Leinster v Ospreys

Timothy Bryce

Interesting call with Gary Brown starting on the wing

The Leinster team for tomorrow night is as follows:

LEINSTER:
15: Girvan Dempsey
14: Gary Brown
13: Brian O'Driscoll CAPTAIN
12: Felipe Contepomi
11: Luke Fitzgerald
10: Jonathan Sexton
9: Chris Keane

1: Cian Healy
2: Brian Blaney
3: Stan Wright
4: Cameron Jowitt
5: Malcolm O'Kelly
6: Stephen Keogh
7: Shane Jennings
8: Jamie Heaslip

REPLACEMENTS:
16: Bernard Jackman
17: Stephen Knoop
18: Trevor Hogan
19: Keith Gleeson
20: Guy Easterby
21: Gordon D'Arcy
22: Christian Warner

zAbbo

Good rotation with Brown back on the wing, he was in great form pre-injury.

The choice of front row and second row are much more interesting, Jowitt at lock....

Podge_irl

Jowitt (and Blaney somewhat) aside, I love the look of that team

Crash

I never understood what anyone could think Caermon Jowitt, aka Captain UselessPants, brings to the team. Can't bear him.

redzerdrog

is kearney injured?

phog

Ospreys have handed Leinster a BP win with the team they have announced.
This time tomorrow night Leinster should be 5 points clear of their nearest rival thanks to Edinburgh beating Cardiff this evening.

Podge_irl

redzerdrog wrote: »

is kearney injured?

Picked up a knock in training apparently

Ospreys have handed Leinster a BP win

No doubt Leinster will still manage to drop it. Its quite shocking the reduction in BPs that Leinster are picking up (they've had 1 all season I think). Still though, a wins a win and if they keep winning they'll be grand.

Sangre

I like to think darcy is on the bench for being a useless sod.

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

chicoben

....four years ago.....

Funkstard

/\ What an absolute load of boll*cks from the last three posters. Did you see any Leinster match last season?

Podge_irl

Funkstard wrote: »

/\ What an absolute load of boll*cks from the last three posters. Did you see any Leinster match last season?

Last two maybe (Though they have something of a point), but D'Arcy is in quite poor form this season and 10.Sexton 12.Contepomi is a much better midfield. Mind you, O'Driscoll isn't playing a hell of a lot better and it's much of a muchness which of them plays 13.

chicoben

Funkstard wrote: »

/\ What an absolute load of boll*cks from the last three posters. Did you see any Leinster match last season?

yeah and i went to alot of them too. Darcy is a superhero when he's on form, but nothing compares to when he tore through teams in the 2004 six nations. This year though he's just not the same as last season, so im hoping he can regain it coming into the second half.

billymitchell

I am just wondering can you get tickets for the game out there?? They are not on sale on the interweb any more!!

Podge_irl

Yeah, there will be ticketmaster stands at Anglesea Road and Simmonscourt Road.

Sangre

Funkstard wrote: »

/\ What an absolute load of boll*cks from the last three posters. Did you see any Leinster match last season?

Silly me.

Here was I thinking players should be picked on their current form.

Naos

- I'm stuck in work.

Rte Live be playing this match, if not anyone know of any streams?

bleg

Naos wrote: »

- I'm stuck in work.

Rte Live be playing this match, if not anyone know of any streams?

you can get streams on www.magnersleague.com


or on eircom.net you can get setanta sports

Funkstard

Sangre wrote: »

Silly me.

Here was I thinking players should be picked on their current form.

I agree with that, but it's not what I was talking about. People saying D'Arcy was only good 4 years ago or for three games is completely wrong. Call him a useless sod if you want, but at least follow it up with 'at the moment' if that's your opinion; saying he's useless and always has been...well there's no point in even arguing that.

zAbbo

Heading to the game now

BP win is my prediction.

Naos

Thanks a lot lads.

Newb Question: BP = ?

Laslo

Naos wrote: »

Newb Question: BP = ?

Bonus point.

Naos

Cool I can only get it on s4c with welsh commentators.

Am going to have to try and find some english commentary... RTE to the rescue I hope

Edit: Thanks Laslo

Laslo

Brutal handling errors from Leinster. Mind you, if it's as windy on the pitch as it is outside my apartment then it's excusable I suppose.

Laslo

Fantastic try finished by Heaslip.

Stev_o

Jezz typical Leinster decent one minute then seriously asleep the next. Opsreys get a try and straight back into this game.

Naos

Missed conversion.

Naos

Straight back in it. Stephen Keogh try for Leinster, missed conversion.

Edit: Linky for anyone who cannot watch http://www.s4c.co.uk/e_watch.shtmlp

Commentary is in welsh.

phog

Laslo wrote: »

Fantastic try finished by Heaslip.

You mean fantastic after the ref didn't pull them back for the forward pass from Contepomi to Fitz in their own half.

Laslo

We have an Ospreys supporter in our midst.

Jackz

Rubbish.

phog

Jackz wrote: »

Rubbish.

Yeah, poor match ok but Leinster got their BP so all in all a good evening for them.

Jackz

Against an Ospreys team that only had one first team player.

NotWormBoy

One takes what one can get.

And move on.

dc69

NotWormBoy wrote: »

One takes what one can get.

And move on.

absolute ****e,im dissapointed as a fan,what a disgrace.they should have won it comprehensively.cheika needs to go,****ing **** performance:(

i dont even know why i bother watching the magners league,its bollox and the quality is ****,the heineken cup is what its about and we should be contesting, but no!we are happy scraping results against welsh second teams,im so annoyed!

why should munster be doing well (heineken cup)and we arent,what a joke!we should have better players.

we have the best magners league attendences!,the only part or thing of leinster that the celtic tiger hasnt touched is leinster rugby team!we have the richest people,most expensive houses and best paid jobs but yet our team is ****,what a joke

we should have the best team,with the best players,its a disgrace.Our sport is Growing and we have the best attendences from FANS LIKE US WHO DESERVE BETTER! but yet our team consistently underachieve and underperform.cheika needs to go and we need new fowards,where is the next contepomi coming from?he aint gona stay long if we arent getting into the heineken cup finals!

im sure sale,leicester,waps,clermont auvern and toulouse and biaritz would love contepomi,god knows how we have persuaded him to stay.now that he has his degree i expect him to leave in the summer!

second string some?who cares these players arent good enough and im sure we could get and need alot more better players!

cameron jowitt
stan wright
Juan francisco gomez
ollie le roux(why should we have springbok rejects,we should have them in their prime!)

and numerous others!maybe some didnt play today but im so angry its unbelievable.the amount of money people pay to see these pricks and they deliver nothing,why the **** dont we have a world class pack?munster dont have particularily good backs and they bring in doug howlett,we dont have good fowards and we bring in ollie le roux,its a disgrace.do they not realise people spend thousands to see these arseholes every year,i dont blame the players as much as i blame cheika,that prick has to GO!

Timothy Bryce

Was at the game last night...some terrible handling errors in good conditions...there wasn't much of a breeze.

Typical Leinster performance - brilliant one minute, asleep the next. Very ropey last few minutes as well...

Disagree with Keane getting MOTM - he's far too slow...even when the pack give him quick ball he takes an eternity to get it out to Sexton. When Easterby came on, this seemed to shore things up at 9.

Only player who played close to 100% for the 80 minutes was Heaslip

vkid

dc69 wrote: »

why should munster be doing well (heineken cup)and we arent,what a joke!we should have better players.

we have the richest people,most expensive houses and best paid jobs but yet our team is ****,what a joke

we should have the best team,with the best players,its a disgrace.

Seriously?!?!

I understand your frustration, i really do but your logic is mad..
we're the richest, best-est people in the country and look at our lovely houses, and we earn a fortune so leinster should be amazing..are you for real? Its no wonder some leinster people outside Dublin support other teams if thats the average leinster supporters attitude(which i doubt).
Pray tell...when did ye get the divine rights to being the best rugby team ever?

zAbbo

I'd ignore most of what the chap having his rant is trying to say, but much of the issue lies with the signings which supplement the local talent.

From my understanding you are allowed 6 foreign players, 3 high end (Contempomi/Whitaker/Le Reux?), 3 lesser players (Gomez/Berne/Warner). Recently the Leinster Branch attempted to allow 6 high end players, of course supplementing the wages with their own substantial coffers, but that was denied. Of course there is also some hoop jumping with the PAG as well.

While I enjoyed the game last night, the system of recruiting players for all Irish provinces is seriously hindering their ability to compete in the HC.

Rattlehead_ie

I have to say watching the game last night was great, BOD came back and by no means is he a "form" player, he has only had 1 game but he has showed evidence of some of his best rugby for awhile.

Keogh for me had a great game, not only in scoring try but his supportive role with the ball carrier and off the ball grunt \ donkey work was superb.

M O'Kelly had another great game and at this rate is playing himself into not only the Irish Squad but for me the starting 15 along side POC (depending on POC game time and fitness)

All in all, I think Leinster started the better team and although handling errors played a big part of the game at the start I started to see a good Leinster backline once again begin to gel and develop (this slightly disapeared for a bit when Leinster started making changes, but thats to be expected). Its one thing I haven't myself seen all season so far and bodes well. As regard why Munster are doing better I think in my opinion Munster probably have an easier group in some respects, but not by much and I will put my hand up and say that Munster have grinded out victories and BP when and where needed while Leinster this year have shown flashes of potential but have not done the ground work they needed.
As I said after last nights performance I have more confidence in Leinster at least qualifying for the Knock out stages of HC, more so that I did 4 weeks ago.

On another note, I was watching the game on Setanta last night and C Keane (9) had been praised for his performance while the forwards criticized for not getting the ball back to him quick enough. Yes he made some nice breaks but in my opinion that chaps ability to lead his forwards into a ruck \ control it and also get the ball QUICKLY out to his backs needs serious improvement. If you watch him,from ball coming out of ruck to point where he passes it, there to me just seems like a moment of physical hesitation, ie he pauses to steady himself.

Podge_irl

Rattlehead_ie wrote: »

As I said after last nights performance I have more confidence in Leinster at least qualifying for the Knock out stages of HC, more so that I did 4 weeks ago.

Not gonna happen. Would require us to beat Toulouse and Leicster with a bonus point and hope Edinburgh beat Toulouse in Toulouse. Un-bloody-likely. But then Leicster and possibly Wasps won't qualify either, which isn't the worst company to be in. Stupid seeding system.

Rattlehead_ie

Remember Magners league this year will be good for us things going as they are. I still think its still an outside chance that Leinster will qualify for the knock out stage BUT I feel more confident that we have a better chance of beating Toulouse and Leicster with a bonus point. Well the other part is out of our hands.

Jackz

I think that dc69 may have been drunk posting. happened me before! The truth is, it is now January and Leinster have been hit and miss since the start of the season they have zero chance of qualifying for the knock out stages of the Heineken Cup. They have a chance to win the Magners League, that may or may not happen.

Stev_o

Just wondering out of interest does anyone think that Mangers League is slowly dieing??? Welsh teams dont seem to give two sh*ts and either do Munster who use it as a blooding system which does pay well over a while but still. Now im not critizing these teams because i think they are right putting EDF and Heineken Cup as priority while Magners comes last. Im on the brink of not watching another match of Mangers again the quality is so beyond poor its unbearable compared to the standard of the English Premiership and F14.

bleg

munster with an easier group? come off it

dc69

Jackz wrote: »

I think that dc69 may have been drunk posting. happened me before! The truth is, it is now January and Leinster have been hit and miss since the start of the season they have zero chance of qualifying for the knock out stages of the Heineken Cup. They have a chance to win the Magners League, that may or may not happen.

yeah i was,sorry bout that lads,most of it was rubbish,but i do feel strongly that we deserve better and should be competitive in the heineken cup.maybe cheika needs to go,thats what i think anyway.

Podge_irl

Stev_o wrote: »

Just wondering out of interest does anyone think that Mangers League is slowly dieing???

I would have said its getting better. Attendances are up year on year and I thought the quality was improving. There are still major problems (not least the bloody EDF cup). It will be interesting to see how many full sides are sent out next year with no world cup.

Erin Go Brath

Stev_o wrote: »

Just wondering out of interest does anyone think that Mangers League is slowly dieing??? Welsh teams dont seem to give two sh*ts and either do Munster who use it as a blooding system which does pay well over a while but still. Now im not critizing these teams because i think they are right putting EDF and Heineken Cup as priority while Magners comes last. Im on the brink of not watching another match of Mangers again the quality is so beyond poor its unbearable compared to the standard of the English Premiership and F14.

The ML produces good matches every now and then, but you're right the majority of the games are poor. If all teams took the competition seriously, and fielded their strongest teams in all the games it could be a great competition. Munster are as guilty as anyone for this. They are the best team in this league (results in the heine, not personal bias bring me to this conclusion) and should be winning it, or coming close every year. First team players only entering the competition after 4 or 5 games, and as you say other priorities also seriously undermines the league. Shame really!

legspin

Erin Go Brath wrote: »

The ML produces good matches every now and then, but you're right the majority of the games are poor. If all teams took the competition seriously, and fielded their strongest teams in all the games it could be a great competition. Munster are as guilty as anyone for this. They are the best team in this league (results in the heine, not personal bias bring me to this conclusion) and should be winning it, or coming close every year. First team players only entering the competition after 4 or 5 games, and as you say other priorities also seriously undermines the league. Shame really!

That's due to Felching Eddie and the IRFU as much as anything.

EdgarAllenPoo

I thought Keogh and Heaslip had excellent games, O'Kelly played well too and I think if the Irish side was picked tomorrow he and Cullen would be first choice second rows with Heaslip at eight.

As for Keane getting man of the match,ffs. He passes like an old woman shaking out a wet sheet, it's a wonder Sexton managed to pick up half the balls he was passed.

In relation to Sexton I do see a problem arising from an Ireland perspective in that Dr. Phil seems to be the no.1 place kicker for Leinster(and rightly so). Does this not hinder Sexton's development as an outhalf (see the Ulster situation with Wallace and Humphreys)?
I noticed also that he rarely kicked for territory last night, I hope that's a result of the condition and not a conscious decision on his part because he has done very well in that respect in previous games.

jazoo

my son was playing for ratoath at half time exibition last night anyone know where i can find any photos or videos

EdgarAllenPoo

jazoo wrote: »

my son was playing for ratoath at half time exibition last night anyone know where i can find any photos or videos

:DGood stuff, we need more clubs in Meath.