Leinster Team Talk Thread (Love you Furlong time)

stephen_n · 07-05-2023 12:23am

Strange game, ended by 2 Leinster fans trying to punch the head off each other, truly bizzare. Must be the weekend for it.

TRC10 · 07-05-2023 12:39am

Jenkins had another good game today after a very strong cameo v Toulouse. He's starting to rediscover his early season form. I'd have him starting v La Rochelle.

Thought Harry had a pretty good game today. And the 80 minutes will stand to him if he's needed over the next few weeks. It's been great to see him string a run of games together without picking up the niggles that plagued him over the last couple of years. Ross getting recalled to the Ireland squad and Sexton getting injured has meant he's gotten much more game time and that's really benefitted him.

Dubinusa · 07-05-2023 2:16am

Tough day for Milne, he will learn from it. Brilliant effort by the back row.

Dubinusa · 07-05-2023 3:07am

I'd go something similar next week.

Milne, McKee, Big Mike

Molony, Joe McCarthy

Deegan, Connors, Conan

Luke, Hb

Lowe, Henshaw, Turner, DK

JOB

Healy, Kelleher, Clarkson

Jenkins, Soroka

Foley, Prendergast

Frawley.

All_in_Flynn · 07-05-2023 9:40am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120564495#Comment_120564495

You say that but outside the scrum he played well I thought. He's a destructive carrier. Thought a couple of the scrum calls were a little bit messy, particularly the first scrum penalty against him which set the tone.

Don't think Leo and co will be upset by his performance anyway.

DelMcG · 07-05-2023 10:17am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120564363#Comment_120564363

Huge dude, as wide as he is tall. He makes the front row half a man wider just by being in it! Carlu Sadie, the replacement tighthead prop, was another massive guy, but shorter and possibly wider than Nche. He looked like a really destructive garden gnome.

Dubinusa · 07-05-2023 12:57pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120564836#Comment_120564836

Probably not re: Leo. I'm delighted he got rhe opportunity. In the loose he's great. Just a little more security scrum wise and Milne will be grand.

Dubinusa · 07-05-2023 1:09pm

I thought we had the only spark plug in the URC, until I saw VanRensberg. Now that's a spark plug type body. Poor Turner is out sparkplugged! Lol.

Dubinusa · 07-05-2023 1:15pm

How good was the back row yesterday? I thought Penny was going great until the HIA. Deegan , Doris and Conan were superb.

07-05-2023 1:43pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120563274#Comment_120563274

I don’t agree with this tbh.

Im obviously not criticising those of us who actually showed up yesterday, but I’d love to know where the 32k or so who were there for Toulouse the previous weekend were yesterday.

14k is pathetic for me for knock out rugby, and to watch an exciting side like the Sharks who have plenty of Springboks.

I know there have been a lot of games of late but they’ve all been in Dublin. You could get cheap family tickets yesterday, and the other tickets were like €25. Priciest seats yesterday were €60 I think.

For me, there are lots of fuckers out there whining about European Cup final tickets but who were nowhere to be seen yesterday.

I do think theres an element of Leinster support that think these good times and good days will last forever, but that’s likely to not be the case. We should be enjoying them when they’re here now.

Dubinusa · 07-05-2023 1:45pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120565424#Comment_120565424

You can't know the supporters finances! It's expensive to attend week on week. The attendance was poor. It is what it is.

07-05-2023 1:45pm

On the game itself - very businesslike and perfunctory win without ever feeling in jeopardy or getting out of third gear.

Scrums were a problem, but we were comfortably better in all other aspects.

Most players played well. Harry Byrne had a very solid game. Doris was obviously superb, but also felt Baird and Frawley were very assured.

07-05-2023 1:47pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120565427#Comment_120565427

Yeah, but what I’m saying the actual core support is much closer to the 14k who were there yesterday than the 40k-odd who’ll be there next week for the big event day out against Munster.

People who didn’t bother their hole going to cheer for the team yesterday have no business complaining if they can’t get their hands on European Cup final tickets.

Dubinusa · 07-05-2023 1:50pm

The re watch is good viewing. On the 2nd go round I thought that Evans is very inconsistent. The scrums were decided after a couple of scrums. The yellow card on Porter looked a clear red to me. Evans is and has been fairly poor everything I've seen him.

Dubinusa · 07-05-2023 1:52pm

Thought Larmour did well. He hit lots of rucks and his tackling was superb. Keenan also, fantastic effort.

I reckon Larmour goes again next week, injury permitting.

07-05-2023 1:52pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120565443#Comment_120565443

Evans was absolutely fine yesterday - best thing I could say was he wasn’t really noticeable, just let the game flow. Got the decisions on the cards correct (though agreed the second one could have been red).

Dubinusa · 07-05-2023 1:54pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120565435#Comment_120565435

That's true enough. Not sure about the timing, but I read it eas communion day yesterday?

Dubinusa · 07-05-2023 1:57pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120565451#Comment_120565451

He was right there when Doris took a high shot when scoring and didn't see it. I think he took issue with Milne almost immediately and then decided that Milne was the culprit at the scrums.

07-05-2023 1:58pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120565457#Comment_120565457

Maybe it was in some places, but highly unlikely all 32,000 or so people who were there the previous Saturday but not there yesterday happened to have communions to attend.

07-05-2023 2:00pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120565465#Comment_120565465

Yeah, but tbf to him he immediately reviewed the Doris incident and got it right. Refs aren’t supermen, they aren’t going to see everything, all you can hope is that they’re prepared to review what they miss and then get it right.

TBF - Milne was struggling yesterday IMO. One scrum for him was right in front of where I was sitting and he was really struggling to stay square.

FrannoFan · 07-05-2023 2:26pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120565424#Comment_120565424

People are limited with their time and their finance.

A lot of people have families etc. Can't be bailing off 4/5 weekends in a row to go to Leinster matches.

It was a game we were always likely to win.

People were there the previous week and likely to be there next week or the week after.

Agree they shouldn't moan about final tickets but expecting 25/30k at every game just isn't realistic particularly that one

vienne86 · 07-05-2023 2:44pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120565543#Comment_120565543

You're bang on here. I have the time and the finances to go to all these matches, but I must say, I was struggling with my enthusiasm yesterday. I would have been much happier in the RDS, but that may be just me. And we all have other stuff going on in our lives that can't be put on hold week in week out.

Former Former Former · 07-05-2023 2:45pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120565435#Comment_120565435

People who didn’t bother their hole going to cheer for the team yesterday have no business complaining if they can’t get their hands on European Cup final tickets

I didn't bother my hole going yesterday. And after the game, I congratulated myself on an astute choice.

It's potentially five Saturdays in a row at the Aviva, that's a lot of time, money and commitment for anyone and of all those games, yesterday was by some distance the most obvious choice to skip.

hold my beer · 07-05-2023 2:51pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120565424#Comment_120565424

I'd have been there only for a Communion. I suspect there's a lot in the same boat.

07-05-2023 2:56pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120565603#Comment_120565603

Yeah, look I was probably a bit hungover and cranky posting that earlier.

It was annoying how shite the crowd and atmosphere was yesterday though.

I did leave the ground with a feeling that the Leinster support has a real sense of ennui about it; not remotely excited about most of these games now.

sydthebeat · 07-05-2023 2:58pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120565449#Comment_120565449

thought he struggled to be honest, especially in the first half in the air against mapimpi, and wasnt at all as effective as dave on the other wing. i couldn't understand why our 9s kept targeting the battle between larmour and Mampimpi when Kearney had the beatings of potgieter on the other wing. Similarly to last weekend i though the moves died a lot with larmour in possession. i appreciate hes a winger and fancies himself to beat a defender, but the ability to keep continuity is one of the reasons lowe is so valuable, and again Dave Kearney on the other wing tended to allow the play to continue ie his kick through for JGP. Had that been larmour hed have kicked through for himself. Jordans carried for only 13 meters from 3 carries in his 55 minutes on the pitch, he wasnt exactly lighting it up out there. Dave on the other hand, accepting he was on for 80 mins, carried for 66 meters from 7 carries, including one fantastic 30 meter clean break in the second half.

07-05-2023 3:04pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120565635#Comment_120565635

I did bother my hole going but I think what's happening is the games are so lop-sided that it's just difficult to get excited. The game was over after 25 mins.

sydthebeat · 07-05-2023 3:12pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120565635#Comment_120565635

as you said yourself, the atmosphere was as a result of the perfunctory nature of the game. also the fact that the sharks brought zero to the game play beyond an international front row, plus 14k is lost in a stadium like the aviva.

crowd numbers were always going to be low for this game.

i don't also accept that there are 32K "supporters" whinging over tickets for next weekend.

there are 12K leinster season ticket holders and there was only 2,800 tickets available for the season ticket holders draw, in batches of 2, so thats basically a 1 in 10 chance of having a ticket available. Of course, a lot will have taken the risk and purchased the weekender tickets when they came out back in June 2022, but even at that it was quite a wedge fo fork out. it cost €300 for 2 premium weekend tickets.

next weekend will make up for it ( assuming there isn't a load of communions in munster ) 😋

CIARAN_BOYLE · 07-05-2023 3:16pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120565435#Comment_120565435

Dawson had a lovely talk a few years ago about the nature of support.

He said that the core support was the season ticket holders. Everything other than that are occasional fans. They might come to one or four games a season and if a big event happens it negatively effects the rest of the season.

He made the point that one of the reason he didn't want Leinster to play touring sides is that Leinster vs the all blacks would sell out the rds but it would take 5000 fans that would go to another game and make them not show up to that.

We saw something similar for the Sharks games. All the occasionals showed up for Toulouse and after that there was no more occasionals with the time or money or desire to come for the Sharks game allowing leaving the core (ie mostly season ticket holders) for the qf.

Exclamation Marc · 07-05-2023 3:29pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120565424#Comment_120565424

It's a bit obvious, surely, that Leinster v Toulouse in a European Semi-Final and Leinster v Sharks in a URC Quarter Final will have wildly differing appeals. In the first you're guaranteed Leinster's first team against some of the best players in the world in (arguably) the best club competition in world rugby. The second is a mix-and-match team against a team that finished 8th in a competition that we're unbeaten in (bar one game where we sent the kids) and are expected to romp home in.

It can be difficult to get wildly excited every weekend for nearly two months, it does take it out of people. Fans should attend where they can and its feasible to do so, but not every fan can make every game. There are a litany of reasons why people couldn't or wouldn't go; finances, availability, fatigue, etc.

As I said in a previous post, over a period of eight weeks from April 1st through to May 27th, there have/could/will be six games in the Aviva Stadium which is seriously intense for anyone with any sort of commitments.

Leinster Team Talk Thread (Love you Furlong time)

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