Leinster Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread.

crisco10

GerM wrote: »

Very good point made on LF in relation to the final. Ben Prescott, the prop that was with Leinster for the first 4 months of the season on a short term contract, now plays with Northampton. This is a guy who would have trained daily in our set up and worked with all of our line out and scrum calls. Hopefully Presott encounters a dose of temporary amnesia or we've a few tricks up our sleeve as I'm sure Prescott will be asked to go through the Leinster set piece calls in detail.

Mini disaster there if you ask me.

hardCopy

crisco10 wrote: »

Mini disaster there if you ask me.

A pity alright but I'd imagine they have several different calling systems for the same plays, and have probably kept a few variants for late in the season.

All the teams in our group would have heard and seen our calls before the second leg.

LeeroyJones

I was just going through our squad for next season, assuming our First XV remains the same as the Semi -v- Tourlouse with
Hines out Sykes in
McLaughlin out Jennings in

Our Second XV will be along the lines of
1. Van der Merwe/McGrath
2. Cronin
3. Hagan
4. Toner
5. Browne/O'Donoghue
6. McLaughlin
7. Ryan
8. Ruddock

9. Boss
10. Berquist
11. D Kearney/Conway
12. McFadden
13. O'Malley
14. Carr
15. Kearney

Not too shabby at all at all!

almighty1

LeeroyJones wrote: »

Not too shabby at all at all!

I agree, certainly would do well in the Magners League in their own right. 2nd row still only cause for concern.

Hype710

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,19133_6914260,00.html

Doncaster boss Brett Davey has signed Leinster academy winger Michael Keating for the 2011/12 campaign.
Davey has been frantically collecting signatures from his existing squad - including Matt Challinor and PJ Gidlow - but Keating marks the first batch of fresh talent.
The 21-year old rose up through the ranks at Leinster, and has already logged significant field time in the Magners League.
Attention

Substitute appearances in matches against Munster, Connacht and Ulster captured Davey's attention, alongside performances for Ireland Under-20s.
With 10 British and Irish Cup games also under his belt, Keating will try his chances in the RFU Championship next season.
"It's a very grown-up decision," said Davey.
Keating, who can also play full-back, will add a level of versatility to Davey's squad.



It's unfortunate that Leinster don't seem to be able to hold onto all of the talent they produce. I'd say the signing of Carr convinced Keating he needed to move to secure gametime, which I'm sure he'll get at Doncaster. It's a shame he hasn't moved to Connacht or Ulster however, or even one of the better Aviva teams. Always seemed a very talented player, hope the move works out for him.

Jemo

Hype710 wrote: »

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,19133_6914260,00.html

Doncaster boss Brett Davey has signed Leinster academy winger Michael Keating for the 2011/12 campaign.
Davey has been frantically collecting signatures from his existing squad - including Matt Challinor and PJ Gidlow - but Keating marks the first batch of fresh talent.
The 21-year old rose up through the ranks at Leinster, and has already logged significant field time in the Magners League.
Attention

Substitute appearances in matches against Munster, Connacht and Ulster captured Davey's attention, alongside performances for Ireland Under-20s.
With 10 British and Irish Cup games also under his belt, Keating will try his chances in the RFU Championship next season.
"It's a very grown-up decision," said Davey.
Keating, who can also play full-back, will add a level of versatility to Davey's squad.



It's unfortunate that Leinster don't seem to be able to hold onto all of the talent they produce. I'd say the signing of Carr convinced Keating he needed to move to secure gametime, which I'm sure he'll get at Doncaster. It's a shame he hasn't moved to Connacht or Ulster however, or even one of the better Aviva teams. Always seemed a very talented player, hope the move works out for him.

Are Doncaster going to be promoted?

thomond2006

Jemo wrote: »

Are Doncaster going to be promoted?

No Worcester will.

CouchSmart

Jemo wrote: »

Are Doncaster going to be promoted?

Nope. It's a strange move but realistically he wasn't going to make the Leinster team. Would've thought maybe Connacht or perhaps Munster might have had a look. Going to the Championship is very risky - probably his only opportunity to play pro rugby.

jolley123

I hope he grabs the attention of a premiership club while he's there. He's a seriously talented player and he deserves to be playing at a higher level than Championship rugby.

Hype710

The interview with the head coach seems to suggest its a one year deal but they hope he'll stay on with them. Hopefully he'll score a bucket load of tries and get signed up by a top premiership side for next season. Maybe he's viewed the case of Carr struggling to break into the Irish set up while playing for Connacht so is opting for an alternate route to success.

Tim Robbins

Hype710 wrote: »

It's unfortunate that Leinster don't seem to be able to hold onto all of the talent they produce. I'd say the signing of Carr convinced Keating he needed to move to secure gametime, which I'm sure he'll get at Doncaster. It's a shame he hasn't moved to Connacht or Ulster however, or even one of the better Aviva teams. Always seemed a very talented player, hope the move works out for him.

Ormond made the point in another thread that what Leinster do is give a lad a chance and if he is not going to make Heineken Cup standard they let him go and give another a chance.

The problem as you point out is that these players move to England. This isn't just bad for the other provinces but for the AIL as well.

CIARAN_BOYLE

Hype710 wrote: »

It's unfortunate that Leinster don't seem to be able to hold onto all of the talent they produce. I'd say the signing of Carr convinced Keating he needed to move to secure gametime, which I'm sure he'll get at Doncaster. It's a shame he hasn't moved to Connacht or Ulster however, or even one of the better Aviva teams. Always seemed a very talented player, hope the move works out for him.

Was Keating injured this season?

He has only had one substitute appearances with the senior team this season and as such he can consider himself to have gone backwards in the pecking order since he played 3 times (from the bench) the season before

Best of luck to him hope he does well and comes back in a few years as an excellent winger.

David900

Jemo wrote: »

Are Doncaster going to be promoted?

I don't think they can even get promotion, I read somewhere this week that the only team that meet the requirements of promotion are Worcester. Some other team nearly won the promotion spot last week which would have meant no one was promoted or demoted from the premiership. Makes a bit of a farce out of the regulation 'battle' that we hear makes the premiership so good if presumably a lot of the time they will already know if they can be relegated depending on how the championship is shaping up. Not sure where the article came from, so no link .

He is definitely taking a risk but if he is good enough presumably one of the premiership clubs will snap him up. I hope it goes well for him.

sock puppet

David900 wrote: »

I don't think they can even get promotion, I read somewhere this week that the only team that meet the requirements of promotion are Worcester. Some other team nearly won the promotion spot last week which would have meant no one was promoted or demoted from the premiership. Makes a bit of a farce out of the regulation 'battle' that we hear makes the premiership so good if presumably a lot of the time they will already know if they can be relegated depending on how the championship is shaping up. Not sure where the article came from, so no link .

OT but the winner of the Championship isn't decided until after a final played over two legs which is after the Premiership season finishes. The semi final was last weekend. So the bottom team won't know if they can be relegated or not until the last couple of rounds at the very least.

David900

sock puppet wrote: »

OT but the winner of the Championship isn't decided until after a final played over two legs which is after the Premiership season finishes. The semi final was last weekend. So the bottom team won't know if they can be relegated or not until the last couple of rounds at the very least.

Yeah I'm not sure of the ins and outs of the championship but if presumably the only team that can go up is the one that has been just knocked down from the premiership it takes a bit away from that relegation battle.

sock puppet

David900 wrote: »

Yeah I'm not sure of the ins and outs of the championship but if presumably the only team that can go up is the one that has been just knocked down from the premiership it takes a bit away from that relegation battle.

A little. The team that goes down are usually runaway leaders though so they'll be odds on to win. I see your point though. If Bedford had won then Leeds and Newcastle would have nothing to play for this weekend. But they'd still have been fighting relegation for the previous 21 games of the season.

jolley123

Tim Robbins wrote: »

Ormond made the point in another thread that what Leinster do is give a lad a chance and if he is not going to make Heineken Cup standard they let him go and give another a chance.

The problem as you point out is that these players move to England. This isn't just bad for the other provinces but for the AIL as well.

In fairness, they give him more than a chance. He participated in almost all of the B&I games and they've obviously gathered from watching those games that he isn't good enough to play for the seniors..

These kind of moves do damage the AIL, but no-ones to blame. Keating wants a better pay-check and some recognition. Leinster have better wingers in their arsenal. These kind of moves are inevitable, I just wish Conncht would have snatched him up instead.

Jemo

A lot of tier 2 clubs have strong relationships with the Premiership clubs though, maybe an impressive few games with Doncaster could propel him on a loan deal depending on injuries after the world cup etc.

AdeT

Jemo wrote: »

A lot of tier 2 clubs have strong relationships with the Premiership clubs though, maybe an impressive few games with Doncaster could propel him on a loan deal depending on injuries after the world cup etc.

This is true. I know in London the prem teams have linked up with champ teams with formal partnerships. Works for both teams - the young premiership players can have a season or two with the championship side to gain experience befor going back to the premiership. Leicester and Nottingham are in bed together also with alot the leicester academy graduates having a season with Notts (billy twevetrees)

It works. In SuperLeague (RL) they run a dual-registration sytem for players coming out of academy RL and into senior rugby. They can be signed on with Warrington (for example) and have a dual-reg with Leigh in the championship giving them experience.

It's probably the level of the B&I cup - I think the young Leinster players would benefit from more regular games at that level though. Saying that, we're not doing too badly at the moment between overall success and bringing players through...

durkadurka

AdeT wrote: »

This is true. I know in London the prem teams have linked up with champ teams with formal partnerships. Works for both teams - the young premiership players can have a season or two with the championship side to gain experience befor going back to the premiership. Leicester and Nottingham are in bed together also with alot the leicester academy graduates having a season with Notts (billy twevetrees)

It works. In SuperLeague (RL) they run a dual-registration sytem for players coming out of academy RL and into senior rugby. They can be signed on with Warrington (for example) and have a dual-reg with Leigh in the championship giving them experience.

It's probably the level of the B&I cup - I think the young Leinster players would benefit from more regular games at that level though. Saying that, we're not doing too badly at the moment between overall success and bringing players through...

While theres no question that everythings working for Leinster at the moment, you dont want to get complacent. George Hook made a good point for once, in saying that its the decisions you make when you're winning that are hardest - its easy to make cuts and make decisions and be ruthless when you're losing.

But when you are winning you still need to keep pushing onwards and demand higher standards and plan for the future.
Munster failed to make decisions when they were at the top - 'sure everything is grand' - and even when they got a fright 2 years ago in Croker they still didn't really react- and look where they are now.

Win or lose in the next few weeks Leinster need to keep pushing on. That said, its hard to criticise much of what's going on at Leinster these days.

Looking forward to tonight already - have to say I much prefer the RDS to Lansdowne. Better view from my seat, easier to get a pint, easier to get to and from.

crisco10

Looking forward to tonight as well. Love the RDS, its just a bit more intimate!

Was saying to my dad, Lansdowne is like the big party with extended family cousins, cousins partners etc. Fun but a bit tiring with all the faces. RDS is more the cosy family party where you get to see everyone a lot.

back OT. O'Malley was in todays IT. made the good point that it can be hard to play against teams like Glasgow this time of year. NOthing to lose and they will throw the ball around.

The kind of night where if you put them away early, they might lose interest. The longer they are in the game, the more likely they are to grow in stature.

A lot of talk about the Glasgow 13 on planet rugby. Supposed to be a hot sh!t 18 year old.

Jemo

looking forward to seeing O'Malley outside of D'arcy again. They were excellent v. Clermont. Also, he seems to have picked up some of BOD's talent for curving out and around his man on the long pass. He is probably my favourite prospect at the moment, glad to see him get another opportunity this season.

roycon

poor keating never got much of a chance really. unfortunately although he had a great strike in the b & I cup he was up against dave kearney who had his brother for help and andrew conway who was the most hyped up schools player in history. im not saying that kearney and conway arent good but if keating had a brother who played for the lions it might have been a different story

jolley123

roycon wrote: »

poor keating never got much of a chance really. unfortunately although he had a great strike in the b & I cup he was up against dave kearney who had his brother for help and andrew conway who was the most hyped up schools player in history. im not saying that kearney and conway arent good but if keating had a brother who played for the lions it might have been a different story

Interesting point. I rate him above D.Kearney but below Conway. I can understand Conway getting starts ahead of him based on the amount of tries Conway has scored in the B&I cup and the fact that he's only 19. But I think there have been games this year where Keating should have been given the nod ahead of Kearney.

bamboozle

jolley123 wrote: »

Interesting point. I rate him above D.Kearney but below Conway. I can understand Conway getting starts ahead of him based on the amount of tries Conway has scored in the B&I cup and the fact that he's only 19. But I think there have been games this year where Keating should have been given the nod ahead of Kearney.

completely agree, i've no qualms in saying Keating is a far better player than David Kearney but suffered from having the wrong surname this season. Very few backs in Irish rugby who can glide through tackles and side step so easily. Dare i say it but his best position would be 15, he was never going to have a look in at 15 for Leinster, maybe Doncaster will play him there?

He'll be missed by Clontarf (assuming next season they give the backs some ball!)

Hype710

In my mind Keating should have got gametime this year ahead of Conway. While Conway is a fantastic talent this year I felt he was underdeveloped physically and some of his basics (kicking and catching) weren't up to scratch. But he turned pro on the back of huge interest in him so was always likely to get the gametime.

CouchSmart

Some very unfair comments about D. Kearney. He's been very good for us this season, with an excellent try : gametime ratio and good overall performances also. He also seems more versatile than Keating who, from what I saw, was an out-and-out winger, while Kearney also covers FB.

jolley123

CouchSmart wrote: »

Some very unfair comments about D. Kearney. He's been very good for us this season, with an excellent try : gametime ratio and good overall performances also. He also seems more versatile than Keating who, from what I saw, was an out-and-out winger, while Kearney also covers FB.

Let me make it clear, I( and I think the people who were also discussing this topic), were in no way doubting the ability of D.Kearney. He has proven himself to be very talented and has done some great things this season. I/We are simply discussing the talent of Keating. See, in Leinster there are so many tralented backs. Just because we think one back should start ahead of another does not mean we think the other back is un-talented/poor. They are both very promising players, and it is just my opinion that Keating deserved a little more chances based on his form in the B&I cup.

jolley123

Hype710 wrote: »

In my mind Keating should have got gametime this year ahead of Conway. While Conway is a fantastic talent this year I felt he was underdeveloped physically and some of his basics (kicking and catching) weren't up to scratch. But he turned pro on the back of huge interest in him so was always likely to get the gametime.

I agree. The hype surrounding Conway is justified though IMO. He is by far the best schools player I have ever seen, was the stand-out back for the U-20's last year, and was the leading try scorer in this years B&I cup.

But I think they rushed him. He's out injured at the moment, and I'm of the opinion that his age/size has played a role in that. Similar case with Macken, on for 15-20 mins and he breaks his collar-bone.But I think next year will be a big year for Conway. Don't want talk too much about him, but he is certainly the most promising back in Leinster IMO.

Jemo

Conway could probably have done with more time to bulk up and get used to the size and weight difference at senior level. I remember going from u18s to Senior level a few years ago and the sheer physical size and weight of the players was unbelievable. Its ok for guys who have developed early such as Ruddock or Dom Ryan but for the smaller guys amongst us it takes time to prepare the body for such a jump in contact. Someone else mentioned either here or on leinster fans that there was not such a difference between Keating and Morris that one is going to Leicester and the other to the Championship. I reckon he should have went with Connacht or Munster if the offers were there. At least he would be in the eyes of coaches with influence here. I can only assume that Doncaster has a relationship with some premiership sides and that Keating hopes to get called up later this year or after a season with Doncaster.