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

I really want the title, if only to shut up Munster fans crowing about winning it last year.

If we'd won on Saturday, we could be dismissive of the URC. We didn't, so we can't.

Let's see what kind of quality the URC knockouts are. If they are really high quality, high intensity games then winning it will be an achievement, and will lead to a better season overall than 2022 and 2023. Beating Munster and/or the Bulls away from home is likely to require high performance levels. And losing a knockout game to any team would be awful.

That would be too sentimental, for me. Deegan needs all the minutes he can get. Ruddock should only be selected ahead of him if it's on merit in my view.

Presenting departing players to the crowd at half time is what I'd go for if they're not playing.

Still down about Saturday but the improved quality of the URC has really boosted my enjoyment of it and of how much I want to see Leinster win it this year.

100% well spoken thank you, I am loving the URC now in its expanded format and am excited for the close of this season

Unfortunately we don't have the right to dismiss the URC. Winning it as European champions would be nice, winning it trophyless is an imperative. And similarly, we can't have it both ways and dismiss the URC but out of the other sides of our mouths criticise Leo and the team for not winning the URC in years and being trophyless.

I want Leinster to be the best team in Europe, but if we're not, we need to make sure that we're the second best team in Europe and keep pushing to be the best, picking up titles where we can. I was heartbroken on Saturday the defeat but we're only going to win the Champions Cup if we keep getting into finals and keep the hunger to win it all, no matter how many we lose.

If you're a fan, then you're a part of what drives the organisation. And roaring them on over the line, whether its this year or next year, is important. If the team have to find the motivation to put last weekend behind them and win a trophy, fans should too.

Onwards and upwards.

I honestly cannot fathom how we've lost 3 euros in a row. Competing on both fronts is tough and this last month of poor league results compound everything. I don't think the coaching team has what it takes. Some very serious concerns for me with that

We've lost the European finals by very fine margins. A loss is a loss, sure, but we haven't been obliterated. Getting to the final in itself is an achievement, don't forget that.

Let's say we can the coaching ticket tomorrow - who realistically replaces them?

Leinster and the IRFU would be crazy to fire Leo, especially from an IRFU point of view he is doing an excellent job at taking U20 talent and getting them into ful international status.

If you are looking overseas you are right, who would they get to replace them? it's not like top coachs are floating around and available to pick up easily

Exactly. There's a mistaken mentality sometimes as regards coaches that they can be replaced fairly easily as they can be in football. It works in football because you have an inordinate amount of leagues and divisions with hundreds of candidates. The coaching eco-system is way smaller.

Unless you know you're getting a cast-iron improvement (which let's be fair, there are no realistic candidates), why would you replace a head coach who has dragged us into the upper echelons of European rugby.

He has done an incredible job to date, it's just unfortunate that we're so agonisingly close to what we're striving for.

Nienaber isn't even a season in - worth remembering he only arrived in November, to coach a team that was itself only getting its players back from the RWC around the same time, and also adjusting to life in the post-Sexton era.

But our big issue remains a lack of on-field leadership. There's Ryan and not much else - Doris seems to be the heir apparent as captain (and maybe Ireland captain) but I'm not seeing it yet tbh. Until we get that resolved, we're going to struggle with on-field composure and decision-making in the tight games.

Never mind, that a referee dismissed his co-captaincy once. 

In fairness, that's not Ryan's fault - if a team can have two co-captains in the ref's ear, what's to stop the next team having three or four? Referee was dead right to say one captain and no more.

Nienaber had no preseason, the squad had no preseason. Most of the coachs spent preseason at the WC with other teams. To be fair if we win a URC it won't be a bad start. I thought at start of season it would be a write off because of the coachs, plus you had Nienaber taking over a squad which had 7 years of Lancaster so he needs bedding in time. In Lancaster first season he got to a semi wasn't it?

The whole co-captain thing doesn't work, Ryan was right when he was talking to the ref and if he was just captain nothing would have been said, it was an easy out for the ref.

I can't see Conan making the starting team moving forward and I expect Doris to pick up the captains role, this year he was very inexperienced as a captain