Leinster Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread.

GerM

irishbucsfan wrote: »

I agree he was good this weekend. Our MOTM.

He's been poor this season though.

I don't think his performances have been at the standard that they were last season but I think saying he has been poor is overstating things. I think people expected him to be more dominant than he has been but his season is following an upward trajectory. He's ramping up in terms of his showings and, since the turn of the year, he's looking more like the player he was last year. He's going to be an important player if we're going to defend the HEC.

justsomebloke

Not sure if it has been mentioned already but Strauss has finally come out and said publicly that he wants to play for Ireland once he is eligible at the end of the year.

leakyboots

Not sure how I feel about Strauss.

Any word on Brad Thorne?

bamboozle

justsomebloke wrote: »

Not sure if it has been mentioned already but Strauss has finally come out and said publicly that he wants to play for Ireland once he is eligible at the end of the year.

i think he's been training with the Irish squad, there's a photo knocking about of Strauss in an irish top

justsomebloke

leakyboots wrote: »

Not sure how I feel about Strauss.

It doesn't matter how you feel about him playing for Ireland we now get to keep him at Leinster.

bamboozle wrote: »

i think he's been training with the Irish squad, there's a photo knocking about of Strauss in an irish top

I've seen the photo but I think it is the first time he has actually said it though

Hype710

Will he be eligible for all of the November series? I imagine he will be second choice behind Best.

.ak

Hype710 wrote: »

Will he be eligible for all of the November series? I imagine he will be second choice behind Best.

Hard to tell if Kidders is still calling the shots.

Winters

justsomebloke wrote: »

Not sure if it has been mentioned already but Strauss has finally come out and said publicly that he wants to play for Ireland once he is eligible at the end of the year.

Im delighted for him but on the greater scheme of things however I would be in favour of slowly and quietly phasing out the 'project player' scheme.

totallegend

Winters wrote: »

Im delighted for him but on the greater scheme of things however I would be in favour of slowly and quietly phasing out the 'project player' scheme.

+1. If a foreign guys comes along and turns out to be awesome and three years later he's Irish-qualified, then great, we'll take it as it comes, but signing guys specifically so they can become Irish-qualified is not something I agree with.

Strauss is also the exception in that he's turned out to be rather good; the other projects like Borlase and Ah You, well, the less said the better really, Sykes never settled for whatever reason and is already gone. Was Diack a project player? He's OK but never going to play for Ireland, realistically.

jimbomalley

padraig.od wrote: »

Tox56 wrote: »

Hagan has shown he can actually scrum, and has held his own against decent scrums, he just isn't doing it all the time against all scrums. He has only been at Leinster for a few months, and there are already signs of improvement. These flawed comparisons do nobody any good.

Buckley had some great games for Ireland & Munster against decent opposition, he just couldn't hold up a scrum consistently. People only remember the awful ones.

I'm half kidding about Hagan, he is very young in propping terms, is picking up plenty of experience and should benefit from Feek's coaching and tips from Ross. Hopefully he makes it.

I guess if Buckley had had a good scrummaging coach when he was younger he would have been a different animal...took Joe Schmidt for us to catch onto the fact that the front row is a specialized part if the game and install feek

Jedwardian

Strauss has been a tremendous signing for Leinster and it doesn't surprise me that the Ireland management team want to get him on board. He's certainly good enough to become a full international. I hope he has a long and fruitful international career.............for South Africa.

jimbomalley

molloyjh wrote: »

From what I could see at the match the Glasgow loose-head was doing a damn fine job of dragging Hagan down. He didn't so much bind on the jersey as he did pull and drag it downwards. He'd been doing the same to White. I wouldn't get too worried yet. He did fairly well against Montpellier I thought and hopefully will come good.

There's a worrying trend this year of referees and touchjudges allowing illegal binding on the arm at scrums, anyone else notice this?

irishbucsfan

jimbomalley wrote: »

molloyjh wrote: »

From what I could see at the match the Glasgow loose-head was doing a damn fine job of dragging Hagan down. He didn't so much bind on the jersey as he did pull and drag it downwards. He'd been doing the same to White. I wouldn't get too worried yet. He did fairly well against Montpellier I thought and hopefully will come good.

There's a worrying trend this year of referees and touchjudges allowing illegal binding on the arm at scrums, anyone else notice this?

First thing Hagan did last weekend was give away a penalty for exactly this!

justsomebloke

totallegend wrote: »

+1. If a foreign guys comes along and turns out to be awesome and three years later he's Irish-qualified, then great

With the NIE rules coming in I can't really seem them phasing it out as chances provinces won't have a player long enough to make them eligible.

jimbomalley

irishbucsfan wrote: »

jimbomalley wrote: »

molloyjh wrote: »

From what I could see at the match the Glasgow loose-head was doing a damn fine job of dragging Hagan down. He didn't so much bind on the jersey as he did pull and drag it downwards. He'd been doing the same to White. I wouldn't get too worried yet. He did fairly well against Montpellier I thought and hopefully will come good.

There's a worrying trend this year of referees and touchjudges allowing illegal binding on the arm at scrums, anyone else notice this?

First thing Hagan did last weekend was give away a penalty for exactly this!

Didn't see it, not every ref is blind of course, just noticing it being allowed in a lot of games

shuffol

It'd be a real shame in my book if Cronin lost his place in the Irish 22 because Strauss is slightly better than him, not to mention having the moral high ground over England.

molloyjh

jimbomalley wrote: »

There's a worrying trend this year of referees and touchjudges allowing illegal binding on the arm at scrums, anyone else notice this?

I suppose from the refs point of view if it's not having a detrimental impact on the scrum then it's one to turn a blind eye to. Especially as we've enough other issues in that area.

I think the dragging down of the jersey is probably more relevant. It is quite likely to have more of an impact on the scrum. Glasgow should have been pinged for that early and often if the need be.

ray jay

Hype710 wrote: »

Will he be eligible for all of the November series? I imagine he will be second choice behind Best.

Eligible at the end of October according to this.

tolosenc

Brad Thorn plays his last match this season for Fukuoka on Saturday. Hopefully we'll be seeing him very soon!

GerM

shuffol wrote: »

It'd be a real shame in my book if Cronin lost his place in the Irish 22 because Strauss is slightly better than him, not to mention having the moral high ground over England.

Don't think there's a slightly about it. Cronin can have some very good moments and a big impact but he can't deliver the sort of consistency and all round performance that Strauss does. I'd be very surprised if there was any contest between them for the starting slot in the quarter final.

Tox56

GerM wrote: »

Don't think there's a slightly about it. Cronin can have some very good moments and a big impact but he can't deliver the sort of consistency and all round performance that Strauss does. I'd be very surprised if there was any contest between them for the starting slot in the quarter final.

Whilst there is a definite gulf in all round ability, Cronin won't be helped by the fact he is the personification of an "impact sub".

Bringing him on to do the usual "upping the tempo" around the 60 minute mark is what he was born to do. Starting him is almost a waste and I agree almost certainly won't happen.

Tox56

skregs wrote: »

The moral high ground over Englishmen like Sean St Ledger, Simon Cox, Tony Cascarino and Jason McAteer?

We aren't good at football and we accept it.

However, we are pretty good at rugby, and we would expect to beat England in rugby, unlike in football.

boynesider

Tox56 wrote: »

GerM wrote: »

Don't think there's a slightly about it. Cronin can have some very good moments and a big impact but he can't deliver the sort of consistency and all round performance that Strauss does. I'd be very surprised if there was any contest between them for the starting slot in the quarter final.

Whilst there is a definite gulf in all round ability, Cronin won't be helped by the fact he is the personification of an "impact sub".

Bringing him on to do the usual "upping the tempo" around the 60 minute mark is what he was born to do. Starting him is almost a waste and I agree almost certainly won't happen.

Have to say that on this years form I can't see a whole lot between them. They will both behind Best however and after that I think Mike Sherry of Munster will prove to be a better player than both of them if he stays free of injury over the next few years.

Still they are perfect players for the Leinster style and hopefully their best years are still ahead of them.

desertcircus

boynesider wrote: »

Tox56 wrote: »

GerM wrote: »

Don't think there's a slightly about it. Cronin can have some very good moments and a big impact but he can't deliver the sort of consistency and all round performance that Strauss does. I'd be very surprised if there was any contest between them for the starting slot in the quarter final.

Whilst there is a definite gulf in all round ability, Cronin won't be helped by the fact he is the personification of an "impact sub".

Bringing him on to do the usual "upping the tempo" around the 60 minute mark is what he was born to do. Starting him is almost a waste and I agree almost certainly won't happen.

Have to say that on this years form I can't see a whole lot between them. They will both behind Best however and after that I think Mike Sherry of Munster will prove to be a better player than both of them if he stays free of injury over the next few years.

Still they are perfect players for the Leinster style and hopefully their best years are still ahead of them.

It's not inconceivable that Sherry will outdo them, but I'm at a loss as to the reasons to think he will.

jm08

skregs wrote: »

The moral high ground over Englishmen like Sean St Ledger, Simon Cox, Tony Cascarino and Jason McAteer?

different kettle of fish altogether. at least they were entitled to an irish citizenship through parents, or grandparents, Straus isn't. he'd have to be here for 5 years before he would be eligible for an Irish passport.

jm08

desertcircus wrote: »

It's not inconceivable that Sherry will outdo them, but I'm at a loss as to the reasons to think he will.

He is an excellent lineout thrower. he throws the ball like Fla does, flat trajectory and really fast. the others kind of lob it. the rest of his game is fairly good as well, but the main thing would be his lineout throwing.

smurphy29

There's not a lot to base the whole Sherry-love on. He simply hasn't played much rugby. He had 5 starts last season for Munster, and has just recovered from a lengthy spell on the sidelines. Easy on the hype there lads, he's far from even being a Munster starter yet, let alone an Irish international.

He looks a good player from the small amount we've seen of him, but so did Varley - it's a whole different story when you are in the postition of being the starting hooker and your lineout is continually put under pressure.

Is Sherry the new Nagle?

Best player in the country, but nobody ever sees him play?

irishbucsfan

I have heard Sherrys scrummaging needs work (from a guy who has scrummaged with him no less) and he's beibg held back a bit by it. Exactly like Cronin was.

How many Hookers are picked based on throwing any more? I personally place it quite far down my own preferences.

bamboozle

Deleted User wrote: »

Is Sherry the new Nagle?

Best player in the country, but nobody ever sees him play?

i'd tend to agree with the above...lots of talk but no sign of him.