Match Thread: Leinster Rugby vs Ospreys, Friday 03rd May 19:45, TG4/S4C

Buer

Biggar utterly dressed down by Mr. Owens.

LukeyPoke

Buer wrote: »

World's fattest winger gets over for the icing.

Christ, Ospreys are a wee bit susceptible to the kick in behind.

I'm loving Grumpy Johnny's new sparkling dinks behind the Osprey's players. Hopefully we'll see plenty of them for the Lions.

P_1

Buer wrote: »

World's fattest winger gets over for the icing.

Christ, Ospreys are a wee bit susceptible to the kick in behind.

Most teams who blitz tend to be, surprised we took so long to figure that out

rockbeast

Hopefully that's the Osprey off our back.

Buer

P_1 wrote: »

Most teams who blitz tend to be, surprised we took so long to figure that out

Sorry, you're right. I've seen the tactic attempted against them repeatedly but never as effective as tonight. Leinster weren't necessarily winning the kicks behind, Ospreys were just absolutely terrified and making an utter balls of gathering them. Maybe I'm reaching, but Sexton was putting a wicked spin and sideways end over end on a couple of them, making them awful to deal with.

Buer

All they needed to do was win tonight as Scarlets lost. They actrually didn't just lose, Treviso stuck 40 on them in Wales!

P_1

A BP win against the Ospreys is always a god day's work though

lologram

P_1 wrote: »

A BP win against the Ospreys is always a god day's work though

Nah he didn't get off the bench today

Waesfjord

TG$ saying we play Glasgow in semis, I thought a top of league, we play 4th, i.e. Scarlets?

Waesfjord

brian1976 wrote: »

TG$ saying we play Glasgow in semis, I thought a top of league, we play 4th, i.e. Scarlets?

ooops, thought we were top

cython

brian1976 wrote: »

TG$ saying we play Glasgow in semis, I thought a top of league, we play 4th, i.e. Scarlets?

And Ulster (as actual league leaders) will be doing just that....

Cormic

brian1976 wrote: »

TG$ saying we play Glasgow in semis, I thought a top of league, we play 4th, i.e. Scarlets?

First plays fourth, second plays third.

Hope that the Aussies missed that game, because Sexton showed exactly how to combat Wales / Gatland's rush defence...

Also, anyone notice Madigan taking one of the kicks?

Means he ties for % for Golden Boot with Halfpenny (60/69 vs 20/23) but I assume wins it due to taking more attempts?

Again, it's a pity he can't kick. Could have been an excellent option for Ireland otherwise.

Hagz

I'm impressed with Luke McGrath's defence. Good technique and bravery.

CIARAN_BOYLE

Who was the MOTM??

Hagz

CIARAN_BOYLE wrote: »

Who was the MOTM??

Surely the hat-trick hero Conway.

yimrsg

SOB got MOTM. I think it was more a case of tg4 wanting to talk to him about lions selection.

cormacjones

CIARAN_BOYLE wrote: »

Who was the MOTM??

SOB

Buer

Hagz wrote: »

I'm impressed with Luke McGrath's defence. Good technique and bravery.

Passing has improved but still needs to keep working on it. Doesn't have the power through the ball. His pass fades and the accuracy is also off. One good opportunity was killed in the first half after a line break and quick recycle and he passed to receiver's shins.

He has the natural talent. Should be a special project with skills coaches working double time with him.

totallegend

CIARAN_BOYLE wrote: »

Who was the MOTM??

O'Brien

I would have given it to McFadden, he was brilliant

cormacjones

Who do people think has more potential, McGrath or Cooney?

Buer

yimrsg wrote: »

SOB got MOTM. I think it was more a case of tg4 wanting to talk to him about lions selection.

Thought he was excellent at the breakdown in fairness. The one where he sacked the maul carrier and killed the ball in a split second on our own line was the difference between men and boys. Thought Ruddock was very good too in the pack along with McGrath.

Conway took his tries well but in a game where we were defending for long periods and put in a huge shift in the set piece, I think a forward was a good call.

Buer

cormacjones wrote: »

Who do people think has more potential, McGrath or Cooney?

The potential ceiling for McGrath is far higher. Cooney could be a solid HEC player in time. McGrath could be a solid international.

Hype710

Conway leaving upsets me greatly.

Bridge93

I've always said and believed that Conway has a much if not more potential then Zebo. Zebo has taken his chances brilliantly at Munster, whereas injury and the huge line of stars ahead of him has held Conway back. He's one for the future, hopefully we see him back at Leinster!

.ak

OOH, AAH, JACK MCGRATH - I SAID OOH AHH JACK MCGRATH!

That is all.

Morf

Nigel refused to ref the breakdown at all and as usual when that happens we suffered quite a bit.

Great win though. Happy with that.

.ak

Buer wrote: »

Sorry, you're right. I've seen the tactic attempted against them repeatedly but never as effective as tonight. Leinster weren't necessarily winning the kicks behind, Ospreys were just absolutely terrified and making an utter balls of gathering them. Maybe I'm reaching, but Sexton was putting a wicked spin and sideways end over end on a couple of them, making them awful to deal with.

Nah you're right, I had an excellent view of two of them from the stands and he was putting them on the outside of his boot and just dinking them, causing them to spin end over end and towards touch, Ospreys didn't want to risk touching the ball and conceding lineouts so they just weren't touching them.

.ak

Luke was excellent today. Surprised he was parachuted in ahead of Cooney though, but he made a lot of good decisions and I think the top level rugby and stood to him. Cooney is far more solid, even now, but makes poor decisions, and really that can only be fixed with game time. Luke would be the next scrummie in line for me if he could learn to pass off his right into a players hands. Sexton was reaching down to his boot straps for most of the night.

Jack was immense. That scrum on the 10m line was unreal. He destroyed Jones. Jones was doing his best to pull him down and McGrath just minced him until he buckled. Seriously impressive stuff. If it wasn't for James' cheating I thought our starting front row would've marched their scrum off the field. Seriously impressive for what we considered our third choice props at the beginning of the season.

Surprised at SOB getting MoTM, but then I did miss alot of the breakdown stuff you'd see on TV. He was knackered going off though, he's one of those players that really hits a dip after being rested and takes a while getting back up to speed. Hopefully now he'll have 3 games to get back up to speed for the lions.

Thought Jennings was immense, really put the hurt on the Ospreys, and disrupted most of their ruck ball. He was in the scrummies face for the whole game, forcing their pass to go deep.

Defensively we were very naive, but I guess that what's happens when we play our 2nd string side.

MoTM for me was Joe. Tactical master class. Knew if he could keep it tight he had the big guns to bring it on, and knew exactly what to change up in the 2nd half, kick low and kick often.

Absolutely one of the most satisfying wins in ages. If he hadn't conceded a few soft tries it'd be perfect, but as it stands it's so refreshing to get that monkey off our back and in turn get a home semi final out of it.

silverbirch66

yimrsg wrote: »

SOB got MOTM. I think it was more a case of tg4 wanting to talk to him about lions selection.

I think he is totally overrated and is a one season wonder.Dont get me wrong he is solid and seems like a sound lad but no way is he as good as some people make him out to be.And TBH,him coming out this week saying he could play 6,7 or 8 as regards the lions staring 15 is a load of crap talk.He will only start if someone is injured.
I watched him closely playing for Ireland in the 6n this year and it was like groundhog day every time.

Fields opposition kick,goes 5 metres with ball,gets grounded,release ball and so on and on and on...those plays are not the traits of a dynamic, forward thinking player,folks.No spark and no ideas.

Taco Corp

need to watch the game back again, but sitting in the stands I couldn't help but think how much we're going to to miss BOD in defence when he retires. There several instances where I thought that the Ospreys attach could have been disrupted by the way BOD shoots up from the defensive line to cut off the ball going wide. McFadden seems to prefer letting attachers running on to him which seemed pretty risky tonight.

.ak

silverbirch66 wrote: »

I think he is totally overrated and is a one season wonder.Dont get me wrong he is solid and seems like a sound lad but no way is he as good as some people make him out to be.And TBH,him coming out this week saying he could play 6,7 or 8 as regards the lions staring 15 is a load of crap talk.He will only start if someone is injured.
I watched him closely playing for Ireland in the 6n this year and it was like groundhog day every time.

Fields opposition kick,goes 5 metres with ball,gets grounded,release ball and so on and on and on...those plays are not the traits of a dynamic, forward thinking player,folks.No spark and no ideas.

Wow, what did SOB ever do to you?

Name one Irish player who played better in the 6N? His work on the deck, his hands, his ability to get behind gain line - he's by far one of the best forwards in the home nations.

Also, why is on the Lions tour if he isn't any good?

.ak

Captain_Hindsight wrote: »

need to watch the game back again, but sitting in the stands I couldn't help but think how much we're going to to miss BOD in defence when he retires. There several instances where I thought that the Ospreys attach could have been disrupted by the way BOD shoots up from the defensive line to cut off the ball going wide. McFadden seems to prefer letting attachers running on to him which seemed pretty risky tonight.

Ferg is not a 13, so he did well all things considered.

Tox56

Said it earlier but Ospreys are a complete pain in the arse at the breakdown and I thought (Luke) McGrath was great, could have been better getting it away on one or two occasions but did well all things considered, amazing strength for his size. First start against tough opposition, messy breakdown, important game, not first choice pack and to top it all off the weather looked fairly crap, far from an ideal environment so he did really well I thought, excellent for Conway's 2nd:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beFQXAboses

Can't say much more than has already been said for the other McGrath, really really encouraging

Bridge93

silverbirch66 wrote: »

I think he is totally overrated and is a one season wonder.Dont get me wrong he is solid and seems like a sound lad but no way is he as good as some people make him out to be.And TBH,him coming out this week saying he could play 6,7 or 8 as regards the lions staring 15 is a load of crap talk.He will only start if someone is injured.
I watched him closely playing for Ireland in the 6n this year and it was like groundhog day every time.

Fields opposition kick,goes 5 metres with ball,gets grounded,release ball and so on and on and on...those plays are not the traits of a dynamic, forward thinking player,folks.No spark and no ideas.

I just don't get this.

the baby bull elephant

Oooooooooooh aaaaaaaaaah Jack McGrath.

Delighted for him this year good guy and deserves it.

.ak

Really hope Madigan at 12 is finished now. Hopefully Darce is back soon. Madigan's game is too easy to read outside the flyhalf, especially as Sexton was taking it a little deeper than normal. Defensively he was sound tho, and spun a few nice passes, but you just don't want your 12 trying to take on that much ball either. Dunno what he was at for the 22 drop out... Then again, had he pulled off into space we'd all be rewarding his bloody mindedness.

That one handed catch and clearance was a thing of beauty though. One thing I love is how he seems to take an age with his clearances and doesn't get flustered. His kicking from hand is far better than it was this time last year.

Hagz

It will be very interesting when Matt O'Connor comes in to see how the squad order changes.

the baby bull elephant

Buer wrote: »

World's fattest winger gets over for the icing.

Christ, Ospreys are a wee bit susceptible to the kick in behind.

10% body fat...

silverbirch66

.ak wrote: »

Wow, what did SOB ever do to you?

Name one Irish player who played better in the 6N? His work on the deck, his hands, his ability to get behind gain line - he's by far one of the best forwards in the home nations.

Also, why is on the Lions tour if he isn't any good?

Nothing, and as i've said he seems like a lovely lad and my opinion is in no way personal and in all fairness none of our players performed well every game in the 6n.

Dylan Hartley is on he tour along with Matt Stevens and they are no great shakes either:D

Pudsy33

silverbirch66 wrote: »

I think he is totally overrated and is a one season wonder.Dont get me wrong he is solid and seems like a sound lad but no way is he as good as some people make him out to be.And TBH,him coming out this week saying he could play 6,7 or 8 as regards the lions staring 15 is a load of crap talk.He will only start if someone is injured.
I watched him closely playing for Ireland in the 6n this year and it was like groundhog day every time.

Fields opposition kick,goes 5 metres with ball,gets grounded,release ball and so on and on and on...those plays are not the traits of a dynamic, forward thinking player,folks.No spark and no ideas.

What a bizarre post. What does he need to do any better? Lets see....

Monster in the tackle?.... yep
Excellent ball carrier?...... yep
Excellent support runner?.....that too
Great at the breakdown?..... you bet
Decent ball skills for a big man..... yes

I thought moving him to 7 from 6 before was a mistake, but he has proved he can play there too, even against the best in the world. He gave a motm performance from 8 tonight. He is a perfectly well rounded back-rower.

.ak

silverbirch66 wrote: »

Nothing, and as i've said he seems like a lovely lad and my opinion is in no way personal and in all fairness none of our players performed well every game in the 6n.

Dylan Hartley is on he tour along with Matt Stevens and they are no great shakes either:D

If you're trying to bundle SOB into the same category as Dylan and Matt you're opinion on SOB must be tainted SOMEHOW.

Seriously, nobody who outplays McCaw at 7 in his own backyard is overrated.

decisions

Pudsy33 wrote: »

What a bizarre post. What does he need to do any better? Lets see....

Monster in the tackle?.... yep
Excellent ball carrier?...... yep
Excellent support runner?.....that too
Great at the breakdown?..... you bet
Decent ball skills for a big man..... yes

I thought moving him to 7 from 6 before was a mistake, but he has proved he can play there too, even against the best in the world. He gave a motm performance from 8 tonight. He is a perfectly well rounded back-rower.

My only criticism would be his ball control at the back of the scrum wasn't quite up to scratch today.

.ak

decisions wrote: »

My only criticism would be his ball control at the back of the scrum wasn't quite up to scratch today.

It wasn't, and often has been poor when he slots in at 8. But that's to be expected for someone who rarely plays at 8... It's not as bad as Rhys's! :P

Pudsy33

decisions wrote: »

My only criticism would be his ball control at the back of the scrum wasn't quite up to scratch today.

Fair point, but in his defense he doesn't play there much. Still doesn't explain why the above poster thinks he's average.

For the record I thought Conway was robbed for motm personally.

.ak

Yeah hattrick is usually an automatic MoTM award!

Hagz

Pudsy33 wrote: »

For the record I thought Conway was robbed for motm personally.

Half-robbed

Pudsy33

Hagz wrote: »

Half-robbed

did SOB not get it? or did tg4 give one and rabodirect another?

Irlandczyk

Great game to watch. For a second string(ish) side against our 'bogey team' we did really well. Think Schmidt deserves most of the credit for the win, personally, he got the game plan nailed. Not sure about SOB for my MotM, although personally I give it to Healy simply for that winger-esque dive over the try line!

Victory is even sweeter knowing that we sent the Ospreys home after giving them a right beating!