Leinster Team Talk Thread (Love you Furlong time)

Fantastic win. We rode our luck and got some calls with the referee as did they. Surprisingly, I think the weather helped us more than them. They kept trying to go for the 7 pointer rather than take a straightforward 3 which killed them. It was always going to be hard to handle the ball in those conditions and they repeatedly spilled it trying to force the issue.

It was a genuinely superb defensive showing. They got the selection on the money with their back row. Dulin was superb but, from a Leinster perspective, that was the best game I've ever seen Baird deliver. He was athletic and confrontational which was great to see. The entire mess that led to the yellow cards was caused by Skelton sitting on and then kneeling on Connors on the ground. Baird was the one who went in to shove him off which was good to see. Skelton should really have been the one going to the bin as the original penalty was against him too.

Connors delivered a brilliant 50 minute showing. He did exactly what you want, chopping their big carriers down on the gain line. Skelton and Atonio had no joy whatsoever in the loose. But the entire team showed some impressive line speed to cut them down and halt any progress.

I was very happy with how Harry Byrne went in his time on the field. Had one kick that went dead. Probably doesn't go on a dry day but, as the commentator said, he hadn't put a foot wrong before that. Nice hands a couple of times (handling by all of our backline for the try was brilliant) and one brilliant banana kick that almost gave us a valuable 50/22. Frawley came in and did his part too. Probably not as accurate or effective in open play but his line kicking to clear was solid and the drop goal attempt showed good awareness (and was a great strike too). The last penalty speaks for itself. He'll get a start next week surely.

It was a fairly horrible game to referee with the conditions and the intensity so I'd be fairly lenient on Carley overall but I thought his manner was poor. He was determined to set down a marker and take no chat from either team but that meant that legitimate concerns were waved away too. He dismissed Ryan as captain after Ryan wanted to make points on Skelton at the breakdown and then Botia nudging Connors into an airborne Harry Byrne. In the second half, Colombe took head contact from Kelleher and went down at the side of the ruck. Colombe highlighted it and was told to go away. He made a meal of it but it was probably worth looking at.

I think it was fairly clear that Nienaber has had an impact already in how we're trying to play. There were reports that Leinster spent a lot of last week repeatedly practicing how quickly they could shoot up in a line and that was evident yesterday. Need to back it all up next week now. The next 5 weeks are still huge for the season but I don't think we could have asked for much better than the last 3 matches.

Also, Ala'alatoa deserves a lot of praise. 80 minutes in a heavy pitch, multiple scrums and a 130kg loosehead coming on against you.....he must have had to go to a dark place out on that pitch to get through it!

I'd imagine one win and some losing bonus points should be enough for a team to progress in our pool. There are no real whipping boys so teams will take points from one another. 8 points should be enough when 4/6 progress.

A five pointer against Leicester will probably be enough combined with three losing BPs. But that would put them as a lower seed and on the road for all of the knock outs which will be tough for them.

I'd happily see them miss out entirely though.

"Skelton, as usual, was involved in every bit of niggle in the first 40 mins, and never seemed to take the grin off his face. He was nowhere to be seen as the game went on and he just saw himself cut down time and again. His energy was gone by 50 mins."

A yellow pack Quinnie - on stilts! It's very easy to see why ROG and D Ryan love him!

Well said TRC! One of the great wins indeed for Leinster. I too am optimistic about the end of the season.

I was only thinking at full time that you must have a massive smile on your typically jovial face at such an inspiring performance.

Your optimism really brings out the best in us!