Leinster Team Talk Thread (Love you Furlong time)

I generally don't agree with much you post but this is pretty on the ball imo. I thought the team picked was good enough to win but see no reason for the mass rotation, Ireland will hopefully have to play Scotland, QF, SF, Final in October.

We did fight on two fronts.

We sent out a very weakened team and nearly won.

We'll see how we get on next week.

Congratulations on your win today, I hope we can level it up next week.

Hate to pile on but thought the team choice was wrong simply because I don’t agree that resting players helps them win Europe. Leinster plays same game plan every year and it doesn’t win them Europe at business end of season. Why do we keep wrapping players in cotton wool. Better a few injuries if rest are sharp. I just fear we will take 20 minutes to get into final while players warm up

I think it remains to be seen if gamble this week will pay off.

frankly don’t care about URC. We deserved to lose with that team selection.

It's not like Munster can't or shouldn't beat us. A day if we're off the boil and yea, we can lose. Did the team perform today? Was there any point we're Leinster were schooled? It was close! A missed conversion and here we are. We didn't play well. The team looked off and not the usual machine we are accustomed too. Munster went at us hellbent for leather. The pressured us and the snuck it.

The depth is there. Today wasn't great. Was it bad preparation? Eye on next week? We didn't deserve the win. Obviously, had we trotted out the 1st 23 we would have won, imo. Leo was more concerned with holding them over. It might work.

I think we win next week. I'm 🙏 we do. If we do win the season is in my opinion a success. Europe was and is the goal. A double would have been sensational. But, I didn't think it was on the cards.

How do you lads rate the players performance individually? I'd say most were 5 or 6 out of 10 with Deegan and Conan at 8. VDf at 7.

As at 5:30 pm yesterday, Leinster were potentially 3 games away from 2 trophies. As of this morning, they are 1 game away from a single trophy. The 1 that's left, will be the toughest to win. People say the CC is what it's all about that but the URC demands more respect. It really has become a great competition. For Leinster to have secured the top spot in the league, losing only 1 game where they fielded the weakest team they could (away), with home advantage all the way through to the final, being knocked out like they were yesterday is a very bad look.

I think Leinster have more than enough resources and depth in their squad to balance their teams with younger and weaker players. I firmly believe that yesterday's 23 left them over exposed. In saying that Munster had to play to well to beat them but fair play they did it.

Looking back at last week's team, I see no reason why Ringrose, JGP, Porter and Ross Byrne weren't involved in some shape yesterday. Lowe doing the full warmup and not in the squad was bizarre to me!

The way the calendar fell, I would have thought that you go all out for the URC semi-final and that flows through to the CC final. 2 intense weeks. In this game there is always a risk you pick up injuries but that's where the 1 or 2 individuals coming in a) know their job and b) there's quality and experience around them.

If you lose the URC final because you lost some of your best players in a CC Final the week before, well that's understandable.

Anyone saying look at La Rochelle this weekend, my understanding is that Rog has is play off place secured and is doing exactly what Leinster did when they sent the academy to South Africa a few weeks back.

Anyway, I think we'll win by 10+ on Saturday

Well, it's very disappointing not to have won yesterday, of course it was, and that's not to take anything away from Munster. A double would have been incredible.

But we won three Pro14s in a row without doing the double and all the talk was that Leinster can do it in the league but can't compete with the very best. Europe is the benchmark.

If by resting some guys, and giving game time to those who needed it (Kelleher, Henshaw), we've increased our chances of winning next week by even 5%, then it was the right call for me.

But this all hangs on winning next week.

(Also worth noting that we very nearly won yesterday)

Yep, it is a very different competition.

When Leinster did the double in 2018, we had a week's break before the European final, then the Pro14 SF and final.

With the current calendar, you'd have to go full strength five weeks in a row to fully target both. That's not viable, especially if you have teams like the Stormers and the Bulls in the mix, and if Munster are finally getting their sh1t together.

Being at two of the three league finals between 2009 and 2012 (Ospreys and Munster being particularly standout) that we lost means that yeah, I do remember URC wins. Hockeying the Scarlets, beating Ulster well and even the drab affair against Munster in the recent run were still great.

This Leinster as a squad are good enough to be at least in the final of both the URC and Europe. As regards URC, a league final should be the minimum we'd be expecting - what's the point of strolling the league stage if you don't bother to field a strong team in the knockouts? Are we just writing it off as training for Europe?

Anything can happen in a final, that's grand - if you don't win it's disappointing but you can't win them all. But to (again, which makes it more galling) go out at the semi stage because we're focusing on Europe just doesn't sit right with me.

If we win next week, I'll be delighted. Surprised, but delighted. I'll still be pretty pissed about yesterday's loss when it was absolutely winnable and in our own hands to do so.

As I said in the match thread, Leo is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. If they win next week, no one will give a flying f* about yesterday.

I would have liked to see a bit more firepower on the bench but hopefully this defeat stings and spurs them on next week knowing it's all or nothing with nothing to fall back on.

Interestingly, Munster in the URC averaged 10.3 penalties per game (11.4 in the HC) while Leinster averaged 10.9 in URC (and 9.6 in HC).

Yesterday, Munster conceded 5 penalties which is unheard of in a SF while Leinster conceded 12.

Giving Frank the game was always going to be controversial. Leinster's highest penalty count this season was 15 vs Connacht in Galway. Guess who the ref was for that one 😬.