Leinster Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread V

sullivlo

You could take a risk and wait and see if anything comes up on ticketexchange if you are holding out for Grandstand seats.

I see the north stand is sold out - it must be where the Ulster fans are sitting again!

ssaye2

http://www.ticketmaster.ie/guinness-pro12-leinster-rugby-v-dublin-01-03-2015/event/18004D4FDBC85593?artistid=33312&majorcatid=10004&minorcatid=225

Touch section put in on the grandstand side

SuperCet

Excellent - thanks a million Ssaye2!

thomond2006

ssaye2 wrote: »

http://www.ticketmaster.ie/guinness-pro12-leinster-rugby-v-dublin-01-03-2015/event/18004D4FDBC85593?artistid=33312&majorcatid=10004&minorcatid=225

Touch section put in on the grandstand side

Given the number of interpros on around that time I imagine we'll have the same farcical situation of full teams playing against seconds.

ssaye2

thomond2006 wrote: »

Given the number of interpros on around that time I imagine we'll have the same farcical situation of full teams playing against seconds.

Im playing - on the firsts its gonna be carnage :pac:

SuperCet

Touch section put in on the grandstand side[/QUOTE]

What is the view like from the touch section? I go to the RDS quite a lot but always half way up in block k or j. Is the view restricted?

ssaye2

SuperCet wrote: »

Touch section put in on the grandstand side

What is the view like from the touch section? I go to the RDS quite a lot but always half way up in block k or j. Is the view restricted?[/QUOTE]


Only put in on very busy matches, being on the sideline you may get a camera man on securitty guard in your way but douby it would be a hindrance they would be sitting /moving around. At this stage if you want a premium seat you can also check ticket exchange on the leinster site closer to the game, only 2 tickets available atm,

SuperCet

ssaye2 wrote: »

What is the view like from the touch section? I go to the RDS quite a lot but always half way up in block k or j. Is the view restricted?

Only put in on very busy matches, being on the sideline you may get a camera man on securitty guard in your way but douby it would be a hindrance they would be sitting /moving around. At this stage if you want a premium seat you can also check ticket exchange on the leinster site closer to the game, only 2 tickets available atm,[/QUOTE]

Ok cool - will give em a go. Cheers!

awec

Be aware though that Ulster are going to give Leinster a good thumping. This is a lot of effort you are putting in to find a ticket to something that is certain to make you miserable.

SuperCet

awec wrote: »

Be aware though that Ulster are going to give Leinster a good thumping. This is a lot of effort you are putting in to find a ticket to something that is certain to make you miserable.

Sure at the rate Ulster are going, we'll get a better game out of the Ravens by that point!

Buer

awec wrote: »

Be aware though that Ulster are going to give Leinster a good thumping. This is a lot of effort you are putting in to find a ticket to something that is certain to make you miserable.

A fair point. Middle of the season with no silverware on the line...this is the sort of game that Ulster peak for.

awec

Buer wrote: »

A fair point. Middle of the season with no silverware on the line...this is the sort of game that Ulster peak for.

Well it all depends on whether the Leinster man of the match from the Pro 12 final is involved or not.

Eat My Point

Are Leinster in danger of now being the least entertaining of the 4 provinces? With Ian Madigan as the cool head who now kicks all their points?? What is this bizarro world?

What is this bizarro world???

Eat My Point

Eat My Point wrote: »

Are Leinster in danger of now being the least entertaining of the 4 provinces? With Ian Madigan as the cool head who now kicks all their points?? What is this bizarro world?

What is this bizarro world???

In terms of "entertainment factor" I think Leinster these days almost totally rely on

Fitzgerald
Madigan
Cronin
Healy
SOB
Heaslip

for the highlight reels. Given the injuries of Healy and SOB, Fitzgerald being a lucky dip to be available on a game-to-game basis and the fact that Cronin will hopefully have Strauss pushing him hard for gametime, and Madigan appearing to be evolving/devolving into the Jack of All / Master of none I think you're right.

It's time for the most electrifying man in sports entertainment to step up to the plate. The most under rated Irish winger of recent years. A guy who Joe refuses to pick for Ireland, questionably left out during the 6Nations win this season.

One man, and one man alone is going to return the days of Leinstertainment to our screens.

That man is

awec

The Fannarooney.

molloyjh

Strangely chants of "Fanj, Fanj, Fanj, Fanj!" echoing around the RDS would sound pretty damn good.

awec

Fanj and Vange sound too alike.

What about Fanny, Fanny, Fanny, Fanny instead?

But seriously. The answer is yes. We have many tidy and dutiful players, we don't have an awful lot of catalysts any more.

Teferi

awec wrote: »

Fanj and Vange sound too alike.

What about Fanny, Fanny, Fanny, Fanny instead?

I prefer my Fanny to your Diack any day.

Eat My Point

Fitzgerald being back is brilliant, arguably the best back in the country when on form. What's the timescale on Healy and SOB? It'll be tragic if SOB keeps getting injured

vienne86

Eat My Point wrote: »

Fitzgerald being back is brilliant, arguably the best back in the country when on form. What's the timescale on Healy and SOB? It'll be tragic if SOB keeps getting injured

I'm actually very worried about O'Brien. I wonder will we be seeing him on the pitch at all this season.

molloyjh

Deleted User wrote: »

But seriously. The answer is yes. We have many tidy and dutiful players, we don't have an awful lot of catalysts any more.

What's amazing is the talent we have in the forwards coming out of the Academy and the lack of similar talent in the back line. We can point to a couple of players like EOM or McKinley who we lost to injury, but what back 3 players have we produced in the last 2-3 years? Morris would be the pick of the bunch. Who else of note is there though?

sydthebeat

vienne86 wrote: »

I'm actually very worried about O'Brien. I wonder will we be seeing him on the pitch at all this season.

FYP :(:(:(:(:(:(

.ak

scott1974 wrote: »

You Could try the Brass Monkey in the Meatpacking District.
The owner is Irish.

Yeah cheers was going there anyway just wanted to keep you all in the loop with my travel itinerary.

molloyjh

.ak wrote: »

Yeah cheers was going there anyway just wanted to keep you all in the loop with my travel itinerary.

awec

.ak wrote: »

Yeah cheers was going there anyway just wanted to keep you all in the loop with my travel itinerary.

Mod - banned.

Hagz

molloyjh wrote: »

What's amazing is the talent we have in the forwards coming out of the Academy and the lack of similar talent in the back line. We can point to a couple of players like EOM or McKinley who we lost to injury, but what back 3 players have we produced in the last 2-3 years? Morris would be the pick of the bunch. Who else of note is there though?

I would have said Dave Kearney would be the pick of the punch. Conway's doing alright as well.

thomond2006

.ak wrote: »

Yeah cheers was going there anyway just wanted to keep you all in the loop with my travel itinerary.

You're becoming the Delon of the mod team. Shut up.

Buer

Dave Kearney? He's a year younger than Morris who never really delivered for Leinster at all (4 starts ever).

We were never going to produce many back 3 players in the past 3 or 4 years mainly because there was no place for them. Kearney, Nacewa, McFadden and Fitzgerald had the first choice spots absolutely nailed down. There was no room at the inn.

Then Dave Kearney broke through with guys like Fionn Carr (the only one I would rather didn't get as much game time) and Madigan getting appearances in the back 3. Andrew Conway came on the scene but was impatient. He'd be getting a lot of game time in his home province if he had stayed and must be wondering what may have been.

Tox56

Buer wrote: »

Dave Kearney? He's a year younger than Morris who never really delivered for Leinster at all (4 starts ever).

We were never going to produce many back 3 players in the past 3 or 4 years mainly because there was no place for them. Kearney, Nacewa, McFadden and Fitzgerald had the first choice spots absolutely nailed down. There was no room at the inn.

Then Dave Kearney broke through with guys like Fionn Carr (the only one I would rather didn't get as much game time) and Madigan getting appearances in the back 3. Andrew Conway came on the scene but was impatient. He'd be getting a lot of game time in his home province if he had stayed and must be wondering what may have been.

Well in fairness Conway has just got an Ireland call up after starting H Cup games for Munster

vienne86

sydthebeat wrote: »

FYP :(:(:(:(:(:(

Well, that's what I was thinking really, but don't want to say it.....yet.

ssaye2

http://thescore.thejournal.ie/ireland-injuries-darcy-kearney-ross-1751728-Oct2014/



Leinster wing Darragh Fanning and Munster wide man Andrew Conway have been added to the squad on a temporary basis this week as cover, although both players will return to their provinces tomorrow.

Leinster duo Rob Kearney [back spasms] and Mike Ross [groin] continue to rehab their injuries, and the hope is that they will be available to train fully next week.


Centre Gordon D’Arcy came off with a groin injury during Leinster’s win over Castres on Sunday, and the IRFU state that he “has been assessed and will be managed over the coming days.”


Finally, Leinster looseheadJack McGrath took part in the training session at Carton House earlier today and has shown no ill effects around a previously troublesome calf muscle.

molloyjh

Buer wrote: »

Dave Kearney? He's a year younger than Morris who never really delivered for Leinster at all (4 starts ever).

We were never going to produce many back 3 players in the past 3 or 4 years mainly because there was no place for them. Kearney, Nacewa, McFadden and Fitzgerald had the first choice spots absolutely nailed down. There was no room at the inn.

Then Dave Kearney broke through with guys like Fionn Carr (the only one I would rather didn't get as much game time) and Madigan getting appearances in the back 3. Andrew Conway came on the scene but was impatient. He'd be getting a lot of game time in his home province if he had stayed and must be wondering what may have been.

There's hardly been a load of back row spots up for grabs the last few years though either and we've been churning those out to beat the band. In the last 2-3 years the only back three players we've really produced have been Dave Kearney, Morris, Conway, Hudson and now SCM. Of those how many are HEC level really? Compare that to our front row and back row.

sydthebeat

Tox56 wrote: »

Well in fairness Conway has just got an Ireland call up after starting H Cup games for Munster

not really sure what the point is here, Fanning also got a call up and its very arguable that if conway was still at leinster he would be in fannings spot.....

Tox56

sydthebeat wrote: »

not really sure what the point is here, Fanning also got a call up and its very arguable that if conway was still at leinster he would be in fannings spot.....

Well yeah exactly, I don't think his situation would be much different at all if he'd stayed

Eat My Point

I don't think the number of players you produce for each position is directly related to the quality of your academy or the number of first team opportunities going in each position...surely a lot of it is still down to what talented youngsters and what body types are around?

Buer

Tox56 wrote: »

Well in fairness Conway has just got an Ireland call up after starting H Cup games for Munster

And that's great for the guy (but it's exceptional circumstances and he's only really providing a body for training). But that must have seemed a long way off even a couple of months ago. He was very sparsely used last season (not a single appearance in Europe and 9 starts in the Pro12).

With how much game time he was getting before he departed and our subsequent injuries, I think he would have expected at least 9 starts last season if he had stayed and potentially a lot more.

Fireball07

Dave Kearney is a good player, very solid pro, and did well for Ireland- won a 6N, you can't really complain about that.

But he's just not on the level of some of the backs Leinster were producing before- obviously that's a very very high standard- I mean compared to his brother or Luke Fitz, who are/were potentially world class.


Conway was a big prospect when he was at U-20 level, very exciting player, same with Macken... neither have really delivered to their full potential yet.

Noel Reid is making his breakthrough now, some people had written him off a bit, but he's come along nicely in the past 12 months.

Luke McGrath is possibly the current big hope, before players like Brewer, Dardis, etc. are accepted into the academy.

Neil3030

If John Giles knew what rugby was, he'd love Darragh Fanning.

"Honesty of effort, Bill"

Buer

molloyjh wrote: »

There's hardly been a load of back row spots up for grabs the last few years though either and we've been churning those out to beat the band. In the last 2-3 years the only back three players we've really produced have been Dave Kearney, Morris, Conway, Hudson and now SCM. Of those how many are HEC level really? Compare that to our front row and back row.

I don't think you can compare the back row to the back three. You will always experience multiple knocks and injuries in the back row. It's possibly the most injury afflicted area of any team where players need to be rotated and rested.

We've produced two back row players really in that time that are up to standard: Murphy and Ruddock (we've lots of potential stars but they can't be considered successes by any stretch). Ryan went 3 years between HEC appearances and is only there now because three opensides are injured.

With RK, Fitz, Nacewa, Kirchner and McFadden it was near impossible for players to make the team. Due to injury and the departure of Nacewa, we've managed to bring one of those guys through to become a starter for Ireland in DK. Conway was starting in the HEC and Amlin Cup final for us also. He left and we went back to square one in identifying the back up winger to the stars.

I really don't think the back three is a concern for us. We've gone through a completely bizarre injury crisis with Fitz, McFadden, Rob Kearney and Dave Kearney all injured simultaneously and we've come through it pretty well.

Eat My Point

Have to agree that the back three situation isn't that bad for Leinster. I've heard a lot of Leinster fans complaining about Morris and Conway being allowed to leave and now having to play Fanning and Mcgrath but hindsight is a great thing. Should Leinster have dropped players like Nacewa and Fitzgerald when they were fit and available for players like Conway thus weakening the team in the short term to help them prepare for a time in the future when they would have an unimaginably long list of injured/departed back 3 players?

19543261

Fireball07 wrote: »

Dave Kearney is a big arse

I'll buy you a pint if you pretend to like Dave for the next three years.

.ak

I'm very worried about Darce's injury now. He's the key to leinster and Ireland's success right now.

Eat My Point

Absolutely, I'd like to see him play at 12 with Henshaw at 13 and at 13 with Olding at 12, with the longterm plan being Olding and Henshaw. They could both learn so much from playing with him. Hopefully it's not too serious

former legend

I never want to see D'Arcy play 13 for Ireland. No no no.

Fireball07

19543261 wrote: »

I'll buy you a pint if you pretend to like Dave for the next three years.

I like Dave... I mean I don't know him personally, but he's a fine player. It's not an insult to say he's not world class or as good as Luke Fitz.

He's a great player to have in a team.

Sangre

former legend wrote: »

I never want to see D'Arcy play 13 for Ireland. No no no.

Well he did win 6N Player of the Tournament at 13 for Ireland....

former legend

Sangre wrote: »

Well he did win 6N Player of the Tournament at 13 for Ireland....

O'Driscoll was 13, they switched in and out for attacking plays but D'Arcy was the 12.

And that was ten years ago, he's our best 12, and it only delays finding a real 13. I can't think of any reason why it would be a good idea.

Clearlier

former legend wrote: »

O'Driscoll was 13, they switched in and out for attacking plays but D'Arcy was the 12.

And that was ten years ago, he's our best 12, and it only delays finding a real 13. I can't think of any reason why it would be a good idea.

I tend towards agreeing but the original post read as if there was a problem with D'Arcy playing 13 when I suspect that most of us think that he could do a pretty good job in either role.

the baby bull elephant

former legend wrote: »

I can't think of any reason why it would be a good idea.

The big one would probably be to play Olding at 12 with an experienced player.