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

Former Former

Reid trained yesterday so I'd be optimistic he can bench at least.

This wouldn't be a bad side:

E Byrne Tracy Bent
Molony Kearney
Fardy Deegan Ruddock
McGrath R Byrne
Lowe Tomane ROL Daly
D Kearney

B Byrne Dooley Porter/Vakh Nagle Doris McCarthy Reid/H Byrne A Byrne

thomond2006

If someone has a week to train fully then they should be good to go.

stephen_n

So if Reid isn’t fit and Ross Byrne starts, could we see Harry Byrne on the bench? Or will it be Tom Daly covering?

Potentially we could have two sets of Byrne brothers in our 23 on Friday.

arsebiscuits1

stephen_n wrote: »

So if Reid isn’t fit and Ross Byrne starts, could we see Harry Byrne on the bench? Or will it be Tom Daly covering?

Potentially we could have two sets of Byrne brothers in our 23 on Friday.

Tom Daly or Jimmy O'Brien.

Harry Byrne was playing for a Leinster dev side during pre season. It would appear the coaches don't think he's ready

Dubinusa

Not an ideal scenario.

Dubinusa

Just saw that Brendan Macken is off to L.I. Apparently, he was with the tigers for preseason.
I wonder if he would have been a shout for center cover this year?

stephen_n

Dubinusa wrote: »

Just saw that Brendan Macken is off to L.I. Apparently, he was with the tigers for preseason.
I wonder if he would have been a shout for center cover this year?

He wasn’t good enough to be kept ahead of Reid, so how would he add to the team now. I’d vastly prefer to see the O’Briens get a run rather than bring back Macken.

Had a look at the Cardiff fixture from last season and thought I'd post here:

Moment of the game there at 1:35 with a sensational high field and score from Barry Daly.

Sideline footage of same try

I expect most away fixtures to be challenging this season, double champions comes at the price of everyone wanting to have a cut out of us, especially opening weekend.

Dubinusa

There's definitely a target on our back. A repeat from last season would be bonkers.
Tomane will have to really be incredible to fill Isa' shoes. I don't think he can. I still think we can win some silverware, but not the double. I reckon Europe will be a better proposition the the pro 14.

stellenbosch

Dubinusa wrote: »

Just saw that Brendan Macken is off to L.I. Apparently, he was with the tigers for preseason.
I wonder if he would have been a shout for center cover this year?

If Macken was rated Leicester would have kept him. Very average player and lots of centres in the UBL superior to him

Squidgy Black

stellenbosch wrote: »

If Macken was rated Leicester would have kept him. Very average player and lots of centres in the UBL superior to him

Who in the AIL would you rate over Macken at 13 out of curiosity?

stellenbosch

Squidgy Black wrote: »

Who in the AIL would you rate over Macken at 13 out of curiosity?

Cian Bohane/Harry Brennan/Michael Courtney/Paul Kiernan/Matt Darcy

Squidgy Black

stellenbosch wrote: »

Cian Bohane/Harry Brennan/Michael Courtney/Paul Kiernan/Matt Darcy

Bohane quit playing professionally, Darcy plays at 12.

I'm surprised Brennan and Kiernan haven't been given a shot at provincial level.

Richie_Rich89

Squidgy Black wrote: »

Bohane quit playing professionally, Darcy plays at 12.

I'm surprised Brennan and Kiernan haven't been given a shot at provincial level.

I believe Kiernan didn't want to leave Cork and go to Limerick. Hard to blame him

FellasFellas

I think Kiernan has left UCC and moved to a Dublin club.

Presume we'll see the team at around mid day. Contemponi on the left wing this week, haven't had a chance to listen but might try and get some of it over lunch. That podcast had a bit of a shaky start but was excellent for most of the season thereafter.

arsebiscuits1

Deleted User wrote: »

Presume we'll see the team at around mid day. Contemponi on the left wing this week, haven't had a chance to listen but might try and get some of it over lunch. That podcast had a bit of a shaky start but was excellent for most of the season thereafter.

I'd say we better ease him back into our systems.

He was always a better 10 but with his age I reckon he can start off the bench

Buer

Team out. Doris gets the nod ahead of Deegan at 8. Lowe is the fall guy from the 23 as Fardy starts and JGP on bench.

Porter in the 23 and great to see McFadden on the bench.

Strong side overall. Will hopefully have enough to get a result.

Buer

15. Dave Kearney (122)
14. Adam Byrne (38)
13. Rory O’Loughlin (42)
12. Joe Tomane (0)
11. Barry Daly (27)
10. Ross Byrne (49)
9. Luke McGrath (95)
1. Peter Dooley (47)
2. James Tracy (66)
3. Michael Bent (106)
4. Ross Molony (64)
5. Scott Fardy (22)
6. Josh Murphy (9)
7. Rhys Ruddock (142) CAPTAIN
8. Caelan Doris (1)

16. Bryan Byrne (26)
17. Ed Byrne (23)
18. Andrew Porter (30)
19. Mick Kearney (35)
20. Max Deegan (21)
21. Jamison Gibson-Park (51)
22. Noel Reid (100)
23. Fergus McFadden (169)

Buer

Cardiff Blues team to face Leinster: M Morgan; J Harries, W Halaholo, R Lee-Lo, O Lane; J Evans, L Williams; B Thyer, K Dacey, D Arhip, S Davies, R Thornton, J Turnbull, E Jenkins, N Williams.

Replacements: R Gill, E Lewis, S Andrews, G Earle, O Robinson, T Williams, S Shingler, G Smith.

Clegg

Doris ahead of Deegan is interesting. They're both potentially test class number 8's. Deegan played well last season too so this will be a kick in the hole and hopefully spur him on even more. Must be very encouraging for academy players seeing these two lads progress so quickly. Even though you're playing for the best team in Europe you'll still get plenty of game time if you're good enough.

Lowe not in the squad is disappointing. He's our most threatening back and adds so much to our attack. But it's understandable in the circumstances. Not the first time he hasn't been included.

Podge_irl

That is a surprisingly strong team when you see it on paper.

scott1974

Buer wrote: »

Team out. Doris gets the nod ahead of Deegan at 8. Lowe is the fall guy from the 23 as Fardy starts and JGP on bench.

Porter in the 23 and great to see McFadden on the bench.

Strong side overall. Will hopefully have enough to get a result.

Meatloaf wrote a song about that....

Podge_irl

Podge_irl wrote: »

That is a surprisingly strong team when you see it on paper.

It's decent for this time of year, 1 - 4 are steady as she comes but not a huge amount more. Not surprised to see Dooley in, he steadied the scrum against Newcastle.

Backline looks good and plenty of impact from the bench with Porter / McFadden etc.

Dorris the interesting one, Deegan may be a bit behind in the fitness stakes, but interesting to see how Dorris is viewed by the coaches.

Looking forward to the game, toss up whether I stay home for this or head to women's game in blackrock.

Former Former

Very happy with that team. Really interesting to see Doris ahead of Deegan

McFadden being back is a huge bonus.

Podge_irl

Deleted User wrote: »

It's decent for this time of year

It's excellent for this time of year based on what we're used to.

molloyjh

Podge_irl wrote: »

It's excellent for this time of year based on what we're used to.

Is it? This time last year we started with this team away to the Dragons:

Healy Cronin Bent
Toner Fardy
Leavy Deegan VDF

JGP Byrne
Nacewa ROL
Larmour Rob Byrne

Tracy, Byrne, Porter, Ryan, Conan, McCarthy, Marsh, Daly

The year before that at home to Treviso it was:

Healy Byrne Bent
Molony McCarthy
Ryan Leavy VDF

McGrath Carbery
Reid Ringrose
McFadden Rob Kirchner

Tracy, Porter, Ross, Triggs, Murphy, JGP, Marsh, ROL

I'd say this is about what we should expect, and not really anything more than that.

Hopefully it's enough to get the job done. I'd like to see the back row get stuck in and the back 3 could be dangerous if they can cut loose a bit.

Buer

Deleted User wrote: »

Dorris the interesting one, Deegan may be a bit behind in the fitness stakes, but interesting to see how Dorris is viewed by the coaches.

Given Doris was at the JWC, I'd have thought Deegan would be in a more advantageous position with a proper rest and full pre-season.

Personally, I was hoping to see Doris at 6 and Deegan at 8 but I'm happy enough to see Josh Murphy get a run also.

Buer

One thing that jumps out from looking at the respective sides is that the Blues pack is comfortably bigger than ours. And they still manage to have by far the most natural openside on the park in Jenkins too. That's a solid front row for Cardiff and they've some big lads at lock. The set piece is going to be interesting.

I can only assume we'll look to stretch them and get the ball away from the contact area fairly quickly when in possession. The Byrne/Byrne crossfield combination is going to be in full swing tomorrow, I reckon. Matthew Morgan isn't exactly going to be dominant in the air.

Buer

Buer wrote: »

Given Doris was at the JWC, I'd have thought Deegan would be in a more advantageous position with a proper rest and full pre-season.

Personally, I was hoping to see Doris at 6 and Deegan at 8 but I'm happy enough to see Josh Murphy get a run also.

That's what I would have presumed but I'm not sure if JWC players took a break mid season as I'm not overly familiar with their calendar.

Anyway, will have a better picture in the coming weeks as to where the coaches think things are.

Buer wrote: »

The Byrne/Byrne crossfield combination is going to be in full swing tomorrow, I reckon. Matthew Morgan isn't exactly going to be dominant in the air.

Kearney and Daly aren't the biggest but they've both shown plenty of capability at gathering cross field kicks. Obviously Adam Byrne can be prolific in this space with his size and speed but he played so little last season it's tough to know where things are for him.