Leinster Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread XII (The Byrne Supremacy)

KH25

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118966822#Comment_118966822

It was abundantly clear that Jonker had a decision he wanted in mind and no interest in debating it. It’s a disgrace to see a TMO at that.

TomsOnTheRoof

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118966822#Comment_118966822

To be fair to the ref I think he 100% knew the foot was in touch and that's why he was so adamant about the pass being forward. He must have asked Jonker three or four times was he certain. A very bad look for the league.

Neil3030

TOB stood out. Good size, used effectively as a crash ball runner a couple of times off set piece. But had the pace to beat Kok on the outside for his try.

I think everyone can go home happy from that one. Sharks happy with a win. Leinster happy with a spirited performance from a young side. URC happy with a decent home SA crowd and exciting finish. Grobblers wife happy he didn't commit a felony assault.

Dubinusa

Great experience for Clarkson: McKie and Deeny. Happy enough with the result. We could be spanked next week!

Burkie1203

Leinster guaranteed Home QF and SF now barring some big points margins results in next few weeks

stephen_n

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118966798#Comment_118966798

Whatever about the reffing. Since when was over 20,000 people a poor crowd?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118966825#Comment_118966825

Yeah given the two squads and some of Leinster's sloppiness they really should have been further ahead and not at risk of a late loss.

That said - I thought the weather would have suited them more given the makeup of their pack. I thought we did remarkably well to match them physically albeit we struggled to deal with their backs on a few occasions.

Ruddock, Porter and Deegan were great in the first half. Dunne went well. Frawley, Osbourne and Tommy O'Brien went great in the backs, McCarthy went well and his try saving tackle was textbook. Thought Byrne was so so.

I'll be interested to read what the South African pundits made of it all!

PMC83

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118966825#Comment_118966825

If they'd stolen it at the death would they have been proper?

crisco10

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118966846#Comment_118966846

The way Jonker kept dismissing him was terrible though. Anytime the ref tried to interject, Jonker just told him that "We need to look, this is very important". It was so dismissive and condescending, like a grumpy old man telling the room to shut up.

Anyway, aside from a small moment in 2nd quarter and at the very end, I'd have yaken that result

Clegg

Tommy O'Brien has a lot of dog in him. He's an extremely aggressive carrier and we used him to great effect off first phase ball from the scrum. Got over the gain line a couple of times from that.

Reminds me a lot of McFadden in that regard. But he's a more elusive runner than Ferg, I think.

Akrasia

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118966945#Comment_118966945

Rather than being a conspiracy for Jonker to hand the win to the Sharks, I think it's just evidence that Jonker is a bit of an ass who thinks he's better than the relatively inexperienced Georgian referee

Edit --

Actually, I just looked it up and Jonker's son plays for the Sharks (on loan at the monent) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rynhardt_Jonker

He should never have been allowed to be an official for this game

Quin_Dub

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118966945#Comment_118966945

Absolutely, he was definitely playing the "I'm the very senior experienced ref here, you should listen to what I'm saying".

As you say his tone was very disrespectful

Burkie1203

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118966981#Comment_118966981

He was over ruling an onfield decision of in touch. It must be clear and obvious. It wasn't

Akrasia

I just looked up Jonker and he has a son who is a professional rugby player who plays for the Sharks

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rynhardt_Jonker

It's nuts that Marius Jonker was allowed to be an official for this game

crisco10

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118967004#Comment_118967004

And that's not really a South African conspiracy

That's just classic URC/pro14/pro12/rabo league/celtic league ineptitude.

El_Duderino 09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118966846#Comment_118966846

Yeah I thought that too. It didn't strike me as particularly forward. But the foot in touch was outrageous.

I often think they go too far to create consensus between the refs, but this took it too far. The Ref should have the authority to say 'look, I disagree. I see his foot in touch'. But the ref can really say that. It's just not how it works at the moment. They have to agree so the ref found a work around by ruling it a forward pass.

Clegg

I thought Penney had a super first half. His relative lack of size may be an issue with regards to test recognition. But he's an excellent player regardless.

boetstark

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118966768#Comment_118966768

What is your point on poor crowds.

Former Former Former

That's a fantastic result. Looked for a while like we'd be eaten alive but to come out with a LBP and incredibly close to a win was very impressive.

Frawley is a class act, TOB went very well too and Ruddock was immense.

A few very bad defensive lapses really cost us.

crisco10

If I was a Sharks fan, I would be tearing my hair out at our 1st try.

1) Sharks have ball on the Leinster 5m line but then crappy knock on.

2) Leinster clear long down the field and then Fullback knocks-on/snared into touch on his own 22

3) Sharks actually turn over the scrappy lineout ball, but then the clearance kick gets blocked down

4) Sharks mess up the lineout on their 5 to gift Leinster the ball on the Sharks line

5) Try.

As I said, how sloppy is all that!

salmocab

So actually enjoyed the game, could have won it in the end. Both teams seemed to make some basic enough errors but that added to the to and fro.

TRC10

Would have been great to win it at the end, but I don't think we can be too disappointed with that at all.

That was a 2nd/3rd and in some cases 4th choice Leinster team with a number of lads making their debuts and they took a Sharks team stacked with Springboks right to the death. Yes there was sloppiness and errors, but you also must consider the pressure these young lads were under and the calibre of player they were up against. Nche, Du Toit, Mbonambi, Kolisi and Mapimpi are top class international players and Fassi and Bosch are Sprinboks and both class players. It was never going to be easy.

Guys like McKee, Barron, Clarkson, Deeny, Osborne, T'O'B, Cosgrave will gain a huge amount from playing against enormous South Africans and world cup winners in their backyard.

McKee went well I thought. As did Deeny. Frawley had a very tidy game. T.O'Brien took his try superbly and contributed well around the field. He'll push Jimmy for the 14 shirt v Leicester.

But overall, I think the lads did well and the experience will be great for their development and stand to them big time in the future.

TomsOnTheRoof

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118967109#Comment_118967109

I felt bad for the ref. He's relatively new to top tier rugby and he got no assistance from Jonker. Fair play to him for nipping the Fassi foot in touch incident in the bud.

Dubinusa

So what's the side gonna look like next week, assuming Porter, Kellerman and Frawley are sent home?

It's probably going to be a nightmare. I wonder if Ruddock is also due back this week?

Could ne looking at

1. Milne

2. McKie

3. Clarkson

4. Dunne

5. Murphy

6. Maloney

7. Penny

8. Deegan

9. McCarthy

10. HB

11. Russell

12. TOB

13. Osborne

14. ROL

15. Cosgrove

16. Barron

17. Dooley

18. Vakh

19. Deeny

20 Soroka

21. Foley

22. Hawkshaw

23. SOB

Very light on experience if the more senior lads leave and Treacy is injured.

El_Duderino 09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118968385#Comment_118968385

I wouldn't count on Degan. He looked in a lot of pain when the scrum fell on him.

Rootsblower

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118966689#Comment_118966689

So you would shout for a South Africa team over an Irish provincial team.

The next fella mostly wants to see Irish teams winning.

molloyjh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118968636#Comment_118968636

It’s also completely self defeating. Munster were never going to catch Leinster in the league, but a Sharks win was always going to put Munster under real pressure coming into these last 2 weeks. Munster fans should have been hoping for a Leinster win as it was what was best for Munster.

Poorside

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118968763#Comment_118968763

Actually, if Leinster didn't get the LBP yesterday Munster could have caught them, so there's that.

Dubinusa

It's good to see attendances at the S.A venues. Their stadiums are very nice. The fans down there will be ecstatic to get back to the stadiums.

These teams in S.A will shake up a fairly dour league. 3 sides will make the top 8! For the Welch, this is not good. Welch rugby right now is in a bit of a mess.

Leinster will be chuffed getting a point yesterday. The fitness level of the younger players is great, the experience will come soon enough. The scrum was bellowed quite a bit and that's concerning. I know there were debuts and inexperienced lads but, we didn't really get a foothold at the scrum.

I haven't seen the entire match, but the bits I saw I was surprised at how we were cut open so easily. Osborne is usually very reliable defensively. Yesterday he was sliced and diced a couple of times. Cosgrove too.

I think HB is still nursing an injury. He didn't look very comfortable and Frawley kicked off the tee.

All in all, some positives and valuable lessons for us. The kids will play again next week and I would say they will be hosed. I'd be shocked if the were able to keep it close.

molloyjh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118968816#Comment_118968816

It was mathematically possible, but there’s 95 points between their PD and ours. It would have been a massive ask to make that up.