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

Interested Observer

Jesus ****ing christ he's reffing the match again. With a Munster touch judge. I had gotten extremely tired of Awec constantly moaning about the league but **** it, I'm all in now and would like to subscribe to his newsletter. Is there any point in watching this?

Munster v Leinster – KO 18.00

Thomond Park, Limerick

Referee: Frank Murphy (IRFU, 29th Championship Appearance)

AR1: George Clancy (IRFU) AR2: Chris Busby (IRFU)

TMO: Olly Hodges (IRFU)

aloooof

Interested Observer wrote: »

Jesus ****ing christ he's reffing the match again. With a Munster touch judge. I had gotten extremely tired of Awec constantly moaning about the league but **** it, I'm all in now and would like to subscribe to his newsletter. Is there any point in watching this?

It was Leinster's discipline (and not Frank Murphy's reffing) that cost ye last year.

Jump_In_Jack

aloooof wrote: »

It was Leinster's discipline (and not Frank Murphy's reffing) that cost ye last year.

Correct.
The reffing was exemplary.
The turning point was when Lowe ran into Conway off his feet which caused him to land on his neck/head area, a stone-cold red card, costing Leinster the match.

molloyjh

aloooof wrote: »

It was Leinster's discipline (and not Frank Murphy's reffing) that cost ye last year.

This. We shot ourselves in the foot last year, not all through bad tempered BS (Lowes card was unfortunate but entirely correct), but there was def a decent element of that. That said, a lot of us were looking at that final quarter thinking that we might just nick it until Frawley threw that intercept. Hopefully it'll at least be a close affair without the drama this time around. We can afford a loss though. The last 2 against Ulster and Glasgow were far more important than this one is.

guapos

Jump_In_Jack wrote: »

Correct.
The reffing was exemplary.
The turning point was when Lowe ran into Conway off his feet which caused him to land on his neck/head area, a stone-cold red card, costing Leinster the match.

I thinks he's a very good ref but having an ex Munster player reffing Munster games doesnt look great, there's plenty of other refs they could use.

The Lost Sheep

guapos wrote: »

I thinks he's a very good ref but having an ex Munster player reffing Munster games doesnt look great, there's plenty of other refs they could use.

plenty? Of pro refs in Ireland how many are not from Munster? Sean Gallagher and how many others? David Wilkinson retired as ref but rest of pros are all from Munster.

Squidgy Black

The Lost Sheep wrote: »

plenty? Of pro refs in Ireland how many are not from Munster? Sean Gallagher and how many others? David Wilkinson retired as ref but rest of pros are all from Munster.

He probably means other refs in the pro14, but you can't have a non-irish ref over Christmas. Doesn't work logistically and it's also not fair to pull someone away from family etc.

Bridge93

The games on Saturday 28th I thought? Is it actually Stephens day?

Edit: it is Saturday thank god, would’ve been an awkward scramble of arrangements needed

Squidgy Black

Bridge93 wrote: »

The games on Saturday 28th I thought? Is it actually Stephens day?

Edit: it is Saturday thank god, would’ve been an awkward scramble of arrangements needed

Yeah you're right my bad, dunno where I got Stephen's day from.

I couldn't care less if the ref wore a Munster jersey this weekend, I don't see it as an issue in rugby and I would trust the refs not to muck around.

It's not a knock out game and neither team are in the same conference, be grand.

Granny15

Leinster Rugby (caps in brackets):

15. Hugo Keenan (11)
14. Adam Byrne (56)
13. Jimmy O’Brien (13)
12. Conor O’Brien (21)
11. James Lowe (38)
10. Ross Byrne (81)
9. Jamison Gibson-Park (82)
1. Ed Byrne (50)
2. James Tracy (103)
3. Andrew Porter (59)
4. Devin Toner (241)
5. Scott Fardy (53) CAPTAIN
6. Josh Murphy (29)
7. Will Connors (11)
8. Caelan Doris (25)

16. Seán Cronin (174)
17. Peter Dooley (69)
18. Jack Aungier (2)
19. Ross Molony (89)
20. Scott Penny (10)
21. Rowan Osborne (2)
22. Ciarán Frawley (18)
23. Tommy O’Brien (1)

Referee: Frank Murphy (IRFU)

Exciting backline that centre partnership did really well against Glasgow. Conners get his chance to impress at 7 as his outing last week went down like a lead balloon at 6. Penny scored 2 and is dropped for him. Will be interesting to see how Jack O 'Donoghue plays as he is really coming into some form and will be looking to lay down a marker for a possible 6 Nations squad place.

Faugheen

Glad we’re getting to see more of Osborne. The two games I’ve seen of him I’ve been impressed - more so than O’Sullivan and Patterson.

FellasFellas

I'd rate Patterson extremely highly, diminutive but really quick and plays the game at a great pace. He'll pass out HOS soon I'd say along with Osborne.

Faugheen

FellasFellas wrote: »

I'd rate Patterson extremely highly, diminutive but really quick and plays the game at a great pace. He'll pass out HOS soon I'd say along with Osborne.

There’s nothing about Patterson that has really impressed me. Likewise O’Sullivan.

Ben Murphy who’s on the Irish 20s will be our next top 9 I reckon.

Muligatawney

It was after the first two rounds of Europe that I started whispering it to myself but now I feel comfortable enough to openly say an unbeaten season isn't impossible. Our 2nd/3rd string is the best it's ever been.

awec

Muligatawney wrote: »

It was after the first two rounds of Europe that I started whispering it to myself but now I feel comfortable enough to openly say an unbeaten season isn't impossible. Our 2nd/3rd string is the best it's ever been.

You'll lose away to Ulster in May.

Not trying to be funny, but that game will be meaningless for Leinster.

Squidgy Black

Osborne went really well tonight I think, considering it was his first senior start. Box kicks in the first half were a bit long but in his defense there was a serious wind behind him. Didn't look hesitant at the ruck, marshalled the pack well, and didn't make any hasty mistakes that most rookie scrumhalves do. Normally would say it's easy behind our pack but it wasn't exactly an armchair ride either tonight.

Buer

I thought he had a very tough opening quarter with a few inaccurate passes and was caught in possession more than once but adjusted quite well.

Given he's only about 22, there's a lot of potential there. Scrum half is an area where there's undoubtedly a spot wide open for grabs at Leinster with two lads involved in Irish camps.

molloyjh

awec wrote: »

You'll lose away to Ulster in May.

Not trying to be funny, but that game will be meaningless for Leinster.

Yeah, its WAY too early to be talking about going unbeaten. We're 9 games into a 21 game league (plus 2 KOs) and 4 games into a 6 camp cup (plus 3 KOs). That's 13 games in a 32 game season. We're not even half way through yet. And we'll have games this season that mean absolutely nothing to us, but will mean a lot to our opponents. If we get to the last 2 or 3 regular league games of the season unbeaten then maybe we can start talking about it, but it's almost certainly not going to happen.

Buer

We're definitely going to go unbeaten.

thomond2006

molloyjh wrote: »

Yeah, its WAY too early to be talking about going unbeaten.

Buer wrote: »

We're definitely going to go unbeaten.

Ligind.

PP were offering odds of 13/2 of a regular season clean sweep before today.
Edit: That's a Pro14 clean sweep.

molloyjh

Shut up Buer!

Neil3030

It's actually a great way to keep the minnows interested. When Leinster play teams like Ulster next year they can set their sights on breaking our unbeaten streak. But would you say we'll get a word of bloody thanks?

Muligatawney

molloyjh wrote: »

Yeah, its WAY too early to be talking about going unbeaten. We're 9 games into a 21 game league (plus 2 KOs) and 4 games into a 6 camp cup (plus 3 KOs). That's 13 games in a 32 game season. We're not even half way through yet. And we'll have games this season that mean absolutely nothing to us, but will mean a lot to our opponents. If we get to the last 2 or 3 regular league games of the season unbeaten then maybe we can start talking about it, but it's almost certainly not going to happen.

Absolutely acknowledge that it's heavily odds against but that's arguably our three hardest away matches won now and two of them with a second string. Just feel like it's possible and it's never even been a notion before.

Tim Robbins

Biggest challenge Leinster have is surely ensuring all these super young players get enough game time. You need 15+ games a year to develop. And they have about 50+ players who are at professional standard. So, really see that as a big challenge. Imagine if Carberry, Jordan Murphy etc were still there and Leavy never got that injury?

elderlemon

He did great for such an inexperienced lad. Took him about 15 minutes to realize the speed of the opposition defence was much faster and in his face a lot quicker. Once he upped his speed and got the ball out of the ruck faster, things settled down. Couple of box kicks went too far but we'll blame the wind for that.

Squidgy Black wrote: »

Osborne went really well tonight I think, considering it was his first senior start. Box kicks in the first half were a bit long but in his defense there was a serious wind behind him. Didn't look hesitant at the ruck, marshalled the pack well, and didn't make any hasty mistakes that most rookie scrumhalves do. Normally would say it's easy behind our pack but it wasn't exactly an armchair ride either tonight.

Clegg

Tim Robbins wrote: »

Biggest challenge Leinster have is surely ensuring all these super young players get enough game time. You need 15+ games a year to develop. And they have about 50+ players who are at professional standard. So, really see that as a big challenge. Imagine if Carberry, Jordan Murphy etc were still there and Leavy never got that injury?

The protocols surrounding Irish test players ensures that younger players will always get plenty of game time. The bigger problem is.when these lads get into the it mid 20's and still find themselves on the fringes of the European squad. That's when they could consider leaving.

A big incentive for the younger guys to stay is Leinsters coaching team. They know if they stay they'll receive the best coaching in the country and get plenty of time on the pitch.

jacothelad

Buer wrote: »

We're definitely going to go unbeaten until we lose.

:D:D:D:D

connachta

Leinster are 9/9. all we can do is begging for a BP. Please

antietam1

Connacht even with all their injuries still pose a threat.