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

sydthebeat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120062391#Comment_120062391

This has been discussed many times already, as you already know

For a guy who "isn't learned to tackle properly" he's widely renowned as a strong defensive 10 and has a very clean disciplinary record.

His technique works very well for the reason he uses it

Must love hardship

Just rewatched the game.. thought cormac foley had a great little cameo. Even if a few passes off his left were a little low. Hopefully he gets a start this weekend..

Gibson park very frustrating at times.. I dont know how many times donal lenihan said he made an "uncharacteristic error"

Dubinusa

I hope Foley pushes on. We really don't have many top rated 9's come through.

Podge_irl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120062636#Comment_120062636

His technique works very well for the reason he uses it

And there is a reason we want it gone from the game. It is bad technique and puts him and others at risk.

CIARAN_BOYLE

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120062832#Comment_120062832

Leinster need someone to come through in the next 2-5 years. JGP and McGrath are 29 and 30.

McCarthy isn't good enough imo. While he is a solid 3rd choice I don't think he will be good to start or bench in big games. As such I feel that we should be giving as many development minutes to younger players who might come good. IE Foley and Murphy in the academy.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120062901#Comment_120062901

Been quite impressed with Paddy **** Patterson. Would **** love if he came back to Leinster **** rugby.

Dubinusa

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120062951#Comment_120062951

Can't see him returning. Murray won't be around much longer and he's fairly certain to get playing time at Munster.

FrannoFan

Parks form has been a bit of a worry.

He looks more like the park who arrived from nz than the one who looked great last year.

I guess the high tempo, quick decision making comes with a price, but lately there has been quite a few poor decisions.

I just hope last season wasn't the outlier

arsebiscuits1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120063139#Comment_120063139

It's Gibson-Park as I'm fairly sure you know...

And I'm not really seeing what you're seeing.

He had an extremely strong November internationals being the difference maker against South Africa and minding an unexpected debutant starting 10 against Australia.

He's had 4 outings for Leinster including starting against Racing in one of our most complete performances away in France where he was very influential and a big reason for how we picked them apart.

He played 73 minutes against Ulster when we spent more of the game down a man and helped orchestrate an excellent comeback.

I can understand why someone looking at JGP this season might think his form is a bit of. He's been a bit wayward at times and has been trying low percentage plays.

Mack Hansen goes in on the second bite down the blindside against Australia and the narrative is suddenly different (and he was extremely close).

JGP is fine, he's throwing the ball around in games were dominant and he's trying things. His second half performance against South Africa was the best 9 play we've seen in Ireland in a long time.

Dubinusa

Ospreys have won 3 in a row. Are they turning the corner?

It's kind of frustrating that J10 is out and Frawley is out the same time. To be honest, Frawley doesn't appear to be the answer at 10 for me. Good player but is a jack of all trades.

Ross has a chance to impress. It would take a lot of convincing for him to get into the discussion for the international team.

Harry also has a chance! Will he impress? He's kind of fallen down the rabbit hole over the last year.

How long is Jenkins signed for? He's been impressive and a big benifit to the pack. Fingers crossed he's back soon.

I remember when Ospreys used to be our bogey team.

AdamD

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120064151#Comment_120064151

That second bite down the blindside was a dreadful play though, whether Hansen makes it by an inch or misses by an inch, it was still a ridiculous call in the circumstances.

Sexton was visibly fuming at him a few times on Sunday, particularly when he kicked it out seemingly not knowing it would be HT.

Must love hardship

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120064657#Comment_120064657

I dont think JGP is the same player without sexton outside him and on sunday he made a number of poor choices even when he was on the field.

His attempted kick through in the Connacht 22 was particularly poor and resulted in him getting the curly finger shortly after. Foley then came on made a lovely skip pass out wide for the Russell try.

I think Murray might wrestle the 9 Jersey back from JgP for the 6 nations especially with sexton missing.

Dubinusa

Sexton makes others around him better! That's how good he is. He brings the pashun, sees the game like no other! But the pashun!!! The fcukin pashun. Even POM angry face doesn't have that pashun.

JGP is a good player. I don't think he's world class but, very capable. He suits Irelands style. He has improved over the years.

It should be interesting to see how Foley fares. He had a mare v Connacht. But otherwise has looked pretty good. Nick McCarthy is AIL level. Not a good player at all.

Dubinusa

For Ospreys

1. Healy

2. Kelleher

3. Mike

4. Joe McCarthy

5. Molony

6. Rhys

7. Penny

8. Conan

9. Foley

10. Ross

11. Lowe

12. Ngati

13. Osborne

14. Larmour

15. JOB

16. McKee

17. Milne

18. Vakh

19. Deeny

20. Soroka

21. JGP

22. HB

23. Russell

Furlong won't be available, I think. Jenkins either.

Exclamation Marc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120065079#Comment_120065079

Let's be fair, any player would be elevated with Sexton playing outside them. One good performance albeit with a couple of errors does not a bad player make. You've an extremely short memory if you think that somehow Murray has done anything to take the Ireland jersey from JGP. JGP played the majority of the game against SA, and started against Fiji and Australia. Murray has hardly lit up the world since then.

Dubinusa

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120065431#Comment_120065431

Murray is done soon enough. He shouldn't even be considered post world cup. JGP is a good player. Tempo and pace! That's what's expected.

Lost Ormond

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120065758#Comment_120065758

Except that isnt going to happen. He may be 34 before end of this season going into world cup but he will be considered post world cup as will any others of similar age.

FrannoFan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120064010#Comment_120064010

Extremely strong seems generous. I thought he was particularly poor against Oz. Might have been trying to take pressure off Crowley but it led to a number of poor decisions.

Kicked ball away with clock in the red against Connacht at half time, last act in the game was to kick it away with connacht defense stretched.

He's high risk/high reward. You can't bemoan a lack of tempo and then also complain when they get the decision wrong when trying to play fast I just feel the error count has jumped.

JGP playing at the moment reminds me more of the guy who arrived into Ireland rather than the quality international he looked last season.

Dubinusa

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120065828#Comment_120065828

By then, I hope Casey has passed him. A 34 yr old Murray would not be ideal.

Curious to see this Leinster selection, and what young players are given an opportunity. It seems Harry Byrne will start at 10; really would love it if he can stay healthy and fulfil his potential.

A position that might be a problem for Leinster over the coming weeks is hooker. I know there is no direct clash with URC games and 6N games, but there are still game weeks in the middle and immediately after that it seems unlikely we'll have Sheehan & Kelleher for, where we'll have to use a combination of McKee, McElroy & Barron.

This is really where we feel the hit of James Tracy's retirement - both he and Sean Cronin played a lot of minutes for Leinster last season (Tracy 12 apps, 7 starts, 520 mins, 4 tries, Cronin 10 apps, 4 starts, 330 mins, 3 tries).

This year from 13 games all the starts bar 1 have gone to Sheehan and Kelleher, with McKee getting the solitary other start and playing in 113 mins, while McElroy got 24 mins off the bench against Scarlets.

Exclamation Marc

Leinster Rugby (caps in brackets):

15. Hugo Keenan (48)

14. Jordan Larmour (80)

13. Jamie Osborne (26)

12. Charlie Ngatai (10)

11. Jimmy O’Brien (62)

10. Harry Byrne (39)

9. Cormac Foley (10)

1. Cian Healy (256)

2. Dan Sheehan (38)

3. Michael Ala’alatoa (35)

4. Ross Molony (151)

5. Brian Deeny (5)

6. Rhys Ruddock (215) CAPTAIN

7. Scott Penny (47)

8. Jack Conan (124)

​16. John McKee (10)

17. Michael Milne (21)

18. Vakhtang Abdaladze (24)

19. James Ryan (66)

20. Josh van der Flier (121)

21. Nick McCarthy (53)

22. Ross Byrne (140)

23. Rob Russell (12)

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120073280#Comment_120073280

Really surprised to see Sheehan starting again - we're kind of flogging him this season. He's already played almost 85% as many minutes this year as he played in the whole season last year (and that was when Kelleher was injured for a substantial part of it). Equally surprised to see JvdF on the bench.

It's a better backline than I expected, and a good back row as well. We look a little lightweight in the second row, but good to see more gametime for Deeny.

arsebiscuits1

That's a a cracking team.

Dying to see Foley and Harry start together. I think they could be a nifty partnership.

But shrewd also keeping Ngatai outside Harry to give him a hand and also a strong pack to give Foley a decent platform.

Nick did not take his chance against Connacht (although tbh we had FA front foot ball with the lineout issues) so a big chance for Foley to get himself in the shop window for Europe. Especially with Luke touch and go.

Ospreys team:

15. Cai Evans

14. Mat Protheroe

13. Michael Collins

12. Keiran Williams

11. Keelan Giles

10. Owen Williams

9. Reuben Morgan-Williams

 

1. Nicky Smith

2. Dewi Lake

3. Tomas Francis

4. Rhys Davies

5. Alun Wyn Jones

6. Ethan Roots

7. Justin Tipuric ©

8. Morgan Morris

 

Replacements:

16. Scott Baldwin

17. Gareth Thomas

18. Tom Botha

19. Huw Sutton

20. Harri Deaves

21. Matthew Aubrey

22. Joe Hawkins

23. Jack Walsh

They're missing Rhys Webb, Adam Beard and a handful of others, but still a strong selection.

sydthebeat

4 points minimum on offer here, 5 points if the weather plays ball. ospreys are having a bit of a resurgence, but they are a poor squad over all. That Leinster selection should win by about 15 points if they stay clued in.

arsebiscuits1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120073481#Comment_120073481

Leinster 14 point favourites here. And you don't see many poor bookies!

I think we'd be targeting a TBP here.

Dubinusa

Very good side named. Lot of mix for this one. It's great to see Milne involved after missing a year. Deeny with another start and Ryan on the bench! I hope HB can pull through this with no injuries. This lad needs a run of matches.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120073659#Comment_120073659

It does look like we're targeting a TBP, but I'm not entirely sure why we've gone so fully loaded.

Will Sheehan and Ala'alatoa be expected to both play a big part over the next two European weekends as well, or are we assuming we won't need to be so strong for those games?

They must be very confident around Furlong being healthy for the two European games.