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

Anyone else see this?

I sometimes think Jackman enjoys trolling Munster fans. McKee starting over Barron seems a bit fanciful, and Buckley has the profile of a back row like hooker that every province is looking for. One performance vs the scarlets, and McKee could start? Barron has been pretty good this year and is on the ireland A team.

I think he's taking the piss here a bit and have to applaud it.

It surprised me also because clearly Leinster haven't trusted McKee to close out other games this year. Preferring to ask Shehan to play basically the entire match on multiple occasions.

There is elements of how short memories people can have regarding Kelleher alright.

And that's not a slight on Sheehan who has been immense.

Kellehers ability to win collisions he has no right to on either side of the ball is astonishing at times. He can just stop people dead in the tackle.

I hope he gets a solid run of injury free games

Kelleher is a serious unit. His ball carrying is immense. Sheehan is probably in pole position right now. Munster have 2 decent lads in Barron and Buckley, both who will likely improve. McKee is still just a prospect, he's got little game time and has a ways to go. Why would Munster want a lad who's still developing? They have 2 of their own developing. As far as Treacy goes, his experience goes a long way within the squad. He's got some time left. He's undervalued by a lot of us. He should be returning to the squad in the new year. When the international lads are off, McKee and Treacy are a good option.

A few years back, Leinster supporters were thinking that the province couldn't develop hookers. Look at the past 3 years!

How good is Barron, the leinster one i mean?

The conspiracy side of my brain tells me that leinster want to keep someone further down the depth chart that other provinces are sniffing around, and offering McKee up as bait.

On Kelleher, I still think he’s crucial to our chances at the world cup. He’s devastating in collisions and a great scrummager.

The thing is, Jackman is plugged into Leinster in a big way, and I dont remember him ever touting a guy should go to another province who was of the kind of quality to be a game changer. There’s definitley the possibility of some kite flying here.

It’s also frankly weird. McKee doesnt pop off the screen as an elite prospect that would parachute into the top of munster’s depth chart. He barely got any minutes as Sheehan played almost full games every game in a world cup year. Bench hookers usually get more minutes. Leinster aren't the first team to kick the **** out of the scarlets away.

The most likely answer is that Jackman is doing some light trolling, though.

I would say Munster do need a hooker. Scannel, i doubt will be re-signed. He gave away the dumbest penalty i have ever seen against us at a critical point and is just not a vet leader. They need a hooker at the top of their chart to rotate with Barron. Not a good but not great prospect.

I disagree that Jackman doesn’t get inside info. He’s often the first person to drop new contracts & signings publicly, at least for leinster and recently ulster.

This is true. He can barely pronounce names usually.

Release him and pick McCarthy instead.

So P McCarthy may switch to lh? Where would that leave us for future this? We've got Lasisi and McGuire in the academy. Are they highly rated?

What about Boyle? Would McCarthy be seen as a better prospect?