HEC SF: Clermont Auvergne vs Leinster; Sunday 29 April, KO 1600(CET); Live Sky Sports

GerM

my friend wrote: »

well, here I am at 8:57, still saying he was very slow on at least 3 occasions and the drop kick was crazy and ired his colleagues

Which is far from enough evidence to suggest he had a fouler especially when far outweighed by his positive impact. Every scrum half is going to be slow on a couple of occasions if you analyse every single ruck they make. The overall general play was very fast. Reddan actually passed the ball more times in his 28 minutes than Boss did in his 52 minutes which suggests a far quicker tempo and distribution when he was on the field.

justsomebloke

You can say what you like about reddan's drop goal attempt but it was still better then both of parra's attempts

Fishooks12

GerM wrote: »

Which is far from enough evidence to suggest he had a fouler especially when far outweighed by his positive impact. Every scrum half is going to be slow on a couple of occasions if you analyse every single ruck they make. The overall general play was very fast. Reddan actually passed the ball more times in his 28 minutes than Boss did in his 52 minutes which suggests a far quicker tempo and distribution when he was on the field.

Reddans impact cannot be understated, he was a big part of the reason Leinster won and IMO should have started

Fishooks12

justsomebloke wrote: »

You can say what you like about reddan's drop goal attempt but it was still better then both of parra's attempts

Good point

I was wondering why Clermont didn't flash it out the backs or try something for those advantages

Leinster never settle for the penalty in those situations

irishbucsfan

Fishooks12 wrote: »

GerM wrote: »

Which is far from enough evidence to suggest he had a fouler especially when far outweighed by his positive impact. Every scrum half is going to be slow on a couple of occasions if you analyse every single ruck they make. The overall general play was very fast. Reddan actually passed the ball more times in his 28 minutes than Boss did in his 52 minutes which suggests a far quicker tempo and distribution when he was on the field.

Reddans impact cannot be understated, he was a big part of the reason Leinster won and IMO should have started

Boss justified his selection and Reddans impact really showed the benefits of having a player like him on the bench. It was the correct selection for me, although it did seem to be forced by injury.

I'd like to see Reddan start the final though

totallegend

Fishooks12 wrote: »

Good point

I was wondering why Clermont didn't flash it out the backs or try something for those advantages

Leinster never settle for the penalty in those situations

I always find that baffling, I know there's the risk of the advantage being called over, but at least try a couple of phases; Parra went for the DG straight away and they weren't even decent attempts.

Spudmonkey

justsomebloke wrote: »

You can say what you like about reddan's drop goal attempt but it was still better then both of parra's attempts

Both of Parra's were with advantage coming right on front of goals. Reddan took his with no advantage coming to him.

Fishooks12

Just reading back through the last few pages, major lulz at people saying Reddan had a "howler"

It's indicative of armchair pundits who pick out one mistake (a poor DG attempt) and ignore the rest of his performance which was mostly positive

prospect

I can't recall the exact play involved, but is it possible Reddan thought Leinster had advantage and a penalty coming to them?

durkadurka

But has he ever kicked a dg? It seemed mental to me .

I felt he did well when he came on, notwithstanding the dg.

Sundy

Deleted User wrote: »

He certainly wasn't slow, was a heck of a lot quicker than Boss!

With respect to the drop goal attempt, I was absolutely baffled. It reminded me of his kick over the posts vs Clermont away years ago in the dying seconds of the game.

I can only hope that he thought there was an advantage available, and that it was effectively a shot-to-nothing, exactly as Parra had done twice previous in the game. If it was a premeditated effort, it just goes down as one of his patented brainfarts.

London Irish at home, no?

[Jackass]

added to favourites...

Teferi

I though Reddan noticeably upped the tempo after he came on. Was also great at communicating with the ref and getting him on our side. Of course the DG attempt was bad but one bad decision against all his good one still leaves him in the black. He had a good game.

Kev_2012

I've said I wanted Ulster to win it out since Munster got knocked out but I really do hope they beat Leinster now! Wayne Barnes is a disgrace!!! The amount of tacklers not releasing, players at the wrong side of the ruck, repeated infringements not carded and Cullen(although your man went down like Ronaldo), should have been binned at least.

Fofana should have put that away though! idiot. Best of luck to Ulster! At least well have 2 Heineken cups a piece then

Teferi

Both teams were infringing. The Cullen incident was more than evened out by him nearly getting his head torn off in the dying seconds of the match.

You play the ref in front of you. Leinster where generally better at it then Clermont.

prospect

Kev_2012 wrote: »

Wayne Barnes is a disgrace!!! The amount of tacklers not releasing, players at the wrong side of the ruck, repeated infringements not carded and Cullen(although your man went down like Ronaldo), should have been binned at least.

Indeed, there seemed to have been 3 potential red card offences, 1 for Leinster (Cullen), and 2 for Clermont.

Funny how so many people like to ignore the Clermont infringements.

MungBean

niallon wrote: »

The smack Cullen let out. Barnes did see it and said as much as basically, you know that wasn't the right thing to do, I know you're annoyed, don't do it again. For the headbutt Barnes was, as usual, nowhere to be seen. Cullen even looks up for him and clearly sees there's nothing coming so lets the child continue to swing out of his lip.

For the head butt Barnes was directly in front of Leo, when Leo came into the ruck Barnes shouts at him "Your not gonna use your hands" Leo looks up at Barnes and smack...in came the head butt. I have no idea how Barnes missed it.

MungBean

prospect wrote: »

Indeed, there seemed to have been 3 potential red card offences, 1 for Leinster (Cullen), and 2 for Clermont.

Funny how so many people like to ignore the Clermont infringements.

Cullens was never a red to me. What was the other Clermont offence ?

Was it a headbutt, or was it a clash of heads caused by over-exuberant entry to the maul/ruck? I think he was absolutely careless with himself, flying in like that, but I don't think his intention was to headbutt Cullen.

GerM

By far the most cynical piece of play was by a Clermont defender in the build up to the try. When Boss runs across the line and feeds Strauss keep watching Boss and not the ball. He was smashed, high and off the ball. Leinster certainly were cynical and Cullen should have walked but anyone who thinks that Leinster were the only team at it is only watching one side. The hit on Boss, the clear out on Cullen and the taking out of Nacewa are all fairly solid examples of shenanigans. Anyone could just as easily identify examples of Leinster doing the same, I’m sure.

Hippo

MungBean wrote: »

Cullens was never a red to me. What was the other Clermont offence ?

Cudmore's assault on Boss in the build up to the try. Late late late shoulder to the face.

Edit: Germ beat me to it...but it was in the thread earlier

rrpc

Deleted User wrote: »

Was it a headbutt, or was it a clash of heads caused by over-exuberant entry to the maul/ruck? I think he was absolutely careless with himself, flying in like that, but I don't think his intention was to headbutt Cullen.

He clearly came in from the side, smacked his head into Cullen's and then proceded to try and twist his head off, realeased, got a better grip and tried again.

All directly in front of Barnes.

Hippo

Kev_2012 wrote: »

I've said I wanted Ulster to win it out since Munster got knocked out but I really do hope they beat Leinster now! Wayne Barnes is a disgrace!!! The amount of tacklers not releasing, players at the wrong side of the ruck, repeated infringements not carded and Cullen(although your man went down like Ronaldo), should have been binned at least.

Fofana should have put that away though! idiot. Best of luck to Ulster! At least well have 2 Heineken cups a piece then

Those lemons tasting good then?

spank_inferno

There is a lot of hatin' on the referees performance.

Not looking at this through blue tinted glasses I seen plenty of offences being committed by both sides.

As I raised earlier, the charging head-butt Cullen took to his left temple was terrible and could have (and could still cause) serious damage.

MungBean

Just seen it now, late, high and deliberate. Dirty fcuker.

prospect

MungBean wrote: »

Cullens was never a red to me. What was the other Clermont offence ?

I didn't think it was a red either, thats why I said potential.

Boss got a belt I can't fully recall who the offender was.
GerM has it there.

Teferi

Deleted User wrote: »

Was it a headbutt, or was it a clash of heads caused by over-exuberant entry to the maul/ruck? I think he was absolutely careless with himself, flying in like that, but I don't think his intention was to headbutt Cullen.

You could probably argue that it was just overexuberance if he hadn't proceeded to attempt to ruin Cullens handsome features. As is, I feel there was intent in the headbutt.

[Jackass]

I thought Reddan made an absolutely massive impact when he came on. Aided us pinning them back in their half long enough to just get away with a win. Game changer.

Kev_2012

prospect wrote: »

Indeed, there seemed to have been 3 potential red card offences, 1 for Leinster (Cullen), and 2 for Clermont.

Funny how so many people like to ignore the Clermont infringements.

Maybe so, the ruck time infringements are what I was talking about primarily though. It was reminiscent of the stuff the All Blacks get away with (Richie McCaw - some player, some cheater)

irishbucsfan

durkadurka wrote: »

But has he ever kicked a dg? It seemed mental to me .

I felt he did well when he came on, notwithstanding the dg.

He got bad service from the lineout and was unsighted to the defense. Very dangerous situation that can be easilly pressurised by the opposition.

Missed drop goals lead to 22 drop outs which more often than not lead to you setting up possession in the opposition half.

Reddan may have felt he was coming under pressure and just wanted rid of it. It was a bit mad though.