Leinster Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread II

ssaye

Heroditas wrote: »

I'd certainly agree that it's our best starting backrow.
However, I'd prefer McLaughlin on the bench to Red Rover.

Yeah, Must be a knock

BOD got the 80 last week so maybe felt a little off, give him 20 mins tomorrow and the full game away to Exeter

Podge_irl

As well as McFadden has played, a D'Arcy/McFadden centre combo doesn't fill me with confidence with regards scoring 4 tries.

Tox56

EOM must be kicking himself, imagine the gametime he would have got this season were he not injured

justsomebloke

Just a reminder that the A game take place at 2pm in Donnybrook with free entry to season ticket holders. So a good 'Super Saturday' for people that can attend both

ssaye

Podge_irl wrote: »

As well as McFadden has played, a D'Arcy/McFadden centre combo doesn't fill me with confidence with regards scoring 4 tries.

RK, Isa, Fitzy and Sexton together do however. CMON Leinster

Darcy was quality last week

Podge_irl

Isa/Fitz/Kearney can't do much if they don't get the ball. D'arcy was brilliant last week but I don't think we brought our wingers into the game as much as we could.

irishbucsfan

I really like the look of this team.

Quint2010

BOD clearly only being used if we are in trouble in the four try attainment stakes. If we needed him to start he'd start and will surely start next week.

Podge_irl

Podge_irl wrote: »

Isa/Fitz/Kearney can't do much if they don't get the ball. D'arcy was brilliant last week but I don't think we brought our wingers into the game as much as we could.

hoping we're aiming to split the midfield at every occasion. Draw them wide, then bring back to midfield and set up with two backlines, one on each side of the breakdowns.

Play Ferg & D'Arcy both as inside centres, with Fitz and Isa effectively playing as 13s with Kearney covering wing on both sides.

.ak

I'm very disappointed there's no sign of EOM. Gutted for him. This was the season to cement his position as BOD's successor.

ssaye

.ak wrote: »

I'm very disappointed there's no sign of EOM. Gutted for him. This was the season to cement his position as BOD's successor.

Too many injuries that take ages to heal, very unlucky guy

25 in July if he can get fit he still has potentially 8+ years of top end rugby ahead of him

Fishooks13

McFadden ain't no 13

.ak

Anyhow, weak points of the team for the RDS - no Strauss, although Dundon has played well this season when fit, no Browne, our 2nd row woes continue, and no Locky - quick ruck ball will be hampered without him imo.

Are we sure BOD just isn't 100%? If it's a case that they don't want to risk him then I think that's bit unfair to the Scarlets. I hope we're not underestimating them, I know we need a TBP and lots of tries, but I hope we're not assuming a default win.

.ak

Fishooks13 wrote: »

McFadden ain't no 13

Yeah, he's allright there at pro12 level imo.. but he's a 12 all day long for me.

Tox56

If they don't want to start BOD, why not try Macken? There's obvious reasons for not starting him, but this Scarlets team is poor, and it's nothing he won't have seen before in the Pro12. If anything, the centre partnerships in the last 2 games he played (v Ulster and Connacht) are much better than what the Scarlets have. He can't be much worse than Ferg at 13

Zuffer

When was the last time BOD played a game not wearing 13?

.ak

Tox, have you forgotten what happened in September? In fairness Macken has improved, but not by much. Atleast Ferg has the ability to create something with his ability to break the tackle and top speed.

CatFromHue

I can see Luke coming off, McFadden moving to the wing, and BOD coming on around the 50min mark.

Good news though, Toner is playing so his Big T magic means we should be on for a bonus point win!

Hype710

http://dementedmole.com/2013/01/11/leinsters-second-row-puzzle/

Great article here from the Mole on Leinster's issues in the second row and some of the possible solutions.

[Jackass]

ssaye wrote: »

http://www.leinsterrugby.ie/newsroom/10843.php

Leinster 'A' team to face Pontypridd...

LEINSTER ‘A’:
15: David Kearney
14: Andrew Conway
13: Brendan Macken
12: Jordan Coghlan
11: Fionn Carr
10: Noel Reid
9: John Cooney
1: Jack McGrath CAPTAIN
2: Thomas Sexton
3: Jamie Hagan
4: Ben Marshall
5: Mark Flanagan
6: Dominic Ryan
7: Conor Gilsenan
8: Leo Auva’a
REPLACEMENTS:
16: James Tracy
17: Jack O’Connell
18: Jack Conan
19: Josh van der Flier
20: Luke McGrath
21: Cathal Marsh
22: Andrew Boyle

That's a fine team in its own right.

Would love to see a 10 emerge and Reid switched to 12 though.

Worryingly, I can't remember the last time I saw Furlong on a team sheet. Any news on him?

Tox56

.ak wrote: »

Tox, have you forgotten what happened in September? In fairness Macken has improved, but not by much. Atleast Ferg has the ability to create something with his ability to break the tackle and top speed.

Combination of things make this different. No North, Priestland or Davies, he has improved, he has a better team around him, and we are at home. I wouldn't have expected Joe to make that call, but Macken is a more natural 13.

Hype710

Macken isn't in the H Cup squad.

crisco10

So with Reddan, Madigan and BOD on bench..Joe will be hoping to up the tempo massively in the last quarter. Shame no strauss/ on the bench to help there.

Surprised to Ryhs ahead of Murphy (I think he is in HEC squad) on the bench

.ak

Murphy's not in either squad. Must be carrying a niggle.

.ak

Also, you know you've got backrows coming out of the woodwork when you have one wearing an 18 on his back.

ssaye wrote: »

18: Jack Conan

EDIT: Nevermind, just saw it's a 22 match day squad... Has it always been 22 for the B&I cup? Seems strange for such a new tournament.

ssaye

[Jackass] wrote: »

That's a fine team in its own right.

Would love to see a 10 emerge and Reid switched to 12 though.

Worryingly, I can't remember the last time I saw Furlong on a team sheet. Any news on him?

Played AIL last week as per this apparently
http://forum.leinsterfans.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=21930&start=240

CIARAN_BOYLE

.ak wrote: »

Also, you know you've got backrows coming out of the woodwork when you have one wearing an 18 on his back.



EDIT: Nevermind, just saw it's a 22 match day squad... Has it always been 22 for the B&I cup? Seems strange for such a new tournament.

Yeah its always been 22. Its because the member competitions, welsh premier, english championship ect have 22 man squads. Remember most of the B&I cup teams are semi-professional rather than fully professional and wouldn't afford the extra players.

justsomebloke wrote: »

I hear the bloke playing 23 is half decent. Wonder will he be able to break into the first team soon

Its only his fifth substitute appearance in his time with the club. He needs more experience before he starts for the first team

[Jackass] wrote: »

Worryingly, I can't remember the last time I saw Furlong on a team sheet. Any news on him?

Just too many props ahead of him. Ross/Bent/Hagan/Moore are a quality quartet. Either Furlong or Moore should leave for game time imo. We only have enough gametime to develop one them I think

Quint2010

No sign of Adam Byrne for the A team. Is he injured? He was subbing for the first team a couple of weeks back?

ssaye

Quint2010 wrote: »

No sign of Adam Byrne for the A team. Is he injured? He was subbing for the first team a couple of weeks back?

Studying for his Junior Cert

:pac:

UCD won 70 nil v St Marys last week and he scored so just easing him in I would say maybe a knock from that

P.Walnuts

CIARAN_BOYLE wrote: »

Yeah its always been 22. Its because the member competitions, welsh premier, english championship ect have 22 man squads. Remember most of the B&I cup teams are semi-professional rather than fully professional and wouldn't afford the extra players.


Its only his fifth substitute appearance in his time with the club. He needs more experience before he starts for the first team


Just too many props ahead of him. Ross/Bent/Hagan/Moore are a quality quartet. Either Furlong or Moore should leave for game time imo. We only have enough gametime to develop one them I think

Surely Furlong has more potential than Hagan?

Out of all of those I think Hagan should be the one to make way, never convinced me to be honest.

Added to that Ross mightn't have that long left and Furlong could easily be fighting for a starting spot in 1-2 seasons time.

molloyjh

Anyone starting a match thread? Don't have the time myself....

jamiedav2011

P.Walnuts wrote: »

Surely Furlong has more potential than Hagan?

Out of all of those I think Hagan should be the one to make way, never convinced me to be honest.

Added to that Ross mightn't have that long left and Furlong could easily be fighting for a starting spot in 1-2 seasons time.

Is Hagan's contract finished at the end of the season?

It's a very difficult position, as you've got Hagan and Bent who are basically stop gap solutions, and then Moore and Furlong who look to have serious potential. Moore in particular looks like he could be a long term solution.

You need probably two senior level backs up to Ross for Rabo games and for any HEC injuries.
However, you also don't want to lose young stars because lack of gametime.

Hopefully we can manage this.

Seriously challenging times ahead for the Leinster management in next few years. Big turnover of players on the way, with many young guys needing to step up.

P.Walnuts

jamiedav2011 wrote: »

Is Hagan's contract finished at the end of the season?

It's a very difficult position, as you've got Hagan and Bent who are basically stop gap solutions, and then Moore and Furlong who look to have serious potential. Moore in particular looks like he could be a long term solution.

You need probably two senior level backs up to Ross for Rabo games and for any HEC injuries.
However, you also don't want to lose young stars because lack of gametime.

Hopefully we can manage this.

Seriously challenging times ahead for the Leinster management in next few years. Big turnover of players on the way, with many young guys needing to step up.

Ye I agree, would be nice if those two props were each a year younger, would give us more time to sort out the Ross/Bent/Hagan scenario...

It will hopefully all work out, its a good problem to have I suppose though, a million times better than having the opposite problem which was the case a few years ago.

durkadurka

molloyjh wrote: »

Anyone starting a match thread? Don't have the time myself....

I'd start one just to get it going, but then there's always someone who wants to write a proper preview, which I'm incapable of.

.ak

Now now DD, I've seen you write some masterpeices... :pac:

clsmooth

I'd get rid of Hagan, he's not up to it unfortunately and never will be. Try and ease one of the younger lads in otherwise they'll never get a chance

ssaye

clsmooth wrote: »

I'd get rid of Hagan, he's not up to it unfortunately and never will be. Try and ease one of the younger lads in otherwise they'll never get a chance

The only thing with Hagan and the others is TH props are at their peak for the most part 28+ . He is still ONLY 25 which is young for that position. Hope he makes a big improvement.

durkadurka

.ak wrote: »

Now now DD, I've seen you write some masterpeices... :pac:

ha ha they tend to be brief. And sarky...

jamiedav2011

clsmooth wrote: »

I'd get rid of Hagan, he's not up to it unfortunately and never will be. Try and ease one of the younger lads in otherwise they'll never get a chance

That's harsh in fairness.

Few things in his favour:

He's a relative pup in propping terms at 25
He's shown before for Connacht that he can hack it in big European games and did ok against Montpellier, a serious scrummaging team, last year for Leinster.
He's put in some solid performances for Leinster this season, certainly improved on last year in general.

I feel a bit sorry for Hagan tbh, he's got very little chances in a full Leinster to team to show what he can do. Now perhaps that's for a reason, but he's still a prospect.

It's guys like him, Toner, Ryan, Ruddock, McGrath, O'Malley etc that we need to push on in the next 2-3 years to keep success a realistic thing,

.ak

I remember when people thought Ross was never up for it. Not that Hagan is of the same ilk.. and not that Ross is even that good, just saying...

ongarite

Hype710 wrote: »

http://dementedmole.com/2013/01/11/leinsters-second-row-puzzle/

Great article here from the Mole on Leinster's issues in the second row and some of the possible solutions.

Excellent article. Even though we have heard it all before about the 2nd row problems, it a great piece giving a breakdown on all Leinster's options for the future & pros and cons.

ssaye

.ak wrote: »

I remember when people thought Ross was never up for it. Not that Hagan is of the same ilk.. and not that Ross is even that good, just saying...

Exactly TH really come to the fore late 20's early thirties bar the exceptional few
Hayes started 25 for Munster 27 for Ireland
Ross 27 Harlequins and 29 for Leinster and Ireland

Jedwardian

Hagan is a decent player and I'm sure he's s disappointed as anyone how things have panned out for him since he returned to Leinster's ranks. He's caught between two stools at the moment with a pair of Ireland internationals ahead of him (Ross, Bent) and a couple of serious prospects behind him (Moore, Furlong).

He's at a crossroads in his career and should probably seek a release from his contract if a good offer comes along. Soon he'll be 26 and he really needs to play big games more regularly. Declan Kidney rates Ross, Bent, Fitzpatrick, Archer and Loughney ahead of him if last summer's tour and the November tests are anything to go by. If that's the queue he has to jump, he's well off trying to secure a move to a Premiership or Top 14 club and fight for his place in tough scrummaging environments. Who knows, perhaps a move abroad will do for him what it did for Mike Ross.

tolosenc

.ak wrote: »

Are we sure BOD just isn't 100%? If it's a case that they don't want to risk him then I think that's bit unfair to the Scarlets. I hope we're not underestimating them, I know we need a TBP and lots of tries, but I hope we're not assuming a default win.

We're not risking him. He's there to come on if we're struggling to get the 4 tries. I doubt we'll see him otherwise. It's too important that he is up to it in Exeter in 8 days' time.

CatFromHue wrote: »

Good news though, Toner is playing so his Big T magic means we should be on for a bonus point win!

Who was it who deduced that Toner was the key to Leinster's success by comparing stats from when he play in the HEC and when he didn't? Like he played 6 games in 08-09, none in 09-10 and a good few the last few seasons, but not much this year.

Leinster's chances of winning the Heineken Cup is directly proportional to the number of games Toner plays in it that season.

CatFromHue

tolosenc wrote: »

Who was it who deduced that Toner was the key to Leinster's success by comparing stats from when he play in the HEC and when he didn't? Like he played 6 games in 08-09, none in 09-10 and a good few the last few seasons, but not much this year.

Leinster's chances of winning the Heineken Cup is directly proportional to the number of games Toner plays in it that season.

:cool:

ssaye

ERC Rugby ‏@ercrugby #ERCStats: @jamieheaslip has completed the most tackles - missing none boasting 100% success by making 50 in 4 #HeinekenCup apps

Podge_irl

ssaye wrote: »

ERC Rugby ‏@ercrugby #ERCStats: @jamieheaslip has completed the most tackles - missing none boasting 100% success by making 50 in 4 #HeinekenCup apps

****ing show pony

molloyjh

ssaye wrote: »

ERC Rugby ‏@ercrugby #ERCStats: @jamieheaslip has completed the most tackles - missing none boasting 100% success by making 50 in 4 #HeinekenCup apps

Sure he'd have made another 25 at least if he wasn't on twitter so much.

justsomebloke

molloyjh wrote: »

Sure he'd have made another 25 at least if he wasn't on twitter so much.

I'm actually surprised he hasn't asked one of the water boys to run on with his phone when there is a break in the game so that he can tweet while on the pitch*





*Jamie this isn't a suggestion just in case you read this

[Jackass]

ssaye wrote: »

ERC Rugby ‏@ercrugby #ERCStats: @jamieheaslip has completed the most tackles - missing none boasting 100% success by making 50 in 4 #HeinekenCup apps

Typical Heaslip. Always goes missing in the big games. Yeah he has the best defensive record in the competition? So what! How many 50 yard breaks has he made??