http://www.planetrugby.com/Story/0,18259,3551_4750053,00.html

Jennings and Fogarty cited for punching. Didn't see Jennings hit anyone, thought if anyone else was cited it would have been Wright...

Not too disappointed as this will give O'Brien some more experience.

Zzippy

RugbyFanatic wrote: »

Not too disappointed as this will give O'Brien some more experience.

He looks a very promising player, really did well when he came on the last night. Couple of writers I've seen have tipped him as one to watch for the future.
Would the loss of Fogarty be a problem, with Jackman still out recovering from surgery, that would leave Blaney and ...?

Trojan

The referee should be cited for the worst performance I've seen since the changelings.

Zzippy

Zzippy wrote: »

He looks a very promising player, really did well when he came on the last night. Couple of writers I've seen have tipped him as one to watch for the future.
Would the loss of Fogarty be a problem, with Jackman still out recovering from surgery, that would leave Blaney and ...?

Cian Healy can play hooker and I would have him over blaney tbh.He played it a bit in school I think and once he can still throw he would be my choice.

RugbyFanatic

Risky though don't you think? Playing it a bit at schools is a far cry from starting hooker in Magners League would prefer to see Blaney ahead od him to be honest.

barnesd

You might have Healy as emergency backup hooker but Blaney to start if the other 2 are out.

John_C

Ollie LeRoux is in Dublin.

barnesd

John_C wrote: »

Ollie LeRoux is in Dublin.

:eek:

How do you know?

crisco10

barnesd wrote: »

:eek:

How do you know?

He was sitting on the bench in the RDS on Friday. Think its probably just more of his advisary role thing he is doing for the forwards...