Leinster Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread.

wixfjord

Hagz wrote: »

The team I'd choose against Montpellier (if Drico is unfit), is probably not the same as everyone else's.

1. VDM
2. Strauss
3. Ross
4. Cullen
5. Toner
6. O'Brien
7. Ryan
8. Heaslip
9. Boss
10. Sexton
11. Fitzgerald
12. D'arcy
13. O'Malley
14. McFadden
15. Nacewa

16. Cronin
17. Healy
18. Hagan
19. Sykes
20. Jennings
21. Reddan
22. Madigan
23. Kearney

Reasons
VDM - just to have Healy come on with impact, and it worried me that maybe Hagan and VDM aren't strong in the scrum together (although there were 7 men).
Ryan - I think Jennings was below par last night, and although that can be put down to his lack of prior game-time, and a harsh referee, I still think that if you have a guy like Ryan who's worked his socks of in the absence of the 1st XV, you should reward him.
Boss - was the better scrum-half
O'Malley - I personally wasn't too impressed with McFadden. He showed a lot of aggression but not much creativity. It sort of confirmed for me that he's a 12. O'Malley did well in the Clermont fixture last season, so I have no problem going with him again.
McFadden - Part of the reason I don't want him at 13 again, is because if he's on the wing, Nacewa can go full-back. Nacewa at full-back is massive for us IMO.

Would agree with most of that actually.
Perhaps Kearney at 11 and Fitz at 13, but Boss should certainly start.
Wouldn't start Ryan for this though, we'll need all the experience we can muster, and Jenno knows how to go to France and win. Plus Ouderago is a big threat to us.

wixfjord

Talk on LF that BOD is out for the whole season. :eek::eek:
Well thanks for that Declan.

Here's Luke/O Malley's chance though.

CatFromHue

wixfjord wrote: »

Talk on LF that BOD is out for the whole season. :eek::eek:
Well thanks for that Declan.

Here's Luke/O Malley's chance though.

What's wrong with him?

GerM

wixfjord wrote: »

Talk on LF that BOD is out for the whole season. :eek::eek:
Well thanks for that Declan.

Here's Luke/O Malley's chance though.

Saw that. If true, our goose is cooked. We can win games like last night without him but give us an away knock out game in the HEC and I think it will be a bridge too far. He's on the wane but still by far our best 13 and his presence gives a massive amount of confidence to those around him. His lines and sleight of hand are central to our back line moves even if he isn't the one finishing them or breaking the line.

wixfjord

CatFromHue wrote: »

What's wrong with him?

CiaranIRL has mentioned it's that neck shoulder injury that he was carrying and needs an operation.
All speculation for now though.

GerM

CatFromHue wrote: »

What's wrong with him?

The shoulder/neck injury that he brought with him to the WC is screwed and needs surgery. By all rights, he probably should never have been playing with it in the first place but try telling that to him. You could see at the end of the Australia game that he was in major trouble with it.

I was hoping he would just be missing for the first couple of HEC games and he would be back for the December games. As he was named in the HEC squad, I'm not going to believe everything at this point.

wixfjord

GerM wrote: »

Saw that. If true, our goose is cooked. We can win games like last night without him but give us an away knock out game in the HEC and I think it will be a bridge too far. He's on the wane but still by far our best 13 and his presence gives a massive amount of confidence to those around him. His lines and sleight of hand are central to our back line moves even if he isn't the one finishing them or breaking the line.

I would agree, but I'm sure Joe can cook up something.
If true, who do people think our 13 should be?

D'Arcy

CatFromHue

wixfjord wrote: »

CiaranIRL has mentioned it's that neck shoulder injury that he was carrying and needs an operation.
All speculation for now though.

It would explain a few things if true though.

I think the centre partnership of Darcy and McFadden is unbalanced, not that McFadden did anything wrong last night (other than miss smashing POC).

wixfjord

Deleted User wrote: »

D'Arcy

Oooh controversial, but interesting.
Fitz for me.

.ak

Either EOM or McFadden need to step up to the mark.. but I'd love to see Fitz back at 12. I think that's the key. As mentioned Darce was solid last night, but far too one dimensional.

Conas

I'm not going to believe these rumours until they are confirmed by a reliable source. Having said that, it's truly awful news if true. Who should our 13 be then? Well I personally think there's three options Luke Fitz, McFadden, or O'Malley. They would probaly be the first three in line. Luke Fitz would probaly be the one I'd go for because I think we've enough options out on the wing, and if Fitzgerald wants to get back into the International set up again then moving to centre would be a good idea for him.

I agree the second row is going to to be a problem with Hines gone, this is why playing Kevin McLaughlin playing there is a good idea. He's a very physical player, and would be better in the scrums than Toner. They bought in this Sykes guy too, so maybe take a few punts on him to see how he goes. Cullen is played very well last night. I'm very happy with him.

CIARAN_BOYLE

GerM wrote: »

The shoulder/neck injury that he brought with him to the WC is screwed and needs surgery. By all rights, he probably should never have been playing with it in the first place but try telling that to him. You could see at the end of the Australia game that he was in major trouble with it.

The injury has been bothering him since Leicster/Munster last season. He recieved bad blows to the neck shoulder in both those games. He could/should have gone for the surgery after the HEC final but would have missed the WC.

The man seems to be fighting the idea of surgery, wanting to play through the season but imo should go for it. If he is to be the player he can be Leinster and Irelands best than he needs to be fit. If he goes now he might be back for the sharp end of the season. At least thats what I've heard.

He seems to fear whats going on with Horgan ie going for a surgery and there being a massive run over the expected time for him to get better.

LeeroyJones

If rumours are true, this would be my big match selection

11. McFadden
12. Fitzgerald
13. D'arcy

wixfjord

Conas wrote: »

I'm not going to believe these rumours until they are confirmed by a reliable source. Having said that, it's truly awful news if true. Who should our 13 be then? Well I personally think there's three options Luke Fitz, McFadden, or O'Malley. They would probaly be the first three in line. Luke Fitz would probaly be the one I'd go for because I think we've enough options out on the wing, and if Fitzgerald wants to get back into the International set up again then moving to centre would be a good idea for him.

I agree the second row is going to to be a problem with Hines gone, this is why playing Kevin McLaughlin playing there is a good idea. He's a very physical player, and would be better in the scrums than Toner. They bought in this Sykes guy too, so maybe take a few punts on him to see how he goes. Cullen is played very well last night. I'm very happy with him.

I dunno now, I really think this Locky at 4 thing is not a good idea.
Good idea for him because it'd give him more gametime, but he's not better than Toner and our lineout would really suffer.

In fairness to Toner he was solid last night, and the scrum only went to **** when he went off I think.

I'm really hoping Sykes can step up, has anyone seen anything in him yet though?

.ak

Conas wrote: »

I agree the second row is going to to be a problem with Hines gone, this is why playing Kevin McLaughlin playing there is a good idea.

Dunno, I'm a Locky fan, but I don't see him as a lock - no pun intended. He's great as an injury backup, but he's not a lock starter for me. Don't think he's as powerful as you think, but he is very mobile which generally makes him a good impact sub.

wixfjord

.ak wrote: »

Dunno, I'm a Locky fan, but I don't see him as a lock - no pun intended. He's great as an injury backup, but he's not a lock starter for me. Don't think he's as powerful as you think, but he is very mobile which generally makes him a good impact sub.

Bang on. That's the big issue imo.

LeeroyJones

As Ruddock and Ryan are now experienced and well equipped for top level at Leinster McLaughlin falls down the pecking order in back-row options.

SOB is, of course, first choice blindside and if there was any shuffling going on Ruddock would be next in line. At 27, Locky can't be content with 3rd choice.

As we are light on numbers at Second Row I feel that's the only area where he can be a senior big match player for us. Cullen and Toner seem to be first choice but Locky should hold aspirations for the bench slot or even oust Toner perhaps.

.ak

The whole BOD thing has me thinking... Are we being a little knee-jerk with our reactions being along the lines of 'We were dead on our feet last night in the backs' & 'Our backline doesn't move without BOD' etc., etc...

Are we a little punch-drunk from the display last night? Whilst BOD is our best 13 by a long shot, and really does operate the backline in more ways than what he does with ball in hand, to say our backline can't operate without him is a little bit of an over exaggeration.

Are we saying that when BOD retires Leinster will slip back into the quagmire that we came from, and start playing 10 man rugby again? I doubt it.

Look at the early season games. Whilst they were some shakes and wobbles, and fair enough the opposition wasn't all that, it's clear to me that Leinster are priding themselves on their attacking facets.

In games we really cut teams open and ran some very impressive backline moves. All without BOD. For me Joe is key here. Watching him before games orchestrating running lines etc., etc. you can see his trying to install a work ethos that reflects our attacking style.

Whilst the replacements are far off the mark of BOD, I can easily see EOM, McFadden, Fitzy or possibly Darce stepping up the mark and whilst it might not work straight away I have every faith by the business end of the season they will be firing on all cylinders.

The next few months will be about damage control imo.

Conas

I can understand where wixfjord and .ak are coming from with regards to McLaughlin not being physical enough for the second row. But we can only speculate at this moment in time. I remember last season when he did play in the second row, he had a great game, and even got over for a try, but to be fair he hasn't got a run of games there to know if he's good enough or not. In the Heineken Cup last year against Leicester he outplayed Tom Croft in the lineout who is 6ft 6 (I stand to be corrected on that) so his lineout ability is good enough. Just remember it was Imanol Harinordoquy and Julien Bonnaire (two backrowers) who took over the air in the Rugby World Cup Final. Being tall is important, but it's your jumping technique which is even more important aswell.

Hagz

Maybe he's preserving himself for 2013, he's intending to win his first Lions tour.

If it's true, McFadden and O'Malley don't fill me with confidence. I'd prefer Fitzgerald or D'arcy.

shuffol

Dont think the lineout would suffer much with Mclaughlin instead of Toner, for somebody 6"10 Toner isnt as conspicuous in the lineout as I'd like, wouldnt say he's particularly powerful either.

If Dricos out I'd like to see Fitz in midfield but I cant see it happening, it'll be the same combo as last night. People are mentioning putting Nacewa at FB and Kearney on the wing, I'd agree with this but I think David Kearneys a better winger than Rob.

GerM

You can play prop and jump in the line out so I don't see McLaughlin being a talented jumper as a reason to move him to lock. In fact, keeping him away from there and in the back row serves to give us more options. It's in the tight where the locks really come to the fore. Defending mauls and giving grunt in the scrums is something that only a genuine lock can really do. The locks that are shorter and can do this are generally very, very bulky and powerful blokes that don't do a lot of jumping in the line out. It's the engine room of the team disrupting opposition, tackling, clearing out, holding up and driving people back in the tight. I just don't reckon McLaughlin has that aspect to his game. I'd only ever consider him as bench cover for lock to allow us another back row player like last night. I don't mind him playing against teams in the Pro12 where he'll get a relatively easy ride but in the HEC crunch games he'll struggle. His games at lock last season were against Aironi and Glasgow (who had neither Gray nor Kellock in the 23) so he's very untested there really.

Conas

GerM wrote: »

You can play prop and jump in the line out so I don't see McLaughlin being a talented jumper as a reason to move him to lock. In fact, keeping him away from there and in the back row serves to give us more options. It's in the tight where the locks really come to the fore. Defending mauls and giving grunt in the scrums is something that only a genuine lock can really do. The locks that are shorter and can do this are generally very, very bulky and powerful blokes that don't do a lot of jumping in the line out. It's the engine room of the team disrupting opposition, tackling, clearing out, holding up and driving people back in the tight. I just don't reckon McLaughlin has that aspect to his game. I'd only ever consider him as bench cover for lock to allow us another back row player like last night. I don't mind him playing against teams in the Pro12 where he'll get a relatively easy ride but in the HEC crunch games he'll struggle. His games at lock last season were against Aironi and Glasgow (who had neither Gray nor Kellock in the 23) so he's very untested there really.

Exactly! so really we can agree to disagree here.

.ak

As a side note... Does McFadden usually wear those day-glo orange boots? Glad he did, he's slowly looking more and more like Darce it's very hard to tell them apart from the sidelines...

Conas

.ak wrote: »

As a side note... Does McFadden usually wear those day-glo orange boots? Glad he did, he's slowly looking more and more like Darce it's very hard to tell them apart from the sidelines...

haha...the commentator on TG4 called SOB ..McFadden during an attack last night.

.ak

Conas wrote: »

haha...the commentator on TG4 called SOB ..McFadden during an attack last night.

Jaysus...

Actually speaking of which, the hightlight of the match for me was when SOB didn't realize the whistle had gone and proceded to GAA his way downfield towards the tryline. At first I thought it was Boss cuz SOB usually wears a blue scrumcap... but it became apparent who it was when the two munster players couldn't bring him down, hilarious stuff.

wixfjord

HEC Opponent Check:

Quins beat Bath at The Rec this afternoon 26-13.
Glasgow beat Aironi 18-6 away in Italy. All penalties from Weir.
Montpellier v. Lyon has been cancelled today due to mumps in the region!
No gametime for Ouderago and Trin Duch, and possibly Gorgodze since the WC. Did Ouderago play at all in the WC?

GerM

Ouedraogo last started against Canada. Gorgodze has played a bit for Montpellier since returning including a try.

wixfjord

Sexton interview on Facebook.
All round good guy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkR_4s3T9w0