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

bayern

Leinster Academy update

LH Prop
Michael Milne(21/Birr RFC-Roscrea/UCD) - 1 start, 4 sub apps.
Marcus Hanan(20/Clane RFC/Old Belvedere)
--
Hugo O'Malley(19/Blackrock/UCD)
Jack Boyle(18/Michaels/UCD)

TH Prop
Tom Clarkson(20/Blackrock/DUFC) - 3 sub apps.
--
Bobby Sheehan(20/Clongowes/UCD)
Ben Griffin(19/Castleknock/DUFC)

Hooker
John McKee(20/Campbell/Old Belvedere) - injured
--
Lee Barron(19/Michaels/DUFC)

Lock
Charlie Ryan(21/Blackrock/UCD)
Brian Deeny(20/Wexford RFC/Clontarf) - injured
Joe McCarthy(19/Blackrock/DUFC)

Backrow
Martin Moloney(21/Athy RFC/Clontarf) - injured
Sean O’Brien(20/Blackrock/UCD)
Alex Soroka(19/Belvedere/Clontarf)
--
Mark Hernan(20/Michaels/Lansdowne)
Will Hickey(19/Michaels/UCD)

Scrumhalf
Patrick Patterson(21/Blackrock/UCD)
Cormac Foley(21/St. Gerards/Lansdowne)
--
Rob Gilsenan(19/Michaels/UCD)

Outhalf
David Hawkshaw(21/Belvedere/Clontarf) - 3 sub apps.
--
Tim Corkery(18/Kilkenny RFC/UCD)
Charlie Tector(18/Kilkenny/Lansdowne)

Centre
Liam Turner(21/Blackrock/DUFC) - 3 starts, 1 sub app.
--
Marcus Kiely(19/Newbridge/Naas)
Karl Martin(18/Boyne RFC/Old Belvedere)

Back Three
Michael Silvester(22/Clongowes/DUFC) - 2 sub apps
Aaron O’Sullivan(20/Exile/Blackrock) - irish 7's
Max O’Reilly(20/St. Gerards/DUFC)
Niall Comerford(20/Blackrock/UCD)
Andrew Smith(20/Michaels/Clontarf) - injured
--
Jamie Osborne(19/Naas RFC/Naas)
Chris Cosgrave(19/Michaels/UCD)
Josh O'Connor(19/Wexford RFC/UCD)

Buer

Funny game. Score is hugely flattering for Leinster. For long periods, we were in a lot of trouble. You could see us getting flustered and it was very reminiscent of the Ireland vs England game. Back line was becoming inaccurate, losing significant yards and the Blues were hunting everything down and celebrating every individual victory. We became very sloppy during that period.

The penalty count was our way back into the game supplmented by massive energy coming off the bench from Milne, Clarkson and Penny. 22 carries between them which is a huge number given none of them were on the field longer than 28 minutes.

It was the sort of game that was needed though. Harry Byrne needs to learn how to deal with pressure and that game will benefit his development. Facing a beaten team every week is going to provide very limited use to him. He looked tidy in attack but I'd like to see him take a little more control henceforth. McGrath is still really running the show with HB popping up when McGrath decides to release the backline.

McGrath was MOTM but I thought Josh Murphy was excellent as was Frawley. When others were losing accuracy, he seemed to be a far more assured presence in the back line. I would hope he gets a start in a European fixture. He looks ready.

I do think our rawness in the back line was exposed in defence at times which was to be expected. We were narrow and some errors from Cardiff and good reads from Kearney saved us from being opened up entirely. On another night, they could have scored another 1-2 tries in the first half.

All things considered, a good work out and more competitve than previous games along with significant game time for some academy/fringe players.

Clegg

Got my Leinster season ticket/membership pack today. Scarf, pin and bumper sticker. Comes in a spiffy box too.

Synode

Clegg wrote: »

Got my Leinster season ticket/membership pack today. Scarf, pin and bumper sticker. Comes in a spiffy box too.

Yeah got mine a few weeks ago. Wish they'd give us a hat, we've had scarves every year now for years.

crisco10

Synode wrote: »

Yeah got mine a few weeks ago. Wish they'd give us a hat, we've had scarves every year now for years.

I'm in the process of making a blanket out of all my scarves (going back to 2008). And to that end, annoyed this years scarf doesn't have the year embroidered on it!

Number 137

Is Marcus Hanan in the academy now?

FrannoFan

A lot of calls for Harry to be brought into Irish team. I actually think it's frawley we need. Not that I think frawley is a better overall center than Aki or Farrell but more he brings a skill set we are sorely lacking with ringrose out. We don't have a back outside 10 who can pass the ball.
Big difference between Leinster and Ireland at the moment (other than the very obvious gulf in class in opposition) is Leinster are playing with three 10's in Harry, frawley and Jimmy O'Brien. Distribution/kicking is far more varied than everything coming off 10

arsebiscuits1

Didn't properly catch the game on Sunday so watched again last night.

As with many of the games, plenty of positives littered with negatives.

Cardiff certainly showed up and did their homework. They had a clear game plan which by and large they executed as well as they could have. Despite the result I am sure they went home with the chins up.

Leinster had an astronomical 75% of possession and 80% of territory. Cardiff weathered a serious 178 of our carries making 241 tackles. Those are insane stats for a pro14 game during the international window. For comparison - England made 208 tackles in their defensive masterclass the day before against Ireland.

You could see the Blues came with a clear plan to weather the defensive storm and take whatever chances came their way trying to expose us out wide - tactics they utilised to a fair degree of success.

There was an obvious plan to nullify our bigger ball carry threats in Leavy, Baird and Ruddock. Credit to Rhys he just keeps on trucking and was dominant in the collisions. But Baird and Leavy were kept notably quiet. It's where Leinster can flex their squad depth and we saw Tracy, Murphy, Dooley and Molony get some very decent change on their carries.

On the other side of the ball Cardiff showed a great blueprint on how to put us under pressure. The had barely legal runners on a screen (not exactly a complaint, Leinster employ similar tactics) checking our 10-12 defensive channel and putting Turner under real pressure.

I thought Turner and Kelleher really needed to have better control and decision making in D. Turner had some good moments but also probably was too passive. Kelleher caught far too narrow twice (one being for their try) They'll need to shore it up though as teams now have footage of a potential Leinster weakness and will look to harvest it.

Last week I wasn't overly impressed with Luke's passing so I really scrutinised it this week and I thought he regressed. Of his 80 or so passes at least 1 in 3 were causing the receiver to check their run. Those stats are just not good enough. Against a defensive line pressing as hard as Cardiff did, those passes need to be in front of the runner. 6 or 7 examples of a receiver needing to check their run leading to less dominant collisions and slower ball and a break down of our possession.

He did direct things around him well and clearly takes a lot of pressure off Byrne. There was a lot of positive involvements from him too. But he needs to get that passing more consistent.

On the topic of passing, Harry Byrne needed his to be better also, his accuracy let us down at a few moments where we could have put Cardiff under real pressure.

Beating the same drum, our backlines passing is just lacking the accuracy that we are used to seeing from Leinster in full flow. Appears more prevalent going from left to right. Receivers too often having to check their run. I know people will naturally have a stronger side and for the majority of the population that would be right to left. At this level, however, I'd expect more.

Not all doom and gloom though. Plenty of positives to take. Our bench made an excellent impact. Our sub front row carried nearly as much in their ~25 minutes as our starting front row did in the remaining ~55. Clarkson especially good. Very good decision making in his carries and some neat little footwork to help him win the contacts.

Scott Penny showed a clear irritation at being dropped and responded with a phenomenal performance off the bench. 2 tries and almost a third only for being held up is a fantastic return from 28 minutes on the pitch. I had reservations about his size hindering him at the higher level but I'm now starting to think it might be a help to him. He's so stocky he can carry that bit lower and drive that bit harder that he could really get some good change against some tired more upright tackling players. Minor blot of his copy book was sloppily losing possession from the back of a 5m maul. Overall a brilliant performance. Defensively excellent.

Frawley was another who can be happy with his performance. Very assured showing helping out Harry inside him. He had a couple of handling errors that were unfortunate, a different day they stick and he bags himself a try or 2. Carried strongly to start a few launch plays off set piece. He was a big reason Leinster had exclusive territory in Cardiffs half for the final 15 with 2 absolute belters of kicks right down the middle forcing Cardiff to recover kick for a loss. Lovely smart kicking from him. Crisp passing out of hand too. And to cap it off he was our joint top tackler with 8

Squidgy Black

Bit of a side note but, have to say, with the likes of Penny and Turner, and even Lowry in Ulster and Casey in Munster, it's great to see players who all along have been touted as "too small" for the modern game making an impact. It's a welcome break from seeing teams line out with everyone over 6 foot and 85kg+

arsebiscuits1

Squidgy Black wrote: »

Bit of a side note but, have to say, with the likes of Penny and Turner, and even Lowry in Ulster and Casey in Munster, it's great to see players who all along have been touted as "too small" for the modern game making an impact. It's a welcome break from seeing teams line out with everyone over 6 foot and 85kg+

Fully agree, as someone who is on the smaller side of the rugby build it is definitely heartening to see the smaller lads making it.

Can add Casey to that list now too.

Although in fairness to Penny he's definitely in the 85+ category ha

arsebiscuits1

https://www.leinsterrugby.ie/leo-cullen-issues-injury-update-2/?FixGuid=20SL2759

Cullen also confirmed that Rory O’Loughlin hadn’t made sufficient progress from his shoulder injury last week to be considered for the Cardiff game and will again be assessed this week ahead of the trip to Wales.

There was though some positive news for Leinster centre Conor O’Brien who has stepped up his recovery from a hamstring injury and took part in on-field training last week. O’Brien will continue to be assessed as he builds his involvement over the coming weeks.

There was no update on the following players who remain unavailable for selection:

Tadhg Furlong (calf), Ciarán Parker (thumb), Tommy O’Brien (ankle), Jack Conan (neck), Garry Ringrose (jaw), Max Deegan (knee), Jordan Larmour (shoulder), Vakh Abdaladze (back) and Adam Byrne (hamstring)

Don't think we will be seeing Jimmy this weekend. That's a huge pity for him.

Presumably Silvester next up with Hawkshaw on the bench and Frawley or Dave covering 15

molloyjh

Back issue doesn't sound great. I hope it's nothing major as he's been going so well.

Our absentee list must be crazy at this stage...

Healy, Byrne, Kelleher, Furlong, Porter, Abdaladze, Palker, Ryan, Doris, Conan, Deegan, VDF, Connors, JGP, Sexton, Byrne, Henshaw, COB, TOB, Ringrose, ROL, Lowe, Larmour, JOB, Keenan, A Byrne

Thats 26 unless I'm forgetting anyone...we may get 1 or 2 back this week, but it doesn't look likely based on that update.

Rigor Mortis

Scarlets away will be a test for a team that is getting more and more stretched. Wonderful experience for the young lads.

accensi0n

Might only win without a try bonus.

arsebiscuits1

accensi0n wrote: »

Might only win without a try bonus.

Why would you say such horrible things

arsebiscuits1

Rigor Mortis wrote: »

Scarlets away will be a test for a team that is getting more and more stretched. Wonderful experience for the young lads.

Absolutely a tough test.

And it's been such a good chance to blood some depth with the younger guys.

But we are absolutely blessed to have the quality and experience in the pack to help the young guns out

Sheep Shagger

Impressive....

https://www.wintee.store/collections/pocollections/products/custom-ichipro14xmas01leinsterrugby002

Buer

molloyjh wrote: »

Back issue doesn't sound great. I hope it's nothing major as he's been going so well.

Our absentee list must be crazy at this stage...

Healy, Byrne, Kelleher, Furlong, Porter, Abdaladze, Palker, Ryan, Doris, Conan, Deegan, VDF, Connors, JGP, Sexton, Byrne, Henshaw, COB, TOB, Ringrose, ROL, Lowe, Larmour, JOB, Keenan, A Byrne

Thats 26 unless I'm forgetting anyone...we may get 1 or 2 back this week, but it doesn't look likely based on that update.

With Ringrose back in full training I wonder will they release him back to Leinster? Probably more likely that they just drop him straight back into the Irish side though.

I can see a strong selection taking the field. Much the same pack as the other night with Toner potentially replacing Molony and Penny possibly coming back in too although Josh Murphy deserves to retain his spot based on last week. Possibly Leavy takes a break and comes off the bench.

The back line is where we'll be stretched. Could really do with ROL back in the side. It would make a huge difference. We were very wobbly in our three quarter defence against Cardiff.

molloyjh

Buer wrote: »

With Ringrose back in full training I wonder will they release him back to Leinster? Probably more likely that they just drop him straight back into the Irish side though.

I can see a strong selection taking the field. Much the same pack as the other night with Toner potentially replacing Molony and Penny possibly coming back in too although Josh Murphy deserves to retain his spot based on last week. Possibly Leavy takes a break and comes off the bench.

The back line is where we'll be stretched. Could really do with ROL back in the side. It would make a huge difference. We were very wobbly in our three quarter defence against Cardiff.

The update specifically refers to Ringrose still being unavailable. Hes back with Leinster now for his rehab so obviously was never due to be back fit for the November games.

This is going to be a bloody tough game for us. Bent must really be feeling the effort now. He has started all 7 games so far this season. Thankfully most of our other forwards have been able to get a rest week or two. But I'm worried that the game time and injuries will be too much this weekend.

molloyjh

Sheep Shagger wrote: »

Impressive....

https://www.wintee.store/collections/pocollections/products/custom-ichipro14xmas01leinsterrugby002

Where did you get this? Looking at some of the site it look a bit dodge and I can't find any mention if it when I do a Google search...

realhorrorshow

Sheep Shagger wrote: »

Impressive....

https://www.wintee.store/collections/pocollections/products/custom-ichipro14xmas01leinsterrugby002

Can anyone vouch for this site? Tempted to get one for a friend.

Sheep Shagger

realhorrorshow wrote: »

Can anyone vouch for this site? Tempted to get one for a friend.

Could be dodge but they accept PayPal which a dodgy seller normally wouldn't do. If it doesn't arrive you can dispute the transaction and get a refund easily.

Trying to work out the sizing...

durkadurka

Absolutely delighted to see a Templeogue ( my Alma mater) lad Eric O Sullivan getting the call up.
Very hard for lads from minor schools to get spotted.
He played his senior cup rugby in the ‘McMullin shield’ for crying out loud.
They don’t get the coaching and conditioning that the lads from big schools get.
Yeah I know he plays for ulster but he’s one of us so I’m delira.

Backagain111

durkadurka wrote: »

Absolutely delighted to see a Templeogue ( my Alma mater) lad Eric O Sullivan getting the call up.
Very hard for lads from minor schools to get spotted.
He played his senior cup rugby in the ‘McMullin shield’ for crying out loud.
They don’t get the coaching and conditioning that the lads from big schools get.
Yeah I know he plays for ulster but he’s one of us so I’m delira.

I played against him a few times when he was playing for St.Marys club team, he was playing number 8, decent player but never thought he could get this far, fairplay to him

Sheep Shagger

Sheep Shagger wrote: »

Impressive....

https://www.wintee.store/collections/pocollections/products/custom-ichipro14xmas01leinsterrugby002

Kearndashians

14.5

arsebiscuits1

molloyjh wrote: »

The update specifically refers to Ringrose still being unavailable. Hes back with Leinster now for his rehab so obviously was never due to be back fit for the November games.

This is going to be a bloody tough game for us. Bent must really be feeling the effort now. He has started all 7 games so far this season. Thankfully most of our other forwards have been able to get a rest week or two. But I'm worried that the game time and injuries will be too much this weekend.

Worried about Benty too but I haven't seen any notable dip in his performances so far to his huge credit. He was winning scrum penalties and even stepped a defender against Cardiff!

In fairness to him this block would be comparable to this time last year. He started 5 weeks in a row, played off the bench the next 2 weeks and started the week after.

Undoubtedly the plan would been not to have relied on him this heavily but I think it will be ok.

He hasn't got a huge amount of miles on the clock for his age (147 appearances in 9 seasons) and his injury record is terrific.

I've also knocked on every surface of wood in my vicinity, thrown salt, stood up spun around and blessed myself as I typed those last 2 sentences.

bayern

Academy players pictured at training today:

Marcus Hanan(20/LH), Tom Clarkson(20/TH), Charlie Ryan(21/Lock), Joe McCarthy(19/Lock), Alex Soroka(19/Backrow), Sean O'Brien(20/Backrow), Paddy Patterson(21/Scrumhalf), Cormac Foley(21/Scrumhalf), David Hawkshaw(21/Outhalf), Liam Turner(21/Centre), Michael Silvester(22/Fullback), Aaron O'Sullivan(20/Wing), Andrew Smith(20/Wing), Max O'Reilly(20/Fullback), Niall Comerford(20/Wing), Jamie Osborne(19/Wing)

Richie_Rich89

One of the uncapped academy backs could make the XXIII for the Scarlets match if ROL and JOB are unavailable, although it's probably more likely they'd go for another 6-2 split.

stellenbosch

Backagain111 wrote: »

I played against him a few times when he was playing for St.Marys club team, he was playing number 8, decent player but never thought he could get this far, fairplay to him

That must have been when he was in school at Templeogue as he played all his post school club rugby with Trinity at prop until 2017 when he went to Ulster on trial. He played Leinster U19s and 20s but never was in sub or academy

bayern

Leinster submitted full senior and academy squad for european competition this season, 66 players total. Confirms addition of Marcus Hanan(LH Prop/Clane RFC/Old Belvedere) to academy.

Leinster squad

LH Prop(5)
Cian Healy(33)
Ed Byrne(27) - injured
Peter Dooley(26)
Michael Milne(21)
Marcus Hanan(20)

TH Prop(6)
Michael Bent(34)
Tadhg Furlong(28) - injured
Andrew Porter(24)
Vakh Abdaladze(24) - injured
Ciaran Parker(24) - injured
Tom Clarkson(20)

Hooker(5)
Sean Cronin(34)
James Tracy(29)
Ronan Kelleher(22)
Dan Sheehan(22)
John McKee(20) - injured

Lock(9)
Scott Fardy(36)
Devin Toner(340
Ross Molony(26)
James Ryan(24)
Jack Dunne(22)
Ryan Baird(21)
Charlie Ryan(21)
Brian Deeny(20) - injured
Joe McCarthy(19)

Backrow(12)
Rhys Ruddock(30)
Jack Conan(28) - injured
Josh Van Der Flier(27)
Dan Leavy(26)
Josh Murphy(25)
Will Connors(24)
Max Deegan(24) - injured
Caelan Doris(22)
Scott Penny(21)
Martin Moloney(21) - injured
Sean O'Brien(20)
Alex Soroka(19)

Scrumhalf(6)
Jamie Gibson Park(28)
Luke McGrath(27)
Rowan Osborne(24)
Hugh O'Sullivan(22)
Paddy Patterson(21)
Cormac Foley(21)

Outhalf(4)
Jonathan Sexton(35) - injured
Ross Byrne(25)
Harry Byrne(21)
David Hawkshaw(21)

Centre(7)
Robbie Henshaw(27) - injured
Rory O'Loughlin(26) - injured
Garry Ringrose(25) - injured
Conor O'Brien(24) - injured
Ciaran Frawley(22)
Tommy O'Brien(22) - injured
Liam Turner(21)

Back Three(12)
Dave Kearney(31)
James Lowe(28)
Adam Byrne(26) - injured
Cian Kelleher(26)
Hugo Keenan(24)
Jimmy O'Brien(23) - injured
Jordan Larmour(23) - injured
Michael Silvester(22)
Aaron O'Sullivan(20)
Andrew Smith(20)
Niall Comerford(20)
Max O'Reilly(20)