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

molloyjh

awec wrote: »

And it's not the fact that it's Sarries either.

If Leinster were playing Ulster this weekend in a HEC QF then Sexton would be playing.

This is almost impossible to judge. If we were playing Ulster in the HEC QF this week with Munster in the league final next week and a HEC SF the week after I'd say there's a very strong chance Byrne starts in Europe while Sexton starts in the league. But we've never had a block of games like this before so we simply dont know. We do know that in the normal course of events Sexton plays this game. He has done the last couple of years.

The simple fact is that with 2 regular season games plus 4 KOs all in a row, rotation was going to happen. Sexton was not going to be playing 4 KO games in a row. He just wasn't. This is an obvious move given an unusual schedule. And one that allows a guy who is good enough & deserves it the chance to start a final.

Leinster will be without Sexton soon. He's nearing the end of his career and whilst a final is a final, Leinster have won the title enough times that I'd rather see them line things up for a post Sexton environment. The last time Sexton left Leinster we descended into a bad rut, there is some logic for preparing for life after the world player of the year in one of the most critical positions.

The luxury of it is certainly a bit offensive to the competition but the logic of it is unavoidable. Ross Byrne has started for Leinster in some key fixtures - he's somewhat under rated at this point in his career but his record at ten is well established at a high level of the game. Our home game against Exeter the season before last was a huge game for him and put me at ease with him running the show at the highest level. He's a better player now - he'll be fine.

The final will be won by the packs regardless.

molloyjh

Also, if Byrne is good enough to get us into finals then he's good enough to play in them. He'll arguably be the best of the 2 starting 10s as well. I'm not sure how it would be true that he is both the best 10 on the pitch and also a disrespectful selection.

sydthebeat

The sooner the bokke teams come, the better for the league

Exclamation Marc

The Pro14 is more of a squad competition than a core XV competition though so the moaning is a bit tiring, amongst other reasons.

If Leinster played their strongest team every game and hockeyed most teams by 40-70 points, it would look worse than Ross Byrne (who has earned that spot) starting over Sexton.

Niallof9

Its a terrible look for the PRO 14 and can totally understand the argument the English and Welsh clubs have around this sort of stuff.

Even SOB now reckons part of Irish rugby's problem is a lack of battle hardening from big matches. Its been quite obvious for some time.

sydthebeat

Niallof9 wrote: »

Even SOB now reckons part of Irish rugby's problem is a lack of battle hardening from big matches. Its been quite obvious for some time.

think youre posting in the wrong thread???

Dravokivich

Whoever leinster play on the day, I doubt its becuase they couldn't be bothered about whether or not they are going to win. Any talk of sexton not playing is putting some unreasonable gametime expectations on an older player.

fitz

thomond2006 wrote: »

Farrell has got a previous ban for a dangerous tackle. There's no way he should have gotten the maximum mitigation.

Late to this, but I'd love to see mitigations limited to 20% of the ban. This kind of reduction just makes a mockery of the whole process.

sydthebeat

fitz wrote: »

Late to this, but I'd love to see mitigations limited to 20% of the ban. This kind of reduction just makes a mockery of the whole process.

That would mean mitigation would only kick in on any ban of five weeks or more.

Interested Observer

Leicester beaten by 50 ish points by Wasps earlier. WTF is going on there.

sydthebeat

Interested Observer wrote: »

Leicester beaten by 50 ish points by Wasps earlier. WTF is going on there.

premiership teams are mainly playing firsts and seconds due to the quick succession of games. leicester dont have the squad to be in any way competitive once they put out their seconds.

they had a debutant and a guy with 4 caps either side of jordan coughlan (at 8!) in the back row

Podge_irl

Niallof9 wrote: »

Its a terrible look for the PRO 14 and can totally understand the argument the English and Welsh clubs have around this sort of stuff.

Even SOB now reckons part of Irish rugby's problem is a lack of battle hardening from big matches. Its been quite obvious for some time.

The welsh can completely **** off. The reason the Irish teams can afford to rest players so often is cause the welsh teams are so spectacularly useless. It should be easy for the welsh to actually accomplish something given the Irish teams rest players so often...

molloyjh

I'd love to know what problem Irish rugby actually has. It has a third the number of pro teams as England and even less than that of France. Yet we've won more 6Ns than France in the last 10 years and the same number as England. We've also won more HECs than all English teams combined and only 1 less than all French teams combined. Trophy wise we are going toe to toe with countries far bigger and better resourced than we are. So what's the issue exactly?

awec

molloyjh wrote: »

I'd love to know what problem Irish rugby actually has. It has a third the number of pro teams as England and even less than that of France. Yet we've won more 6Ns than France in the last 10 years and the same number as England. We've also won more HECs than all English teams combined and only 1 less than all French teams combined. Trophy wise we are going toe to toe with countries far bigger and better resourced than we are. So what's the issue exactly?

1 province is.

"Everything is grand, everything is great, look at how well we are all doing" says supporter of largest, richest club (maybe even the most expensive club side in Europe) who stroll to the league final every year with their A team. This comment is a bit tone deaf, tbh. Connacht have won 1 league, but outside of that no other province has won so much as a raffle in almost a decade, and the gap between Leinster and the rest is getting bigger rather than smaller!

Anyway, the problem is the league is a joke, the entertainment value is low. It is not a priority for any team that plays in it. Next year, Leinster will walk to the final again. Does anyone think otherwise?

IMHO the league right now is the worst it has ever been in terms of being worth watching. It's a pointless exercise. But it will not improve, because absolutely nobody cares about it. It's just there to fill in the weeks between games in other competitions.

awec

Podge_irl wrote: »

The welsh can completely **** off. The reason the Irish teams can afford to rest players so often is cause the welsh teams are so spectacularly useless. It should be easy for the welsh to actually accomplish something given the Irish teams rest players so often...

In fairness the Welsh are not operating in the same realities as the Irish teams.

The population of Wales is a bit bigger than the population of Leinster, and they have to field 4 teams from this, and geographically all of their teams are squished into one half of the country.

The Lost Sheep

awec wrote: »

In fairness the Welsh are not operating in the same realities as the Irish teams.

The population of Wales is a bit bigger than the population of Leinster, and they have to field 4 teams from this, and geographically all of their teams are squished into one half of the country.

Yeah. Its completely different.
The 4 teams are geographically spread into area about size of Munster. If even that big.

Could these posts be moved from this thread. Prob should be in pro14/its own thread?

Neil3030

There is definitely a conversation to be had about how well the domestic leagues prepare their national sides for the World Cup.

Since the Celtic League began in 2001/2, there have been 5 World Cups.

Performance of the two teams in Europe with more consistently challenging domestic leagues:
England have been to 3 semi-finals, 3 finals, and won it once.
France have been to 3 semi-finals and one final.

And teams from the Pro14:
Wales have been to 2 semi-finals
Ireland, never passed the QF
Scotland and Italy... well... no point mentioning them.

So there is a clear gulf between England/France and the Pro14 teams in the World Cup, and this is despite, as molloy points out, Ireland winning a clatter of Heineken Cups and Six Nations/Grand Slams during the same period, and Wales winning the Grand Slam at least what, 3 times?

To win a World Cup you need to be at or near your peak for at least one tough pool game (possibly 2), then the QF, SF and Final. So 4 or 5 games at full tilt within a 4-6 week period. Pro14 teams simply have no reference point for such a sustained maintenance of intensity. You get 2 rest weeks in the Six Nations (plus a game against Scotland and Italy) and you get plenty of down time during the Heineken Cup.

Yes, there are other factors to be considered, but as I say, it's a conversation worth having.

molloyjh

awec wrote: »

1 province is.

"Everything is grand, everything is great, look at how well we are all doing" says supporter of largest, richest club (maybe even the most expensive club side in Europe) who stroll to the league final every year with their A team. This comment is a bit tone deaf, tbh. Connacht have won 1 league, but outside of that no other province has won so much as a raffle in almost a decade, and the gap between Leinster and the rest is getting bigger rather than smaller!

Anyway, the problem is the league is a joke, the entertainment value is low. It is not a priority for any team that plays in it. Next year, Leinster will walk to the final again. Does anyone think otherwise?

IMHO the league right now is the worst it has ever been in terms of being worth watching. It's a pointless exercise. But it will not improve, because absolutely nobody cares about it. It's just there to fill in the weeks between games in other competitions.

In the 10 years I'm talking about only 1 English club has won the HEC and only 2 French clubs. The second of which is Toulouse 10 years ago. I think you need to take the league hating glasses off there for a second and have a look at what the overall point is, which is that Irish rugby as a whole is doing every bit as well as English or French rugby is as a whole. Which, though you may hate to see it, is true.

Also, nothing I said had anything to do with the league at all. You brought that into it all by yourself.

yerrahbah

Leinster training gear, looks familiar...


https://www.lifestylesports.com/ie/leinster-rugby/





This looks the business though

arsebiscuits1

That jumper looks a bit class. I might be breaking my no adidas gear embargo...

dub_skav

arsebiscuits1 wrote: »

That jumper looks a bit class. I might be breaking my no adidas gear embargo...

I don't have an aversion to Adidas per se, but I do have an aversion to cheap stick on logos.

I love an auld pair of match shorts, but can't justify 40 quid for a pair where the team logo looks like it will come off after a wash.

Still, there are at least a few nice bits this year, last year was very bland

salmocab

Couple of nice bits, I quite like the 3 wide bands bits in the sleeves but the big writing down the tops is awful looking.

arsebiscuits1

dub_skav wrote: »

I don't have an aversion to Adidas per se, but I do have an aversion to cheap stick on logos.

I love an auld pair of match shorts, but can't justify 40 quid for a pair where the team logo looks like it will come off after a wash.

Still, there are at least a few nice bits this year, last year was very bland

That's my bug bear. The quality of Adidas is utter crap tbh. Especially when compared to Canterbury.

Also the jerseys just don't fit me as well as Canterbury.

Visually the Adidas gear is always quite nice though

Dave_The_Sheep

arsebiscuits1 wrote: »

That jumper looks a bit class. I might be breaking my no adidas gear embargo...

Apparently it's not a jumper...

Clegg

Anyone else a bit worried about this turning into a Patriots 16-0 season?

I don't think Ulster have played well since the restart and the comeback against Edinburgh masked an awful preceding 50 minutes. But they're riding a high at the minute and have proven difficult for us to beat in the last

Squidgy Black

Clegg wrote: »

Anyone else a bit worried about this turning into a Patriots 16-0 season?

I don't think Ulster have played well since the restart and the comeback against Edinburgh masked an awful preceding 50 minutes. But they're riding a high at the minute and have proven difficult for us to beat in the last

Worried? No. Do I think Ulster could beat us? Yeah if everything goes right for them on the day and we play similar to like we did against Munster, particularly in the first half.

I wouldn't say Ulster are really riding a high, they had a scrappy game against Edinburgh where in the first half they looked like they were going to lose it, but Edinburgh just blew it completely. And they lost to us and Connacht before that.

Sheep Shagger

dub_skav wrote: »

I don't have an aversion to Adidas per se, but I do have an aversion to cheap stick on logos.

I love an auld pair of match shorts, but can't justify 40 quid for a pair where the team logo looks like it will come off after a wash.

Still, there are at least a few nice bits this year, last year was very bland

Lads if you buy the knock off jerseys on Aliexpress the poor ****ers making them at night time are embroidering the LR and Adidas logos....all for the bargain price of about €25 delivered.

The training jersey looks nice....is 100 notes though.

Rigor Mortis

That training jersey is a thing of beauty. 100 quid is steep.

Dave_The_Sheep

Sheep Shagger wrote: »

The training jersey looks nice....is 100 notes though.

Just wait a year or so, they'll be 30 quid on Lifestyle.