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

Seán Cronin went from Munster to Connacht to Leinster.
Isaac Boss went from Ulster to Leinster.
Mike McCarthy went from Connacht to Leinster.
Cian Kelleher went from Leinster to Connacht and back to Leinster.

5 interesting questions on leinster depth chart for next season:

1. Can a loosehead displace the aging Cian Healy?
2. Who replaces Ross Molony at lock?
3. Can Tom Clarkson continue on his upward trajectory?
4. Can Cormac Foley displace Luke McGrath as backup 9?
5. Can Sam Prendergast become 1st choice outhalf?

I missed that post, Where was that said? That would be a very interesting signing.

It has been discussed a lot over on LF that Leinster are missing out and out pace in our back 3 and also missing a player who's comfortable playing out of the "system"

The lions share of Leinster players come from private Catholic institutions. Having come through one of them it is absolutely fair to say these people are shaped directly and indirectly from the "ethos" and "values" and "identity" of these institutions.

I've seen first hand during my time in school, players dropped from teams for not behaving - sometimes completely independent of rugby. I saw many many fellas move to more liberal minded schools because of an inability to thrive in such a system - some of whom were excellent athletes.

These schools teach you to fall in line, they teach discipline and rule following. The rugby players produced are a product of this.

I don't say it like it's an overly bad thing. There are a lot of benefits to having gone to a private school. But I would bet good money that James Lowe and Mack Hansen would not be the same rugby player or character they are if they went to a Dublin private school.

I don't think the Irish rugby culture encourages mavericks enough. I have seen coaches actively say these things need to be coached out of players. I say coach it into more people. Let personality shine through and let the more eccentric players thrive at being eccentric as they develop.

This was going to be a post that Baloucoune is the perfect type of winger Leinster should sign. But it has devolved into something wholly different haha. Either way I think Richie Murphy is going to be good for Bobby and there is slim chance of him ever coming south

great questions and refreshing to have such a long thread on the forwards transition which I feel is often swamped in the 10 debacle which we all love. And whilst I enjoy reading on the 1 - 8 play craft I don’t feel I can add to the insights on the board, much more I enjoy to learn from the comments made

4 McGrath may come back as a different rejuvenated self, but assuming not, Foley has the chance to step up, Gunne too who for me is an exceptional talent that can take it to a new level

5 Has that decision not already been made by Andy Farrell? The Byrne brothers have been a great asset to Leinster but the breakthrough has t come and Frawley / Prendergast are now the main players in contention I assume

1 - Ultimately someone will have to. Whether we like it or not Cian Healy is the best Irish loosehead ever. While his injuries probably lowered his ceiling his floor has always been so high. We were incredibly lucky in his time to have Jack McGrath, himself and then Porter to come along as 3 world class options (McGrath was a test Lion, Yes I do consider him world class in his peak)

Being harsh I don't see a loosehead of the calibre of these 3 in our medium term. But that's a very very high benchmark (again - 3 Lions)

I'm not sure Boyle will have a 60+ test cap career. But. I do think he'll have a 20 cap one. Paddy Mc is still too young to tell.

Milne I'm even less sure on. His scrummaging fell off a cliff this season.

2 - Leinsters second row stocks are strangely low even though we have 2 unbelievable Irish locks in Ryan and McCarthy. McCarthy kind of exploded onto the scene without much fanfare so it is possible that there is a hidden gem in the underage that we haven't seen yet.

I don't think Deeny has the goods. He's not as good as Molony was at the same age and while he might come good as he physically matures as a (relatively) average athlete - that could be 3 seasons from now

COT is a a very big boy who I would like to see more of. It will be interesting to see how he gets on. There were flashes of very impressive athleticism that I've seen so far.

Spicer in the 6 nations played like a player a year young (which he was) I'll be keenly watching the U20s 6 world cup. But a physical specimen like him just doesn't come around much. If he has the right aptitude, he can be an excellent asset

3 - Clarkson strikes me as a player who is very coachable. He has clearly worked very hard on his technique and it has undoubtedly improved. 24 is a pretty reasonable age for a prop that's not a physical freak to start coming good. Slimani will undoubtedly help his development if he is indeed as coachable as I think.

4 - At this stage he just can't not. If Bleyendaal brings even some of the southern hemisphere backline play, I don't see any room for Lukes pace of play anymore. A 9 these days really needs to fire, aim, load in that order. Foley and Gunne are not perfect, but they can shift the ball away from the ruck

5 - I don't see Sam getting a cap on this upcoming tour. But I think he should go on the Emerging tour and I think it will do for him what the last one did for Crowley. For Sam it is when not if. I think by the end of next season he will be our starting 10

A quick look at All.Rugby shows that Snyman has NEVER played more than 15 games for whatever club side he's been at (they don't have data on the Japan teams - but I don't think that league is in the same conversation anyway)

So no - he wont be playing more than 20 games but the data shows this was never on the cards and Leinster would have known this.

Has any player played more than 20+ games for Leinster this year? That's a lot of load.

Ala'alatoa (31) and Molony (22) are the ones I can think of. Probably not many more

Asking a lot for Deeny and COT to cover Molony.

Doesn't look like Sorokas foot can handle pro rugby unfortunately.

I think the coaches must be reasonably confident that Deeny and O'Tighearnaigh can do an at least acceptable job in the league. You'd think they'd have tried to add somebody otherwise. I'm interested to see what they can do.

Having a mentor like RG Snyman for the year could be huge for both Joe McCarthy and Alan Spicer's development.