Leinster Team Talk Thread (Love you Furlong time)

Byrne doesn't look good enough for this level anymore. He's been overtaken by both Milne and Boyle IMO. We would be mad to extend him this year. After watching back some of last year's games, surely there was a tighthead on the market better than Ala'alatoa who we could have given a 2 year deal to who would atleast bring something to the table.

I'd be shocked if Leinster aren't in touch with Aungier about coming back next summer as a potential replacement for Ala'alatoa. People forget that, in the space of a year, Leinster lost Aungier, Salanoa and Illo. They wanted all of them but couldn't match what was being offered in terms of opportunities at that point in time with Bent, Furlong and Porter all available at tighthead. That was an entire generation of tightheads who departed in a very short space of time.

Say what you want about van Graan, but his players seem to like him.

It'd be a pleasant surprise if Osborne isn't badly hurt from the Connacht game.

On the Connacht game, it was equal parts enthralling and frustrating. In parts, we look ok.....but in parts we look very reminiscent of the 2014-17 Leinster team.

The front five was not good generally with the possible exception of Jenkins. Baird looked livelier when he went to blindside but was fairly anonymous at lock. Our scrum was comfortably beaten in the first half and outfoxed in the second half when we made changes. Furlong was rightly p*ssed but he shouldn't have allowed Buckley to sucker him in back to back scrum sets by not taking the hit. Furlong goes down both times and the call goes against him.

Our line out was largely a shambles. It was fine last week against Munster but this was quite concerning. It was clear the confidence was dropping with each screw up. Molony seemed to solidify things but, assuming he was calling it, he made an inexcusable call for a long, over the top throw late on when it looked like our last chance. Silly call on a young hooker in front of a vociferous home support.

Ed Byrne is only back so I'll give him a pass. He hadn't played in 8 months but, with a strong crop of young looseheads available, he needs to deliver on his next performance or he's going to have a hard time getting a contract renewal. It's hard to see how he's a long term better bet than Milne, McCarthy or Boyle.

Ala'alatoa was fairly anonymous. I hope he's not seeing out his days and taking his eye off the ball. I know he's not a big fan favourite but he has generally been solid and had a strong work rate on the pitch. I didn't see much of that last night.

Jenkins looked ok, at least. Stole a couple of throws, scored his try and topped the tackle count. Hopefully, he has more showings like that where he's a solid squad player and can be as useful to us as Molony for the remainder of his contract. Not holding my breath but I can dream.

The back row looked really disjointed. Poor discipline and decision making. Penny got done twice just before half time for rolling into the ball after making a tackle. Very naive. Culhane got done for it just after half time leading to a team warning although he was definitely being held in (Busby started warning Connacht for holding players in straight after). Culhane was physical in the carry and started brightly enough but faded a bit before going off with what looked to be a knock. Deegan should really be standing out in these games if he wants to be in the first choice 23 but he wasn't really standing out for any positive reasons, for me. His decision to shoot up and in on Hanrahan when Furlong (I know, a prop but still....) left Hansen with empty field ahead of him and an injured Russell trying to get across to make a tackle he was never going to. That try was poor generally but Deegan really mucked up.

Ben Murphy lacked calm and direction even if he has a nice pass generally. Wasn't surprising to see him removed early for Foley who had a far more assured showing but his pass let him down a couple of times. I thought HB had a couple of noticeable errors but he generally went well. A few poor moments in the first half with one or two nice passes and great grubber to force a 5m scrum. After the break, he was assured and gave good direction. It was a very Ross Byrne showing. No flash passes but directed people well outside him and let the direction and decision making do the work rather than any heroics. You can see him turning to his backline and instructing them on the scoring phase to win the game which is good to see. One great cross kick in his own half led to a 60m break downfield, ultimately resulting in the Kelleher try. He'll probably start next week. Not great but was fine.

Midfield was a bit of a mess. Ngatai had some really classy moments. Obliterated someone in a tackle, scored a try, great grubber for the Kelleher try and nice draw and pass for the final try to put Turner into space. But he also had some bad errors. Dropped a ball inexplicably in a good position in the first half. Made a couple of defensive errors....and he looks slow. Really slow to me. Like, Ross Byrne slow. Well, maybe not that slow. Henshaw was anonymous. Completely. Not sure what he's bringing to the table right now. It's a real concern. I'd have him as third choice 12 right now with Ngatai or even Frawley (despite any game time there) more deserving of a start next week.

Back three saw relatively little ball. Russell looked dangerous but had one sloppy knock on. Osborne's injury is a concern. Didn't look like he'll be fit in the next couple of weeks. Frawley had very little involvement for the most part. Nice finish for his try. I thought Turner really brought some energy to proceedings with the ball in hand. Nice catch and draw for the final try.

Overall, a lot to be concerned about. It looked like we really upped our defensive linespeed after the break. We were knocking them back behind the gain line but we struggled to reorganise after that and gaps appeared very quickly which led to some tries conceded. The team seem very rudderless and lacking cohesion on the pitch at the moment. If it's not sorted immediately, the season will slip away in a matter of weeks.

I'm talking about Snyman and Knox going to play under him again, not Russell.

Leinster really need to sort out their short to medium term plans at Loosehead and Tighthead. They inspired no confidence what so ever against Connacht. There has been talk from people of maybe trying to bring back Jack Aungier or Marty Moore. I've definitely been an advocate of this, but I don't see the IRFU weakening one province to strengthen another.

I have confidence in Milne and Boyle but Leinster are losing so much experience next year and the scrum will become a vulnerable weakness that teams will pin point. Should Leinster invest in both LH and TH next year? TH without question but LH? I would take a year deal on a veteran LH.