Match Thread: Leinster Rugby vs Glasgow Warriors, Saturday 11th May 19:35,BBCAlba/TG4

jamiedav2011

bilston wrote: »

Have to say that the best team lost tonight. Anyway Glasgow will be a force to be reckoned with next season, if they keep winning and keep playing that brand of rugby the sky is the limit for them as they have potentially the biggest fanbase in the CL (I think Glasgow is marginally bigger than Dublin...at least it is according to wiki).

Anyway an all Ireland Pro 12 final. Should be a good un'.

Please don't let Clancy near it.

Not bigger than Leinster though.

Glasgow has two pro football teams though, and a fairly small % of population interested in rugby in any way, whereas in Leinster we're starved of pro teams and have no real competition during the Winter months, bar the farce that is LOI.

[Jackass]

Jeez that wasn't good for my heart! I had a horrible sinking feeling that we were going to lose as time went on and it remained so close...

I think on the balance we might have just deserved it, but Leinster were very very poor. Accuracy was way below where it needs to be, we didn't know how to defend against the pace Glasgow put on the game (ironically, being beaten at our own game), our drift defence consists of players back peddling and waiting for the attacking player to arrive and then try and pull him down....perhaps I've cracked Leinsters defence and the way to beat Leinster is to attack at walking pace and wait for the Leinster players to back off over their own line then walk over and touch it down.

Sexton seemed to have other plans tonight, might be catching the 22:30 flight to Paris to do a half dozen private viewings of apartments, Toner was clumbsy and had his worst game of the season, or several seasons, thought he individually was absolutely attrocious (picking out players is harsh, I know that, but he was that poor).

I thought Jennings was absolutely superb, my man of the match by a mile.

Very worrying to see D'Arcy hobble off, good news about BOD though.

I'd like to say Joe was holding the play book under lock and key, we've often been very poor in Pro12 semis and won the European Cup the following weekend, so lets keep the fingers crossed that's all it was.

Fair play to those who turned up also, atmosphere was great, but the crowd numbers were very disappointing.

bilston

jamiedav2011 wrote: »

Not bigger than Leinster though.

Glasgow has two pro football teams though, and a fairly small % of population interested in rugby in any way, whereas in Leinster we're starved of pro teams and have no real competition during the Winter months, bar the farce that is LOI.

Scottish football is rubbish at the moment and one of those two professional football clubs are in Scottish Div 2 and the other is partially reliant on the other being in the SPL. Glasgow should be trying to make hay while football is on a downer. But yes there are more competing interests with Rangers and Celtic. In saying that, and I don't know a lot about GAA, but while they aren't professional are Dublin GAA not massive?

its_phil

bilston wrote: »

Scottish football is rubbish at the moment and one of those two professional football clubs are in Scottish Div 2 and the other is partially reliant on the other being in the SPL. Glasgow should be trying to make hay while football is on a downer. But yes there are more competing interests with Rangers and Celtic. In saying that, and I don't know a lot about GAA, but while they aren't professional are Dublin GAA not massive?

GAA kicks off when rugby finishes so they don't compete with eachother.

Peregrine

bilston wrote: »

Scottish football is rubbish at the moment and one of those two professional football clubs are in Scottish Div 2 and the other is partially reliant on the other being in the SPL. Glasgow should be trying to make hay while football is on a downer. But yes there are more competing interests with Rangers and Celtic. In saying that, and I don't know a lot about GAA, but while they aren't professional are Dublin GAA not massive?

"Professional" is a commonly misunderstood word in the sporting world. GAA is an "Amateur sport" as opposed to Soccer and Rugby being "Professional" but that just means that its players aren't paid for matches. It doesn't question the professionalism, interest or fan base of the sport or it's players. But yes Dublin GAA is massive.

Dave_The_Sheep

F*ck me that was tense toward the end. I had a feeling Hogg would miss that conversion, but it didn't make it any easier. Glasgow played some absolutely cracking stuff. At one point before their second try, from us being 5m out off their line, with our forwards trundling on, they turned it over and the backs made 60/70 metres in the space of about 2 minutes with some brilliant offloading. It's one segment of play, but they were at it all night. Great stuff to watch.

Heaslip was excellent, but if he hadn't gotten that yellow card, Matawalu was nailed on for MOTM. He was on fire today - even though we backed off him a bit too much - he did so much lateral running at times and we never pushed up on him. I suppose it might be that our lads were wary of his breaking. Still, I'd have liked to have seen him under more pressure.

It was moderately empty, with the Anglesea stand particularly obvious with clumps of empty seats all over the place. That said, the crowd picked up their voice in the second half, especially towards the end - even if that's expected. Some ... interesting ... moments a few times in the south stand with Glasgow fans when Johnny was taking a while over his kicks. The first "we would remind people to respect both kickers" got a big cheer from everyone.

Still, I had us down to lose in my head, so delighted we made it through that. Unfortunately, the next game will be just as tough, albeit in different ways. Roll on the 25th.

its_phil

13,235 is such a poor attendance for a semi. Clearly the people who didn't go will be kicking themselves for what was a cracker

Buer

The team that played the better, more attractive rugby lost. The team that was better won, if that makes sense. Whilst Glasgow were threatening throughout, Leinster still won the collisions, had the better of the set piece and the breakdown. They'll be kicking themselves for not getting further ahead on the board earlier and, once Glasgow were within the score coming into the final stages, Leinster were always going to soak up a lot of heat as they became more and more scared of losing.

That's not to take away from Glasgow who were absolutely hammer and tongs into this one and fronted up hugely. They played some slick stuff and might feel like they should have pinched the game. If you're not getting on top in the forwards though, you're going to struggle to win the game and Glasgow didn't get on top there. On another night, it would have been 25-10 going into the final stages. Sexton hasn't had a night like that for Leinster in a long time.

I thought it was interesting that, repeatedly, they moved it down the Leinster right wing. I wonder if they decided to target Conway there and it did pay off. Whenever they moved it to that side, they made great yards and were never met with a big hit that would have killed an offload or momentum that they may have faced from Nacewa. Clever direction.

Glasgow's offloading from the tackle was very sharp and their handling up front was excellent. I'd say Leinster were far too passive in that respect in terms of trying to kill the flow of their moves and should have chanced an offside.

Overall, delighted with the win. It was always going to be a war of attrition out there but I was taken aback at just how much blood was on show at the end.

PhatPiggins

joconnell wrote: »

Apparently McFadden's the quickest in the squad over 20,40 and 60 metres.

Slowest Leinster squad in living memory?

Tox56

its_phil wrote: »

13,235 is such a poor attendance for a semi. Clearly the people who didn't go will be kicking themselves for what was a cracker

Munster only had 13,000 too for their league semi in Thomond against the Ospreys in 2011, it's just a product of the short notice that comes with playoffs

bilston

That young guy who scored at the end for Glasgow is going to be one hell of a player. Bennett I think he is called. Between him, Hogg, Maitland and Matawalu Glasgow are going to be fun to watch next season.

Tox56

PhatPiggins wrote: »

Slowest Leinster squad in living memory?

This is the Fergus McFadden that outsprinted the All Blacks back 3 this time last year

eyeball kid

Really enjoyed that game. Being from Connacht I wasn't as emotionally invested as our Leinster brethern but I thought Leinster just about deserved it but it was brilliant to see Glasgow play so well, for the league if nothing else.

Also their scrum half looks great. Some brilliant breaks during the game. Really caused Leinster some problems.

The final should be a cracker. Can't wait for it.

Buer

Think that, unless Leinster make significant changes next week and rest several players, they'll simply be out of gas come the Ulster game. Ulster will batten down the hatches and bring the same ferocity that Glasgow did tonight but with more accuracy and smarts up front. Leinster don't have the energy to hold out for 3 weeks in a row. Even as a one off, it would be anyone's game.

bilston

Buer wrote: »

Think that, unless Leinster make significant changes next week and rest several players, they'll simply be out of gas come the Ulster game. Ulster will batten down the hatches and bring the same ferocity that Glasgow did tonight but with more accuracy and smarts up front. Leinster don't have the energy to hold out for 3 weeks in a row. Even as a one off, it would be anyone's game.

Which is more important for Leinster? The Amlin or the league?

its_phil

bilston wrote: »

Which is more important for Leinster? The Amlin or the league?

Amlin without a doubt.....

(Without any Connacht bias at all)

bilston

its_phil wrote: »

Amlin without a doubt.....

(Without any Connacht bias at all)

I see what you did there:D

Seriously though if it were Ulster I'd prefer to win the league (sorry Phil).

Let's be honest Leinster will only have needed to win three games to win the Amlin.

its_phil

Tox56 wrote: »

Munster only had 13,000 too for their league semi in Thomond against the Ospreys in 2011, it's just a product of the short notice that comes with playoffs

Well Leinster got 15,100 last year for the same fixture against the same team and the league has grown significantly in the last year.

Maybe the marketing was very poor for just this one in particular or there are more corporate season tickets than we thought?

Tox56

bilston wrote: »

Which is more important for Leinster? The Amlin or the league?

I'd say they're desperate to win the league, but they're not going to rest players for a European final, and in front of the RDS crowd they'll go all out to win it. They could in theory target the Rabo but the scheduling means that they would be comprimising their chances in the Amlin to do that, and it won't happen

Buer

bilston wrote: »

Which is more important for Leinster? The Amlin or the league?

The league, I suspect. But that's not to say they won't be putting their bodies on the line for the Amlin. Where possible, I'd like to see changes made for the Amlin final. But there are still going to be a few absolutely crucial guys who are going to play in all the games: Ross, Cullen and Heaslip being the most obvious.

The issue is playing three sides consecutively who essentially have nothing else to focus on. Glasgow were completely focused on tonight and nothing else. Stade Francais are 100% concentrating on next week and nothing else (they rested their entire team in the T14 last week) and Ulster will have two weeks off to get themselves right for the final.

If it was a year ago, I'd say Leinster would do it. At this point though, I don't think we'll be able to hold it together. The ACC would be a sweet win but I'd rather the Pro12. I'll be praying for both though.

durkadurka

ST sales are down too.

[Jackass]

its_phil wrote: »

Well Leinster got 15,100 last year for the same fixture against the same team and the league has grown significantly in the last year.

Maybe the marketing was very poor for just this one in particular or there are more corporate season tickets than we thought?

It's tough to know really, there's a lot going on like university exams, there's also the fact that if you get a european quarter final, semi final, final and a pro12 semi final and potentially final, all of which are off the season ticket and all of which are in a very short space of time, it's tough to afford making it to all the games and I think people prioritise.

Thank God there's no away trip to finals this year though, which is unusual that the attendance dropped off as at least people aren't springing for travel and accomodation to the UK next week also.

Tox56

its_phil wrote: »

Well Leinster got 15,100 last year for the same fixture against the same team and the league has grown significantly in the last year.

Maybe the marketing was very poor for just this one in particular or there are more corporate season tickets than we thought?

Leinster topped the league by a mile last season, it was obvious for a while that we would be getting a home semi at the very least. To put it into context, the final game of last season was a dead rubber, in the final game of this season we didn't even know if we would be in Dublin for the semi.

Dave_The_Sheep

Buer wrote: »

The ACC would be a sweet win but I'd rather the Pro12. I'll be praying for both though.

I would too, especially after being beaten twice by Ulster this year.

I also think it'll be a bridge too far. It'd be a monumental* achievement to do both, here's hoping Johnny and Nacewa play out of their skins for the last two (luckily home) games they have with us, and the rest of the lads row in behind them to make it happen.

*As in, I'll erect a monument in my back garden if so.

[Jackass]

Regarding trophy, Pro12 is more important, but there's a great novelty factor to the Amlin. There's also the urge to win it as hopefully we wont get the opportunity again for a very very long time, if ever (hopefully! and not by finishing below 2nd or being worst runner up in the groups of the Heineken!! )

Chances of being back in it any time soon have dropped off massively now that Clermont are first seeds anyway.

totallegend

its_phil wrote: »

Well Leinster got 15,100 last year for the same fixture against the same team and the league has grown significantly in the last year.

Maybe the marketing was very poor for just this one in particular or there are more corporate season tickets than we thought?

Think there's a bit of fixture overload at play.

In the last few weeks, we've had Biarritz, Ospreys and Glasgow in successive weekends and will have Stade and Ulster in the next two weekends. Five must-win home games in five weekends.

That's a big commitment from the fans in terms of money and time, as well as motivation for trekking to the RDS every week, it's only natural that one of the games would suffer in terms of attendance.

Crimsonforce

Imagine that scrum half at leinster! Jeeeeeez!

Dave_The_Sheep

durkadurka wrote: »

ST sales are down too.

10,000 as we were told, repeatedly, today.

its_phil

Buer wrote: »

The league, I suspect. But that's not to say they won't be putting their bodies on the line for the Amlin. Where possible, I'd like to see changes made for the Amlin final. But there are still going to be a few absolutely crucial guys who are going to play in all the games: Ross, Cullen and Heaslip being the most obvious.

The issue is playing three sides consecutively who essentially have nothing else to focus on. Glasgow were completely focused on tonight and nothing else. Stade Francais are 100% concentrating on next week and nothing else (they rested their entire team in the T14 last week) and Ulster will have two weeks off to get themselves right for the final.

If it was a year ago, I'd say Leinster would do it. At this point though, I don't think we'll be able to hold it together. The ACC would be a sweet win but I'd rather the Pro12. I'll be praying for both though.

Heaslip has got Parisee and Williams over the next two weeks. Tough going, should be fun though. Especially Parisee seen as ill be at the game, old white Bank of Scotland jersey is coming out of retirement!

Buer

Crimsonforce wrote: »

Imagine that scrum half at leinster! Jeeeeeez!

Superb athlete and rugby player but there are several I'd have ahead of him as a scrum half in the league. Doesn't dictate things, can be headless (the tap and go penalty in the first half was madness in a knock out game) and his pass isn't too hot.