Leinster Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread X: [****]

stephen_n

Former Former wrote: »

I think we've reached the point where Fardy should be the odd man out in the Kolpak decisions.

He definitely seems off the boil so far this season, maybe age catching up or possibly he takes a while to get going.

salmocab

Former Former wrote: »

I think we've reached the point where Fardy should be the odd man out in the Kolpak decisions.

Yeah JGP is playing great stuff I think although the problem with leaving Fardy out is the sub 2nd row is a good drop off the level of Fardy, Ryan & Toner. Although the same argument can probably be made at 9 but at least the other 9s are likely to improve with game time.

Buer

Terrible game to watch but job done. The conditions made it impossible to play much rugby. Felt JGP, Kearney and Tracy were very good when on the field and would echo the sentiment that JGP cannot be left out of the 23 now. And, to upset some, he should be starting right now ahead of McGrath. His form over 2 months now has been brilliant.

Felt Ross Byrne was very unspectacular yet efficient. Tormented them with kicks and defended well. Even cleared out a couple of times very well. Tomane will benefit from tonight too. Nice to see him on the scoresheet.

I thought our line out and maul were a thing of beauty given the weather. Clearly been something we've looked at after recent weeks. The transition to the maul and organisation of the drives were excellent.

Shefwedfan

Buer wrote: »

Terrible game to watch but job done. The conditions made it impossible to play much rugby. Felt JGP, Kearney and Tracy were very good when on the field and would echo the sentiment that JGP cannot be left out of the 23 now. And, to upset some, he should be starting right now ahead of McGrath. His form over 2 months now has been brilliant.

Felt Ross Byrne was very unspectacular yet efficient. Tormented them with kicks and defended well. Even cleared out a couple of times very well. Tomane will benefit from tonight too. Nice to see him on the scoresheet.

I thought our line out and maul were a thing of beauty given the weather. Clearly been something we've looked at after recent weeks. The transition to the maul and organisation of the drives were excellent.

JGP has benefitted from playing with Sexton, I could go back and find the posts but I have been saying for a while now he will come good and once he got anytime with Sexton he would come on leaps and bounds....


He never really got a chance before because the automatic choice was McGrath with Sexton. It would be interesting to see how many times he played with Sexton the last few years.



I think the Scarlets game last year showed the Leinster management that he could be an option for them going forward. Ok he had at least one brain fart in that game but apart from that had a great game....he has improved every game since...

You could say bolter for WC but Joe will not change the squad so close to tournament....unless the AI's are a disaster at 9

Buer

On a side note, I thought our discipline for spells was absolutely woeful. Completely unforced penalties right under the referee's nose. Deegan neck rolling someone and Leavy/SOB flying off their feet onto the wrong side stand out in memory. Engaging jumpers in the line out whether trying to sack the maul before formed or interfering with the jumper also clear recollections.

I'm not surprised to see Deegan, Leavy and Ryan combined for 8 penalties. Deegan didn't really do himself any favours I felt.

Burkie1203

Buer wrote: »

On a side note, I thought our discipline for spells was absolutely woeful. Completely unforced penalties right under the referee's nose. Deegan neck rolling someone and Leavy/SOB flying off their feet onto the wrong side stand out in memory. Engaging jumpers in the line out whether trying to sack the maul before formed or interfering with the jumper also clear recollections.

I'm not surprised to see Deegan, Leavy and Ryan combined for 8 penalties. Deegan didn't really do himself any favours I felt.

Deegan gave away 3 terrible penalties in quick succession too. Leavy and Ryan joining ducks from the Benetton side was just dumb

Heymans

Burkie1203 wrote: »

Deegan gave away 3 terrible penalties in quick succession too. Leavy and Ryan joining ducks from the Benetton side was just dumb

He doesn’t get involved in any rucks or clearouts either. Most of the game he was presenting himself for carries but failed to make it to most breakdowns and clear out. Not what you want to see from your 8.

molloyjh

Buer wrote: »

On a side note, I thought our discipline for spells was absolutely woeful. Completely unforced penalties right under the referee's nose. Deegan neck rolling someone and Leavy/SOB flying off their feet onto the wrong side stand out in memory. Engaging jumpers in the line out whether trying to sack the maul before formed or interfering with the jumper also clear recollections.

I'm not surprised to see Deegan, Leavy and Ryan combined for 8 penalties. Deegan didn't really do himself any favours I felt.

Yeah, there was a period in the middle of the first half in particular where it was dumb penalty after dumb penalty. It was very frustrating to watch. We were lucky that Benettons line out wasn’t working at all. We could have found ourselves in a trickier position coming into half time otherwise.

Buer

So we'll now move on to the southern hemisphere with the Irish contingent unavailable which accounts for 19 players. The Kings aren't anything special but they are significantly improved on last season; they beat Glasgow at home and took 2 bonus points from Scarlets this weekend at home. Both sides would have had relatively decent line ups available to them too so I'm in two minds in terms of what to expect this weekend.

I don't know what sort of backs (not including halfbacks) or back row we'll be able to field at this point. We're missing about a dozen players from those areas. We'll have no openside at all. We're going to be missing a rake of wingers and centres too with injuries playing a part too given McFadden and Daly are injured. We might have to omit JGP or Fardy as we can't field much of a back line without Lowe.

Burkie1203

Buer wrote: »

So we'll now move on to the southern hemisphere with the Irish contingent unavailable which accounts for 19 players. The Kings aren't anything special but they are significantly improved on last season; they beat Glasgow at home and took 2 bonus points from Scarlets this weekend at home. Both sides would have had relatively decent line ups available to them too so I'm in two minds in terms of what to expect this weekend.

I don't know what sort of backs (not including halfbacks) or back row we'll be able to field at this point. We're missing about a dozen players from those areas. We'll have no openside at all. We're going to be missing a rake of wingers and centres too with injuries playing a part too given McFadden and Daly are injured. We might have to omit JGP or Fardy as we can't field much of a back line without Lowe.

Dooley, Tracy, Bent, Molony, Kearney, Fardy, Murphy, Doris

McCarthy, Reid, Lowe, Tomane, ROL, Byrne, D Kearney

Bench. Byrne, Byrne, Vakh, Nagle, Deegan, O'Sullivan, Frawley, O'Brien,

Like who else is there

Squidgy Black

Buer wrote: »

So we'll now move on to the southern hemisphere with the Irish contingent unavailable which accounts for 19 players. The Kings aren't anything special but they are significantly improved on last season; they beat Glasgow at home and took 2 bonus points from Scarlets this weekend at home. Both sides would have had relatively decent line ups available to them too so I'm in two minds in terms of what to expect this weekend.

I don't know what sort of backs (not including halfbacks) or back row we'll be able to field at this point. We're missing about a dozen players from those areas. We'll have no openside at all. We're going to be missing a rake of wingers and centres too with injuries playing a part too given McFadden and Daly are injured. We might have to omit JGP or Fardy as we can't field much of a back line without Lowe.

Backrow will be Deegan at 6, Murphy at 7 and Doris at 8 I'd imagine.

For the backs I'd say 9 JGP, 10 Frawley, 11 Tomane, 12 COB, 13 ROL, 14 Byrne, 15 DK.

Edit: forgot Leavy was in the Ireland squad.

LostArt

I'd probably leave out McCarthy tbh, though this would mean leaving out Fardy

Lowe, Byrne, O'Brien, O'Loughlin, Tomane, Reid, JGP,
Dooley, Tracy, Bent, Molony, Kearney, Doris, Murphy, Deegan

Byrne, Byrne, Abdaladze, Nagle, No idea maybe Penny?, O'Sullivan, Frawley, Kelly

Burkie1203

LostArt wrote: »

I'd probably leave out McCarthy tbh, though this would mean leaving out Fardy

Lowe, Byrne, O'Brien, O'Loughlin, Tomane, Reid, JGP,
Dooley, Tracy, Bent, Molony, Kearney, Doris, Murphy, Deegan

Byrne, Byrne, Abdaladze, Nagle, No idea maybe Penny?, O'Sullivan, Frawley, Kelly

Would one of Leavy SOB or VDF be released for this weekend. Only thing I can think of

LostArt

Burkie1203 wrote: »

Would one of Leavy SOB or VDF be released for this weekend. Only thing I can think of

I just can't see it happening, if it was a home game maybe but not for a trip to SA

stephen_n

Leavy needs gametime, so if he’s not involved in Chicago they might release him. Though as LA said maybe not because it’s in SA. I think after that Deegan might be the best of the rest as a 7, real pity Will connors is injured.

Squidgy Black

Arnold is travelling to SA with the Munster squad, possibility we could get a player or two back but I doubt it considering he's very much on the outer fringe and probably looking at only getting a cap for the USA game if even.

Richie_Rich89

People want to see Josh Murphy, a 6'5'' blindside/lock, at openside?

This isn't Munster we're talking about. It'll be Penny at 7 if Leavy isn't released back.

I'd like to see:

1. Edward Byrne
2. Bryan Byrne
3. Michael Bent
4. Ross Molony
5. Scott Fardy
6. Josh Murphy
7. Scott Penny
8. Max Deegan
9. Jamison Gibson-Park
10. Noel Reid
11. Joe Tomane
12. Conor O'Brien
13. Rory O'Loughlin
14. Adam Byrne
15. Ciarán Frawley

16. James Tracy
17. Peter Dooley
18. Vakhtang Abdaladze
19. Mick Kearney
20. Caelan Doris
21. Hugh O'Sullivan
22. Jimmy O'Brien
23. Jack Kelly

Clegg

Strange performance from Leinster at the weekend. We weren't fully switched on for large portions of the game and gave away some very sloppy penalties. But when Benneton threatened the try line we switched on and didn't give them a sniff. We hammered them without ever getting out of second gear.

Thought Henshaw had another strong game. Been one of our best players this season.

clsmooth

Any ideas where to get tickets for the Bath game in The Rec? Had a look on their site where I got tickets when we played them about 6 years ago, but tickets were only for premium members a few weeks ago and now seem all gone

Buer

Squidgy Black wrote: »

Arnold is travelling to SA with the Munster squad, possibility we could get a player or two back but I doubt it considering he's very much on the outer fringe and probably looking at only getting a cap for the USA game if even.

I suspect that Arnold was only brought in for exposure and experience at this point. There may be the aim of involving him against the USA in a month but no point in him sitting around, kicking his heels. He hasn't played a huge amount of rugby this season either so there's no sense in him staying behind.

Leavy is the only Leinster player I could potentially see in the same bracket. He only has 2 starts to his name this season and Leinster are woefully short in the backrow for this game. I don't see him being involved with Ireland for the NZ/Argentina games unless there's an injury and, if he's called upon, he's going to need game time before then.

I've actually convinced myself he's going to SA.

Buer

Clegg wrote: »

Strange performance from Leinster at the weekend. We weren't fully switched on for large portions of the game and gave away some very sloppy penalties. But when Benneton threatened the try line we switched on and didn't give them a sniff. We hammered them without ever getting out of second gear.

I thought their performance reflected their team selection. They didn't give themselves a chance of winning the match with that team. They played the conditions terribly and we simply gave them enough rope to hang themselves. Their handling and set piece was very poor. A better selection would have punished us and we were fortunate not to concede tries on a couple of occasions in the first half due to sloppy play.

Overall, I thought we were far from good to be honest aside from a few notable showings. Some of our test quality players like SOB, Ryan and Fardy were not really at the races at all. With that said, I thought Ryan and Fardy contributed very well at the set piece.

stephen_n

clsmooth wrote: »

Any ideas where to get tickets for the Bath game in The Rec? Had a look on their site where I got tickets when we played them about 6 years ago, but tickets were only for premium members a few weeks ago and now seem all gone

Their site says the general public tickets will be released on November 13th

clsmooth

stephen_n wrote: »

Their site says the general public tickets will be released on November 13th

Nice one! Not sure how I missed that

stephen_n

clsmooth wrote: »

Nice one! Not sure how I missed that

You had me worried for a minute there!

thomond2006

It's a potential trap game for a weakened Leinster lineup against the Kings. They play some fantastic rugby. As good as Lowe is playing I wonder if Leinster would opt for Fardy and JGP. There's no reason to play McCarthy at 9 given he's gone in the summer and Fardy would be useful given the Leinster back five is decimated with call ups.

Former Former

thomond2006 wrote: »

It's a potential trap game for a weakened Leinster lineup against the Kings. They play some fantastic rugby. As good as Lowe is playing I wonder if Leinster would opt for Fardy and JGP. There's no reason to play McCarthy at 9 given he's gone in the summer and Fardy would be useful given the Leinster back five is decimated with call ups.

I don't think it's a potential trap at all, Kings will be favourites.

By my count, we'll be missing 24 players from the senior squad, assuming no one is released from Carton House. I don't think any team can absorb those sort of numbers and still hope to win, even against the Kings.

molloyjh

I expect a loss this weekend. Kings have been going well and we’ll be severely depleted. Reid will be starting at 10 for example. Our pack will be missing Healy, McGrath, Cronin, Furlong, Porter, Toner, Ryan, Ruddock, VDF, Conan & SOB (probably). We should have Leavy, but even he isn’t a certainty. It’s hard to pick which of our 3 foreign players will miss out given the level of absentees we have. We don’t have much of a back 3 at the moment with injuries too so Lowe might be a necessity. Our 23 will probably be something like:

Dooley Tracy Bent
Molony Kearney
Deegan Doris Leavy

JGP Reid
Daly ROL
Tomane Lowe Byrne

Byrne, Byrne, Abdaladze, Nagle, Murphy, O’Sullivan, Frawley, COB

molloyjh

Who are the 24 FF? By my count we'll be missing:

Healy, McGrath, Cronin, Furlong, Porter, Toner, Ryan, Ruddock, VDF, SOB, Conan, Connors, Luke McGrath, Sexton, Byrne, Henshaw, Ringrose, Larmour, Rob Kearney, Dave Kearney, McFadden, Barry Daly

That's 22. Who am I missing? Obviously we'll be missing 1 of the 3 foreign players too, bringing it up to 23.

Either way that's an insane number of absentees for any team to have to absorb. That we can put out the side we can given that is impressive. But it won't be enough IMO.

irishbucsfan

Get it ****ing right next time FF!

Former Former

molloyjh wrote: »

Who are the 24 FF? By my count we'll be missing:

Healy, McGrath, Cronin, Furlong, Porter, Toner, Ryan, Ruddock, VDF, SOB, Conan, Connors, Luke McGrath, Sexton, Byrne, Henshaw, Ringrose, Larmour, Rob Kearney, Dave Kearney, McFadden, Barry Daly

That's 22. Who am I missing? Obviously we'll be missing 1 of the 3 foreign players too, bringing it up to 23.

Either way that's an insane number of absentees for any team to have to absorb. That we can put out the side we can given that is impressive. But it won't be enough IMO.

I don't know if you've intentionally omitted Leavy from your list, but he brings it up to 24 if not released. As you say, he may well be allowed to travel, he definitely stands out a bit from the other players who didn't go to Chicago so that would be something.

We can still field a reasonable team but it's basically a Leinster 'A' lineup.