Leinster Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread.

CatFromHue

It's interesting looking at the table. Both teams have won 5 lost 2, both have one try bonus and losing bonus point, both are equal on points (22), and Munster have a 5 points better points differential. So this just backs up that these are two evenly matched teams.

Bizarrely they've both played nearly the same teams. 6 of the 7 opposition teams have been played by both.

Munster - Dragons (h), Glasgow (a), Lanelli (h), Cardiff (a), Edinburgh (a), Ospreys (h), Aironi (h)
Leinster - Ospreys (a), Dragons (h), Glasgow (h), Lanelli (a), Aironi (h), Connacht (h), Edinburgh (a)

What is also interesting is that Leinster have conceded more tries than they've scored but have scored more tries than Munster.

None of this matters as Leinsters team will be very different than what has gone before and Munsters will be different but maybe less so.

CIARAN_BOYLE

Healy
Strauss
Ross
Cullen
Toner
SOB
D Ryan
Heaslip
Redden
Sexton
McFadden
Fitzgerald
BOD
Nacewa
Kearney

Cronin
VDM
Hagan
Sykes
Jennings/McLaughlin
Boss
Madigan
Carr

I wouldn't to want to give Jennings his first start after injury and limited involvement in the RWC and preseason against Munster so I'm listing him on the bench

molloyjh

Healy
Strauss
Ross
Cullen
Toner
SOB
Ryan
Heaslip

Reddan
Sexton

Fitzy
Darce
Drico
Nacewa
Kearney

VDM
Cronin
Hagan
Sykes
Jenno
Boss
Madigan
McFadden

Some really tough calls in there. But this to me is the strongest and most balanced 23 we can put out.

tolosenc

Agree with you, molloyjh.

I heard suggestion that Darce might not be fit (hopefully that was bull), in which case, I'd switch Fitz to 12, put Rob Kearney at 11, Nacewa at 15 and Carr at 14, leaving the bech unchanged. I know RK used to play on the wing a bit, if he can perform there, Nacewa can keep his 15 shirt and we can keep on with the Fitzy to 12 experiment.

Carr for the simple fact that all Earls really offers is pace, and Carr has more of it that Earls.

molloyjh

tolosenc wrote: »

Agree with you, molloyjh.

I heard suggestion that Darce might not be fit (hopefully that was bull), in which case, I'd switch Fitz to 12, put Rob Kearney at 11, Nacewa at 15 and Carr at 14, leaving the bech unchanged. I know RK used to play on the wing a bit, if he can perform there, Nacewa can keep his 15 shirt and we can keep on with the Fitzy to 12 experiment.

Carr for the simple fact that all Earls really offers is pace, and Carr has more of it that Earls.

Hmmm, hard call. I'd favour D Kearney over Carr at the moment. He's a better defender (despite what we saw against Embra), better in the air and while he doesn't have the same pace and feet he's a strong runner. That said if Darce were out I'd have to bring Ferg in. Either put him straight in at 12 or move Fitzy in and put Ferg at 11, then stick D Kearney on the bench.

CatFromHue

I don't have a huge amount of faith in Rob Kearney's defence. He can run at a guy, jump on him, swing out of him, but you never see him commit a text book shoulder into the legs tackle. He was caught for two of Edinburghs tackles were it was a one on one. This isn't something I'm bringing up specifically because of the Edinburgh game it just highlighted a deficiency he has. There are also a few things in Dave Kearney's defence that I don't like. Against Connacht for example they had an overlap on his wing instead of making the attacker beat him or to try and push them to the touch line he turned his back and ran in the same direction as the attacker. I presume this has been coached into him but I've never understood why. Every time I see a defender turning his back on an attacker it's ended badly. So if given the choice of Rob Kearney, Dave Kearney or Mcfadden on the wing I'd go for Mcfadden.

It's interesting that both Molloyjh and Ciaran Boyle have gone for Toner at second row. I'd have him there too for the Munster game.

CIARAN_BOYLE

CatFromHue wrote: »

It's interesting that both Molloyjh and Ciaran Boyle have gone for Toner at second row. I'd have him there too for the Munster game.

Also Hagz

He has done well so far his season and neither Browne nor Sykes have torn up trees imo

CatFromHue

Yeah there's been a lot of talk on him on here. Last season he was holding his own for Ireland against Samoa and the All Blacks and was also the Leinster starting second row for the first two Heineken Cup games so I defo think he has the talent. Playing behind Mal O Kelly, Cullen, and then Hines has limited his game time but I really hope he can push on now that Hines has gone.

According to the Leinster website he has played the full 80 in all of our Pro12 games so far this season. So Schmidt obviously rates him too.

Hagz

I also picked him just because of the kind of game it is. I'd expect him to be prepared and experienced in this derby, and also more pumped up for it. I'd prefer Sykes to get more game-time with Leinster before he's thrown into match like this. It's going to be gritty and personal.

I also think Ryan should definitely start. Firstly because I don't think it's the right game to get Jennings back playing (I'd rather have him on the bench to come on), but secondly because I thought Ryan was marvelous in this game last year. He's very physical and I'd imagine he thrives in this kind of game.

wixfjord

On our HEC group, Barkley is back for Bath this week, and Eastmond is joining too.


On the game next week, I personally would always start Jenno if he's any way fit, particularly against Munster.

My team:

Healy
Strauss
Ross
Leo
Toner
SOB
Jenno
Heaslip
Reddan/Boss (that's a toughie imo)
Sexton
Fitz
Darce/McFadden (another toughie)
BOD
Nacewa
Rob

Cronin
VDM
Hagan
Sykes
Locky/Ruddock/Ryan
Boss/Reddan
Madigan
Darce/McFadden

Strong team that. Really looking forward to this game, got great seats too and the atmosphere should be something else! Nothing like the venom of a derby, and the matchups it causes!

irishbucsfan

+1 on Jennings.

Not sure if D'Arcy's fit. If he isn't I'd move Fitz to 12, play McFadden on the wing and move young Kearney onto the bench.

But otherwise:

Healy, Strauss, Ross, Cullen, Toner, O'Brien, Jennings, Heaslip;
Reddan, Sexton, Fitz, D'Arcy, O'Driscoll, Nacewa, Kearney

Cronin, VDM, Hagan, Sykes, Ryan, Boss, Madeeegan, McFadden

I reckon that's one of the strongest teams we've put out. With Conway and Horgan to come back we'll have a lot more competition in the back 3 as well after these rounds of the H Cup.

LeeroyJones

Defensively, a back 5 of...
11. Fitz
12. Darcy
13. BOD
14. Nacewa
15. Kearney
... is incredibly strong.
Devils advocate in me is questioning the penetration in attack. There's no secret that D'arcy and BOD have lost a yard of pace and that Fitz's tries per game ratio isn't up to the mark for a top winger. Also, Nacewa is fantastic at fullback but limited on the wing in comparison to his ability at 15 in broken play.
I'd like to incorporate McFadden in there either at centre or shifted to 11 and Fitz at centre.

funky penguin

I know it's a (nice) headache with selections....but I'm hesitant with the idea of moving Nacewa away from the 15 shirt. I know he can do more damage than Rob from the wing, but he's such an amazing FB, why move him? He's earned his spot there over the last 2 years or so. Remember in Croke Park against Munster? I honestly think he should start there this weekend, with Rob on the bench.

Just my preference though, both are excellent, and I'll be happy either way. Nice problem to have really.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzSzfxc0xJg

Hagz

No new injury concerns after the Edinburgh match. Sexton's problem was just cramp.

shuffol

Toners has had a few decent games of late and deserves to keep his place, it'll be interesting to see how he holds up against POC and DOC, one thing that does concern me with him is that the scrum never looks as solid when he's on the pitch. I think we'll be losing a lot in that department compared to last season when Hines was at 5.

thomond2006

Looks like the Aviva will be close to a sellout, 41,500 tickets sold. A lot f €20 tickets left which might get snapped up.

tolosenc

thomond2006 wrote: »

Looks like the Aviva will be close to a sellout, 41,500 tickets sold. A lot f €20 tickets left which might get snapped up.

That's still only 80% capacity with 4 days to go...

.ak

tolosenc wrote: »

That's still only 80% capacity with 4 days to go...

That's pretty impressive for a Pro12 game at this stage of the competition. Will it be the highest attendance of any Pro12 game yet so far this season?

CIARAN_BOYLE

tolosenc wrote: »

That's still only 80% capacity with 4 days to go...

That was put up yesterday morning at 8:30 so 83% with five days to go.

CatFromHue

Munster Ospreys has been the highest this season at 16559.

Last season the highest were
Leinster Munster 50645
Munster Leinster 26100 (Final)
Munster Leinster 25923 (League game)
Cardiff Ospreys 22160
Munster Ulster 22000

EmacB

Sean O'Brien caught sonic and now wears his skin.

molloyjh

CIARAN_BOYLE wrote: »

tolosenc wrote: »

That's still only 80% capacity with 4 days to go...

That was put up yesterday morning at 8:30 so 83% with five days to go.

That and the fact that it's a Friday night. A lot of fans from outside Dublin won't be able to make it. From what I've heard Munster have returned tickets. I reckon 80-90% turnout in Landsdowne is bloody good going.

clsmooth

Anyone finding it hard to get tickets for the Bath game at the Rec? Can only get singles from the Bath website and need 2 beside each other

leakyboots

I see Kearney was displaying his clinical last ditch tackling again last weekend

durkadurka

You've gotta laugh at the Leinster marketing machine:



"Fever In The Aviva 2 Tickets Pass 42,100 Mark..."


42,100 is such a milestone....

Last week it was something like "close to over 40000 tickets"


Anyway it looks like it'll peak at around 44k in attendance. Not too shabby for a league game. It was pretty much sold out last year but I reckon that was most peoples first look at the stadium which gave it a boost.

thomond2006

durkadurka wrote: »

You've gotta laugh at the Leinster marketing machine:



"Fever In The Aviva 2 Tickets Pass 42,100 Mark..."


42,100 is such a milestone....

Last week it was something like "close to over 40000 tickets"


Anyway it looks like it'll peak at around 44k in attendance. Not too shabby for a league game. It was pretty much sold out last year but I reckon that was most peoples first look at the stadium which gave it a boost.

Yeah I was paid to post this:

Looks like the Aviva will be close to a sellout, 41,500 tickets sold.

:pac:

44,000 is still a brilliant attendance. I think it might have been higher had the game been on a saturday night. As I mentioned before friday night makes it very difficult for munster fans to travel up.

wixfjord

durkadurka wrote: »

You've gotta laugh at the Leinster marketing machine:



"Fever In The Aviva 2 Tickets Pass 42,100 Mark..."


42,100 is such a milestone....

Last week it was something like "close to over 40000 tickets"


Anyway it looks like it'll peak at around 44k in attendance. Not too shabby for a league game. It was pretty much sold out last year but I reckon that was most peoples first look at the stadium which gave it a boost.

Yeah they certainly make sure to get every milestone in!
It's to get people excited about the game and thinking that there are very little left to get them off their ass and buying.

In fairness to the branch, 40,000 on a Friday night after Halloween is certainly no mean feat. Definitely could fill it if it was a Saturday evening. Great to see.

CIARAN_BOYLE

durkadurka wrote: »

You've gotta laugh at the Leinster marketing machine:

I think there is someone in the office posting every morning when he gets in

[Jackass]

Word around the campfire is that O'Driscoll will not feature for Leinster in this game.

Hagz

[Jackass] wrote: »

Word around the campfire is that O'Driscoll will not feature for Leinster in this game.

I had a feeling that would be the case. If so, O'Malley or McFadden?