Leinster Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread XI (The Finals Countdown)

razorblunt

BonnieSituation wrote: »

My only complaint about that incredible performance has been having to listen to the inanity of Heaslip throughout.

Byrne's finish was outstanding.

Shhhh you’re not allowed comment on that here.
Heh heh heh etc etc

Larbre34

The shyte that was talked by many pundits all week about Saints at home.

I don't think even educated rugby people quite understand the depth of rare talents at Leinster and the lack of upset caused to the club by the World Cup absences compared to pretty much any outfit in the World.

Now I accept that 2nd half performance was exceptional even by Leinster standards, but I don't see any other side being able to touch us this year, even Sarries.

yosser hughes

razorblunt wrote: »

Nice one! I’m only reading this now but that would have been ideal. Please let me know sooner, next time.

I’ll only post nice things from now on and not call out utter waffle when I hear it.

A Munster and Liverpool fan it seems. What a combination! :rolleyes:
Is there a more whining, self regarding crowd in either sport?

Score probably slightly flattered Leinster but that's a serious result.

First opportunity Doris has had to make a claim for Ireland squad inclusion and he had a big impact to be fair.

Ringrose at fault for Northamptons first try and picked up a yellow. He had a good game outside of that but his mistakes were costly.

Kelleher put in a big shift, VDF probably one of the top forwards in the country at the moment.

Does Furlong come back in ahead of Porter? Does McGrath come back in ahead of JGP?

Be interesting to see what type of Northampton team travels next week.

I enjoyed Heaslips commentary. I do not understand the hate at all.

Clegg

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Score probably slightly flattered Leinster but that's a serious result.

First opportunity Doris has had to make a claim for Ireland squad inclusion and he had a big impact to be fair.

Ringrose at fault for Northamptons first try and picked up a yellow. He had a good game outside of that but his mistakes were costly.

Kelleher put in a big shift, VDF probably one of the top forwards in the country at the moment.

Does Furlong come back in ahead of Porter? Does McGrath come back in ahead of JGP?

Be interesting to see what type of Northampton team travels next week.

I enjoyed Heaslips commentary. I do not understand the hate at all.

I agree with everything apart from your point of VdF. He's not just one of the best forwards in the country. He's currently the best player in Ireland forward or back.

P.Walnuts

Is the 3 jersey now Porters?

sydthebeat

P.Walnuts wrote: »

Is the 3 jersey now Porters?

Well he's the incumbent so it's up to furligind to win it back... So yes, it's his currently

Exclamation Marc

P.Walnuts wrote: »

Is the 3 jersey now Porters?

Nah. I'd say it's still Furlongs. One game starting at 3 (when in competition) doesn't mean its his. But he's progressing and definitely pushing harder which is great to see, particularly given his brief disappearance last year.

Interested Observer

If the final was next weekend I'd bet the house on Furlong starting.

Anyway thought that was a weird game. There was a period in the third quarter where the score was 16-31, Leinster had scored 5 tries to Northampton's single try, where Leinster were under severe pressure and a try would have made it a game again. Great defence obviously for 70+ mins, don't need to talk about VdF but I thought Doris was outstanding. No doubt at all he's a European level player and he'll be pushing for Ireland if he keeps playing like that. His carrying was really excellent imo, shedload of tackles, won a turnover and should have had another.

Interested Observer

Interested Observer wrote: »

There was a period in the third quarter where the score was 16-31, Leinster had scored 5 tries to Northampton's single try, where Leinster were under severe pressure and a try would have made it a game again

Yeah it wasn't put to bed at all but Leinster have effectively built a reputation as a team who will not give away scores. In previous seasons even when dominant we'd leak scores in the latter stages but we've turned into a miserly, uncompromising setup and it will be great having that reputation going into the knockouts.

baas baa

Doris should be involved in 6n, has the physicality and backrow needs freshening up. Similarly the only argument against Kelleher is youth, his footwork before contact is excellent.

No words to describe VDF, his impact on games is reaching peak SOB levels, goes beyond mere stats, a huge proportion of his contributions are effective too.

molloyjh

I loved that Northamption were plugging away trying to find a score to bring them back into the game for 15-20 mins. We gave them nothing. And then we just went down the other end and scored 2 tries in 5 mins. You dont get much more clinical than that. 3 tries in the so called championship minutes too.

joseywhales

Great win but we need to relax, it's not the business end of the season and it is not sarries, racing, Toulouse away. We have had seasons before we we thought we had conquered the world by Christmas, that didn't quite turn out like that. We have amazing depth, Porter, vdf, larmour and Doris really looked dominant to me. Ringrose and a few returning internationals, a little rusty, as you might imagine.

Clegg

He's getting perilously close to some man for one man territory.

https://twitter.com/ultimaterugby/status/1203329385052303360?s=19

stephen_n

Clegg wrote: »

He's getting perilously close to some man for one man territory.

https://twitter.com/ultimaterugby/status/1203329385052303360?s=19

That doesn’t even show the amount of times he slowed their ball down by making a tackle and getting back to his feet, getting over the ball and being a nuisance. Doris did it really well too.

Clegg

Something has changed at Leinster this season. Last season and even the one before when we won the double, there were moments when we switched off and let sides back into the game, before pulling ahead again. But this year we seem to have upped our concentration in defence and just completely shut down teams when hey get into our haldf and 22. Did it against Benneton, Lyon and now Northampton. Our second string did it against Glasgow last week too. We've seen what Saracens did to us last season and adapted it into our own system.

Buer

The scoreline seriously flattered Leinster. We had purple patches and made them count (but certainly not all of them). We are the ultimate 3rd quarter team. I'd love to see statistics on our showings in the first 20 minutes of the second half. We seem to win/kill games so often in that period.

With that said, I was a little frustrated with how we managed things after Byrne's try. We were quite error strewn. Every time Northampton handed us possession (and it was usually an error from them albeit under pressure) we handed it straight back which led to approximately 20-25 minutes of the match being played in our half. As IO said, it was odd that we were 31-16 up throughout this phase but it felt like a single score and we were on the rack.

A specific mention for Dave Kearney. He's not a test level attacker...in fact he's average at best at ECC level. But his defensive play today was absolutely top class. He was faced with a bloke who is over 20 stone and he completely shut him down. He made one tackle at full length at bootlace height as well as shooting twice and killing the attack. It was superb defence. Ross Byrne also shut Naiyaravoro down at one point, going very low after he got up a head of speed which was impressive.

I can see 4 or 5 changes next week including some enforced but the group is now ours and we should be sorting ourselves out with a home QF/top seed spot. Careful what you wish for though as I have a sneaking suspicion that Saracens could be coming to Dublin in April...

171170

Buer wrote: »

I have a sneaking suspicion that Saracens could be coming to Dublin in April...

To watch us taking on Ulster in the quarter final?

Shefwedfan

Buer wrote: »

The scoreline seriously flattered Leinster. We had purple patches and made them count (but certainly not all of them). We are the ultimate 3rd quarter team. I'd love to see statistics on our showings in the first 20 minutes of the second half. We seem to win/kill games so often in that period.

With that said, I was a little frustrated with how we managed things after Byrne's try. We were quite error strewn. Every time Northampton handed us possession (and it was usually an error from them albeit under pressure) we handed it straight back which led to approximately 20-25 minutes of the match being played in our half. As IO said, it was odd that we were 31-16 up throughout this phase but it felt like a single score and we were on the rack.

A specific mention for Dave Kearney. He's not a test level attacker...in fact he's average at best at ECC level. But his defensive play today was absolutely top class. He was faced with a bloke who is over 20 stone and he completely shut him down. He made one tackle at full length at bootlace height as well as shooting twice and killing the attack. It was superb defence. Ross Byrne also shut Naiyaravoro down at one point, going very low after he got up a head of speed which was impressive.

I can see 4 or 5 changes next week including some enforced but the group is now ours and we should be sorting ourselves out with a home QF/top seed spot. Careful what you wish for though as I have a sneaking suspicion that Saracens could be coming to Dublin in April...

I dont think you will be seeing Saracens coming to Dublin....I think they will coming out with a better return after the result this evening

crisco10

Anybody else see the interview with Boyd after? Talked about “a lot of these lads not travelling to Dublin” and “managing workload across two competitions”.

After the tonking today, is he thinking of sending the seconds ??

Shefwedfan

crisco10 wrote: »

Anybody else see the interview with Boyd after? Talked about “a lot of these lads not travelling to Dublin” and “managing workload across two competitions”.

After the tonking today, is he thinking of sending the seconds ??

Probably


I don't think they have a chance to win in Aviva, they won't beat Lyon at home either.


So they have no chance to qualify. The Premiership is a better chance for them......they cannot send the kids or risk getting a fine so it will be a mixed team I would expect

I was impressed with Leo in his post match interview. Repeatedly referenced last weeks win against Glasgow as setting a benchmark and giving momentum to this weeks performance. It's good to see him using a huge win in Europe to shower the wider squad in praise.

degsie

Really impressed with Leinster this season, more to look forward to.

Clegg

Lowe stepped it up today. He's been a bit patchy performance wise this season, but he was back to his best against Northampton. Making breaks and putting players through with offloads. Would've had a few assists but for JGP and Sexton dropping his passes.

whatawaster

Just a brilliant performance today, attack and defense.

VDF was immense. Clear MOTM.
Doris was brilliant
Larmour's best game for Leinster imo.
Henshaw's best game in a while.

Would still like us to freshen things up next week.

Furlong in for Porter
Fardy in for Toner
Deegan in for Doris or Ruddock
Connors benching
McGrath in for JGP
Byrne in for Sexton
A Byrne in for Kearney

Shefwedfan

Clegg wrote: »

Lowe stepped it up today. He's been a bit patchy performance wise this season, but he was back to his best against Northampton. Making breaks and putting players through with offloads. Would've had a few assists but for JGP and Sexton dropping his passes.

Lowe had surgery in off season, delayed his preseason etc , yes his best performance but he has hardly been shabby

Buer

Clegg wrote: »

Lowe stepped it up today. He's been a bit patchy performance wise this season, but he was back to his best against Northampton. Making breaks and putting players through with offloads. Would've had a few assists but for JGP and Sexton dropping his passes.

The pass to Sexton was a 50/50 at best. In reality, it wasn't really on and I'd blame Lowe more for an unexpected, high risk reverse than Sexton for dropping it. He had a good game but the second half definitely didn't suit his style! With that said, his boot came in handy on defensive sets.

It's been a long time since we actually really utilised a left footed kicker as a clearance man on exit plans. We used do it regularly with Hickie and even used Fitz on it a fair bit when he first came through. It always seemd bizarre that we largely ignored RK for that role despite his booming boot.

stephen_n

Buer wrote: »

I can see 4 or 5 changes next week including some enforced but the group is now ours and we should be sorting ourselves out with a home QF/top seed spot. Careful what you wish for though as I have a sneaking suspicion that Saracens could be coming to Dublin in April...

That occurred to me today, the way things are shaping up either Munster or Sarries could well be the 8th seed. Sarries in Dublin distracted by a relegation battle is not as daunting as last year though.

sydthebeat

stephen_n wrote: »

That occurred to me today, the way things are shaping up either Munster or Sarries could well be the 8th seed. Sarries in Dublin distracted by a relegation battle is not as daunting as last year though.

Sarries in April could be half way up the prem table.

They would go all out in the aviva

awec

If Saracens get out of the pool then I would imagine they'll go for it properly. Only 3 wins away from winning it at that stage.