Leinster Schools Rugby 2012-2013 [Provincial Schools Thread Link in Post 1]

the baby bull elephant

yougottagoboy wrote: »

any team coached by Vinny Hammond I expect to be challenging!

Yeah him and Hugh Hogan are doing a great job by the looks of it.

fox_1973

Quint2010 wrote: »

Yeah noticed he started at 6 on Saturday with O'Sullivan in the second row and Mike Murphy only on the bench? Do you think they'll start the cup like that? Be tough on Murphy.

Really not sure, but I did notice murphy started for the seconds yesterday against michaels seconds, would be tough alright if it was that way

Quint2010

fox_1973 wrote: »

Really not sure, but I did notice murphy started for the seconds yesterday against michaels seconds, would be tough alright if it was that way

Who won that match do you know?

yougottagoboy

fox_1973 wrote: »

Really not sure, but I did notice murphy started for the seconds yesterday against michaels seconds, would be tough alright if it was that way

so the current loost five is O'Sullivan,Somerville,Lalor,Thornton and Doyle? Sounds handy enough

fox_1973

Quint2010 wrote: »

Who won that match do you know?

I never did find out, the way it was looking, it should of been 'nure

Quint2010

yougottagoboy wrote: »

so the current loost five is O'Sullivan,Somerville,Lalor,Thornton and Doyle? Sounds handy enough

Think so. For me-Murphy should be second row instead of O'Sullivan. Amazed he is not starting.

fox_1973

Quint2010 wrote: »

Think so. For me-Murphy should be second row instead of O'Sullivan. Amazed he is not starting.

Personally I hope he does, id lose Doyle at least to the bench, his temper under pressure might get them into trouble

Quint2010

fox_1973 wrote: »

Personally I hope he does, id lose Doyle at least to the bench, his temper under pressure might get them into trouble

I like Doyle I have to say. Not the biggest but very aggressive and quick off the back of a scrum. Seems to have nailed down the 8 spot as far as I can see.

fox_1973

Quint2010 wrote: »

I like Doyle I have to say. Not the biggest but very aggressive and quick off the back of a scrum. Seems to have nailed down the 8 spot as far as I can see.

He does work well there alright

yougottagoboy

fox_1973 wrote: »

Personally I hope he does, id lose Doyle at least to the bench, his temper under pressure might get them into trouble

Fox is right,he can be a liability,as we saw against Gonzaga last year when he lost the head. In a tight game he could be costly

Younger

Leinster5 wrote: »

Well I've only seen 3 St. Michaels games, but those games were against Blackrock, Clongowes and Terenure. In every game bar Blackrock, they dominated the opposition pack. And I'm 99% certain they didn't lose a single line-out in any of those 3 games. So I'm basing my theory on those performances against the big teams, because I can remember Clongowes having a horror show at the set-piece against Michaels and that ultimately cost us the chance of beating St. Michaels that day.

Was at their home match vs Belvo and the Belvo pack beat them up in the set piece and in the loose. Michaels had big tall lads but they were driven back in all facets of play. They also lost several lineouts, including overthrows. Backline penetration was the key superiority of Michaels and the reason they won narrowly.

Quint2010

Younger wrote: »

Was at their home match vs Belvo and the Belvo pack beat them up in the set piece and in the loose. Michaels had big tall lads but they were driven back in all facets of play. They also lost several lineouts, including overthrows. Backline penetration was the key superiority of Michaels and the reason they won narrowly.

Yeah I thought the Belvo pack did when when they played Terenure too. Was pretty close up front.

GOKING69

Haven't heard much of power house Stephen Beattie at prop for Kilkenny? surely must have been unlucky not to be involved in the Interpros? Defiantly one to watch.

yougottagoboy

GOKING69 wrote: »

Haven't heard much of power house Stephen Beattie at prop for Kilkenny? surely must have been unlucky not to be involved in the Interpros? Defiantly one to watch.

Can't say any props stood out for me when I watched them. If there's one to watch from Kilkenny it's Michael Triggs

FatFosi12

yougottagoboy wrote: »

Can't say any props stood out for me when I watched them. If there's one to watch from Kilkenny it's Michael Triggs

Triggs is a great player, and Ross Deacons younger brother Luke is still in the side this year, not sure what position.

Offside

http://www.leinsterrugby.ie/mdtv/?play=media&id=13721 Highlights from Senior League Final. Was at it, Gonzaga made it very hard for themselves in last 15-20, one point down, and running every penalty they got no matter where from, With a boot like McKeons, and a functioning lineout, they should have looked for field position instead of trying to score length of the field tries from quick taps! Should learn from it and be more ruthless come cup time - in essence they chased a game that didn't need to be chased.

RuggerLad222

Belvo pack are one of the biggest and best in the competition, have make a show of Michaels, Clongowes and Mary's packs.

Inspector Coptoor

RuggerLad222 wrote: »

Belvo pack are one of the biggest and best in the competition, have make a show of Michaels, Clongowes and Mary's packs.

2 of the strongest props in schoolboy rugby.

breffnimartin1

yougottagoboy wrote: »

I'm gonna say Kilkenny but pres pulled it out of the bag last year so you don't know!

here's second half of the knock pres league match: http://youtu.be/6HgDXUUOxPQ (funny thing when you record these school league matches on video, the second half is invariably shorter than the first; its rare to get more than 25 minutes of actual play in the second half, first half usually goes to full 35 mins...)

i think knock beat kilkenny pretty well in the league ?

Actually come to think of it, several of the guys on this team were on the team that won the godfrey cup and were then knocked out in the first round by kilkenny who got two flukey tries in the last 3 minutes against the run of play - in the second try the guy ran into touch but the linesman had apparently left!

brockboy9

Thoughts on Blackrock vs Gonzaga first round in Donnybrook? - must admit that gonzaga 9 looks a handful

Inspector Coptoor

brockboy9 wrote: »

Thoughts on Blackrock vs Gonzaga first round in Donnybrook? - must admit that gonzaga 9 looks a handful

It'll be a good game.
Gonzaga front row are a handful.
Rest of pack is quite light & possibly a little inexperienced, 4,5,6,7&8 wouldn't have started a senior cup game before.

9,10 & 13 for Zaga would be pushing to start in any school.

They are underdogs, and while an upset is unlikely, I'd be smiling if it happened.

brockboy9

Inspector Coptoor wrote: »

It'll be a good game.
Gonzaga front row are a handful.
Rest of pack is quite light & possibly a little inexperienced, 4,5,6,7&8 wouldn't have started a senior cup game before.

9,10 & 13 for Zaga would be pushing to start in any school.

They are underdogs, and while an upset is unlikely, I'd be smiling if it happened.

9 is first choice leinster scrumhalf at 19s
10 is outhalf for ireland 19s, so strange thats what you reckon.

13 marks i think, been talked up on here so will be interesting to see.

Word is they have a connacht 19s rep returning from a broken leg.
Naturally i hope Rock do the business

brockboy9

*returning at 8, pack is very big if the same as earlier in season

Inspector Coptoor

brockboy9 wrote: »

9 is first choice leinster scrumhalf at 19s
10 is outhalf for ireland 19s, so strange thats what you reckon.

13 marks i think, been talked up on here so will be interesting to see.

Word is they have a connacht 19s rep returning from a broken leg.
Naturally i hope Rock do the business

What's strange about what I said?
They'd be pushing to start in any school because they are fantastic players.

Yeah, lad called Cormac Keane played with Connacht over the summer.

brockboy9

Inspector Coptoor wrote: »

What's strange about what I said?
They'd be pushing to start in any school because they are fantastic players.

Yeah, lad called Cormac Keane played with Connacht over the summer.

Apologies interpreted that as would be struggling for a postion in any school.
Ye believe thats his name. Big boy apparently, apparently nick-named the bosh machine in school

Bridge93

From seeing both teams I'd say that only McKeown at 10 would start in the Blackrock team from Gonzaga although Marks would come close

Woody1997

brockboy9 wrote: »

Thoughts on Blackrock vs Gonzaga first round in Donnybrook? - must admit that gonzaga 9 looks a handful

I think rock will do it they have not been in the running for this competition for too long and there is added pressure on them this year. If they can settle down early on then I think they should have the quality in the likes of Charlie rock, Gavin tynan and nick timmoney to pull away

That said the gonzaga half backs are excellent and any marks is one heck of a player. Blackrock I'll not want a repeat of the giant killing they suffered at the hands of Gerard's in 2010. It'll be a tough match but I think 'rock will get through this one.

Leinster5

Woody1997 wrote: »

I think rock will do it they have not been in the running for this competition for too long and there is added pressure on them this year. If they can settle down early on then I think they should have the quality in the likes of Charlie rock, Gavin tynan and nick timmoney to pull away

That said the gonzaga half backs are excellent and any marks is one heck of a player. Blackrock I'll not want a repeat of the giant killing they suffered at the hands of Gerard's in 2010. It'll be a tough match but I think 'rock will get through this one.

I honestly believe that this Blackrock team are being over-hyped hugely. Have a very weak backline, and a few weak links in the pack. They got destroyed by Terenure over a month ago when Terenure were missing 2/3 players, and they beat St. Michaels by 11 points when St. Michaels were missing 8-10 players that day. Also not to mention the 2 or 3 losses they had earlier in the season which showed their lack of strength in depth. Also were fortunate to beat Belvedere at home two week ago, and only won by 3 points. Just my opinion.

funtime93

Bridge93 wrote: »

From seeing both teams I'd say that only McKeown at 10 would start in the Blackrock team from Gonzaga although Marks would come close

Are you serious?Lavelle is way better than Charlie Rock and Marks would also walk into the rock side.They're quite lightweight upfront though and with reps like Coughlan,Timoney,O'Connor,Jager in the rock pack i'd expect them to grind out the win,be close though, and it wouldnt suprise me if Zaga nicked it.

Bridge93

Leinster5 wrote: »

I honestly believe that this Blackrock team are being over-hyped hugely. Have a very weak backline, and a few weak links in the pack. They got destroyed by Terenure over a month ago when Terenure were missing 2/3 players, and they beat St. Michaels by 11 points when St. Michaels were missing 8-10 players that day. Also not to mention the 2 or 3 losses they had earlier in the season which showed their lack of strength in depth. Also were fortunate to beat Belvedere at home two week ago, and only won by 3 points. Just my opinion.

This Blackrock team were missing 4/5 players away in Terenure and were leading at half time. Michaels were missing 4 players against Blackrock not 8 and Rock were missing 2 as well. They were missing 7 against Belvedere. They haven't lost 2 or 3 games earlier this year as the only game other than Terenure was away in Kilkenny where only 2 players who start now played. If your going to give an opinion at least make sure it fair.

Bridge93

funtime93 wrote: »

Are you serious?Lavelle is way better than Charlie Rock and Marks would also walk into the rock side.They're quite lightweight upfront though and with reps like Coughlan,Timoney,O'Connor,Jager in the rock pack i'd expect them to grind out the win,be close though, and it wouldnt suprise me if Zaga nicked it.

Lavelle isn't in the same league as Charlie, and yeah Marks is very good I just haven't seen enough of him to put him ahead on Gavin Tynan

Leinster5

Bridge93 wrote: »

This Blackrock team were missing 4/5 players away in Terenure and were leading at half time. Michaels were missing 4 players against Blackrock not 8 and Rock were missing 2 as well. They were missing 7 against Belvedere. They haven't lost 2 or 3 games earlier this year as the only game other than Terenure was away in Kilkenny where only 2 players who start now played. If your going to give an opinion at least make sure it fair.

I was at the Terenure vs Blackrock match earlier this year, and all the Leinster reps like Jager, Timony, Rock etc Rock played that day. St. Michaels had their 4th and 5th choice Props playing against Rock earlier a few weeks ago, also were missing Leinster reps like McCarthy, Penny, Coulson, Harold, and a few other players that I don't know the names of.

Bridge93

Timoney went off early on, and Rock were without a second row, back row, out half, prop and centre. Terenure were without O Neill couldn't see any others. Michaels were missing at most 5 players who will start the cup 4 of which played for Leinster. Blackrock were missing 3 reps as well.

Leinster5

Bridge93 wrote: »

Timoney went off early on, and Rock were without a second row, back row, out half, prop and centre. Terenure were without O Neill couldn't see any others. Michaels were missing at most 5 players who will start the cup 4 of which played for Leinster. Blackrock were missing 3 reps as well.

Timony going off injured after 10 minutes doesn't mean a lot. All of the players they were missing that day weren't of great quality bar Jager. Blackrock's backline hasn't offered anything in the three games I've seen them, what won them the games against Clongowes & St. Michaels was pick & go's and pops off 9. Meanwhile Terenure and Michaels haven't played their full teams yet. Don't get me wrong here, Blackrock are a decent side with some very handy players, but if they come up against a full strength Terenure or St. Michaels side in Febuary, they'll lose 9 times out of 10. Just like Clongowes will, and teams like Roscrea and Castleknock.Also, I noticed you just joined this thread, please don't tell me your a pupil who just signed up for this just to promote your schools team like most of the posters in the last few weeks, cause it's pretty sad to say the least.

southsea

Seen the league final Gonzaga number 9 was by a mile the best player on park not to impressed by anybody else thought game in general was poor I had Roscrea down as an outside bet for cup but on this performance will have to improve in saying that the standard from all teams have not impressed me to much this year so could be a very open cup with any of 6 or 7 teams that can win it will come down to who ever wants it the most.

DerTierarzt

Is there anything to be said for C.B.C. Monkstown?

fox_1973

DerTierarzt wrote: »

Is there anything to be said for C.B.C. Monkstown?

Sorry, no, got trashed last week by terenure, not sure who else they've played, but its the cup so you never know

Edit...but after 'nure, they're my next allegiance

FatFosi12

DerTierarzt wrote: »

Is there anything to be said for C.B.C. Monkstown?

Had a fairly dire team last year, but might be better this year. That said, they did get hockied by Nure.

brennanhuff

Inspector Coptoor wrote: »

It'll be a good game.
Gonzaga front row are a handful.
Rest of pack is quite light & possibly a little inexperienced, 4,5,6,7&8 wouldn't have started a senior cup game before.

9,10 & 13 for Zaga would be pushing to start in any school.

They are underdogs, and while an upset is unlikely, I'd be smiling if it happened.

admittedly the zaga 9 and 10 were very good players and are arguably the best halfback pairing in the cup but there 13 Caslin is a below average player who would be lucky to get into most schools seconds teams. Andy Marks the fullback is a very good player. Could cause Rock an upset

Inspector Coptoor

brennanhuff wrote: »

admittedly the zaga 9 and 10 were very good players and are arguably the best halfback pairing in the cup but there 13 Caslin is a below average player who would be lucky to get into most schools seconds teams. Andy Marks the fullback is a very good player. Could cause Rock an upset

When I said 13, I meant Marks.
He played 15 in the league final but was 13 in most games so far this year.

Caslin is not a below average player, he was just out of position the last day. He's normally a winger.

Quint2010

I wouldn't surprised to see an upset in one or both of the 'Rock v Gonzaga and 'Michaels v Castleknock games. Two battle hardened league teams showing good form up against two possible under-cooked sides.

Woody1997

Leinster5 wrote: »

I honestly believe that this Blackrock team are being over-hyped hugely. Have a very weak backline, and a few weak links in the pack. They got destroyed by Terenure over a month ago when Terenure were missing 2/3 players, and they beat St. Michaels by 11 points when St. Michaels were missing 8-10 players that day. Also not to mention the 2 or 3 losses they had earlier in the season which showed their lack of strength in depth. Also were fortunate to beat Belvedere at home two week ago, and only won by 3 points. Just my opinion.

I think they have a huge pack and the backiline has been boosted by Sean coughlans move to the wing they also have Gavin tynan in and Stephen Lawton in the centre and Charlie rock at scrum half. I think they have a good chance and will be aware of gonzagas threat. And who are the weak links in the pack?

Quint2010

Bridge93 wrote: »

Timoney went off early on, and Rock were without a second row, back row, out half, prop and centre. Terenure were without O Neill couldn't see any others. Michaels were missing at most 5 players who will start the cup 4 of which played for Leinster. Blackrock were missing 3 reps as well.

It was closer to half time when Timoney went off. 'Rock scored two tries that day-one from an up and under when there was a mix up between the 'Nure full back and winger and the other was near the end when Terenure had a centre in the bin. Terenure were missing O'Neill their captain and Rob Lalor has since forced his way into the team so if anything they will have improved from that display come cup time.

yougottagoboy

Bridge93 wrote: »

Lavelle isn't in the same league as Charlie, and yeah Marks is very good I just haven't seen enough of him to put him ahead on Gavin Tynan

Not that representative status is much to go by but Lavelle was starting 9 for the 19s this year,and I didn't see Rock involved in any squad. And after seeing both players play I'd have Lavelle ahead any day.

Bridge93

Quint2010 wrote: »

It was closer to half time when Timoney went off. 'Rock scored two tries that day-one from an up and under when there was a mix up between the 'Nure full back and winger and the other was near the end when Terenure had a centre in the bin. Terenure were missing O'Neill their captain and Rob Lalor has since forced his way into the team so if anything they will have improved from that display come cup time.

Well when he went off Rock were winning the game. You can't say a try is any less than another they all count the same if you went back I'd say you'll find some of Nures tries were by Rock missed tackles and bad play. No doubt terenure have hugely improved but so have Rock. This idea that they are overhyped and don't have a chance is nonsense. bar Terenure they are the only other of the "Big 6" who have shown the form or results to suggest they can win the cup. Michaels have been off form pre season. We can only go on pre season and based on that Terenure are favourites Blackrock 2nd and michaels 3rd

Bridge93

Lavelle is a very good player but Rock has been called into the Ireland set based on performances. From what I understand the reason he wasn't given a go at Leinster because of Blackrocks policy of not sending players unless they play SCT the year before. ridiculous considering he started in 4th year

yougottagoboy

Bridge93 wrote: »

Lavelle is a very good player but Rock has been called into the Ireland set based on performances. From what I understand the reason he wasn't given a go at Leinster because of Blackrocks policy of not sending players unless they play SCT the year before. ridiculous considering he started in 4th year

a valid point sir

themont85

DerTierarzt wrote: »

Is there anything to be said for C.B.C. Monkstown?

Doubt it based on the result vs Terenure but Terenure are an excellent side and should win the cup.

They looked to be getting going at the start of the year. They beat Gonzaga in the league but Kevin West the head coach left straight after the game to move abroad. They obviously had to bring a new coach in (Nigel Osbourne back in) and the results since then from what I've heard have been mediocre. Hopefully they should balance out a little and give Marys a decent game. To be honest though McKeever who player Irish schools last season looks to be the only big player in the pack.

I think all the hopes are pinned on the Junior Cup team this year for a good cup run.

Quint2010

Bridge93 wrote: »

Well when he went off Rock were winning the game. You can't say a try is any less than another they all count the same if you went back I'd say you'll find some of Nures tries were by Rock missed tackles and bad play. No doubt terenure have hugely improved but so have Rock. This idea that they are overhyped and don't have a chance is nonsense. bar Terenure they are the only other of the "Big 6" who have shown the form or results to suggest they can win the cup. Michaels have been off form pre season. We can only go on pre season and based on that Terenure are favourites Blackrock 2nd and michaels 3rd

On pre-season yes. On interprovincial representation and squad depth I'd have 'Michaels ahead of them.

schools rugby

Quint2010 wrote: »

On pre-season yes. On interprovincial representation and squad depth I'd have 'Michaels ahead of them.

I think there is way too much emphasis on interprovincial representation here... Lets be honest looking at the draw , there are sure to be a few outside bets in the quaters and then semis. Clongowes got a very nice draw, as did Roscrea, then you have Newbridge or KH and Pres or Kilkenny. The draw is very even and i think we shouldnt rule out Clongowes yet.. Marys in with a shout too