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

Dubinusa

No contract updates today?

jacothelad

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120435410#Comment_120435410

Having watched Leicester struggle to beat Edinburgh who are truly dreadful, I am confident that Leinster will backscuttle and roger Tigers to oblivion.

Blut2

The spread with the bookies is Leinster to win by 15points currently, so they would seem to share jaco's confidence.

CORMACREYN

Caelan Doris trained with the squad today.

Clegg

Referee for Friday's game has been named.

https://twitter.com/RuaidhriOC/status/1642889990597230592?t=SFUsZ1_0uzjoGkyIxYAnsw&s=09

stephen_n

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120435713#Comment_120435713

The tigers could have an extra week and I doubt it would affect the outcome. They weren’t good enough at home last year with Borthwick in charge. They have regressed since then and are away from home. I expect this to be a comfortable win.

durthacht

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120435826#Comment_120435826

"backscuttle and roger to oblivion" should be the title of the next thread.

Dubinusa

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120436005#Comment_120436005

Forgot that we played them last season.

Dubinusa

Some good fixture upcoming. I hope La Rochelle beat tha scrote outta Sarries. It will be close. Sarries are still a top side.

Toulouse v Sharks will be a show stopper. I think Sharks will bate them.

Stormers to beat Exeter. Although, I like the Irish contingent at Exeter.

I think we will win.

And then the kiddies are off to the S. A for learning.

Exclamation Marc

Jordi Murphy retiring at the end of the season at the age of 32. It was a shame that it never really worked out for him at Ulster (in my opinion) as there were a few years where he was undroppable for Leinster.

crisco10

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120436673#Comment_120436673

Such a shame. He really got unlucky that just as he decided to move on Heaslip retired.

I frequently quote him as an example of how "redistributing " players amongst the provinces doesn't always work out very well.

CIARAN_BOYLE

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120436858#Comment_120436858

Heaslip was a year on the sidelines when he retired. Conan had won the battle to be the starting 8 at Leinster post Heaslip when Murphy left.

Connors, VDF, Leavy and Doris were emerging and Leinster was betting on them. Murphy had lost the spot in the first choice 23 when he left.

Not to mention Ruddock and SOB was still there.

awec

Yes, while moving to Ulster didn't improve Murphy's prospects in the end thanks to badly timed injuries, I'm not sure it made them any worse either. Presumably he could see what was coming behind him at Leinster.

Dubinusa

Jordi was a very good olayer. Hope he does well in retirement.

molloyjh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120436897#Comment_120436897

Conan hadn’t won the battle for the 8 jersey and Murphy wasn’t out of the 23. Murphy started all 3 HEC KO games at 8 with Deegan on the bench vs Saracens and Conan on the bench vs Scarlets and Racing. Murphy started at 7 against Munster in the P14 SF with Conan at 8 and benched in the P14 final with Conan starting.

So of the 5 KO games in his last season he was in the 23 in all 5, started 4 (including all HEC KOs) and was ahead of Conan for 2 (don’t remember if Conan was fit for Saracens) while only being behind him for 1. All this while also being ahead of Conan for Ireland too.

crisco10

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120436897#Comment_120436897

You're also forgetting that Murphy announced his move to Ulster very early in 2017/2018 season, it was around November. So heaslip was still months away from retiring when Murphy made the decision to move.

And as @molloyjh said, he was ahead of Conan etc. And given he was an established international as well at that point, I'd expect he wouldn't have feared trying to keep his spot against the "youngsters"

Dubinusa

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120437350#Comment_120437350

Massive competition though! VDF, Leavy and Conan, as well as Rhys and Fardy played at 6. Jordi suffered injuries and the others took their chances.

Faugheen

Jordi in 2017/2018 was outstanding. It really felt like a redemption arc from him because he had struggled with injuries and a loss of form beforehand.

A real shame it never worked out for him a Ulster, and hopefully he stays involved in the game.

RichieRich_89

If JvdF is unavailable I just wonder would Connors be the man you want against a team whose game is so much based around physicality. He can just kill the opposition team's momentum completely early in the phase count with his tackles.

From a psychological and team management point of view they're almost stuck having to back Penny, though. He's the one who has been playing regularly (and performing well) and been called up by Ireland. If they don't back Penny now when will they? It'd be a huge blow to his aspirations and might get him thinking about a move, whereas Connors, just back from injury, might be prepared to bide his time and work his way back in.

Interested Observer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120437842#Comment_120437842

Was thinking about this and I'd probably go with Connors, he'll tackle guys like Wiese to a standstill all day long. Penny has a lot of very admirable qualities obviously but he's not a dominant tackler really. Having said that, Penny appears next cab off the rank at 7 at the moment though and would be pretty harsh on him.

pickarooney

Harsh on people or a previously established hierarchy shouldn't come into it. It's harsh on players to lose their place when injured, it's harsh on players to play all the qualifiers and be dropped in favour of better players for the final stages but that's pro sport. No sentiment, just picking the right players for the job and any player who doesn't understand that has no business in a professional squad.

I still reckon they'll go with Penny as it's a home game against Leicester and we should be all about imposing our game and not worrying too much about trying to counteract theirs.

Former Former Former

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120437239#Comment_120437239

Yeah, Murphy made the right decision at the time, but sort of like Conway, by the end of the season it looked like he might have been better off staying. Very few players would start a European final and think "I'm glad I'm outta here next week", I doubt Murphy did either.

I always remember that when we won that European Cup, and it was Nacewa, Sexton and Murphy who hoisted the trophy, it was a lovely gesture.

Murphy is one of those players who is impossible to judge without referring to his injuries. The game in Chicago summed him up so well, gets the starting jersey, scores a try... and gets injured with no other player within 5 metres, out for a year.

He retires with three Six Nations medals (incl one Grand Slam), a European Cup, played in 2 RWCs, beat the All Blacks twice and a drawer full of league medals... but still a bit of an unfulfilled talent, which is saying something.

Best of luck to him.

AdamD

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120437956#Comment_120437956

They'll go with Penny because his form has been brilliant and he's playing better rugby than Connors, who also hasn't played more than 26 minutes in a single game this year.

Interested Observer

Jack Conan does an excellent interview on Second Captains yesterday, highly recommend listening to it. Covers a whole load of stuff, and he's a really good interviewee, very honest and doesn't seem like he's been media trained down to boilerplate replies at all.

Link

arsebiscuits1

Jordi was an interesting player.

At no point in his career would be be in the top class bracket at 6 or 7 or 8.

But at many points in his career he was very much a top class 6 and 7 AND 8.

There were few players in my memory who could slot so seamlessly into any of those roles at such a high level. This versatility got him on the pitch for some of the great days of Leinster and Irish rugby. But it probably stopped him getting on the pitch for an extended run of games - the most amount of Ireland appearances in a season he managed was (a still very impressive) 7.

To be able to say he started against Tier 1 opposition in all 3 back row positions more than once is an extremely impressive stat and shows a man that knew his role and had an extremely varied and complete skillset.

Congrats on a great career Jordi

Interested Observer

Murray Kinsella reporting VdF unlikely to be fit for Friday. So whatever I said above notwithstanding, wonder if they'll just select all of Baird, Doris and Conan on (get your best players on the pitch and it'll work itself out) or else they will go for a specialist 7 who probably will know the particular role better.

pickarooney

I can't really see any of those 3 in the 7 role but then again do we really need a 7? France essentially play without one and do just fine.

I'd back Penny - he's been on really good form, will fit in pretty seamlessly.

Connors at his best is a great player, but he hasn't been at his best since returning from injury and hasn't played enough minutes.

A starting back row of Baird - Penny - Conan, with Doris to come in to makes sense.

Presume Penny will slot in at 7. Connors hasn't had many (any?) starts since returning from several long layoffs and the coaches seem to be taking a very gradual approach with him. As others have said - Leicester are going to be a very physical encounter so I'd suspect whilst a match fit Connors would be optimal in the absence of JVdF, the game on Friday is likely a 'week too soon (tm)'.

Realistically Conan is probably back to the bench which seems extremely harsh but I think pragmatically a Baird - Penny - Doris backrow is what we will see. I think Ryan / Jenkins will be our second row and if not Jenkins then Moloney, can't see Leinster moving Baird back to 5 at this stage of the season.

Could Doris do a job at 7? Potentially but what makes JDvF so effective there is his speed off the line and his engine between breakdowns and Doris isn't the same kind of athlete, he'll make more ground in contact but I don't know if he could get through the same amount of work over 80 minutes whereas we know Penny can.

Will be an interesting team selection and the shorter turn around will potentially play a part. I expect this to be a tighter, tougher game than a 15 point spread would suggest.

DelMcG

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120438208#Comment_120438208

Had no idea about that energy/health issue he had. Sounds like a thyroid thing maybe? He's definitely over it anyway, that's for damn sure!