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

Eod100

I think realistically you have top spot already. Teams below have 7 from 14. Would need to get 7 tbp wins and even then Leinster will finish ahead

molloyjh

Eod100 wrote: »

I think realistically you have top spot already. Teams below have 7 from 14. Would need to get 7 tbp wins and even then Leinster will finish ahead

Yeah the reality is we do, but I suppose we're talking the pure maths of it now. Technically at this stage we need 14 points. We should pick up 8-10 in the next 2 games. At this stage I think if we win all 3 games then that will be it. We won't have it mathematically secure before Cheetahs unless all of Benetton, Edinburgh, Scarlets and Ulster lose one of their next 2.

So we're talking the when, rather than the if.

Onecoolcookie

Any unwanted presale codes going for the Ulster QF would be greatly received!

Dubinusa

Anyone think we need to bring in another th?
After Bent, we are lost. Appears Vakh is not at the level required and Aungier hasn't made any strides at all.

irishbucsfan

Dubinusa wrote: »

Anyone think we need to bring in another th?
After Bent, we are lost. Appears Vakh is not at the level required and Aungier hasn't made any strides at all.

Bring in a fourth choice tighthead?

troyzer

Dubinusa wrote: »

Anyone think we need to bring in another th?
After Bent, we are lost. Appears Vakh is not at the level required and Aungier hasn't made any strides at all.

Aungier is only in his second year at the academy.

If Bent is happy to go another year, they should stay the course for now

The Lost Sheep

Dubinusa wrote: »

Anyone think we need to bring in another th?
After Bent, we are lost. Appears Vakh is not at the level required and Aungier hasn't made any strides at all.

No. What would be point when there is Furlong, Porter and Bent. You are talking about 4th choice. Aungier is in his second season in the academy and is in just a second season playing full scrum laws.
Extremely harsh to say he hasnt made any strides in a position where many dont truly develop until theyve played a year or two beyond twenties.

troyzer

The Lost Sheep wrote: »

Dubinusa wrote: »

Anyone think we need to bring in another th?
After Bent, we are lost. Appears Vakh is not at the level required and Aungier hasn't made any strides at all.

No. What would be point when there is Furlong, Porter and Bent. You are talking about 4th choice. Aungier is in his second season in the academy and is in just a second season playing full scrum laws.
Extremely harsh to say he hasnt made any strides in a position where many dont truly develop until theyve played a year or two beyond twenties.

Agree, tighthead props are usually late bloomers. Andrew Porter is exceptional because of how quickly he picked it up but not many had it as easy.

And he's still a middling scrummager. In time I think he might be as good as Furlong but in a different way. He's much stronger and is more of a breakdown threat. I think eventually his scrummaging will be better as well but Furlong's carrying, rugby IQ and passing will always make him top dog.

What a luxury to be worrying about fourth string.

Dubinusa

Due to the rwc? We'll be bare bones and our season could be off to a poor start.
Porter and Furlong obviously are great, but Bent is aging and Vakh hasn't made much progress.
Just looking at our options for a long season.

The Lost Sheep

Dubinusa wrote: »

Due to the rwc? We'll be bare bones and our season could be off to a poor start.
Porter and Furlong obviously are great, but Bent is aging and Vakh hasn't made much progress.
Just looking at our options for a long season.

Bent will be 33 during the world cup, could certainly have a good 3/4 years in him,
and Vakh, Aungier are all perfectly fine options for the handful of games that will be played during the tournament

Richie_Rich89

There's talk on Babbling Brook about Fardy potentially not being offered a new deal. I wonder if cutting Tomane, thereby reducing the number of NIQs from three to two, would make the IRFU more amenable to Leinster hanging on to Fardy. Tomane's a fine player but surplus to Leinster's requirements, it has to be said

kmart6

And last week the talk was that the IRFU have no issue with Leinster keeping on Fardy with everything he has brought to the province. Best just to wait until there is an announcement, everything else is speculation.

jacothelad

Richie_Rich89 wrote: »

There's talk on Babbling Brook about Fardy potentially not being offered a new deal. I wonder if cutting Tomane, thereby reducing the number of NIQs from three to two, would make the IRFU more amenable to Leinster hanging on to Fardy. Tomane's a fine player but surplus to Leinster's requirements, it has to be said

That would be expensive for no gain.....and pretty shyte behaviour.

Richie_Rich89

kmart6 wrote: »

And last week the talk was that the IRFU have no issue with Leinster keeping on Fardy with everything he has brought to the province. Best just to wait until there is an announcement, everything else is speculation.

Right you are. Better not to speculate on the team talk/rumours/gossip thread

Squidgy Black

You can't just cut somebody out of their contract half way through it. It'd cost Leinster a serious sum of cash to pay out Tomane's contract. And would be of absolutely no use. Daft suggestion.

awec

Leinster will need Tomane next year because the likes of Henshaw, Ringrose etc won’t be playing much Pro14 until 2020.

salmocab

Squidgy Black wrote: »

You can't just cut somebody out of their contract half way through it. It'd cost Leinster a serious sum of cash to pay out Tomane's contract. And would be of absolutely no use. Daft suggestion.

It would presumably cost them what it would cost them to keep him. Absolutely nothing to gain and losing a quality player for a season for the same price. Unless Tomane would prefer to leave for some reason I can’t see it happening.

Squidgy Black

salmocab wrote: »

It would presumably cost them what it would cost them to keep him. Absolutely nothing to gain and losing a quality player for a season for the same price. Unless Tomane would prefer to leave for some reason I can’t see it happening.

Good chance there would be more than just his contract involved, he'd be losing out on sponsorship deals for the year as well and other promotional income etc.

arsebiscuits1

Dubinusa wrote: »

Anyone think we need to bring in another th?
After Bent, we are lost. Appears Vakh is not at the level required and Aungier hasn't made any strides at all.

How has Aungier not made any strides? He hasn't been in any senior match day strides yet but played plenty of A rugby.

That's about par the course for a year 2 Academy player.

Vakh (in 5 senior appearances it might be said) hasn't really done anything to warrant parachuting a different tight head in ahead of him wasting about 5 years of investment in him.

In his 5 appearances so far, he has shown himself to be Pro14 standard thus far. That's pretty much what you'd expect from a 22 year old fella on a dev contract straight out of the academy.

Who would we get ahead of him? Someone whose Champs Cup standard? Good tightheads don't come cheap. We can't be throwing money out for a 3/4th choice player

arsebiscuits1

Richie_Rich89 wrote: »

There's talk on Babbling Brook about Fardy potentially not being offered a new deal. I wonder if cutting Tomane, thereby reducing the number of NIQs from three to two, would make the IRFU more amenable to Leinster hanging on to Fardy. Tomane's a fine player but surplus to Leinster's requirements, it has to be said

The IRFU regulations don't come from how many NIQs there are. It comes from what Irish players they're potentially blocking.

If we give Tomane the boot, the IRFU will turn around and say "grand, but that still doesn't get Jack Dunne, Ryan Baird or Ross Molony more game time at a high level"

Personally I think Fardy should be kept. He's clearly a leader in the squad and we will be down 15-20 players for the start of next season

troyzer

arsebiscuits1 wrote: »

The IRFU regulations don't come from how many NIQs there are. It comes from what Irish players they're potentially blocking.

If we give Tomane the boot, the IRFU will turn around and say "grand, but that still doesn't get Jack Dunne, Ryan Baird or Ross Molony more game time at a high level"

Personally I think Fardy should be kept. He's clearly a leader in the squad and we will be down 15-20 players for the start of next season

I agree. All of the signs seem to suggest that he adds quite a lot to their development rather than block it.

thomond2006

How very dare Joe Tomane get injured. Clearly phoning it in.

Buer

Dubinusa wrote: »

Due to the rwc? We'll be bare bones and our season could be off to a poor start.
Porter and Furlong obviously are great, but Bent is aging and Vakh hasn't made much progress.
Just looking at our options for a long season.

VA only took up professional rugby a year ago and this is his first season in the senior squad. He's fine right now. If this was the situation in 2 years, it would be a valid discussion.

awec

Tenner tickets are on sale, got some good seats

thomond2006

awec wrote: »

Tenner tickets are on sale, got some good seats

Same. They're high up but that's still better than the season ticket seat (lower tier behind the goals) which would have cost 35 euro.

Uriel.

I hate when the interactive map is not available.

stephen_n

Those €10 tickets must have gone quickly.

Onecoolcookie

awec wrote: »

Tenner tickets are on sale, got some good seats

Is there a presale code available?

Le Bruise

My boss here is having trouble getting Leinster tickets through the pre-sale link. Always gets to the verified page and then it just says connection lost (and the little symbol of a page with a frowny face).

I've tried on my phone and computer and have even disabled pop ups. Anyone else having this problem?

Richie_Rich89

awec wrote: »

Leinster will need Tomane next year because the likes of Henshaw, Ringrose etc won’t be playing much Pro14 until 2020.

Like they've needed him in the Pro14 this year when Henshaw and Ringrose have been absent?

There'll be COB and Reid for inside centre, and Jimmy O'Brien and Gavin Mullin for outside centre. And O'Loughlin can play both centre positions. Tommy O'Brien should be coming on line soon too. He's a super prospect.

I know people have mentioned that Tomane played some 13 in France, but seeing how unsure he looks defensively at 12, I can't say I'd like to see him defending the 13 channel