Pro12: Leinster vs Edinburgh, RDS, 13th Aprill, KO 7:45pm TG4/BBC Alba

CIARAN_BOYLE wrote: »

Edinburgh making 4 changes from their first 15 that beat Toulouse, Leinster making 12.

Is Hagan still out? I know he played against Munster but he didn't look at all right during his 10 minute cameo.

Can't get my head around that; maybe they think that they can rest more guys next week (in Cardiff) and not get a morale-sapping hammering, whereas if they sent the reserves over to Dublin it could get ugly for them?

Strong Leinster side anyway. I'd still like to see Ferg get a run at 12, but maybe with D'Arcy putting in two good performances against Munster and Cardiff, he should keep the momentum going.

.ak wrote: »

Moore was dominant against a pretty handy Munster scrum last week. He's obviously impressed the selectors. There hasn't been much mention of any sort of Hagan injury...

No he wasn't. It was pretty even from what I could see.

Not a fan of the Darcy McFadden combination. Hasn't worked all that well in the past. They are just too alike

I find the contrast between the Moore and Reid selections incredible!! :eek:

Moore was very destructive against the Munster scrum in the A match, it was a real area of dominance for Leinster, but Reid was God awful in that game, I don't think it's harsh to say he cost us the game, aimless kick to hand possession to Munster to get a try, think he was blocked down for the other, missed 3 or 4 kicks from in front or just to the side of the post in the first 80, any of which would have won us the game, his distribution and control of the game was terrible, particularly with the boot, where we struggled to get a foothold from aimless kicking, but the forwards and backline dominated for most of the match which kept us ticking over, in short, he had a nightmare of the game.

Before the A game I posted in the match thread that the type of game Reid has will decide the outcome, and so proved to be the case. When you think about Sexton and Madigan coming through, Berquist leaving and thus not being player, McKinney retiring due to freak injury, and guys like Keatley and Tonnetti playing elsewhere, we've produce a serious amount of quality 10's, but this guy is way down the pecking order after we've developed 2 first choice 10's of our own and handed Munster and Connacht a back-up from our academy too.

I didn't want to post it in the match thread as it's harsh on a young player, but I think he's been so patchy for the A's over the last couple of seasons, that he doesn't have a future with Leinster. He reminds me of a far more erratic Contepomi, when he's good, he can be sublime, but when he's bad, he's awful. You can't gamble on a player whose form is so unpredictable.

Shame about O'Malley not making it, but it's a good backline, I think Carr is really in last chance saloon now. He hasn't reproduced the form promised that he showed with Connacht, I'd tend to give him another season due to our decreasing depth in the back 3 in the senior squad (6 in total, not including McFadden - a couple of injuries and very thin), but another season like this and he'd be out the door. I'm not sure if the Leinster coaches will give him another year though, as there's a big queue in the academy of back 3 players.

Good to see Macken and McGrath benching it too, reward for their A performances too.

Strong pack also, but that's a very strong Edinburgh team. I'd still fancy us to win.

Big game in the context that if we win this one, our league campaign is done and dusted with 1st pretty much secured, and we can focus on Heineken Cup until the play-offs come around.

Looking forward to it.

Delighted to see Moore in the squad. He has just turned 21 a few weeks ago so is extremely young for a tighthead. If he can be brought along bit by bit for the next 3 years and developed, he could be a very good player at 24, around when Mike Ross will be winding down. He's someone that has stood out at every level since schools rugby and was a superb scrummager at U20 level. Furlong's emergence last season, as mentioned above, overshadowed him somewhat. If he had been fit, however, Furlong wouldn't have had nearly the same amount of game time. Whilst he's not a particularly dynamic prop, he can carry in the close exchanges without knocking on which is about as much as I'd ask for in a tighthead. Real prospect. I'm not sure he'll get on tomorrow but it definitely suggests that he's on the radar.