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

sebdavis · 30-04-2021 1:03pm

sydthebeat wrote: »

Yes, and plisson is the reserve

As expected, I am not sure why teams anymore bother with this "oh we have so many injuries" the weeks before these games. Then magically they all clear up

Problem for Leinster is the injuries are in fact true

sydthebeat · 30-04-2021 1:05pm

yeah i find leinsters communication with the media to be truthful to the point of helping the opposition.
McBryde basically came out at the start of the week and told La Rochelle what leinster are going to do.

sebdavis · 30-04-2021 1:09pm

sydthebeat wrote: »

yeah i find leinsters communication with the media to be truthful to the point of helping the opposition.
McBryde basically came out at the start of the week and told La Rochelle what leinster are going to do.

I doubt Leinster spent the week preparing the La Rochelle thinking they would have no fit 10

The so called "mind games" are a lot of rubbish. Wasn't it Gatland who kept telling everyone the Irish team before the games like Joe was losing the plot about leaks

sydthebeat · 30-04-2021 1:59pm

sebdavis wrote: »

I doubt Leinster spent the week preparing the La Rochelle thinking they would have no fit 10

The so called "mind games" are a lot of rubbish. Wasn't it Gatland who kept telling everyone the Irish team before the games like Joe was losing the plot about leaks

id say leinster are pretty happy that west is starting ahead of plisson

west is very good at what he does well (rapidly quick, great passer, off load for days)... but hes flaky under pressure, not great from the boot or tee.

Former Former Former · 30-04-2021 2:15pm

sebdavis wrote: »

As expected, I am not sure why teams anymore bother with this "oh we have so many injuries" the weeks before these games. Then magically they all clear up

You mean, players recover from injuries??

West had to go off injured in their last match two weeks ago and Plisson hasn't played in a month. Now they're fit again.

I don't think there's anything sinister here.

crisco10 · 30-04-2021 2:19pm

sydthebeat wrote: »

yeah i find leinsters communication with the media to be truthful to the point of helping the opposition.
McBryde basically came out at the start of the week and told La Rochelle what leinster are going to do.

Yeah, I thought revealing Sexton wouldn't play so early was incredibly honest. Why not leave LAR guessing for a bit longer?

Yeah_Right · 30-04-2021 2:27pm

sydthebeat wrote: »

id say leinster are pretty happy that west is starting ahead of plisson

west is very good at what he does well (rapidly quick, great passer, off load for days)... but hes flaky under pressure, not great from the boot or tee.

All very true. He is a Carlos Spencer lite. I will always remember him fondly for the try he scored for Blues against the BI Lions. But I think that was about the pinnacle of his career in NZ.

yerrahbah · 30-04-2021 3:09pm

Cant believe Gourdon is a sub, he has been brilliant.

Interested Observer · 30-04-2021 3:24pm

arsebiscuits1 wrote: »

Gotta feel for HOS. I know he was poor against Munster

Osborne hasn't played in 6 weeks due to injury and has never really been looked at ahead of HOS and he's confirmed off to Munster.

I mean it's clear neither would get on unless Luke drops - but still feel for him

I don't want to slate the guy but HOS is not cut out for this level of rugby imo. The last game Osborne played I'm pretty sure was the Ospreys where Leinster lost, and things went completely to pot when HOS came on unfortunately. It's the right call.

Anyway, in general that's a really good team. You'd feel desperate for poor Dave Kearney but they figure ROL will cover everywhere but 15 I guess in the outside backs. And he started against Exeter and the final against Munster so has some good rugby in him recently.

hahashake · 30-04-2021 3:28pm

Yeah_Right wrote: »

All very true. He is a Carlos Spencer lite. I will always remember him fondly for the try he scored for Blues against the BI Lions. But I think that was about the pinnacle of his career in NZ.

Extra-lite Spencer maybe. Another in a long line of ultimately not great Blues 10s.

Slightly amusing that La Rochelle have two ginger Maoris in the halves.

stephen_n · 30-04-2021 6:34pm

arsebiscuits1 wrote: »

Gotta feel for HOS. I know he was poor against Munster

Osborne hasn't played in 6 weeks due to injury and has never really been looked at ahead of HOS and he's confirmed off to Munster.

I mean it's clear neither would get on unless Luke drops - but still feel for him

Osborne has been ahead of HOS for a while now. I don’t think if Osborne had been fit last week HOS would have started.

Stout Warrior · 30-04-2021 9:36pm

Interested Observer wrote: »

I don't want to slate the guy but HOS is not cut out for this level of rugby imo. The last game Osborne played I'm pretty sure was the Ospreys where Leinster lost, and things went completely to pot when HOS came on unfortunately. It's the right call.

Anyway, in general that's a really good team. You'd feel desperate for poor Dave Kearney but they figure ROL will cover everywhere but 15 I guess in the outside backs. And he started against Exeter and the final against Munster so has some good rugby in him recently.

He’s not cut out for rugby in the frame of mind he is in. Remember he is a double cup winner at schools level and excels when surrounded with familiar players who he trusts around him. Hawkshaw hasn’t stood either and he stood out at schools level. It’s partially about mindset and partially about adapting to the people you are surrounded with. Maybe HOS doesn’t click with his teammates for whatever reason.

Podge_irl · 30-04-2021 9:46pm

If you stood out at schools level and look poor when surrounded by internationals and multiple European cup winners, but problem is probably not with the latter.

Stout Warrior · 30-04-2021 9:53pm

Podge_irl wrote: »

If you stood out at schools level and look poor when surrounded by internationals and multiple European cup winners, but problem is probably not with the latter.

And then what metric do we measure players by at schools level. Maybe players have passed him out. Maybe he hasn’t adapted to the new environment. Maybe he doesn’t gel with the new personalities and skill sets around him. It doesn’t make him a bad or incapable player.

Podge_irl · 30-04-2021 9:57pm

Stout Warrior wrote: »

And then what metric do we measure players by at schools level. Maybe players have passed him out. Maybe he hasn’t adapted to the new environment. Maybe he doesn’t gel with the new personalities and skill sets around him. It doesn’t make him a bad or incapable player.

Maybe being a double cup winner at schools level means absolutely nothing when it comes to the professional game??

He plays poorly, which is all that really matters.

Stout Warrior · 30-04-2021 10:03pm

Podge_irl wrote: »

Maybe being a double cup winner at schools level means absolutely nothing when it comes to the professional game??

He plays poorly, which is all that really matters.

Of what you’ve seen of him. He’s a good player - maybe scrum half isn’t his position. Maybe he’s switched off. Reserve your criticism for deserved failures. Mistakes or poor performance in a few games are not something deserving of complete rejection

thomond2006 · 30-04-2021 10:11pm

"HOS might not be good enough but he went to the right school."

Squidgy Black · 30-04-2021 10:13pm

thomond2006 wrote: »

"HOS might not be good enough but he went to the right school."

No thomond, it's not that he's not good enough, he probably just switched off or doesn't get along with his teammates enough.

Podge_irl · 30-04-2021 10:16pm

Squidgy Black wrote: »

he probably just switched off or doesn't get along with his teammates enough.

If that is his excuse for playing so poorly then he is, in fact, not a good enough player for professional rugby.

His performances at schools level are just wildly, completely and utterly irrelevant. They mean nothing.

Squidgy Black · 30-04-2021 10:18pm

Podge_irl wrote: »

If that is his excuse for playing so poorly then he is, in fact, not a good enough player for professional rugby.

His performances at schools level are just wildly, completely and utterly irrelevant. They mean nothing.

No you're clearly misunderstanding Podge, his performances at 15 when he was playing with other kids in school and not senior rugby clearly mean he's simply choosing not to play well.

Podge_irl · 30-04-2021 10:19pm

Ok, I've clearly missed some kind of joke...

Edit: never mind, somehow misread the above as coming from the same poster :pac:

Stout Warrior · 30-04-2021 10:22pm

Podge_irl wrote: »

If that is his excuse for playing so poorly then he is, in fact, not a good enough player for professional rugby.

His performances at schools level are just wildly, completely and utterly irrelevant. They mean nothing.

It’s relevant because he excelled against his peers. That might not always be the case but at at some point in time it was the case. So he’s not a poor player always, just now he is substandard to his peers.

Squidgy Black · 30-04-2021 10:24pm

Stout Warrior wrote: »

It’s relevant because he excelled against his peers. That might not always be the case but at at some point in time it was the case. So he’s not a poor player always, just now he is substandard to his peers.

If mental gymnastics was an olympics sport you'd get a 10 from me.

aloooof · 30-04-2021 10:32pm

Stout Warrior wrote: »

Of what you’ve seen of him. He’s a good player - maybe scrum half isn’t his position. Maybe he’s switched off. Reserve your criticism for deserved failures. Mistakes or poor performance in a few games are not something deserving of complete rejection

No one has said he’s a failure. No one has said he deserves complete rejection. People have said he’s played poorly. Which he has.

FrannoFan · 01-05-2021 1:14am

Stout Warrior wrote: »

He’s not cut out for rugby in the frame of mind he is in. Remember he is a double cup winner at schools level and excels when surrounded with familiar players who he trusts around him. Hawkshaw hasn’t stood either and he stood out at schools level. It’s partially about mindset and partially about adapting to the people you are surrounded with. Maybe HOS doesn’t click with his teammates for whatever reason.

He has exceptional school pedigree. Jct as a second year, made a final. Jct as third year made a final. Sct as 4th/5th/6th year made finals all three times. Doesn't get much better than that
Think the moving between 9/15 during this time didn't help him
Also shows schools rugby isn't a definite marker of potential to make it in the leinster system.

Rugby4568 · 01-05-2021 12:33pm

Stout Warrior wrote: »

He’s not cut out for rugby in the frame of mind he is in. Remember he is a double cup winner at schools level and excels when surrounded with familiar players who he trusts around him. Hawkshaw hasn’t stood either and he stood out at schools level. It’s partially about mindset and partially about adapting to the people you are surrounded with. Maybe HOS doesn’t click with his teammates for whatever reason.

Hawkshaw has stood out to be fair he had a few good cameos earlier on in the season scoring a good try and a few rips I wouldn’t write him off yet. He seems to have good leg drive. Think he needs to focus on centre the only reason he played 10 against Munster was because we literally had no out half’s left. I’d like to see more of him at centre

Dubinusa · 01-05-2021 3:39pm

I agree re. Hawkshaw. I think he could be a utility player. He could be a good center and possibly a fb? I wouldn't write him off yet. Look at the turmoil the injuries have caused! He may become a valuable depth player.