Leinster team for semi

thebaz

I think most agree Leinster were lucky eneogh to get into semi - anyway what changes would you make to team for semi in Spain ?

I assume Kearney will be out - I'd move Nacewa to full back , bring McFadden in - keep Healy on the bench - if we had an explosive alternative to Jennings I'd bring him in - otherwise i'd leave team as is

I'd bring in Devin Toner. Younger and more dynamic than MOK, puts in some sick hits and is solid in the lineout. If Sexy is out, Berne to 10 and McFadden on the bench.

rockman15

mcfadden has to be included in the squad as he is the only consistent kicker, other than sexton. he was missed on friday night. should sexton and kearney had gone off who would have taken the kick to keep us in europe?

nacewa was relatively quiet last weekend. his return kicking isnt at kearneys level. looking at the toulouse back three, an accurate field kicker is going to be required to counter from deep. here's hoping kearney makes it back.

i'd put hines and cullen in the 2nds. i thought they did very well together; scrummaging and lineouts. we need to compete at the breakdown against this lot and turnover balls like stade did yesterday. more mobility with hines and our backrow should give us an advantage (all be it tiny) there. toner simply doesnt do it for me. his body positioning at rucks is inefficient. the angle he hits at is very strange, perhaps its because he's so tall. compared to other players of similar height (mal or kelloch) he doesnt make as big an impact. again just my opinion.

De Deraco

rockman15 wrote: »

mcfadden has to be included in the squad as he is the only consistent kicker, other than sexton. he was missed on friday night. should sexton and kearney had gone off who would have taken the kick to keep us in europe?

D'Arcy would have kicked he has taken a few for leinster in his time, although they were a while ago...

Hippo

rockman15 wrote: »

mcfadden has to be included in the squad as he is the only consistent kicker, other than sexton. he was missed on friday night. should sexton and kearney had gone off who would have taken the kick to keep us in europe?

Berne, obviously.

smurphy29

No changes hopefully! Early indications are that BOD and Kearney will be fine, and it seems Jonny has a reasonable chance of making it. Sure, we were lucky, but we were playing a great side. Now we're up against another great side and it's going to be incredibly difficult to get a win.

But... regardless of how some of them played on friday our best 15 was on the pitch and, hopefully, it will be same again in three weeks time. Shaggy undoubtedly needs some game time between now and then to get him back up to speed, expect him to be one of the few frontliners picked in the Magners League games in the interim.

Kannon

I saw Nacewa practicing place kicks before the Clermont game

PhatPiggins

I had presumed that Kearney was out for the rest of the season from the agony on his face. Sexton plays through another game with a nasty injury! Fair play to him he's got the stones. He's ultra commited in the tackle but to be honest I'd prefer he held back a bit as I'd hate to see him go down the Wilkinson route.

I wouldn't change much to be honest. The only thing I didn't like was bringing Healy on for CJ and moving Wright across to his weaker position. He was having a savage game up to that point but got brutalised by Domingo. Why even have Ross on th bench if he's not to be trusted at all?

irishbucsfan

thebaz wrote: »

if we had an explosive alternative to Jennings I'd bring him in - otherwise i'd leave team as is

:eek:

Don't see how anyone could consider dropping Jennings, especially in a European match.

Podge_irl

rockman15 wrote: »

should sexton and kearney had gone off who would have taken the kick to keep us in europe?

Berne or Nacewa. McFadden is the only one other than Sexton I would have any confidence in to nail a kick though.

I'd like to see Toner on the bench, he put in a good shift against Munster. I think SOB is one of the players Leinster will miss the most, an explosive backrow to come on for 20 minutes would be perfect against Toulouse in those conditions.

Don't see how anyone could consider dropping Jennings, especially in a European match.

I personally wouldn't have brought him back into the team after his suspension, as I thought SOB was playing a blinder and was the better player when he subbed on for Jennings. He's a different player to Jennings, but gives a lot of impact. Immaterial at this point though as the option isn't there (and Cheika would never do it). Jennings is playing just fine at the moment anyway as well.

I imagine the line up will be as close to the QF as possible. Horgan needs some game time as he looked rusty, but with Fitz out there is no other viable option there.

crisco10

Podge_irl wrote: »

Berne or Nacewa. McFadden is the only one other than Sexton I would have any confidence in to nail a kick though.

I'd like to see Toner on the bench, he put in a good shift against Munster. I think SOB is one of the players Leinster will miss the most, an explosive backrow to come on for 20 minutes would be perfect against Toulouse in those conditions.



I personally wouldn't have brought him back into the team after his suspension, as I thought SOB was playing a blinder and was the better player when he subbed on for Jennings. He's a different player to Jennings, but gives a lot of impact. Immaterial at this point though as the option isn't there (and Cheika would never do it). Jennings is playing just fine at the moment anyway as well.

I imagine the line up will be as close to the QF as possible. Horgan needs some game time as he looked rusty, but with Fitz out there is no other viable option there.

Mightn't happen though, today's Irish Times listed Horgan in the walking wounded list with a "foot" injury...Shame though, he was on fire earlier in the season, then sometime after Christmas he picked up this mysterious injury and the lack of gametime has hurt his form badly.

On the kicking issue, Nacewa did a vigourous place kicking warm up on Friday night. Implied to me he was no 2 kicker. I think I remember hearing he kicked in a S14 final. May have made that up though.

I think MOK should be on the bench against Toulouse with LC and NH starting. MOK has a very steadying influence on the lineout if its malfunctioning.

I agree that we are really missing SOB on the bench. It was beautiful earlier in the season, Kev would work his socks off for 60mins then SOB would come on for him and create mayhem in the last 20. Perfect tactics.

My worry is at hooker. Fogarty is solid enough but Jackman is a liability when he comes on. He has been a phenomanel servant and is still very good in the loose, but his lineouts are poor. If we are to win in Toulouse, we need our set piece to be secure. On that note, hopefullly CJ can play more than 40 minutes. I son't understand how a professional player can NEVER finish a game he starts. Really odd.

thebaz

irishbucsfan wrote: »

:eek:

Don't see how anyone could consider dropping Jennings, especially in a European match.

think i've said before i'm not a huge fan - especially in big matches he falls short IMO - I would much rather O'Brien to be playing , on a national stage I feal Jennings is way behind Wallace as regards impact - Not sure if Leinster have any alternatives with O'Brien out - hopefully Jennings proves me wrong with a big game in semi -and i'll gladly eat humble pie:P

maherro

Quote:
Originally Posted by irishbucsfan


Don't see how anyone could consider dropping Jennings, especially in a European match.
think i've said before i'm not a huge fan - especially in big matches he falls short IMO - I would much rather O'Brien to be playing , on a national stage I feal Jennings is way behind Wallace as regards impact - Not sure if Leinster have any alternatives with O'Brien out - hopefully Jennings proves me wrong with a big game in semi -and i'll gladly eat humble pie

I think Jamie and kev give us plenty of impact - Jennings is a great little groundhog and is very good at making a mess of the opposition breakdown

Mr.Applepie

crisco10 wrote: »

On that note, hopefullly CJ can play more than 40 minutes. I son't understand how a professional player can NEVER finish a game he starts. Really odd.

He spent pretty much a year on crutches becuase of his toe injury including this years pre-season. He probably won't be fit enough to play a full 80 minutes until next season. If you look at the games he starts huffing and puffing at about 30mins.

Ciaran-Irl

irishbucsfan wrote: »

:eek:

Don't see how anyone could consider dropping Jennings, especially in a European match.

Exactly. Daft statement I think. I assume he didn't watch the Munster game then.

shawpower

PhatPiggins wrote: »

I had presumed that Kearney was out for the rest of the season from the agony on his face. Sexton plays through another game with a nasty injury! Fair play to him he's got the stones. He's ultra commited in the tackle but to be honest I'd prefer he held back a bit as I'd hate to see him go down the Wilkinson route.

I presumed that Kearney would also be out given I heard he damaged his cruciate. Must have been misinformation. But yeah, he looked in agony.

That injury wasn't actually due to how hard he tackles. It was more that Parra led with his arm/elbow and caught Sexton right on the face. He popped out his gumshield and a tooth right in front of us on the terrace. Nasty injury. Amazing to see him play for the rest of the game and then take the key kicks too! :eek: