Leinster Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread VI: End of the MOC [Revenge of the STH]

total former

But we play Zebre twice during the 6N window so that's not too bad.

awec

Only 1 clash where Leinster are at home on the Friday and Ulster are playing on the same night, which is good from my point of view.

molloyjh

We face Glasgow on the 23rd Oct when they will probably be back to full strength and us missing all our internationals. That seems to be the only "big" fixture, i.e. one between contenders, where one side will have their internationals and the other won't. That assumes Wales don't get out of their pool though.

Antibac

OSI wrote: »

Does anyone know what the release date for it is? Cheers!

Heroditas

molloyjh wrote: »

We face Glasgow on the 23rd Oct when they will probably be back to full strength and us missing all our internationals. That seems to be the only "big" fixture, i.e. one between contenders, where one side will have their internationals and the other won't. That assumes Wales don't get out of their pool though.

Unless Scotland play like absolute cripples, they'll be in the q/f so it could be possible that they would not have all their internationals back and fully integrated the following weekend

total former

Heroditas wrote: »

Unless Scotland play like absolute cripples, they'll be in the q/f so it could be possible that they would not have all their internationals back and fully integrated the following weekend

I think it's very possible that Samoa will beat Scotland.

awec

Heroditas wrote: »

Unless Scotland play like absolute cripples, they'll be in the q/f so it could be possible that they would not have all their internationals back and fully integrated the following weekend

This is Scotland we are talking about...

vienne86

awec wrote: »

http://www.leinsterrugby.ie/news/13708.php#.Vaj6255VhBc

The new Season Ticket holder gift pack contains:
Leinster scarf
Leinster flag
Shopper bag
Hand warmer
'My Stuff' bag
Gloss laminated memorabilia box


The My Stuff bag looks great! Need one of those. Hand warmer too!

Gloss laminated memorabilia box though is just a fancy way of saying "branded shoebox".

No beanie!

CatFromHue

I know it's probably only a typo but on both the Pro12 and Leinster site they've the home game against Munster in the RDS.

That's be great if true

Heroditas

awec wrote: »

This is Scotland we are talking about...

Higher probability they'll win than lose though

Larbre34

vienne86 wrote: »

No beanie!

How many do you need?

Jersey nice, but its a legit question, how hard would it be to incorporate a bit of gold trim on the collar so we dont look like bloody Chelsea?

It better be navy shorts too.

sydthebeat

Larbre34 wrote: »

How many do you need?

Jersey nice, but its a legit question, how hard would it be to incorporate a bit of gold trim on the collar so we dont look like bloody Chelsea?

It better be navy shorts too.

Nah for the gold trim, the Jersey looks great from what i can make out so far. ..
No point guilding the lily

vienne86

CatFromHue wrote: »

I know it's probably only a typo but on both the Pro12 and Leinster site they've the home game against Munster in the RDS.

That's be great if true

Probably typo, unless they're thinking of having two European games in the Aviva.

bunnyarmstrong

OSI wrote: »

Is it just the creases in the jersey, or are the stars a little inconsistent?

Heroditas

They usually have it down initially as the RDS, don't they? Then it is changed as being listed in the Aviva a while afterwards.

molloyjh

Heroditas wrote: »

They usually have it down initially as the RDS, don't they? Then it is changed as being listed in the Aviva a while afterwards.

Yep, this.

molloyjh

Heroditas wrote: »

Unless Scotland play like absolute cripples, they'll be in the q/f so it could be possible that they would not have all their internationals back and fully integrated the following weekend

I reckon Samoa will make it out of that group instead of Scotland. I will be cheering on the Scots though!

Interested Observer

This may have been talked about but I see the papers are talking about Cullen being in charge for the season.

Wouldn't have been my first choice but guess there's nothing for it but to get behind it now. But yeah a rookie coach taking charge of a team full of guys he played with, not great on paper, but the proof will be in the results and performances.

vienne86

Interested Observer wrote: »

This may have been talked about but I see the papers are talking about Cullen being in charge for the season.

Wouldn't have been my first choice but guess there's nothing for it but to get behind it now. But yeah a rookie coach taking charge of a team full of guys he played with, not great on paper, but the proof will be in the results and performances.

You're right. I don't like this either, but we just have to get behind our team anyway. The timing of MOC's departure was always going to make it difficult to recruit a new coach. I'm still glad he has left though.

Interested Observer

vienne86 wrote: »

You're right. I don't like this either, but we just have to get behind our team anyway. The timing of MOC's departure was always going to make it difficult to recruit a new coach. I'm still glad he has left though.

Oh me too, he absolutely had to go.

Larbre34

Its an odd place to find ourselves and one that nobody would have conceived of the day Joe Schmidt moved on up, but the prospect of a Leinster bred brains trust of coaches and senior players running things is interesting and quite exciting.

.ak

I'll be glad MOC left ONLY if Cullen does a better job than MOC did last year. Otherwise it's just a mess that could've been dealt with better by the branch.

molloyjh

.ak wrote: »

I'll be glad MOC left ONLY if Cullen does a better job than MOC did last year. Otherwise it's just a mess that could've been dealt with better by the branch.

Ah that's madness in fairness. You have to factor in the RWC if you really want to compare. And that inevitably means a very, very tough season regardless of the coach. The whole thing is a bit of a mess but in a year when we have to rely on the kids we'll have at least 1 coach who they know, are comfortable with and has a history of empowering them to great effect. That's something we wouldn't have had under MOC.

At the end of the day we're going into this season knowing it will be a lean one, and have known that since before we learned of MOC fate. You just can't ignore that now.

What I'd suggest is that we all start looking forward rather than looking back. Hopefully our young lads can show enough to help attract a quality coach for 16/17.

total former

molloyjh wrote: »

Ah that's madness in fairness. You have to factor in the RWC if you really want to compare. And that inevitably means a very, very tough season regardless of the coach. The whole thing is a bit of a mess but in a year when we have to rely on the kids we'll have at least 1 coach who they know, are comfortable with and has a history of empowering them to great effect. That's something we wouldn't have had under MOC.

At the end of the day we're going into this season knowing it will be a lean one, and have known that since before we learned of MOC fate. You just can't ignore that now.

What I'd suggest is that we all start looking forward rather than looking back. Hopefully our young lads can show enough to help attract a quality coach for 16/17.

The RWC will account for the first 5-6 rounds of the Pro12. That still leaves plenty of time in which to judge the success or otherwise of the season.

clsmooth

total former wrote: »

The RWC will account for the first 5-6 rounds of the Pro12. That still leaves plenty of time in which to judge the success or otherwise of the season.

Can imagine the internationals will be strongly protected by the player welfare system this year. They won't be playing much more than the Heiniken Cup games. At Leinster that's going to be about 15 players or so.

molloyjh

total former wrote: »

The RWC will account for the first 5-6 rounds of the Pro12. That still leaves plenty of time in which to judge the success or otherwise of the season.

The RWC will account for 6-7 weeks directly (as opposed to the 4 the AIs would account for), plus pre-season and the additional enforced rest during the season. That's probably around an additional 6 weeks or so compared to last season. Not to mention that players won't be around to go back to Leinster for game time like the AIs and Johnny will be coming in directly from Ireland camp (if he doesn't get injured) with no real experience with the side he'll be playing with. We can still gauge success but to do so compared directly against last season (which is what ak suggested) is crazy.

irishbucsfan

I'm sure we're going to see tonnes of comparisons between this season and last regardless of the credibility of those comparisons. Most people really won't care for the "excuses" (or reality as some others might call it).

.ak

Meh, using the rwc as an excuse before the season starts doesn't sit well with me. We have a very good squad and great depth. No one was happy when moc used the player welfare excuse last year. Let's not forget how we did last rwc.

total former

molloyjh wrote: »

The RWC will account for 6-7 weeks directly (as opposed to the 4 the AIs would account for), plus pre-season and the additional enforced rest during the season. That's probably around an additional 6 weeks or so compared to last season. Not to mention that players won't be around to go back to Leinster for game time like the AIs and Johnny will be coming in directly from Ireland camp (if he doesn't get injured) with no real experience with the side he'll be playing with. We can still gauge success but to do so compared directly against last season (which is what ak suggested) is crazy.

What .ak said was that he'll be happy if Leo does a better job than MOC did last season, which isn't quite the same. But if Leo's biggest challenge is losing key players for significant chunks of the season, then it is directly comparable. There will be more international commitments but (hopefully) Leo won't have the injury plague that MOC did. The squad is also stronger on paper this season than last.

I think there are a lot of reasons why this season might not be a roaring success but the RWC can't be used to excuse everything and anything.

molloyjh

.ak wrote: »

Meh, using the rwc as an excuse before the season starts doesn't sit well with me. We have a very good squad and great depth. No one was happy when moc used the player welfare excuse last year. Let's not forget how we did last rwc.

Ah come on ak, it is not that simple and you know it. People didn't like him using the players welfare excuse in a standard regular season when it was plain for all to see that the issues lay elsewhere. It's not like we were world beaters when we had full strength sides out. And last RWC we weren't missing as many players as we will be this season. Many of us have been saying for months now that this season is going to be a tough one, regardless of who our head coach is.