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

They didn't win the RWC from 1987 until 2011. But you know what I mean.

It was always going to be a tough assignment; in France against a French team with a big pack and good scrum who are good in defence and at the breakdown. The people calling it beforehand as an easy Leinster win were well wide of the mark.

If it was just a one-off I'd be inclined to call it a good effort but just coming up short against the better team on the day. But losing like this is becoming an unpleasant trend.

Look at our team!! It's the Ireland team ffs. Today was the very definition of a bottle job. If we played at 80% of what we were capable of we would have won comfortably, and we should have won comfortably. Our squad is just better than theirs. And they were missing two of their best players and one was on one leg.

Do we need a new coach? Lancaster has a track record of failure on the big stage.

I think Barnes failing to yellow red zone infringements hurt us doubly. Both on our scoring opportunities, and conversely on theirs. We might have been better off if they had scored around the 70-75 min mark. Let's us out of the 22 and gives us some time to get down their half again.

They didn't score because la Rochelle have away multiple penalties to kill attacks. Different day/ ref and those get a card and the game is different.

Leinster's attack was poor for sure, but it's nuanced.

I wouldn't really call it a bottle job. True, only maybe four of the La Rochelle team would make a combined XV but they have some very physical players, and they play as a team and are technically good in the carry, in defence, and at the breakdown.

For me the story of the game was their defence being able to stop Leinster swinging it wide and making big inroads down the wing, and their breakdown work making Leinster's ball be not clean.

Most people with any clue know Stuart Lancaster is the best thing to happen to irish rugby since Joe schmidt. Coaches can't always be blamed for players not performing. Bad mistakes cost leinster today in tight game. Sexton not clearing the ball into touch and mistakes like knocks ons putting pressure on our scrum and forcing us to defend against tanks of men for large periods. Yes leinster lost but let's not throw the baby out with the bath water. I think when LAR went to 14 leinster showed a slight sign of exposing them thru ringrose but if I recall Byrne knocked on and LAR got a penalty from a high tackle from Gibson Park and they squeezed leinster from there denying them any possession. These are the small margins big games are won and lost on. A powerful display by LAR today without a couple of key players too so credit to them and their belief. They had been driven back by leinster for the majority of the game when in attack. Few uncharacteristic mistakes cost us today. Think this one is on the players.

Really have to question the choice not to go to the attacking line-out more. Our maul was dominant, and they were going up penalties almost everytime we used it. We failed to put them under pressure at all with it. That one before half time was a real missed opportunity imo. They were creaking, having given up multiple penalties. Great chance for a score and/ or a card

It's hard to turn down those shots at goal in a final when they were all gimme threes in front of the posts. But it was a change from how Leinster usually play. They hardly take shots at goal from penalties at all in most games. But I suppose most teams don't have as good defence as La Rochelle, so in most games it doesn't come into it because Leinster are banging in the five-pointers.

Very disappointing! Fair play to LA Rochelle, they deserved it. Better team won. Not really a bottle job, imo, just couldn't get a foothold or parity up front. How do we fix it? First, Porter needs to up his weight and learn to scrum on the loosehead side. His weakness is being targeted. Second, HB has got to be tried more. RB had a shocker. They should have left Sexton on. I don't think it's a mental block, it's more of having to play fast paced high risk rugby. Today, was a poor performance. Overall, La Rochelle won the collisions and got over the gainline. Today was a very poor day for Conan and Doris. They weren't at the races. Leinster spent the sin bin period in their own half! Very poor loss, worse than the loss to Sarries. Not once during the 2nd half did I think we were going to breach the defense or even win.

Questions have got to be asked. This happens every single season. It's standard that we come up with one absolute stinker of a performance every season. It's part of a coach's job to get his team into the right headspace to perform to the best of it's ability. Leinster were a team well below the sum of their parts today. As we were in the semi last season, and the quarter final the year before, and the final the year before.

At what point do questions need to be asked? How many more times do we need to bottle it until we consider that the guy who failed to get out of the group with England at their own world cup, might not be this messiah figure who holds the keys to success for Leinster and Ireland?

0 trophies in 4 years with England and pool stage elimination at RWC 2015

1 Heineken Cup in 6 years with Leinster

Some record!

We're in a difficult spot for next week! How many of today's team start.