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

Clegg

Gauzere to take charge of the QF.

https://twitter.com/Murray_Kinsella/status/1303274879521873920?s=19

thomond2006

Clegg wrote: »

Where's this story of Frawley to Munster originated from? If it's a Facebook rumour we can discard it I suppose.

That move wouldn't make sense for either party. He's barely any more experience at 10 than any of their young flyhalfs. They've three if them in the system now. Time.to actually use them.

I casually mentioned it in passing on here before a few hounds rounded on me.

2020/21 will see opportunities for those academy players at Munster. Only afterwards do I see the potential to go shopping. Had injuries not struck we would still have Bleyendaal and Carbery available so the depth chart is wide open. Johnny Holland might still be playing but for injury. Bill Johnston needed a fresh start after a series of shoulder injuries. For all the legitimate criticism you can level at Munster, they actually have produced players for senior rugby but have been snake bitten on their availability.

In the event Sexton tries to extend his career beyond this season Leinster are going to have to move some chess pieces to keep everyone happy.

sydthebeat

sorry lads but in all honesty Ciana Frawley is not munsters answer to their woes at 10.

stephen_n

Interested Observer wrote: »

getting a better 10 than JJ or the academy players they have.

That’s just complete hyperbole at this stage. If that were true he would be well ahead of Harry Byrne in the pecking order and be pushing Ross for starts. Frawley is quite unproven at 10 and his performances there for Leinster have been a very mixed bag. Which is why he is being moved out to 12 at the moment. JJ isn’t a top level 10 and maybe Frawley would become better than him over time. He isn’t at this time though. JJ is a good quality pro 14 10 and I don’t think from what we have seen so far, Frawley would ever be more than that.

arsebiscuits1

Stuart had a telling insight in an interview when listing Leinster Outhalf options this season.

He didn't mention Frawley in his list

Leinster are backing Frawley at 12 rather than 10. He was a 12 at Under 20s too.

Makes a lot of sense and could be the best way to get game time. We wont be seeing COB for a few months and both offer very different options anyway which is ideal for Leinster.

Henshaw obviously will play the big games but there is a lot of minutes available behind him. Tomane got a good chunk of minutes at 12 this season. Frawley should be eyeing those minutes with the view of playing every big game he can.

If he is hell bent on 10 then maybe he should look at Munster but I can't see it working out for him any better than it has done for Nick McCarthy in getting more game time

sydthebeat

Clegg wrote: »

Gauzere to take charge of the QF.

https://twitter.com/Murray_Kinsella/status/1303274879521873920?s=19

i didnt see any of the Top 14 restart this weekend.

as french refs are notoriously lassie faire when it comes to the breakdown, was there any discernible effort to enforce the new breakdown interpretations?

crisco10

Surely it's only a rumour about Frawley. The only reason he has experience is because Leinster have played him. If he moves he will stop Healy playing, and the cycle for Munster continues.

At this stage, it just makes better sense to give Healy and the other young 10s a craic. And is Frawley any better than JJ (on average) at this point?

Buer

Frawley moving would make sense in so far as he would automatically be ahead of all but JJH, one would assume. But he has seen a real opportunity at 12 with Leinster so I don't think a move would be very attractive to him right now unless he is being promised a certain role with Munster behind the scenes. I think it would be to the benefit of all, including the IRFU, if Munster sought to develop their young outhalves rather than seek to broker a deal for Frawley.

His showings at outhalf over the past 12 months haven't really marked him out as someone that needs to be fast tracked as an outhalf nor as someone that will necessarily advance Munster's aims significantly. I would like to think that one of the 3 academy players will be able to match Frawley's outhalf performances to date and surpass them ultimately.

Burkie1203

I wonder if he upskilled during lockdown and has spent the day baking .....


https://twitter.com/simonrug/status/1303304788319313923?s=19

Buer

I've no doubt he's going to be gone for the Leinster game but I suspect he's going to get a relatively lenient suspension of 2-3 weeks and should be bloody happy of it.

If he only gets 2 weeks, he's back on the field for a potential semi final in London.

arsebiscuits1

Burkie1203 wrote: »

I wonder if he upskilled during lockdown and has spent the day baking .....


https://twitter.com/simonrug/status/1303304788319313923?s=19

Has Papali'i been cited/ banned yet?

I'd be interested to see how the bans handed out compare

Buer

In general Saracens related news, they've named their side for tomorrow's game. The GP sides deciding to finish their entire season has to be having an impact. They may be largely splitting the squad into two camps but I would imagine it's severely reducing their training time as one group fo players is having recovery/prep sessions whilst the other is on the field doing live drills.

Still no sign of Mako Vunipola. He hasn't played since the reopening day of the GP which is almost a month ago due to back spasms. Apparently his involvement against Leinster isn't certain at this point. Richard Barrington is set to play if he's unavailable. It seems likely that his younger cousin will be chosen to start in place of Farrell so there will still be at least two Vunipolas on the field on the day.

At scrum half, Aled Davies is in his return to play protocols; I would imagine he'll be fine to feature against Leinster. No sign of Richard Wigglesworth though since the return either. I don't know the extent of his injury but he would be a significant loss given his experience and the drop in quality to the 3rd choice.

One slight boost to them is the return of Duncan Taylor for tomorrow which is timely given they no longer have Lozowski. I don't see him being match fit though given he hasn't played since February or so. If he plays tomorrow, he's unlikely to play much this weekend ahead of the Leinster game.

Interested Observer

Mako would be nearly as big a loss as Farrell, the might have slightly better cover there but he's in the top handful of LHs in the world.

Buer

Interested Observer wrote: »

Mako would be nearly as big a loss as Farrell, the might have slightly better cover there but he's in the top handful of LHs in the world.

It would be huge. I think he'll feature in the same way that I think Furlong will feature. They'll give him every minute to get fit and have him on the field.

But he can't be match fit, similar to Furlong and Porter is a much better replacement than Barrington to come in.

molloyjh

Buer wrote: »

In general Saracens related news, they've named their side for tomorrow's game. The GP sides deciding to finish their entire season has to be having an impact. They may be largely splitting the squad into two camps but I would imagine it's severely reducing their training time as one group fo players is having recovery/prep sessions whilst the other is on the field doing live drills.

Still no sign of Mako Vunipola. He hasn't played since the reopening day of the GP which is almost a month ago due to back spasms. Apparently his involvement against Leinster isn't certain at this point. Richard Barrington is set to play if he's unavailable. It seems likely that his younger cousin will be chosen to start in place of Farrell so there will still be at least two Vunipolas on the field on the day.

At scrum half, Aled Davies is in his return to play protocols; I would imagine he'll be fine to feature against Leinster. No sign of Richard Wigglesworth though since the return either. I don't know the extent of his injury but he would be a significant loss given his experience and the drop in quality to the 3rd choice.

One slight boost to them is the return of Duncan Taylor for tomorrow which is timely given they no longer have Lozowski. I don't see him being match fit though given he hasn't played since February or so. If he plays tomorrow, he's unlikely to play much this weekend ahead of the Leinster game.

They have a game the day before the QF too, away to Worcester. So a chunk of their squad will need to be available for that and hence not for the game against us. You'd have to assume that in the main the side taking the field tomorrow will be the side taking the field on Friday week, with the one at home to Exeter on Sunday being the one that plays in the QF. The Premiership schedule really is insane. Any English team that makes the SFs in Europe will have 2 games the following weekend. One in each comp. While I'm sure there will be some latitude in the day, its still 2 games a week every week. Its crazy.

molloyjh

So are we looking at something like the below I wonder? Still a decent starting XV but not much to write home about on the bench.

Barrington George Koch
Itoje Swinson
Rhodes Vunipola Wray

Davies Vunipola
Barritt Daly
Maitland Goode Lewington

Woolstencroft, Crean, Clarey Hunter-Hill, Clarke, Whiteley, Morris, Obotoyinbo

sydthebeat

molloyjh wrote: »

So are we looking at something like the below I wonder? Still a decent starting XV but not much to write home about on the bench.

Barrington George Koch
Itoje Swinson
Rhodes Vunipola Wray

Davies Vunipola
Barritt Daly
Maitland Goode Lewington

Woolstencroft, Crean, Clarey Hunter-Hill, Clarke, Whiteley, Morris, Obotoyinbo

not exactly a back row to fear if billy V can be neutralised a la stander.

and that bench is as sparse looking as ive ever seen a saracens bench

i think segun would feature, if not as starter certainly on the bench

Podge_irl

molloyjh wrote: »

They have a game the day before the QF too, away to Worcester. So a chunk of their squad will need to be available for that and hence not for the game against us. You'd have to assume that in the main the side taking the field tomorrow will be the side taking the field on Friday week, with the one at home to Exeter on Sunday being the one that plays in the QF. The Premiership schedule really is insane. Any English team that makes the SFs in Europe will have 2 games the following weekend. One in each comp. While I'm sure there will be some latitude in the day, its still 2 games a week every week. Its crazy.

Sorry, they've a game the day before the QF!? That can't be right?

That round is still TBC on the website. Bit weird.

Squidgy Black

Podge_irl wrote: »

Sorry, they've a game the day before the QF!? That can't be right?

That round is still TBC on the website. Bit weird.

They're down as 18-20th but TBC. You'd have to imagine it gets postponed or played midweek though.

Buer

molloyjh wrote: »

They have a game the day before the QF too, away to Worcester. So a chunk of their squad will need to be available for that and hence not for the game against us. You'd have to assume that in the main the side taking the field tomorrow will be the side taking the field on Friday week, with the one at home to Exeter on Sunday being the one that plays in the QF. The Premiership schedule really is insane. Any English team that makes the SFs in Europe will have 2 games the following weekend. One in each comp. While I'm sure there will be some latitude in the day, its still 2 games a week every week. Its crazy.

Nah, the GP deliberately just block booked the weekend of the QFs but didn't confirm any official dates. The Worcester game is actually going to be on the 23rd as per Saracens website. The GP has left the following weekend empty so there's no potential clash with any QF.

Saracens are already relegated and Exeter have already secured top spot all but mathematically so the GP sides are grand for scheduling now. Northampton are the only team who will really have to juggle and they're going to be eliminated following next weekend.

Buer

molloyjh wrote: »

So are we looking at something like the below I wonder? Still a decent starting XV but not much to write home about on the bench.

Barrington George Koch
Itoje Swinson
Rhodes Vunipola Wray

Davies Vunipola
Barritt Daly
Maitland Goode Lewington

Woolstencroft, Crean, Clarey Hunter-Hill, Clarke, Whiteley, Morris, Obotoyinbo

I think Duncan Taylor will feature in some capacity. Probably play 80 minutes tomorrow and 50 minutes against Exeter.

Swinson doesn't appear to be in favour there either at this point. Saracens are wily buggers; I can see Wigglesworth and Mako Vunipola being magically present in their 23.

The big question mark is George Kruis. He was supposed to remain with Saracens to see out the season. No sign of him since the return of rugby. Is he going to suddenly feature?

Clegg

Buer wrote: »

In general Saracens related news, they've named their side for tomorrow's game. The GP sides deciding to finish their entire season has to be having an impact. They may be largely splitting the squad into two camps but I would imagine it's severely reducing their training time as one group fo players is having recovery/prep sessions whilst the other is on the field doing live drills.

Still no sign of Mako Vunipola. He hasn't played since the reopening day of the GP which is almost a month ago due to back spasms. Apparently his involvement against Leinster isn't certain at this point. Richard Barrington is set to play if he's unavailable. It seems likely that his younger cousin will be chosen to start in place of Farrell so there will still be at least two Vunipolas on the field on the day.

At scrum half, Aled Davies is in his return to play protocols; I would imagine he'll be fine to feature against Leinster. No sign of Richard Wigglesworth though since the return either. I don't know the extent of his injury but he would be a significant loss given his experience and the drop in quality to the 3rd choice.

One slight boost to them is the return of Duncan Taylor for tomorrow which is timely given they no longer have Lozowski. I don't see him being match fit though given he hasn't played since February or so. If he plays tomorrow, he's unlikely to play much this weekend ahead of the Leinster game.

Great analysis.

Also, in Saracens issues at 9, Ben Spencer was Wigglesworth's back up for years. He left Saracens a few months ago for Bath and is possibly the best scrum half in England right now. I'm listening to The Rugby Pod with Andy Goode and Jim Hamilton and they've raving about him.

sydthebeat

Buer wrote: »

The big question mark is George Kruis. He was supposed to remain with Saracens to see out the season.

according to the man himself his contract with saracens finished in June.

now i dont know if there some extension granted en bloc to all contracts, but he seems to be spending a lot of his time laterly doing PR for his CBD company

molloyjh

Buer wrote: »

Nah, the GP deliberately just block booked the weekend of the QFs but didn't confirm any official dates. The Worcester game is actually going to be on the 23rd as per Saracens website. The GP has left the following weekend empty so there's no potential clash with any QF.

Saracens are already relegated and Exeter have already secured top spot all but mathematically so the GP sides are grand for scheduling now. Northampton are the only team who will really have to juggle and they're going to be eliminated following next weekend.

They have to assume that they will make the SF so in a way it doesn't really matter exactly what day the Worcester game is on. It still means a split squad to fulfill the fixtures and one that needs to be managed between now and then so the net effect is much the same.

FrannoFan

Hard to believe this but Munster are sniffing around after Ross Byrne.
Plenty of good academy 10's down there already but there you go.
Apparently JJ not popular after last weekend

Squidgy Black

I can't see Ross Byrne even entertaining that kind of conversation. Sexton hasn't long left, he's in the finally year of his IRFU contract at 35, and Ross has been in around the national team and getting plenty of game time here.

He leaves down to Munster, and he's not even guaranteed the starting shirt when Joey comes back from injury. And his younger brother will step right into his spot in Leinster in the meantime, so a short term deal would do him more harm than good.

crisco10

And it just makes no sense. Joey went to Munster to alleviate the back log of 10s at Leinster because he was same age as Ross Byrne. If they both go to Munster it's the same problem. Just in red instead of blue.

yerrahbah

FrannoFan wrote: »

Hard to believe this but Munster are sniffing around after Ross Byrne.
Plenty of good academy 10's down there already but there you go.
Apparently JJ not popular after last weekend

Sources?

scott1974

5 game ban for Farrell apparently, misses the QF.

The Lost Sheep

5 game ban for Owen Farrell.

Will miss next week’s Champions Cup quarter-final against Leinster. Out until October 5ht