Leinster Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread.

GerM

The point about McLaughlin isn't one of height or weight. It's one of power and how you play the game. McLaughlin isn't a guy who is able to get into mauls and disrupt them or pack down effectively at loc. Second row is engine room, dirty work stuff. What is done beyond that is bonus stuff. He can do a job there when called upon and that's great but, at 27, I don't think we can honestly consider him a serious option in that spot. He simply lacks the ballast and experience to play there. Cullen isn't a massive specimen but he's very, very clever. He gets in amongst play, pulls down mauls, is niggly as hell and experienced. McLaughlin's game is much more suited to blind side flanker. He gets his hands on the ball a hell of a lot, tackles himself to standstill and can offer a very good third line out option.

Tox56

tolosenc wrote: »

Eh, what?

The difference is the same whether it's centimetres or inches. Right?

Yes of course it is, but the difference in height just sounds more in feet and inches. I found that anyway, as you normally hear of second rows height in that form, and it's always the normal 6'6 and sometimes 6'5, but 6'4 just seemed short.

But people have pointed out it shouldn't be an issue, so be it.

durkadurka

Anyone know which Leinster boys are at this camp?

I'm thinking the borderline ones and maybes: Jennings, toner, McFadden, Luke, ruddock, Cullen?

GerM

durkadurka wrote: »

Anyone know which Leinster boys are at this camp?

I'm thinking the borderline ones and maybes: Jennings, toner, McFadden, Luke, ruddock, Cullen?

With Tuohy and MOD named for tomorrow it leaves at least one place at lock if not two. Does anyone know how big the squad is? If it's just a 30 man then Toner might not get the call. I'd be surprised if Jennings got the nod. If he does, it will be just making up numbers really. I'd be disappointed if Luke didn't get a shout. He has been excellent recently. Doubt Ruddock will get a shout. With him benching the other day I reckon he'll start in Galway.

Hagz

durkadurka wrote: »

Anyone know which Leinster boys are at this camp?

I'm thinking the borderline ones and maybes: Jennings, toner, McFadden, Luke, ruddock, Cullen?

I would say
Healy
Cronin
Ross
Hagan
O'Brien
Heaslip
Reddan
Boss
Sexton
Fitzgerald
D'arcy
McFadden
Kearney
Toner
Jennings
Ruddock

and finally......Madigan...maybe

tolosenc

Any further word on Sykes' supposed departure?

irishbucsfan

ambid wrote: »

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Whether or not McLaughlin ends up in the row will have very little to do with the lineout.

What do you mean by this irishbucsfan? What do you think will be the key issues?

The scrum has to remain solid with him in there. At the moment it doesnt.

Schmidt, Gibbes and Feek would be far happier with a second row who can scrummage and not jump than jump and not scrummage. Especially with Heaslip, Kev and Dom Ryan in the back row, all of whom are great jumping options. Even OBrien and Jennings are rated as good jumpers by Feek, I think.

Also I think a guy like Browne would be just as useful in the lineout as McLaughlin. He's not as good a jumper, but is a far better lifter, which is vital when you have to get guys like Heaslip and Toner into the air.

So what I meant was that we have so much lineout versatility in our squad that the management are not going to feel that McLaughlins jumping ability makes him any more suitable to playing second row. Rather he needs to be a better all round candidate for the position, considering that playing second row and being a lineout jumper are not the same thing.

I think he is potentially an international second row, but the scrum definitely seems to be less succesful with him in there.

CouchSmart

After beating Connacht we've gotten a solid 9 points from the Xmas fixtures. Really excellent considering the players we've been resting/missing. Neither were vintage performances but in the long run the win's the important part. Depending on how the Ospreys fare tonight we could have a 10 point lead going into next week and hopefully the 6Ns.

Cardiff away next week, I'd imagine we'll see the internationals back next week so a win is not beyond us. Heaslip, O'Brien, Sexton, Kearney haven't played since Bath so they'll surely all start in preparation for the following HEC games and obviously aiming to beat Cardiff who are in the pack chasing us. A win next week would set us up perfectly going into the month long Pro 12 break.

wixfjord

Season literally couldn't be going any better, bar BODs injury.
In great positions in the two tournaments, it's a matter of wrapping it up now and getting a top seed before the 6N, different season after that.

durkadurka

If we win in Cardiff we have it in the bag- we have a few handy games during the 6n but we should be ok even with a tricky run in.


We need a manky win in Glasgow then kick the shyte out of the Montpelier As.

Fixtures below. Dates are not exact.

PRO12 - 06/01/2012 Cardiff Blues (AWAY

Heineken Cup - 13/01/2012 Glasgow Warriors (AWAY
Heineken Cup - 20/01/2012 Montpellier (HOME

PRO12 - 10/02/2012 Treviso (HOME
PRO12 - 17/02/2012 Scarlets (HOME
PRO12 - 24/02/2012 Glasgow Warriors (AWAY
PRO12 - 02/03/2012 Aironi Rugby (AWAY

PRO12 - 23/03/2012 Ospreys (HOME
PRO12 - 30/03/2012 Munster (AWAY
PRO12 - 13/04/2012 Edinburgh (HOME
PRO12 - 20/04/2012 Ulster (AWAY
PRO12 - 04/05/2012 Newport-Gwent Dragons (AWAY

wixfjord

Another couple of great videos on the Blue Magic site.
Think I've posted them before, but there's new ones since then.

6 is a very interesting one.
https://www.bluemagic.ie/champions-of-europe-ii/video/6/moments-to-savour/

ktulu123

I wish they would make a full length DVD about the Heineken Cup win's like those video's

Burgo

wixfjord wrote: »

Another couple of great videos on the Blue Magic site.
Think I've posted them before, but there's new ones since then.

6 is a very interesting one.
https://www.bluemagic.ie/champions-of-europe-ii/video/6/moments-to-savour/

Yeah cheers for posting it again! Check out chapter 5, nice little bit of insight there.

funky penguin

Agree, it'd be so much more interesting than the glorified highlights package that was released almost straight away.

Part 5 should be stickied, and copies sent to Declan Kidney on a daily basis.

lologram

I'd happily watch them talk for a very long time. Give us a proper 'NFL America's Game'-style documentary!

tolosenc

We're going a lot stronger than last year, in terms of results and margins of victory. I do have hesitations about Cardiff away though.

Will we be seeing a full compliment of big names given that the Heineken Cup is imminent? If so I reckon we can win. Jenno has to start regardless.

CIARAN_BOYLE

tolosenc wrote: »

We're going a lot stronger than last year, in terms of results and margins of victory. I do have hesitations about Cardiff away though.

Will we be seeing a full compliment of big names given that the Heineken Cup is imminent? If so I reckon we can win. Jenno has to start regardless.

I reckon the full team will be sent as a bit of a tune up before the HEC matches

hardCopy

wixfjord wrote: »

Another couple of great videos on the Blue Magic site.
Think I've posted them before, but there's new ones since then.

6 is a very interesting one.
https://www.bluemagic.ie/champions-of-europe-ii/video/6/moments-to-savour/

Gibbs looks like a one man front row in those vids!

vinny chase

wixfjord wrote: »

Another couple of great videos on the Blue Magic site.
Think I've posted them before, but there's new ones since then.

6 is a very interesting one.
https://www.bluemagic.ie/champions-of-europe-ii/video/6/moments-to-savour/

They're great, thanks!

I'd forgotten the Kearney try against Racing right at the start of the campaign. About as well executed a try as you could ever hope to see; every part of it was just precision. Rock solid scrum, good front foot ball, hits Jonny in stride, the pass to Drico, absolutely text book loop around executed by him sucking in the defenders, Jonny has the pace to absolutely breach their defense, and the skills to execute a flawless pass to Kearney in stride.

Magical stuff!

wixfjord

Squad Update out there.
Looks like we could be looking at a big gun side on Sat, no real concerns it seems.

Following Sunday’s 15-13 victory over Connacht, the medical team reported that Richardt Strauss suffered an accidental blow to the face, though at this point he has not been ruled out of contention, with the team set to be announced on Friday lunchtime.
Aside from a number of niggles after the weekend’s arduous test there are no other major injury concerns as the squad shape up for the second match in a block of three successive away games.

Kevin McLaughlin, who was rested for the win in Galway, looks set to return to the squad alongside the likes of Cian Healy, Jamie Heaslip, Rob Kearney, Eoin Reddan, Mike Ross and Jonathan Sexton.

Steven Sykes (knee) hasn’t been ruled out of contention and he too could make the trip to the Welsh capital.

Meanwhile, Isa Nacewa’s 100 percent 15-point haul took his overall season points tally to 87 in 13 games to date.

rugby1992

amtw wrote: »

Jack Conan was Leinster U19 Captain 2010 when they won the interprovincials. Vice captain U20 this year played on all age grade Ireland teams up to now, don't think he made it onto U20 Ireland this year. Think he's competing against coughlan for the number 8 slot.

Conan is by far the superior player and has continued to show up coughlan with every oppertunity he is given at number 8.

Hagz

rugby1992 wrote: »

Conan is by far the superior player and has continued to show up coughlan with every oppertunity he is given at number 8.

Well then he'll do well won't he. I noticed you seemed aggravated about Coghlan starting ahead of him in the U20 thread. Relax, they're both talented players playing in the very ripe chapter of their careers. Plenty of time and space for both to display their attributes.

Hagz

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

CatFromHue

Leo Cullen has three yellow cards so far this season, two in the Pro12. Is there any rule that if you pick up X amounts of yellows you get a ban?

Edit: I don't see it mentioned in the rules on the Pro12 website, what I did see was:

5.3. A maximum of two non-European players are permitted in a Team's match squad.
The link is http://www.rabodirectpro12.com/statzone/competition_rules.php

Against Connacht we had Nacewa, Strauss, White, and Van der Merwe in our squad, Munster had Du Preez, Mafi, and Chambers in their squad against Ulster, and Ulster had D'racy, Pienaar, Muller, Terblance, and Wannenberg in their squad against Munster.

It looks like this rule has been forgotten!

ambid

First time I've seen Madigan interviewed. He spoke very well in fairness to him - humble and focused on the team but ambitious and confident.

CIARAN_BOYLE

CatFromHue wrote: »

Leo Cullen has three yellow cards so far this season, two in the Pro12. Is there any rule that if you pick up X amounts of yellows you get a ban?

There is. I believe its competition specific so a certain number in the Pro 12 and he gets ban. I can't find any reference to it on the RDPro 12 website but Mafi got a 1 match ban for the number of yellows collected in the Magners a few years back.

lologram

CatFromHue wrote: »

5.3. A maximum of two non-European players are permitted in a Team's match squad.
The link is http://www.rabodirectpro12.com/statzone/competition_rules.php

Against Connacht we had Nacewa, Strauss, White, and Van der Merwe in our squad, Munster had Du Preez, Mafi, and Chambers in their squad against Ulster, and Ulster had D'racy, Pienaar, Muller, Terblance, and Wannenberg in their squad against Munster.

It looks like this rule has been forgotten!

The same rule applies in the Heineken Cup. http://www.ercrugby.com/eng/heinekencup/rules/index.php

2. Eligibility of Players
(v) each club is permitted a maximum of two "foreign" players in any one match squad.

As far as I know, this is the Kolpak ruling in action. That means South Africans, Fijians, Tongans and Samoans can play freely as "Europeans". Hence Leinster had one (White), Munster had one (Chambers), and Ulster had none, given that D'Arcy is Irish qualified.

That is certainly how it works in the ERC with the Kolpak ruling, I'm assuming the Pro12 is behaving the same way, because I don't see why it wouldn't.

durkadurka

CatFromHue wrote: »

5.3. A maximum of two non-European players are permitted in a Team's match squad.
The link is http://www.rabodirectpro12.com/statzone/competition_rules.php

Against Connacht we had Nacewa, Strauss, White, and Van der Merwe in our squad, Munster had Du Preez, Mafi, and Chambers in their squad against Ulster, and Ulster had D'racy, Pienaar, Muller, Terblance, and Wannenberg in their squad against Munster.

It looks like this rule has been forgotten!

This must be the most ignored rule ever. Surely every team is in breach of it every week.

CIARAN_BOYLE

durkadurka wrote: »

This must be the most ignored rule ever. Surely every team is in breach of it every week.

the thing is EU law doesn't let rules be laid out distinguising EU citizens and Kolpak members as said above so its Non EU non SA non PI.

I think this rule is the reason Toulon let Felipe go, there would have been too many ineligible players.

By the way the rule talks about Citizenship not nationality and may well be why Warwick applied for Irish citizenship since it meant teams that would have said 'do we want another non Kolpak player' were willing to look at him.