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

arsebiscuits1

sydthebeat wrote: »

have leinster actually even sold out a christmas pool game in the aviva?

as was mentioned previously, our lowest christmas attendance in the aviva was against saints... they simply are not a big draw... the occasion is more of a draw than the opposition.

look at the attendances over the last 8 years

2011 bath 46k
2012 clermont 49k
2013 saints 47k
2014 quins 38.5K
2015 Toulon 45K
2016 saints 38.5K
2017 exeter 40K
2018 bath 40K

so its quite steady.... no sell outs.

anything over 40k at this will be seen as a success.. and i expect it to be in the high 40's

Anything over 30,000ish and you start turning a profit in the Aviva. It's a very nice money spinner for Leinster.

You do have to factor in the effectiveness of reducing ticket prices. Will the attendances actually increase? I'd be pretty surprised if Leinster hadn't done the maths and the marketing analytics to determine that the ticket pricing structure they have is conducive to a steady and predictable profit

... even someone soft in the head like me can see that :pac:

arsebiscuits1

sydthebeat wrote: »

Its "the rugby pod " with Andy goode, Jim Hamilton and Andy roe.

It can be very funny sometimes.... England based so mainly premiership.. But it's definitely one I listen to all the time.

Another is the eggchasers, if you're looking to add to your list.

I do enjoy the Rugby Pod but sometimes the episodes just don't have content that interests me.

Jim and Andy are hilarious together though

Shefwedfan

arsebiscuits1 wrote: »

Anything over 30,000ish and you start turning a profit in the Aviva. It's a very nice money spinner for Leinster.

You do have to factor in the effectiveness of reducing ticket prices. Will the attendances actually increase? I'd be pretty surprised if Leinster hadn't done the maths and the marketing analytics to determine that the ticket pricing structure they have is conducive to a steady and predictable profit

... even someone soft in the head like me can see that :pac:

I think the 10 tickets was a good idea....it would get the game into the news and would push additional fans to the stadium....


I would expect if they are not running it, which I havent seen this year, they had no need to bump up the crowd.


Also it is not always the more people the more money. As the crowd grows the overheads also do in terms of Garda/stewards etc. So maybe it is a case for these games a circa 40k crowd is the best return for Leinster.



They have been running these games now for a good few years so they must have the maths done. I know for the initial phase they seem to advertise alot and then it drops off alot.

sydthebeat

arsebiscuits1 wrote: »

You do have to factor in the effectiveness of reducing ticket prices.

there was the €10 tickets available to the public... also there will be 1000s of kids and parents there from various leinster clubs through the One Province initiative which has cheap tickets too.

im going up with my wife and kid.
Ticket, bus from midlands and McDonalds all included in €20

There are also still tickets available @ €25

so there are a wide range of people and pockets allowed for.

errlloyd

To be fair, the pricing is also probably right around the ideal point in Cost Volume Profit terms.

If it ends up at around 42 thousand it is 80% full. So assuming there are some variable costs per ticket you'd probably have to be guaranteed a sell out for it to be worth giving even a 10% discount.

kingofthekong

Former Former wrote: »

Would be very harsh to drop/rotate Doris now. Likewise Porter.

Would expect Tracy and R Byrne to replace Kelleher and Sexton, otherwise unchanged - assuming Ryan passes RTP. I imagine it's too soon for Cronin to start.

They made a mistake...should never have tried to take ryan out, he may have been injured but everytime he is wounded and not killed he comes back harder to kill .....

James Ryan 2.0 incoming new and improved

kingofthekong

Its such a James Ryan thing to get injured literally in the process of shooting out of the line trying to kill someone,

it was when he shot out and tried to annihilate Harrison and just got his head in the wrong spot

kingofthekong

I want to see Porter get the nod, I really want the Tadhg from couple years ago throwing all blacks on their head and taking 3 tacklers with him people carry,

Maybe having that competition for his place could bring him back

sydthebeat

kingofthekong wrote: »

I want to see Porter get the nod, I really want the Tadhg from couple years ago throwing all blacks on their head and taking 3 tacklers with him people carry,

Maybe having that competition for his place could bring him back

when an irresistible force object meets an unmovable object....... Tadhg wins.

Dubinusa

I just rewatched some matches from earlier this season.
I think Treacy has really kicked on. He's playing very well and he looks like he's slimmed down. The game v Connacht he was great. His carrying was brilliant, seemed to crash over the gainline every time. His tackling was superb too. Anyone else notice?
I suppose with Kellerher getting the plaudits and playing so well, he slips under the radar. It's great to see him in such good form.
Another lad who is very impressive is Josh Murphy. He has a complete game at 6 imo. Carrie's hard, tacles well and has a big engine. He could be a fantastic player in a couple of years.

Shefwedfan

Dubinusa wrote: »

I just rewatched some matches from earlier this season.
I think Treacy has really kicked on. He's playing very well and he looks like he's slimmed down. The game v Connacht he was great. His carrying was brilliant, seemed to crash over the gainline every time. His tackling was superb too. Anyone else notice?
I suppose with Kellerher getting the plaudits and playing so well, he slips under the radar. It's great to see him in such good form.
Another lad who is very impressive is Josh Murphy. He has a complete game at 6 imo. Carrie's hard, tacles well and has a big engine. He could be a fantastic player in a couple of years.

BOD talked about Treacy before. He was a player you wouldnt pick out in the academy and most people thought he wouldnt make it. He was just one of those pigheaded players who kept going and has ended up with irish caps. Never the most talented player but a determined one

troyzer

I told myself I wasn't going to go to Marseilles this year.

Flights and tickets booked yesterday.

Rugby is bankrupting me. I went to three Six Nations games this year, the Wasps away game, Newcastle and the World Cup. I'm also going to the Italy game and over to Paris for our Grand Slam win. I'll probably manage to pick up Scotland and Wales tickets as well.

Help.

Shefwedfan

troyzer wrote: »

I told myself I wasn't going to go to Marseilles this year.

Flights and tickets booked yesterday.

Rugby is bankrupting me. I went to three Six Nations games this year, the Wasps away game, Newcastle and the World Cup. I'm also going to the Italy game and over to Paris for our Grand Slam win. I'll probably manage to pick up Scotland and Wales tickets as well.

Help.

I am going to do similar. Missed the last few HC after going to them all for years, even when Leinster not playing

Need to get a lads weekend at rugby in France again :-)

arsebiscuits1

Leinster ‘A’ (senior caps in brackets)

15. Michael Silvester
14. Josh O’Connor(u19)
13. Gavin Mullin (2)
12. Tommy O’Brien
11. Andrew Smith(u20)
10. Tim Corkery(u19)
9. Cormac Foley
1. Michael Milne (5)
2. Dan Sheehan
3. Jack Aungier (2)
4. Brian Deeny(u20)
5. Óisín Dowling (5)
6. Mark Hernan(u20)
7. Scott Penny (9) CAPTAIN
8. Ronan Watters

16. John McKee(u20)
17. Charlie Ward(u20)
18. Roman Salanoa
19. Cian Prendergast(u20)
20. Alex Soroka(u19)
21. Paddy Patterson (3)
22. David Fitzgibbon(u20)
23. Luis Faria(u20)

Very little senior representation here suggests the wider squad will see a lot of game time over the interpros

kingofthekong

arsebiscuits1 wrote: »

Leinster ‘A’ (senior caps in brackets)

15. Michael Silvester
14. Josh O’Connor(u19)
13. Gavin Mullin (2)
12. Tommy O’Brien
11. Andrew Smith(u20)
10. Tim Corkery(u19)
9. Cormac Foley
1. Michael Milne (5)
2. Dan Sheehan
3. Jack Aungier (2)
4. Brian Deeny(u20)
5. Óisín Dowling (5)
6. Mark Hernan(u20)
7. Scott Penny (9) CAPTAIN
8. Ronan Watters

16. John McKee(u20)
17. Charlie Ward(u20)
18. Roman Salanoa
19. Cian Prendergast(u20)
20. Alex Soroka(u19)
21. Paddy Patterson (3)
22. David Fitzgibbon(u20)
23. Luis Faria(u20)

Very little senior representation here suggests the wider squad will see a lot of game time over the interpros

Over 100 less 1st team caps then the Munster team , great chance for some of them to impress

Interested Observer

Tracy, Byrne, Furlong, McGrath, Fardy (for Toner) all starting. As you were otherwise. Only saw that annoying video they put on Twitter hence no copy & paste.

Clegg

15. Jordan Larmour (42)
14. Dave Kearney (142)
13. Garry Ringrose (68)
12. Robbie Henshaw (40)
11. James Lowe (37)
10. Ross Byrne (80)
9. Luke McGrath (117)
1. Cian Healy (212)
2. James Tracy (102)
3. Tadhg Furlong (104)
4. Scott Fardy (51) CAPTAIN
5. James Ryan (34)
6. Rhys Ruddock (165)
7. Josh van der Flier (76)
8. Calean Doris (24)

16. Bryan Byrne (44)
17. Ed Byrne (49)
18. Andrew Porter (57)
19. Devin Toner (240)
20. Max Deegan (55)
21. Jamison Gibson-Park (80)
22. Ciarán Frawley (16)
23. Rob Kearney (213)

arsebiscuits1

Not that it matters hugely but suprised to see Fardy captain over Ruddock. I thought Ruddock was the official vice captain

Badly need Adam Byrne back to complete the Byrne Ultimatum

crisco10

Northampton team:
15 Ahsee Tuala
14 Ollie Sleightholme
13 Matt Proctor
12 Andrew Symons
11 Taqele Naiyaravoro
10 Dan Biggar
9 Connor Tupai

1 Francois van Wyk
2 Michael van Vuuren
3 Paul Hill
4 Api Ratuniyarawa
5 Alex Coles
6 Tom Wood (c)
7 Jamie Gibson
8 Lewis Ludlam

Replacements:
16 Sam Matavesi
17 Alex Waller
18 Ehren Painter
19 Lewis Bean
20 JJ Tonks
21 James Mitchell
22 James Grayson
23 Fraser Dingwall

sydthebeat

Leinster gone from -19 to -23 after teams named.

Leinster backs should be able to terrorise that saints back 3

pickarooney

Shefwedfan wrote: »

I am going to do similar. Missed the last few HC after going to them all for years, even when Leinster not playing

Need to get a lads weekend at rugby in France again :-)

Wonder could I convince my missus to host it

Clegg

No Hutchinson in the side makes Northampton much weaker. He's a quality centre.

Squidgy Black

arsebiscuits1 wrote: »

Not that it matters hugely but suprised to see Fardy captain over Ruddock. I thought Ruddock was the official vice captain

While Johnny, Luke and Rhys were away at the RWC they put a senior leadership group in place, Scott Fardy, Ross Molony, Ed Byrne, Jamison Gibson-Park and Fergus McFadden all rotated leadership duties.

I'd say it's just a follow on from that, and they've kept it in place.

arsebiscuits1

As with last week the 2 packs are worlds apart.

Not quite men v boys but I can't see Northampton competing with that pack for the entire game

Shefwedfan

I find the Rob Kearney on the bench a strange one. He is not like a utility player. It's 15 or nothing

Frawley as the back up 10 I guess as well? I thought maybe H Byrne would get 10 mins off the bench in Aviva

arsebiscuits1

Shefwedfan wrote: »

I find the Rob Kearney on the bench a strange one. He is not like a utility player. It's 15 or nothing

Frawley as the back up 10 I guess as well? I thought maybe H Byrne would get 10 mins off the bench in Aviva

Frawley is clearly ahead of Harry at the moment in the coaches eyes.

He travelled last week to Northampton as the 24th man

Shefwedfan

arsebiscuits1 wrote: »

Frawley is clearly ahead of Harry at the moment in the coaches eyes.

He travelled last week to Northampton as the 24th man

Oh I know, but it would be nice for H Byrne....it is Christmas after all.



I am maybe a small but over confident with this game :P

Squidgy Black

Shefwedfan wrote: »

I find the Rob Kearney on the bench a strange one. He is not like a utility player. It's 15 or nothing

Frawley as the back up 10 I guess as well? I thought maybe H Byrne would get 10 mins off the bench in Aviva

Larmour can cover wing and centre, Ringrose can cover wing, Frawley can cover 10 and 12, we have a fair bit of flexibility in our backline as it is so having a specialist on the bench in the 23 shirt isn't a big deal.

arsebiscuits1

Squidgy Black wrote: »

Larmour can cover wing and centre, Ringrose can cover wing, Frawley can cover 10 and 12, we have a fair bit of flexibility in our backline as it is so having a specialist on the bench in the 23 shirt isn't a big deal.

Not forgetting Henshaws deity-like presence at fullback if required :pac: