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

I don't think it's that big an issue tbh. Over the course of the season, Leinster's penalty count is 184 (versus opponents 194) and we've received 7 yellows and 1 red (which was rescinded subsequently or downgraded to a yellow), versus our opponents who've received 17 yellows, 1 red.

While there have been games where we've conceded a lot of penalties (18 v Gloucester in Kingsholm), they're usually situations where obviously the ref is a little whistle happy as the opposition typically has a similar-ish penalty count: Gloucester conceded 16 in Kingsholm.

Only three times this season have we have a differential where we conceded 5 or more penalties than the opposition (Zebre - we had 14 versus their 7, Connacht in Galway - we had 15 to their 10, and Ospreys where we conceded 13 to their 7). We've won the penalty battle (had less penalties) in 8 of 15 games, and the same in another 2 games.

Don't think it's a huge problem.

Well to double down on the penalty count issue, a lot of the penalties we're conceding aren't indicative of a lack of discipline or the sort that would attract yellow cards.

We gave away 14 penalties yesterday - broken down as follows:

(i) Holding On on the deck - 4 penalties (McCarthy (20 min), Ala'alatoa (11 min), Keenan (59m) & Ringrose(46 min)) - some of these were good work by the Racing jackling player, some were a little harsh (Wade got one on that looked very suspect).

(ii) Scrum Penalties - 2 penalties (30 min and 41 min) - one of these at least was way harsh, it was on the Leinster 5m and it looked like the entire Racing front row went at an angle right from the collision point.

(iii) Maul - side entry - 3 penalties - (Milne (75 min), Porter (21 min), Kelleher (23 min)) - these were probably accurate penalties, but I feel like teams concede a lot of these sort of penalties.

(iv) Other Ruck Penalties - 2 penalties (McCarthy (6 min), Porter (7 min)) - McCarthy's was for side entry on the clear out, was correct. Porter's was for putting his arms on the ground past the ball, and was also correct.

(v) Line Out Penalties - 2 pens (McCarthy (31 min), Doris (38 min)) - McCarthy was deemed to have tackled in the air, I think it was very harsh. Doris was for sealing off, getting ahead of the carrier, looked fair.

(vi) Deliberate knock on - 1 pen (Larmour (27 min)) - accurate penalty, no argument (was virtually identical to the one Racing had in the first min though).

Once again, don't think there is much to be concerned with here. It doesn't point to us being under incredible pressure really.

Jesus, that's a huge shame.

Injury update seems to be okay - says Doris rolled his ankle but will join up with the Irish squad as expected. JVDF had a dead leg coming off.

Still no updates (so presumably unavailable this weekend) all of: Johnny Sexton (cheek bone), Tadhg Furlong (calf), Charlie Ngatai (hamstring), Ed Byrne (knee), Jason Jenkins (hamstring), Robbie Henshaw (wrist), Martin Moloney (knee), Ciarán Frawley (knee) and Tommy O’Brien (knee)

IRFU are going to have to approve someone at TH for Leinster. Furlong's central contract mean's he barely plays 7 or 8 times a year now for Leinster in recent times, because he's being managed to keep him available for Ireland. That's fine, and makes sense, but they have to allow for a good quality replacement for his absence.

I think Mike Ala'alatoa's play has been a little off over the past few weeks, with some inaccuracies creeping in and he's struggled a little at scrums. He'll get a bit of a break during the 6N down weeks though and will hopefully be good to go again. He's hugely valuable to Leinster atm.