Pro12: Ospreys vs Leinster, Sun 4 Nov 16:00; RTE/S4C

molloyjh

He Won't Be There!

On Sunday Leinster take on the reigning league champions the Ospreys in Liberty Stadium. Leinster will be smarting from the 3 losses to the same opposition last year including the final in the RDS that denied them the double, the second league final that Ospreys have won in the RDS. In fact Leinster have only won 1 game in their last 6 against the Ospreys, a stat Joe Schmidt will no doubt be impressing on his men. This is a grudge match, have no doubts.

With the Autumn Internationals upon us both sides will be stripped of their internationals. Combine those losses with Leinsters injury worries and a trip to the Liberty Stadium looks somewhat daunting. The loss of Isa Nacewa especially will hurt the Leinster back line as he has long been a source of leadership and inspiration to the younger lads around him.

However Leinster have seen both Rhys Ruddock and Dave Kearney return to the side in their 9 try rout of the Cardiff Blues last week along with the arrival of Andrew Goodman from New Zealand who will help to shore up the squad. Young Jordi Murphy showcased his abilities in a MOTM performance in the RDS on Saturday and can consider himself unlucky not to make the starting XV. Shane Jennings returns from a week off to captain the side, with Leo Cullen being a notable absentee after being replaced at half time last week. While we've heard no news on him he was slow to leave the pitch at half time so has most likely picked up a knock. The bench has a decidedly young look to it with Jack McGrath the eldest at 23.

And while Leinster will have lost 11 players to international duty and a further 9 to injury the Ospreys have also lost 9 to international duty and 5 players to injury. These 2 sides will be virtually unrecognisable from the sides that met in May. Ospreys still have plenty of quality in their side and this will be a real test for Leinster. The addition of Goodman should solidify Leinsters midfield, which was a source of real concern in September, and Kearney and Conway will look to build on the good work they've shown so far this season. A Toner and Browne pairing in the second row is one that many Leinster supporters would be in favour of so that will be one to watch. Toner looked to be carrying more effectively last week and claimed a number of our own restarts, albeit getting a bit of an armchair ride. He should be looking to lay down a marker for a starting berth. Jennings has been on form as well this season and will hopefully be a thorn in the Ospreys side all evening.

For as much as I'd like to see Leinster breaking the Osprey hoodoo I'm not sure it will happen on Sunday. I reckon Ospreys by 6, but Leinster must ensure that they get the LBP. With Glasgow at home to the Dragons, Scarlets at home to Zebre and Munster away to Cardiff you would fancy each of those sides to get at least 4 points, if not 5 in some cases. Coming away from Wales without a point could see Leinster drop out of the top 4 down to as far as 6th place.

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15: David Kearney|15: Richard Fussell
14: Andrew Conway|14: Hanno Dirksen
13: Brendan Macken|13: Tom Isaacs
12: Andrew Goodman|12: Andrew Bishop
11: Fionn Carr|11: Eli Walker
10: Ian Madigan|10: Matthew Morgan
9: Isaac Boss|9: Rhys Webb
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1: Heinke van der Merwe|1: Duncan Jones
2: Thomas Sexton|2: Matthew Dwyer
3: Jamie Hagan|3: Joe Rees
4: Damian Browne|4: Lloyd Peers
5: Devin Toner|5: Jonathan Thomas (CAPTAIN)
6: Rhys Ruddock|6: George Stowers
7: Shane Jennings (CAPTAIN)|7: Sam Lewis
8: Leo Auva'a|8: Joe Bearman
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16: James Tracy|16: Arthur Ellis
17: Jack McGrath|17: Marc Thomas
18: Martin Moore|18: Daniel Suter
19: Ben Marshall|19: James King
20: Jordi Murphy|20: Morgan Allen
21: John Cooney|21: Kahn Fotuali'i
22: Noel Reid|22: Jonathan Spratt
23: Sam Coghlan-Murray|23: Ross Jones

ray jay

Hopefully Moore gets a reasonable bit of game time, for all the hype I don't think I've seen him play once this season.

GerM

ray jay wrote: »

Hopefully Moore gets a reasonable bit of game time, for all the hype I don't think I've seen him play once this season.

Aside from a few staunch Leinster fans who rate him highly, I don't think there has been much hype about the lad at all. Hopefully he gets off the bench and packs down against Duncan Jones who would be a very solid test for a young prop. With the arrival of Bent, chances are really going to be few and far between for the likes of Moore so I don't think he'll be making too many more match day squads this season.

molloyjh

GerM wrote: »

Aside from a few staunch Leinster fans who rate him highly, I don't think there has been much hype about the lad at all. Hopefully he gets off the bench and packs down against Duncan Jones who would be a very solid test for a young prop. With the arrival of Bent, chances are really going to be few and far between for the likes of Moore so I don't think he'll be making too many more match day squads this season.

I've only seen brief appearances by him in the senior side, but I was impressed. Seems as solid as you'd expect a young lad like him to be in the scrum, and for as much as he looks like a good old fashioned roundy he did seem to get through a decent bit of work too. I think he turned over ball twice against the Dragons IIRC, and he wasn't on for too long.

Tox56

GerM wrote: »

Aside from a few staunch Leinster fans who rate him highly, I don't think there has been much hype about the lad at all. Hopefully he gets off the bench and packs down against Duncan Jones who would be a very solid test for a young prop. With the arrival of Bent, chances are really going to be few and far between for the likes of Moore so I don't think he'll be making too many more match day squads this season.

Exactly, he has really come in under the radar with all the plaudits going to Furlong. I like the look of him whenever I've seen him but he's only had a few cameos here and there

irishbucsfan

I know this is a pretty ironic statement... but I think Moore is possibly the least hyped Irish front row based on his actual level of ability.

ray jay

I should have said hype on boards.ie, as you say there's very little talk of him elsewhere.

jamiedav2011

Moore looked very solid against Kilcoyne in last years B&I Cup Semi, don't think there's hype over him so much as there's hope amongst Leinster fans as he looks a good solid TH in the Ross mould.

Hardly mass hysteria that he should be starting for the first team!

Hope he and McGrath get on though, we could see a very young and exciting front row.

.ak

jamiedav2011 wrote: »

Moore looked very solid against Kilcoyne in last years B&I Cup Semi, don't think there's hype over him so much as there's hope amongst Leinster fans as he looks a good solid TH in the Ross mould.

Hardly mass hysteria that he should be starting for the first team!

Hope he and McGrath get on though, we could see a very young and exciting front row.

Yeh, thought he was the best Leinster player in that game actually. But so was Kilcoyne for Munster. Revenge of the Props.

[Jackass]

I've never seen Moore hyped any more than being a promising prospect on these boards.

Really hope he gets game time.

Exciting Leinster team, but "exciting Leinster teams" have a history of being absolutely mullered, so hope that's not the case.

Speaking of under hyped players, I think Coughlan-Murray is arguably the best wing on the planet right now. He's very similar to Shane Williams, except ten times the player Williams ever was. Really hope to see him get his senior debut and drool over his half dozen or so tries.

CoDy1

Pity Jordi Murphy isn't starting this game. Like this guy, looks like a serious player.

errlloyd

[Jackass] wrote: »

Speaking of under hyped players, I think Coughlan-Murray is arguably the best wing on the planet right now. He's very similar to Shane Williams, except ten times the player Williams ever was. Really hope to see him get his senior debut and drool over his half dozen or so tries.

I dunno why this is so funny, but I did just lol'd. I'm looking forward to his debut.

icdg

Worth noting, this one's on RTÉ One, not RTÉ Two as it normally is.

Blackheath

Has Murphy played at no.8 ??

armchaircoach

Blackheath wrote: »

Has Murphy played at no.8 ??

Or can he play 6 with Ruddock moving to 8. After his massive performance last weekend it seems wierd for him to drop out of the 15

.ak

armchaircoach wrote: »

Or can he play 6 with Ruddock moving to 8. After his massive performance last weekend it seems wierd for him to drop out of the 15

I dunno but I'm not a fan of Ruddock at 6. I suspect Ruddock was picked ahead of Jordi because he's a bigger unit, we'll look to tighten up the game.

It'll be interesting to see who in the back row gets subbed for Murphy. I'd also imagine at some point Browne will go off with Marshall coming on. That'd be a lot of blindsides on the pitch.

Hagz

Do you mean your not a fan of Ruddock at 8? If so I'd agree. I don't think he's explosive enough from the base. Ruddock is a powerful player, but he's not someone with a lot acceleration. He's better suited to 6.

irishbucsfan

Ruddock is not good at carrying from the base, I agree.

I still think him at 8 with Murphy at 6 would be better. 8 doesnt carry enough from throats base to justify carrying a player in open play imo. Or even the other way around perhaps, with Murphy taking a shot at 8.

[Jackass]

Not a massive Ruddock fan in general. He's been decent, but another player yet to deliver on hype. I'm not saying he's useless, but pretty run of the mill and has mostly failed to stand out thus far. Time is on his side however.

.ak

Hagz wrote: »

Do you mean your not a fan of Ruddock at 8? If so I'd agree. I don't think he's explosive enough from the base. Ruddock is a powerful player, but he's not someone with a lot acceleration. He's better suited to 6.

Oops yep, early morning fingers!

Foxtrol

[Jackass] wrote: »

Speaking of under hyped players, I think Coughlan-Murray is arguably the best wing on the planet right now. He's very similar to Shane Williams, except ten times the player Williams ever was. Really hope to see him get his senior debut and drool over his half dozen or so tries.

Again not too sure what to make of that post but on SCM it is so unfortunate about his illness as I thought he was playing great prior to it (as far as I remember scoring tries for fun for the As while only in his 1st year of the academy) but I'm not yet fully convinced he's hit those heights since he recovered. Hopefully he comes on, proves me wrong and has a great game!

irishbucsfan

[Jackass] wrote: »

Not a massive Ruddock fan in general. He's been decent, but another player yet to deliver on hype. I'm not saying he's useless, but pretty run of the mill and has mostly failed to stand out thus far. Time is on his side however.

Yeah I agree.

There are certain thing she does superbly, but he's limited.

Fireball07

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Yeah I agree.

There are certain thing she does superbly, but he's limited.

Do you know something we don't?



I like Ruddock, I would have liked to see him come to Munster last season when it was rumoured, think he's the kind of player we could use. Though I would agree that he's somewhat limited, he's still a very useful player. He's never going to be Ferris but he's a big unit, carries pretty well and is very strong in defence.

jamiedav2011

An absolutely vital day today for three areas in particular.
Firstly Hagan has to at least give us parity in the scrum, and hopefully give us the nudge. Could be crucial today and our front 5 should be more powerful than theirs.

Secondly Sexton needs to have a good one. (Strange saying that and not referring to Johnny!). Lineout will be key for us.

Thirdly, Madigan and Boss really need to control this game. We've far more experience and nous at 9 and 10 than they do on paper, and the kicking game will be huge. Hopefully Goodman can help out there too.

Should be a fascinating game imo.

RuggieBear

we're going to be hockeyed.

RuggieBear

nice break by boss

irishbucsfan

That's it Isaac!

His experience will be absolutely vital

CIARAN_BOYLE

irishbucsfan wrote: »

That's it Isaac!

His experience will be absolutely vital

good chase from conway after that

Fireball07

I don't know, this is a stronger Leinster team than they had earlier in the season- the return of the likes of Ruddock, Dave Kearney and Boss does strengthen the side. Ospreys are missing their internationals too.

jamiedav2011

Jesus that was a shocker of a kick from Madigan, we'll need far better than that today.

Fireball07

Ah Carr...

RuggieBear

great kick and carr just couldnt ground it

keith16

Carr....o deary me...

jamiedav2011

Oh my jesus Carr.

Wasn't nearly as easy as COS is suggesting though in fairness.

Scioch

He didnt dive conor, he stretched to pick it up and fell forward.

jamiedav2011

Great start!

RuggieBear

lol

Fireball07

There's a try. Very sloppy from Ospreys.

Taco Corp

jesus, carr. what an awful attempt.

but looks like we got the try of a messy O's lineout

keith16

Should be a try now in any case.

Glass Prison 1214

keith16 wrote: »

Carr....o deary me...

it was a difficult one, i wouldn't blame Carr for that myself.

thomond2006

lol at Carr

Fireball07

Tough enough call, I'd say he'll give it though.

tolosenc

Much harder for Carr than COS intimated. Think Leo knocked on.

keith16

Glass Prison 1214 wrote: »

it was a difficult one, i wouldn't blame Carr for that myself.

actually on second viewing he was racing to get it....even if he did stay on his feet his momentum would have taken him into touch,

Taco Corp

good start from Leinster so far

goreyguy

come on hagan

jamiedav2011

Fcuking stupid there from Auvaa. Brainless.

thomond2006

Why did Auva'a take that quickly?

tolosenc

After 12 minutes, Hagan has made a mockery of Archer's call up.

Zuffer

given that the ref went to the tmo for leo's try, did the tmo have the option of ruling out the try for a knock on before the line?