Leinster Team Talk Thread (Love you Furlong time)

Maybe they'll just switch Healy to tighthead next year the way things are going and have him and Clarkson make up for the loss of Ala'alatoa. Would Boyle be ready to be the main back up loosehead by then if Milne is gone?

A few weeks ago two boys ran onto the pitch briefly after the game. So Leinster, who for years in expectation of this event have lined the pitch with security staff, were clearly forced to upgrade the security even more. Who knows what untold damage their small feet could do to the playing surface. I for one am looking forward to the pitch being protected by ED209 police droids, so I can feel safe that nothing like this would ever be allowed happen again.

Was it me or was the pitch not in great condition? Visually it looked fine and obviously its been quite wet recently.

But there was a lot of players just slipping around the place.

There's been no rugby played on it for 6 weeks. Seemed strange

I thought the defensive patterns settled more as the game went on. They had a sustained period of possession around the 50th minute deep in our half with no reward as we shut them down consistently and effectively before turning them over. But it certainly isn't a forgiving system with errors punished to the extreme if the inside work rate and/or decisions are off.

I thought Turner was very good and, from the backs, was comfortably the pick of the bunch. His try was good but I really liked some of his long flat passing to the wing, inviting guys onto the ball. He's 24 now so is unlikely ever to become a first team player, I'd imagine but he could fill that Rory O'Loughlin role well for us particularly given that he covered wing later on too.

The pack was very solid. Nothing special but extremely effective and tidy. I don't think any of them had anything below a 6 or 7/10 type performance without any big stand outs. And the subs kept that ticking along nicely with Ed Byrne and McKee showing some lovely touches in the loose. Nice to see the set piece being fairly dominant too given that it was a significantly more experienced front row facing them. Gallo started throughout the RWC for Argentina and Pasquali has plenty of 6N experience with Italy. It was a good test for Boyle and Clarkson and, whilst I'm not sure the decisions were always what other officials would have given, it will do their confidence a world of good to better such a duo.

Not all perfect though. Luke McGrath's passing is regressing from a relatively low point already. It was a total lottery on Saturday with a huge number of passes being off target. If one of the younger options can round out their game a bit, I can see McGrath struggling for a spot in the 23 at some point next season. That level of passing simply cannot be accommodated.

I thought Ross Byrne looked rusty. His handling was less than fluid, not so much in terms of passing but he seemed to always adjust the ball slightly in his hands to make sure he had it positioned perfectly in his grasp before releasing. Previously, it would be a far more singular motion of catching and passing but it improved as the game went on.

I would hope that Harry Byrne is retained for the next couple of Irish games anyway. Ross will surely be back in for the summer tour (although nothing is certain given how he has been jettisoned previously) but I'd hope they back HB at this point.

And if one falls and slips and gets hurt it's Lionel Hutz time

Just because it's quiet today I had a quick look at Lukes passing. In isolation it doesn't tell you too much as there's nothing to compare it to in terms of his performance or his peers. Murphy made 25 passes off the bench to Lukes 61 which would give a slight idea

It might not still be the case but when I did it - half backs passing would be graded as Good, Average or Bad.

Good - cannot be faulted in any way. No checked run, good pace, no reach, ball caught out in front in torso area (conditions and context depending)

Average - slight check in run, ball marginally out of torso zone, poor pace etc

Bad - ball doesn't go to hand, runner has to significantly check, ball too high/ low etc.

McGrath had 61 passes, 31 of which were "Good", 23 of which were "Average" and 7 of which were "Bad"

A return of just over 50% good passes isn't really a metric he or any of the coaches would be happy with.

Murphy had 25 passes, 17 of which were "Good", 6 "Average, 2 "Bad"

So Murphy comes in on the ~70% "Good" metric which would be a closer expectation of a 9. But less relevant due to a smaller sample size and factors such as fatigue not being as relevant. I think it should be noted McGrath started the game quite strongly with consistent Good passes.

The most notable thing was the pace. 4 times Leinster cleared their lines with Osborne standing about 15m in the pocket to clear. McGraths pass to be colloquial about it "died on it's arse". It barely had the pace to go the whole 15m and it happened off both hands. Contrast this with the one time Murphy did it with Osborne again clearing - much better pace on it and hit the man perfectly.

Under the microcosm of the pass by pass analysis - Murphys passing was unquestionably quicker. I always will admire a 9 who goes for the "Fire, Aim, Load" approach which he did very well and the service was nice. Luke on the other hand was just slower off the base (which has been the recurring theme for him his entire career)

I think it should be noted that passing pace is quite subjective as actual speed is not measured. Rightly or wrongly it would vary person to person analysing. There was probably some passes by Luke which got graded as Average due to a combination of it being slower and the receiver taking an unnecessary check or step where as functionally it might have been a "Good" pass. Sometimes you just need to eyeball and trust you know what you're looking for

Don't see prendergast name in the Irish squad. Jaeger and ahern in there. Wonder is he still a "training panelist" or been released

I suspect Jager and Ahern's presence is as much to do with question marks around Furlong, Henderson and (supposedly) Doris.

This week, I'm happier for Prendergast to get a full go with Leinster and hopefully start against a fairly strong Saracens outfit on Friday night (Billy Vunipola, McFarland, Maitland, Gonzalez).

Cian Prendergast was last man in so first man out when it comes to cover, I'd imagine. Ahern was brought in initially and Prendergast only called in when Ahern was subsequently ruled out with concussion.

Doris carrying a knock was mentioned on a podcast yesterday. I'd still expect him to feature but one to watch, perhaps. I'd also put Aki and Furlong in the same brackets. There's often an indication as to who is fully fit when you see who is released back to the provinces. McCloskey and TOT not released back to Ulster (Furlong and Aki carrying knocks). Ahern called up (POM had a calf injury and whispers about Doris).

Might just indicate that lads aren't in a position to go full throttle in training early in the week and they need a little bit of management through the game week.

In the update, it was noted as a straight swap with CP listed under the training panel members so it seems that Ahern was viewed ahead of him but there are always nuances with this. For example, if POM was injured and not Ahern, I wouldn't have been surprised if CP was called directly into the full squad.

https://www.irishrugby.ie/2024/01/23/prendergast-replaces-ahern-in-ireland-squad-for-training-camp/

Why would Wycherley need to leave? Munster literally only have three looseheads at this point in time: Kilcoyne (35 and likely to retire....or would be shown the door if they had options), Wycherley (I don't think he'll ever be up to the level required so back up is no bad thing for him) and Loughman who has improved significantly with exposure but I'd put around the level of Ed Byrne.

Leinster are absolutely overloaded with looseheads. It makes no sense for them all to remain and Milne's profile makes him the most likely to leave. He enjoyed some game time last season but that was largely due to the unavailability of others. He hasn't had a sniff of late and is 25 now.

It does nobody any good to keep a hold of all these guys. Even with Porter and Healy in the Irish squad, we've Milne and McCarthy playing in the AIL whilst Boyle and Byrne get precious URC minutes.