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

.ak

LEINSTER:

15: Isa Nacewa
14: David Kearney
13: Fergus McFadden
12: Gordon D'Arcy
11: Fionn Carr
10: Ian Madigan
9: Isaac Boss

1: Heinke van der Merwe
2: Sean Cronin
3: Nathan White
4: Damian Browne
5: Devin Toner
6: Rhys Ruddock
7: Shane Jennings
8: Jamie Heaslip CAPTAIN

REPLACEMENTS:

16: Richardt Strauss
17: Jack McGrath
18: Martin Moore
19: Kevin McLaughlin
20: Leo Auva'a
21: Eoin Reddan
22: Noel Reid
23: Brendan Macken

EDINBURGH:

15: Tom Brown
14: Lee Jones
13: Nick De Luca
12: Matt Scott
11: Tim Visser
10: Greig Laidlaw CAPTAIN
9: Chris Leck

1: Kyle Traynor
2: Ross Ford
3: Geoff Cross
4: Esteban Lozada
5: Sean Cox
6: Stuart McInally
7: Roddy Grant
8: Netani Talei

REPLACEMENTS:

16: Andrew Kelly
17: Robin Hislop
18: Jack Gilding
19: Grant Gilchrist
20: David Denton
21: Ross Rennie
22: Phil Godman
23: Jim Thompson

REFEREE: Peter Fitzgibbon (IRFU) , ASSISTANT REFEREES: David Wilkinson, Simon McDowell (both IRFU), 4th OFFICIAL: Gary Glennon (Leinster Rugby Referees), 5th OFFICIAL: Robbie O'Flynn (Leinster Rugby Referees), TMO: Alan Rogan (IRFU)

ambid

Martin Moore :eek: Good luck to him if he gets on. He's very young.

I assume Hagan must still be injured.

It's great how Schmidt always keeps us guessing with his selection.

Really hope for a good game from Ruddock. He's probably falling a little short of expectations this season.

CIARAN_BOYLE

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.

Hagz

Yes! I'm really excited about both Moore and Furlong. Glad Moore's getting a chance. I can't help thinking that Hagan is going to turn out to be a complete flop.

.ak

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...

.ak

I also hope Reid has put THAT game behind him.

totallegend

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.

chris85

The depth in the squad is unbelieveable some times. 12 changes and all looks well and balanced on the team. Not easy to achieve.

CIARAN_BOYLE

totallegend wrote: »

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?

6 day turnaround between Cardiff and Ulster. Might be a little too close together for the Edinburgh management to give the full team a run out in Cardiff.

They might also want to use this as something of a dress rehearsal, the same personal coming to Dublin staying in the same hotel ect

ongarite

Nice team. I got 11 of the team right in my prediction.

Cooper.

Amazing even the reserves can play on par with Edinburgh's first team.

justsomebloke

ah crap, I was really hoping Edinburgh would send over some mickey mouse team as there would of been a massive difference between our 2nd team and theirs and we pretty much could of secured top spot with a bonus point win this week.

Hagz

.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.

justsomebloke

Actually although I knew who we were playing I'm only coping on to the fact that we have to play the other top 3 teams in Europe this season back to back to back

Teferi

To be fair, Edinburgh didn't have the greatest game last week and their overall Pro12 form hasn't been fantastic. Obviously their players can peak when they need it in a knockout situation but I'd be surprised if they can do it two weeks in a row.

.ak

Hagz wrote: »

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

Guess it's a matter of opinion, but I felt that the scrum was Leinster's only redeeming factor in that match. I was happy whenever there was a knock on as I felt our scrum was clearly ontop.

irishbucsfan

We definitely werent dominant in the scrums imo. We did better at the end but O'Connell had come on by then.

Also though Moore looked a little sluggish, possibly overweight, but he lifted well.

Best of luck to him. Have high hopes for him in the long term.

molloyjh

A little concerned by the midfield partnership. But we've clearly the better pack and by-and-large our backs are better too. EOM is still injured I'm assuming. The bonus point win would be nice, and like everyone else I figured Edinburgh would be focusing solely on the HEC and would have sent a second string side over. As it is I'll be happy enough with the win. But I've a sneaking suspicion it could be tight enough.

thomond2006

justsomebloke wrote: »

ah crap, I was really hoping Edinburgh would send over some mickey mouse team as there would of been a massive difference between our 2nd team and theirs and we pretty much could of secured top spot with a bonus point win this week.

Bradley is obviously looking to keep a consistent selection, not a bad plan if injuries don't occur.

Thanos

Don't really like to see Fergus McFadden at 13 and really do not like to see him along side Gordon D'Arcy, while I think he is a great winger and 12, 13 is not his position.
Is Dom Ryan out injured? Thought he would be on the bench at least.....

Taco Corp

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

shuffol

They obviously rate Moore very highly, I'd have thought Jack O'Connell would be ahead of him being a year older, you could tell Moore was a excellent prospect when he played for the u-20s last year although Furlong stole his thunder a bit at the WC.

SOB's being rested a lot this season, has only 4 ML starts all season, one since christmas. I'd like to see Macken get a good half, he should be starting to make his mark in these fixtures, looking like another lost season for Conway.

[Jackass]

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.

totallegend

[Jackass] wrote: »

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.

Just for info, we need six points from three games to ensure 1st spot.

But, if we win tomorrow and better the Ospreys result in Cardiff (i.e. we win with no BP & they draw/lose, or we get a winning BP & they don't), then top spot is sealed with two games left.

COME ON CARDIFF!!!

GerM

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.

shuffol

How's Moores fitness being this season? struck me as being injury prone last year, seemed to be constantly picking up knocks in the 6N and obviously missed the JWC. One of the things that did strike me about him when I sam him is how good a footwork he had when going into contact.

padser

Hagz wrote: »

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

The front rows were v evenly matched all games I thought

Hagz wrote: »

Moore was very destructive against the Munster scrum in the A match, it was a real area of dominance for Leinster

It really wasn't.

Dominance in a scrum means, at the very least, disrupting the opposition control of the ball on their own put in and providing a rock solid platform on our own put in.

It could be argued we managed the latter, but definitely not the former - so I don't see how it could be classed as "destructive" from Moore.

padser

justsomebloke wrote: »

ah crap, I was really hoping Edinburgh would send over some mickey mouse team as there would of been a massive difference between our 2nd team and theirs and we pretty much could of secured top spot with a bonus point win this week.

I don't think this really makes a huge difference to be honest. Their first team have to be focused on Ulster in 2 weeks time, even if they are sending them out in this games. Leinster to win for me

molloyjh

totallegend wrote: »

Just for info, we need six points from three games to ensure 1st spot.

But, if we win tomorrow and better the Ospreys result in Cardiff (i.e. we win with no BP & they draw/lose, or we get a winning BP & they don't), then top spot is sealed with two games left.

COME ON CARDIFF!!!

Even if both Leinster and Ospreys get the same points points out of this weekend that pretty much seals it for Leinster too. That will keep the 10 point advantage with 2 rounds left. Ospreys can only get a maximum of 10 points from those games leaving us at worst even on points if we lose our last 2 with no bonus points. It then comes down to:

1. Games won - we'd both be on 16
2. Points Difference - we currently have an 82 point advantage which Ospreys would be doing VERY well to beat in the remaining games.

leonard7

edinburghs inability to field a quality 2xv team must cost them in both the rabo and H.C.

CatFromHue

Edinburgh have no Denton, Rennie, Jacobsen, Gilchrist, or Blair all of whom would be big players for them.

durkadurka

I get the impression that heaslip is gearing up to take over the captaincy next year.

WeeBushy

durkadurka wrote: »

I get the impression that heaslip is gearing up to take over the captaincy next year.

I think so too. Cullen may well not be first choice next season and a new voice wouldn't be a bad thing, keep things fresh.

When you think about it there are not many people who you would have as club captain. Lots of leaders in the team but being a club captain is different. People who potentially could be a club captain would be (imo):

Cullen - Could stay on but wouldn't be surprised to see a change
O'Driscoll - Ruled out for obvious reasons
Heaslip - Best option imo
Jennings - Probably won't start the big games next season
Kearney - Too early for him. But he has stepped up as a leader this season. Maybe in the future he could, but not many FBs captain a side.
Sexton - Has enough to be doing.
Nacewa - Leads incredibly by example but I just don't see him as a captain kinda guy. Mightn't be around too much longer as well due to the new rules.

Can't think of any anyone else as an option. I think Heaslip could revel in the role.

BoardsMember

Is it a bit strange not to give either Cullen or Thorne or both at least a spot on the bench? I realise Schmidt knows what he's at, I just wonder what his reasons are. I would have thought both could use game time, Leo after a lay off, and Brad to get more used to the Leinster systems.

durkadurka

Don't question joe.
In fact wash your mouth out and apologise now.

skregs

WeeBushy wrote: »

I think so too. Cullen may well not be first choice next season and a new voice wouldn't be a bad thing, keep things fresh.

When you think about it there are not many people who you would have as club captain. Lots of leaders in the team but being a club captain is different. People who potentially could be a club captain would be (imo):

Cullen - Could stay on but wouldn't be surprised to see a change
O'Driscoll - Ruled out for obvious reasons
Heaslip - Best option imo
Jennings - Probably won't start the big games next season
Kearney - Too early for him. But he has stepped up as a leader this season. Maybe in the future he could, but not many FBs captain a side.
Sexton - Has enough to be doing.
Nacewa - Leads incredibly by example but I just don't see him as a captain kinda guy. Mightn't be around too much longer as well due to the new rules.

Can't think of any anyone else as an option. I think Heaslip could revel in the role.

A captain should never have double digits on his jersey, too far away from the action at scrum-time and line outs

durkadurka

Eh BOD?

CIARAN_BOYLE

durkadurka wrote: »

Eh BOD?

Is very luck to have a pack-leader in POC who does a lot of the leadership in the forwards and often accompanies BOD when BOD has to talk to referees regarding scrums.

Its doable as long as there is a very strong pack leader or vice captain in forwards.

TheKeenMachine

WeeBushy wrote: »

I think so too. Cullen may well not be first choice next season and a new voice wouldn't be a bad thing, keep things fresh.

When you think about it there are not many people who you would have as club captain. Lots of leaders in the team but being a club captain is different. People who potentially could be a club captain would be (imo):

Cullen - Could stay on but wouldn't be surprised to see a change
O'Driscoll - Ruled out for obvious reasons
Heaslip - Best option imo
Jennings - Probably won't start the big games next season
Kearney - Too early for him. But he has stepped up as a leader this season. Maybe in the future he could, but not many FBs captain a side.
Sexton - Has enough to be doing.
Nacewa - Leads incredibly by example but I just don't see him as a captain kinda guy. Mightn't be around too much longer as well due to the new rules.

Can't think of any anyone else as an option. I think Heaslip could revel in the role.

I think it needs to be someone who will start the majority of games as Heaslip will miss out for 6 Nations and Autumn Internationals. I would plump for someone like Nacewa, Strauss, McLaughlin or Jennings

CIARAN_BOYLE

TheKeenMachine wrote: »

I think it needs to be someone who will start the majority of games as Heaslip will miss out for 6 Nations and Autumn Internationals. I would plump for someone like Nacewa, Strauss, McLaughlin or Jennings

Strauss will be IQ so will likely miss games during 6Ns and AIs.

I don't think having someone involved with Ireland is a bad thing. We managed with Cullen in Ireland squads for a few years now

BoardsMember

durkadurka wrote: »

Don't question joe.
In fact wash your mouth out and apologise now.

You have to ask questions when seeking enlightenment

Neither took part in the open training session on Wednesday either

durkadurka

Heaslip would be guaranteed starter for all big games.

durkadurka

BoardsMember wrote: »

You have to ask questions when seeking enlightenment

Neither took part in the open training session on Wednesday either

They're old. I wouldn't read anything else into it.

CIARAN_BOYLE

BoardsMember wrote: »

You have to ask questions when seeking enlightenment

Neither took part in the open training session on Wednesday either

I have to imagine that they are being rested. If the Ulster match is as seems likely going to be a full dress rehearsal for the SF Joe will likely want to play both players against Ulster. Neither lock is exactly young and both could probably do with a rest week.

TheKeenMachine

CIARAN_BOYLE wrote: »

Strauss will be IQ so will likely miss games during 6Ns and AIs.

I don't think having someone involved with Ireland is a bad thing. We managed with Cullen in Ireland squads for a few years now

Has Strauss confirmed he'll play for Ireland? I was under the impression he was still undecided. Great news if he has though.

Having a captain in Ireland squads is not a bad thing but I would rather see someone who is always in the Leinster 22 and can lead week in week out and isn't under the player management scheme. Nacewa has arguably been our best player over the past couple of years, although to be fair, I'm not sure of his captaincy ability. McLaughlin and Jennings are always involved, consistently perform well and have led the side before. If you watched them while they captained they marshalled the pack very well and guided the younger players

CIARAN_BOYLE

TheKeenMachine wrote: »

Has Strauss confirmed he'll play for Ireland? I was under the impression he was still undecided. Great news if he has though.

Yeah he has been open that he is willing to play for Ireland. He turned down a chance to play for 'European Springboks' in a trial match for the RWC squad. He trained with the Ireland squad during the six nations. He has spoken about how he feels at home in Ireland.

TheKeenMachine

CIARAN_BOYLE wrote: »

Yeah he has been open that he is willing to play for Ireland. He turned down a chance to play for 'European Springboks' in a trial match for the RWC squad. He trained with the Ireland squad during the six nations. He has spoken about how he feels at home in Ireland.

Good stuff, him training with the squad shows that Kidney will (hopefully) consider him for selection

Big Nelly

TheKeenMachine wrote: »

Good stuff, him training with the squad shows that Kidney will (hopefully) consider him for selection

Kidney to put someone new into squad??? no chance.....

Next thing we will see loads of Ulster players been rewarded for there form.....

Or even, ROG been dropped.....

Of course hell will freeze over first.....

Strauss deserves a chance but it won't happen.

WeeBushy

As has been discussed I don't think its a problem having your captain away with Ireland for parts of the season. Another thing is it gives other players the opportunity to captain the side. Ruddock, O'Brien, Jennings and others wouldn't have had the experience of captaining over the last few seasons if Cullen, and BOD before him, were around all the time. Being involved in Ireland shouldn't be a consideration imo.

Also on Nacewa, has he ever actually captained Leinster before? Would be a big jump to make him the permanent captain if there are others there with much more experience. And to have your first captaining gig from way out on the wing/full back. That'd be rough.

Jennings won't be starting the big games, and could potentially be overtaken by Ryan next year.

I think it has to be given to someone who, bar a slump in form, will be a starter in the first team. That narrows it down quite a bit.

And anyways, Heaslip would make a great captain.

WeeBushy

Big Nelly wrote: »

Strauss deserves a chance but it won't happen.

He'll be capped in the AIs I think. A new hooker who starts for one of the best clubs sides in Europe will be at least looked at. To tie him to Ireland if anything else. Don't think he'll start a game though, an appearance or two from the bench.

Over the next few seasons, if Kidney's still in charge, I can see him having a tough time getting ahead of Cronin tbh, let alone challenging Best.

If we had a progressive coach in charge we could use Strauss and Best in a tag team like Best and Flannery.

/OT

Big Nelly

WeeBushy wrote: »

And anyways, Heaslip would make a great captain.

Hopefully, but he needs to be more vocal, the match I watched recently with him captain where he failed to stand up was against Cardiff, the ref was all over the place and Heaslip didn't say much. If it was Cullen he would be in his ear all the time trying to get the ref to give them a chance. Needs to bring this into his game. Once he does that would be great captain.