Leinster Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread V

Fairly strong lineup considering the injuries and the internationals, on paper should win well but who knows. Fitz at 13 is exciting, hopefully he can do some damage. And Luke McGrath starting again, I wonder if he'll be making a move past Boss, I know his passing isn't great but he needs games to improve.

armchaircoach

S12b wrote: »

There were pictures of the Ireland team arriving at the Shelbourne last night and McFadden was with them.....not in Leinster 23 today.....24th man for Ireland??? It would be a strange one but it makes sense!!

If that's true, it would probably imply that Joe sees him as firmly in the match day 23. Which would mean that when Trimble returns 2 of the 3 of D'Arcy Zebo Jones could fall out of the 23 entirely. Which I'm sure would cause boards servers to melt.

Anyway back to the leinster squad. That back row with Dom to come on in the second half should be more than a match for the Italians.

Clearlier

.ak wrote: »

Yeah, don't get me wrong I think on his day he's a fantastic 13, but there's a lot more to do at 13 and he'll be pushing himself hard there. A 13 actually is moving a lot more than the wings, due to the fact he has to move around to get on the outside channel if the blindside switches, between himself and the 15 they probably cover the most ground without the ball in a game. He'd be better off on the wing, let Macken or McFadden play 13 and then our secret weapon could be on the bench.

I think that we agree except perhaps that I think his ceiling is higher at 13 than on the wing but the chances of him having an extended injury free run are sadly pretty small so I wouldn't be counting on him.

ssaye2

Good to play Treviso to get back on track with combinations and match fitness.

That team and bench has 4 tries in it and the scrum and lineout should set us up to go clear by 60 minutes.


Looking forward to the weekend hugely now.

Nervous about the Aussie game but in a good way.

The season needs to really start now for Leinster. Huge part of the season coming up.

Treviso Away
Ospreys Home
Quins Away
Quins Home
Connacht Home
Munster Away
Ulster Home

stephen_n

.ak wrote: »

Yeah, don't get me wrong I think on his day he's a fantastic 13, but there's a lot more to do at 13 and he'll be pushing himself hard there. A 13 actually is moving a lot more than the wings, due to the fact he has to move around to get on the outside channel if the blindside switches, between himself and the 15 they probably cover the most ground without the ball in a game. He'd be better off on the wing, let Macken or McFadden play 13 and then our secret weapon could be on the bench.

At this stage I would be very surprised to see Macken start a game for Leinster again. Don't really agree with Luke being pushed in at 13 but obviously the medical team and Luke himself, feel he's up to it. With T'eo out I suppose they really have to consider the options available with the run of games coming up.

molloyjh

I considered the possibility of Luke at 13 yesterday. With Kearney and/or McFadden returning plus Fannings form it was always going to be tough to figure out who missed out. Unless you take Macken out of the equation. MOC doesn't rate him at all obviously (can we blame him?) and he needs to move on at this stage. He won't go anywhere here.

molloyjh

As for the squad I'm pretty happy overall. Interesting to see Murphy getting moved to 7 and Conan retaining the 8 shirt. I wonder why Jenno isn't there at all?

This is a real opportunity for Luke McGrath too. I really hope he steps up.

How many people are familiar with any more that 3 names in that Treviso starting XV? Or any more than 5 in the whole 23? This should be a foregone conclusion and while we may not get it we should be pushing for the TBP.

Larbre34

Forecast calls for a mild, calm and sunny day on Sunday in the Veneto region.

BP win, please and thanks.

former legend

molloyjh wrote: »

How many people are familiar with any more that 3 names in that Treviso starting XV? Or any more than 5 in the whole 23? This should be a foregone conclusion and while we may not get it we should be pushing for the TBP.

Pratichetti and Nitoglia have a few Italy caps, van Zyl has been around for a while and after that I haven't a rashers.

The fact that the new-look Treviso haven't won a game and have only managed one LBP so far probably tells us the rest of the lads aren't up to much.

Edit: no, it's the Pratichetti who's playing for Zebre that has the Italy caps.

durkadurka

Does that croket bloke know anything about them or is he exclusively Georgia?

vienne86

Treviso are at the bottom of the table, with no wins and one miseralbe point. If we have any difficulty there on Sunday, it will be shocking. Surely to goodness we can get a BP win.

former legend

ssaye2 wrote: »

Good to play Treviso to get back on track with combinations and match fitness.

The season needs to really start now for Leinster. Huge part of the season coming up.

Treviso Away
Ospreys Home
Quins Away
Quins Home
Connacht Home
Munster Away
Ulster Home

This is a good weekend to have Treviso, a winnable game even without our international contingent, but next weekend is an even better time to play the Ospreys; Wales play South Africa and won't have their foreign-based players so will be more reliant than usual on the Welsh clubs.

If Ospreys are without Webb, Biggar, AW Jones, Tipuric, King, Walker, Baldwin, etc, then we could make hay.

Probably anyone who starts for Ireland tomorrow won't be available to us next weekend, but we should still have Cronin, Reddan, McCarthy, Madigan, Jennings and McFadden to add to the 23 from this weekend and that should be more than good enough to win.

If Ulster can do the rest of the league a favour and beat them tonight, our season could get a great boost very quickly. If we can keep everyone fit and go into the Quins games on a high, then things could be very rosy.

Buer

I would say that, for next week, we'll be able to start anyone that is on the bench tomorrow (Cronin, Reddan and Madigan) as well as potentially having some others on the bench such as Ross and Toner.

durkadurka

So apparently Madigan cogs by writing plays on his armband...

http://balls.ie/rugby/159528-ian-madigan-has-been-taking-some-inspiration-from-the-nfl/

CatFromHue

durkadurka wrote: »

So apparently Madigan cogs by writing plays on his armband...

http://balls.ie/rugby/159528-ian-madigan-has-been-taking-some-inspiration-from-the-nfl/

That's a pretty good pic they have of him

.ak

I doubt they're plays. If your out half doesn't know your plays off by heart there's something seriously wrong.

durkadurka

.ak wrote: »

I doubt they're plays. If your out half doesn't know your plays off by heart there's something seriously wrong.

Man of the match speech notes?

CatFromHue

I think as part of the mental prep players do they might have a journal or notebook where they write down goals/strengths/enjoyment factors etc to help focus the mind and increase confidence. Madigan could just write them on his wrist as opposed to a journal........or he could also write down the seat numbers of the hot girls in the crowd!!

vienne86

So back to blue today. Is the match at 2.30 local time or our time?

Bonus point win needed after Friday night.

molloyjh

vienne86 wrote: »

So back to blue today. Is the match at 2.30 local time or our time?

Bonus point win needed after Friday night.

Our time. Will take 4 points but yeah we need to be targeting 5.

vienne86

molloyjh wrote: »

Our time. Will take 4 points but yeah we need to be targeting 5.

Good team, we have sent out there, so I'm hopeful, even though they will be a bit rusty. Must check the forecast.

Pudsy33

The match is on sky right?

former legend

vienne86 wrote: »

Good team, we have sent out there, so I'm hopeful, even though they will be a bit rusty. Must check the forecast.

14 degrees and clear. Perfect!

LEIN

Pudsy33 wrote: »

The match is on sky right?

Yes, Sky Sports 2 @ 14:00

Swan Curry

LEIN wrote: »

Yes, Sky Sports 2 @ 14:00

Kickoff is 14:30

LEIN

Swan Curry wrote: »

Kickoff is 14:30

Yeah, I meant coverage starts at 14:00.

molloyjh

Match thread started. No pictures from Italy yet though so God knows if we'll even get to see it at this stage!

awec

Fitzgerald out injured...

Tox56

awec wrote: »

Fitzgerald out injured...

You literally cannot make this shít up

errlloyd

awec wrote: »

Fitzgerald out injured...

Ugh, I was looking forward to watching him so much. For **** sake

Pudsy33

I genuinely thought this was some kind of sick joke.

molloyjh

Tox56 wrote: »

You literally cannot make this shít up

You can't can you. This can't go on indefinitely. At some point Leinster are going to have to cut their losses.

Heroditas

molloyjh wrote: »

You can't can you. This can't go on indefinitely. At some point Leinster are going to have to cut their losses.

A crippled Luke would have been better than some of the deadbeats on show today

SaveOurLyric

It looks like he really, really, really was 'close, but a just a week away'.

SaveOurLyric

SaveOurLyric wrote: »

It looks like he really, really, really was 'close, but a just a week away'.

I worry there is something ominous about today's withdrawal.

Maybe it's just unlucky coincidence.

ssaye2

Fitzy to play Europe and some interpros/big games as is managed back over the next 12 months

aimee1

Anyone know wat Injury fitz has this time

aimee1

Anyone know wat Injury fitz has this time

Awkward Badger

aimee1 wrote: »

Anyone know wat Injury fitz has this time

Tightness in his groin after the warm up and withdrawn as a precautionary measure. I hope they are just being really cautious with him and once he's back playing he'll be fine.

vienne86

Awkward Badger wrote: »

Tightness in his groin after the warm up and withdrawn as a precautionary measure. I hope they are just being really cautious with him and once he's back playing he'll be fine.

Ach I justdon't know - it sounds like some sort of joke at this stage, but it's not funny.

aimee1

vienne86 wrote: »

Ach I justdon't know - it sounds like some sort of joke at this stage, but it's not funny.

It sounds like his body cannot cope with any sort of strain exerted on it. Sad to say but I think he is finished. Everytime he goes to play a game he pulls or strains something. Dont think leinster can afford to keep persisting with him.

Pudsy33

If the games over the past few weeks has shown us anything it's that Madigan must start at 10, next week against Ospreys and against Harlequinns. He's in great form and Gopperth was putrid today. I would like to see a Madigan Reid Darcy midfield.

CatFromHue

Today wasn't a good day for Gopperth all right.

Bridge93

CatFromHue wrote: »

Today wasn't a good day for Gopperth all right.

Maybe I'm just tired and was pissed off at the time but I remember thinking it was one of the worst performances I have seen in a long time. It seened nearly everything he did went to s**t.

vienne86

I only saw 20 minutes of the game, but I recorded it. Thinking I might now watch the whole thing later.

So this weekend, we performent worst of the provinces. We are three points adrift of top 4 spots and Connacht are just one point behind us. Right.

And we have Ospreys in the RDS this coming weekend.

Not good at all.

Sangre

Any update on Luke? Can't see anything in media.

chancer12

That sounds like a great combination ... doubt MOC will agree with you. It almost a case of the better Mads gets the more he wants us to see how 'his' flyhalf plays. Although Gopperth has been so putrid that he may be forced for this match to play Mads

.ak

vienne86 wrote: »

I only saw 20 minutes of the game, but I recorded it. Thinking I might now watch the whole thing later.

So this weekend, we performent worst of the provinces. We are three points adrift of top 4 spots and Connacht are just one point behind us. Right.

And we have Ospreys in the RDS this coming weekend.

Not good at all.

The silver lining is even if we got a win we'd still be in the same position.

former legend

chancer12 wrote: »

That sounds like a great combination ... doubt MOC will agree with you. It almost a case of the better Mads gets the more he wants us to see how 'his' flyhalf plays. Although Gopperth has been so putrid that he may be forced for this match to play Mads

Gopperth was woeful yesterday but he has been decent enough overall this season.

.ak

That's it. If MOC started reacting to a bad game like that he'd be coaching minis. Plus Madigan is probably gonna be on the player welfare scheme, he's play a load of minutes.