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

Dubinusa

Yea, I can't see Deegan, Conan and Doris all staying. There's just too much talent and not enough playing time to go around.
I personally think Deegan can be the best of the 3 and be an international player.
But it's not just at 8. Look at the academy lads up for a contract. JOB, COB,Keenan and Kelly.
Where do they play? I know RK will not be around too much longer, nor Ferg for that matter.
Who do they keep? Do they dump Reid and go with Tom Daly and COB? What about JOB? Will he be content behind ROL and Ringrose?
Then there's Gavin Mullin and Tommy O Brien who will be 3rd years next season.
It's mad to see this amount of talent.

Burkie1203

Brendan Fanning in the Sindo hinting that Lancaster will take the Bath job next season

Interested Observer

Burkie1203 wrote: »

Brendan Fanning in the Sindo hinting that Lancaster will take the Bath job next season

Pretty awful news if true, will be extremely hard to replace.

Buer

Burkie1203 wrote: »

Brendan Fanning in the Sindo hinting that Lancaster will take the Bath job next season

The Bath gig would definitely concern me more than rumours of other vacant jobs to date. Young team with some top talent coming through and excellent players if they can get fit. They have ambition and money. Bath need 2-3 players for their first choice team to be real contenders....and a top coach.

You'd have to assume Dempsey has had a firm hand in recommending Lancaster and possibly initial contact.

errlloyd

Penny made 18 tackles yesterday. Comfortably the most of a Leinster player. We might lose an 8 next year, I think we will certainly lose a 7. Sob, Leavy, vdf, connors, penny. Its too many.

Wegians89

errlloyd wrote: »

Penny made 18 tackles yesterday. Comfortably the most of a Leinster player. We might lose an 8 next year, I think we will certainly lose a 7. Sob, Leavy, vdf, connors, penny. Its too many.

Saw somewhere online that Munster were trying to get a 7 from Leinster and that vdfs contract is up in the summer. I don’t see the need for a 7 down there tbh and not sure what vdfs contract status is

Buer

Wegians89 wrote: »

Saw somewhere online that Munster were trying to get a 7 from Leinster and that vdfs contract is up in the summer. I don’t see the need for a 7 down there tbh and not sure what vdfs contract status is

TOD is close to being done at this point. Cloete is good but I don't see him as a top option. Oliver is very unproven.

I would imagine Munster would be all over VDF if his contract was coming to an end. He's a level above anything they have at openside.

irishbucsfan

It would be an incredible mistake by Leinster to let VDF go, can't see that happening.

Granny15

It was a funny old game. A lot of good performances from several young players. Ross Byrne and Frawley were a delight to see. Patterson looked the part when he slotted in at scrum half certainly think from the little I've seen of him has a better skillset than O'Sullivan. The 2 Byrne brothers were professionalism personified - very adept performances from both. Dorris was in the thick of the action and I think he might offer more in the tight than Deegan but Deegan offers more in the loose. It depends what you're looking for from an 8 really. Josh Murphy also in the thick of the action - good game from him.

Penny looks the part even at the age of 19 incredible - I think he will be the breakthrough player we see this season - he's already well on his way. Dave Kearney looked like he's returning to form - all his carries he broke a tackle and made yards as well as executing beautiful catches for his two cross field kick tries. Keenan put himself about a bit in the tackle although it remains to be seen if he can cover the backfield well enough to be considered for a contract. He looks a little small to me but then again that hasn't stopped guys like Larmour playing first team rugby.

The Dragons did not have their hearts in the game and seemed to be happy to cruise through the game without working for the hard yards and building a score. If our thirds can beat them by 50 points then they look almost pointless in the League.

Wegians89

Wegians89 wrote: »

Saw somewhere online that Munster were trying to get a 7 from Leinster and that vdfs contract is up in the summer. I don’t see the need for a 7 down there tbh and not sure what vdfs contract status is

Cloette has been bang average this season. JOD is a 6 and Tommy has very bad luck with injury.

I'd be very unhappy if we lost Vdf to Munster.

Buer

irishbucsfan wrote: »

It would be an incredible mistake by Leinster to let VDF go, can't see that happening.

I don't think they'd be letting anyone go. If and when someone goes, it will most likely be down to the promise of near guaranteed first choice rugby and the knock on impact on Irish selections.

I would expect Leinster to make a very strong offer to keep him.

Squidgy Black

irishbucsfan wrote: »

It would be an incredible mistake by Leinster to let VDF go, can't see that happening.

It's arguably the same situation as the Carbery ordeal, if not more bscklogged. We have 3 senior opensides in VdF, SOB and Leavy, Penny coming storming through, Max Kearney is sub-academy but he's a really highly rated player from schools so could be in the academy next year.

It'd be a huge loss, but it's a real problem we're going to have over the next couple years.

irishbucsfan

It's not at all the same as the Carberry situation and it's absolutely up to Leinster to keep VDF.

Squidgy Black

irishbucsfan wrote: »

It's not at all the same as the Carberry situation and it's absolutely up to Leinster to keep VDF.

We've 3 Irish internationals vying for the same position who will want to get regular game time. I'm not talking about the Joe or Nucifora side of things encouraging one to move, but it's similar in the way that we have a backlog of talent.

irishbucsfan

Squidgy Black wrote: »

We've 3 Irish internationals vying for the same position who will want to get regular game time. I'm not talking about the Joe or Nucifora side of things encouraging one to move, but it's similar in the way that we have a backlog of talent.

We don't have 3 Irish internationals vying for one position. It's nowhere near as straightforward as that. And VDF is unique.

It's not going to happen. Leinster are not that incompetent.

Squidgy Black

Squidgy Black wrote: »

We've 3 Irish internationals vying for the same position who will want to get regular game time. I'm not talking about the Joe or Nucifora side of things encouraging one to move, but it's similar in the way that we have a backlog of talent.

Carbery was getting game time, he just wasn't getting it at 10. He was stuck behind Sexton who was guaranteed 1st choice outhalf. At 15 - Kearney was guaranteed first choice and Larmour was coming through.

So the way things looked to Carbery before he left was to be a bench option for bigger games to come in at 10 or 15 but he wasn't reserve 10 and he probably wasn't reserve 15 - he was the bench versatile option with 2 sets of players ahead of him in each position. That's not a good situation.

VDF is in an entirely different situation. Firstly, he's viewed and treated as an openside and he only plays there. SOB can shift to 6 and 8 (and has done so this season to make way for VDF). VDF has had plenty of time at openside to make a case for international honours - which has seen him start in a win over the best team in the world.

It's a vastly less straight forward situation for VDF. He might get more game time at Munster, it could be a good move - but he's so far been rewarded handsomely whilst within the Leinster setup and I'm not sure he'll have the same motivations that Carbery had. I also don't think the IRFU will be putting him under anything like the same pressure.

connemara man

So what you're saying is Leavy should go to Munster

jacothelad

connemara man wrote: »

So what you're saying is Leavy should go to Munster

You've misspelt Ulster.......

MarinersBlues

[Deleted User] wrote: »

VDF has had plenty of time at openside to make a case for international honours - which has seen him start in a win over the best team in the world.

The first image I had when reading that was a VDF playing both for and against Ireland in a game.

He could actually do that.

sydthebeat

Sob is simply a luxury at this stage.
When he's fit and firing, brilliant, but I wouldn't be banking on that when deciding on who to retain. Seanies place in the leinster squad hasn't held either Leavy or VDF back so far and I can't see that changing much unfortunately.

Plus, a fit a firing SOB is another option at 8 which the other two aren't

crisco10

It would be bonkers for nucifora to send vdf south.

First of all, back row is incredibly attritional so requires a bit of depth. (Where leinster have already lost Nordi).

Sob is hardly ever fit and also will be 32 after world cup with a bad injury profile and lots of miles on the clock.

Arguably the real traffic jam is at a tier 2 level where there are multiple players struggling for time to prove themselves. And given vdf is away with Ireland, him leaving wouldn't clear that up much. We would still have situations like last night where doris /deegan are in a 2 into 1 situation.

connemara man

connemara man wrote: »

So what you're saying is Leavy should go to Munster

If Penny keeps going as he is, I think that's where the pressure will be applied by the IRFU. He's been playing against absolute dross the last two weeks, but he's looked the part and is extremely athletic and powerful for a young not particularly big bloke.

The conveyor is absolutely outrageous at the moment, helped along by these guys being incredibly well conditioned and prepared for pro rugby. S&C at the provinces is absolutely top drawer this season, seems to be something that's been worked on in the background. No surprise Ireland can hold their own against the All Blacks when for the first time we look as fit as them 1 - 23.

On a separate note, I watched chunks of the match back last night with the specific intention of seeing if Ross Byrne was as good as I thought he was. If Sexton played like that we'd have praised it as a typical top drawer performance from him. Byrne still lacks aggression and he's going to have to find a way to become more of a threat ball in hand - but he has a terrific handle on this group of forwards and is playing with a lot of confidence.

All in context though, Dragons never showed up. Sad to say but Jackman has lost that dressing room and is gone, WRU will have a few things on their plate so it might be a few weeks being formalised but I've zero doubt he's gone.

awec

Realistically one of Deegan or Doris is not going to have much of a career with Leinster.

Same with Akbaladze or whatever he is called at tight head.

Leinster's squad is getting too big, there has to be some cost element here as well. All these players won't be on peanuts development contracts or cheapo senior contracts for very long.

Clegg

It's Will Connors who'll probably need to move. Through no fault of his own he's now 4th choice openside.

PhlegmyMoses

VDF is the best 7 operating in Ireland imo. No way would I let him go anywhere.

Granny15

I reckon we could see Penny leave or another approach being made to Leavy from down south. Doris might move back to Connacht where he’s from.

Stout Warrior

Deleted User wrote: »

Carbery was getting game time, he just wasn't getting it at 10. He was stuck behind Sexton who was guaranteed 1st choice outhalf. At 15 - Kearney was guaranteed first choice and Larmour was coming through.

So the way things looked to Carbery before he left was to be a bench option for bigger games to come in at 10 or 15 but he wasn't reserve 10 and he probably wasn't reserve 15 - he was the bench versatile option with 2 sets of players ahead of him in each position. That's not a good situation.

VDF is in an entirely different situation. Firstly, he's viewed and treated as an openside and he only plays there. SOB can shift to 6 and 8 (and has done so this season to make way for VDF). VDF has had plenty of time at openside to make a case for international honours - which has seen him start in a win over the best team in the world.

It's a vastly less straight forward situation for VDF. He might get more game time at Munster, it could be a good move - but he's so far been rewarded handsomely whilst within the Leinster setup and I'm not sure he'll have the same motivations that Carbery had. I also don't think the IRFU will be putting him under anything like the same pressure.

Although he was on song last night I reckon Byrne needs to prove he can slot the big kicks in pressure games to really prove himself. His goal kicking has been inconsistent in some games unlike Sexton

Buer

Stout Warrior wrote: »

Although he was on song last night I reckon Byrne needs to prove he can slot the big kicks in pressure games to really prove himself. His goal kicking has been inconsistent in some games unlike Sexton

I think his kicking is definitely improving. He missed one straightforward one last night but slotted a few tricky conversions. Sexton was very patchy as a goal kicker until he was about 24. I recall him having a conversion charged down for the Wolfhounds.

If Byrne improves a bit more, I think his goal kicking will be fine. He needs some higher level games to test himself in though.

irishbucsfan

Stout Warrior wrote: »

Although he was on song last night I reckon Byrne needs to prove he can slot the big kicks in pressure games to really prove himself. His goal kicking has been inconsistent in some games unlike Sexton

Far more consistent than Sexton at his age, anyway. Was a major problem with Sexton when he was younger until he started working with elite coaches. I’m sure Byrne will get the same opportunity now.

redmca2

On his recent performances I think that Crawley is gradually becoming a realistic candidate for supplanting Byrne as back up 10 to Sexton.