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

I think we'll do the double.

There's an attitude about this Leinster side I haven't seen before. We've always been shithouses that pushed the legality of our game to breaking point. But this season I've watched us playing spitefully and with more aggression.

Think we're sick of the losses in knockout games and just trying to get over the line any way possible.

We beat a significantly worse LAR team, 

They aren't the team they were last year but they're still fifth in the Top14 and they made a big deal about targeting our game… and we put 40 points on them. We put 47 points on an almost full-strength Bulls team, 60 on the Ospreys.

I don't think we're playing as well as last year either, but equally I think we're overstating the issues too.

Tonight was a very disappointing game but ultimately not a big deal in the context of next week. Ryan and Keenan got through 80 minutes, that's about the extent of what we learned. We were never going to able to have continuity going into the final, that's just the downside of being in both tournaments and being bulk supplier to Ireland.

I also completely disagree with the "that's the reality of being in both competitions" stuff. 

I think we got it wrong for the semi-final last year, but I'm not sure what else we could have done tonight, it would have been madness going full strength for a game that was a nice-to-win a week out from the CC final.

I don't think the lack of continuity is doing us any favours this year either.

Yeah, that's exactly my point? We're chopping and changing week to week because we have to, not because we're trying to be clever, and it's inevitable that there will be a trade-off in performance.

Chopping and changing has never been a problem before. In fact, the "b" side generally beat most sides. What's happening at the minute is strange. There's something not kosher.

What has changed? The opposition have improved.

We’ve lost to Glasgow in October, Ulster in January and Ulster in May. The trip to SA was meaningless because we had no intention of winning.

Trying to piece together patterns and meaning from three matches spread over eight months is futile in the extreme.

We’ll know where we stand at the end of our run in the URC, whenever that comes.

I said at the start of the season this might have to be a write off season, mainly due to Lancaster moving on, Nienaber only available post WC and the majority of the coaching team off working with teams in the WC and not available for Leinster

Plus Leinster lost their captain and main players for the last 15+ years, a huge transition.

We are doing a lot better than I thought we would be.

People are judging this team and players based on the year Lancaster left, he had been a coach at that stage for 7 years wasn't it? he had every players full onboard with how he wanted the game played, no chance Nienaber was going to achieve that in a single season.

The league of course has also got a lot stronger, back when Lancaster started it was turn up with whatever team you had available and it was bonus point before half time. The quality of the URC has certainly improved.

At end of day, Ulster played well, Leinster played ok and make mistakes. Ulster won and based on the game deserved it, Leinster could and maybe should have won but for some errors.

I think Stockdale comments said it all after the game. I do like Ulster, LIke Richie and hopefully they can kick on and maybe meet them in a final

I think we could be looking at a home quarter and then a trip to Thomond. Munster will win their game easily enough, Bulls have Sharks after their final and the travel back and Glasgow should eat up the points difference and overtake us.

Meaningless how? Of course the intention was to win. It's no doubt tough to win down there in S.A and leaving there with nothing is really crap.

There's no other way to look at this, other than we've dropped levels. Understood about the WC, coaching changes etc. It's not the losses, it's more the way we've lost.

Yep, I have. But then I watch the performance and am left with the feeling that the team is not as good. Obviously, next season starts better with the coaching intact etc. Leinster haven't looked as beatable before as they've looked this season.

Yes.

All the skills, none of the mentality or judgement. It’s a shame.

How do posters rate Fintan Gunn? He was class at U20s so I'm very pro Gunn, but he's only played a handful of senior games. I'd like to see him get a good few games next season to really test him.

Mcgrath wasn't good enough. He seems to saunter away from a lot of of rucks with ball in hand and completely signpost the pass.

Foley's pass was lightning quick at times, before he was moved out of scrum half.