Leinster Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread XII (The Byrne Supremacy)

Turner should get mom

Lots and lots to work on in defence for the young ones

Milne was super tonight.

Real statement performance.

Looks to have trimmed down a bit and looked really physical.

I wouldn't want to lose Milne, Boyle or McCarthy

O'Flannagan the outside centre for Gonzaga is the best that I've seen this year

Was relatively pleased with the performance at the weekend. Far from perfect but it was a decent run out in terms of a team that tried to attack our defensive system; the more exposure we get to that, the better. Cardiff looked to repeatedly get in behind us or beat the rush through the boot and we generally dealt with it fairly well with some superb covering across and corner flagging from the opposite winger or McGrath.

On second watch yesterday, there were some real stand out performances that flew under the radar somewhat on first watch. Clarkson was excellent. His defensive showing was really strong with some excellent linespeed for a tighthead. Jenkins was very similar and both of them had some influential moments (combining for the opening try, one notable example). Ross Molony was generally excellent around the park and ran a good lineout. Will Connors was very good in the loose, some really great offloads.

On the flip side, Harry Byrne was mediocre. Had a good moment with the intercept and 50/22 but his defence was poor. No influential misses but could see him being beaten on the inside repeatedly in the first half. He was starting to become more influential as the second half wore on before coming off but won't be thrilled with his night. His brother looked much better, missed touch aside. RB took the ball to the line repeatedly and put people through gaps as well as one very nice half break and offload to Molony in the first half. His halfback partner was a mixed bag. Some brilliant defensive plays and his passing was probably improved but still had some errors. Killed Osborne with a pass to his toes that led to a charged down clearance. Boyle spilled one he should have caught but the pass was dying a death as it reached him. McGrath also had some brilliant moments though including a tackle and poach when we were stretched in our own 22.

Milne looked like he really wanted to prove a point when he came on, some very effective tight carries in our own half to get us on the front foot. No idea what is going to happen at loosehead. At this point, I'd only offer Healy a deal if he is willing to play exclusively as a tighthead next season in the URC.

Thought the wings were both very good with Turner looking excellent in particular. It was the sort of performance that makes him look like a proper option in that role in the future.

He looked huge. He played tighthead originally in schools and started a game there for Ireland at U20 level but, at 25, it's potentially a bit late to swap him back across.

Looking at the second row options for next season, and I am a huge Moloney fan and love those 1 club players

Ryan - 27/28

Big Joe - 23

Deeny - 24

Synman - 30/31

Jenkins(Leaving)

Spicer - 20

Baird - can play second row - 26

Moloney is going to be 30, he is prime for second row but with the lineup above will play the URC games, so I doubt he can command a big wage. A 3 year contract as reported with Bath will be a decent payday and he still has time to impress, move back to Ireland and play in a WC.

Leinster will need to give more game time to Deeny and Spicer next season and Synman is really just replacing jenkins. So I would say it's Deeny/Spicer taking the Moloney position

Spicer is 18, he won't turn 20 until the tail end of the 24/25 season. COT is surely a lot more likely to see senior gametime next season.

Yes and he will need to get some URC game time next season, if the plan is to keep Deeny as well then getting game time for everyone will be hard so moving on Moloney would make sense, also if the player is getting a nice payday

Still young enough as well to progress and come back to Ireland to play for Ireland