Preview Thread -RaboDirect Pro12 Final - RDS, 25th May, 1645 - live on RTE2/TG4/BBCNI

durkadurka

errlloyd wrote: »

To be fair, Leinster fans (of which I am one) booed Poite en masse last year.

Yeah you're right.

AngeGal

totallegend wrote: »

Just back from the match, will need to watch the replay to comment in detail on the game but what an occasion, absolutely brilliant day for the league and for Irish rugby. Really felt that had the game run on another five or ten minutes, Ulster would definitely have won.

Think it's fair to say that Leinster v Ulster is now the provincial rivalry, with the departures from Leinster next season I expect Ulster to establish themselves as the top province.

Was in the north stand with the Ulster fans, had good banter with a few of them and fair play they made a hell of a lot of noise.

A really sour note for me was that a sizeable number of Ulster fans felt the need to boo Lacey as he was collecting his medal, pathetic and bitter.

And just what was Diack thinking?

I wouldn't be writing Munster off too quickly, they still have a formidable pack of forwards, the backrow especially will only improve from their experiences this season.

Conway has really impressed the last few weeks and if he can continue in that vein he will be a great addition.

Obviously a lot will depend on the no.10, if (and it's a big if) Keatley/Hanrahan can deliver consistently in that spot then Munster will be a serious outfit.

They may still be slightly in transition next season but I think they've a promising future.

Conchir

RuggieBear wrote: »

only worse finish i can think of

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03gpzFZadcQ

I've always dreamt of someone doing that to Ashton just as he does his swan dive. Moment of the season material if it happened.

Just about the booing during kicks. I hate it and it shouldn't happen in rugby, but if parts of a crowd are going to do it, I wish people wouldn't shush them. Just be the bigger person and ignore them. And then afterwards just stay silent during their kicks. But the shushing is embarrassing.

bilston

Leinster to lay their Rabo final hoodoo to rest?

AngeGal wrote: »

I wouldn't be writing Munster off too quickly, they still have a formidable pack of forwards, the backrow especially will only improve from their experiences this season.

Conway has really impressed the last few weeks and if he can continue in that vein he will be a great addition.

Obviously a lot will depend on the no.10, if (and it's a big if) Keatley/Hanrahan can deliver consistently in that spot then Munster will be a serious outfit.

They may still be slightly in transition next season but I think they've a promising future.

The problem for Munster is that their back row of POM/TOD/Coughlan is a bit meh, obviously we've still to see what Stander can do and but compared to a back row of say Quinlan/Wallace/Leamy it's not quite at that level. Only POM would fit in with that company IMO. Plus whatever people say about ROG he has been key to Munster's success over the years, can Keatley or JJ replace him.

We'll have to see how Leinster go without Sexton and Nacewa not to mention Joe. However the loss of some of the fringe players like Conway (why did he leave again?) and Hagan may prove just as signifcant. They still have enough class to be in contention in both the Rabo and HEC.

Connacht have lots of good young players and hopefully they can get a top 7 finish next season.

I think there is definitely an opportunity for Ulster to be Ireland's main hope in both the Rabo and the HEC next season, however looking beyond that it should be pointed out that Muller, Afoa, Williams and Pienaar all come out of contract in June 2014.

Interesting times ahead anyway.

Buer

leakyboots wrote: »

Maybe it's slight wishful thinking from this Munster fan but I wonder will Leinster suffer a similar slump to us with the personnel leaving and retiring

I'd be surprised if they didn't. Sexton is near irreplaceable and Nacewa offered a lot when the internationals were gone. I can't see them managing to be as consistent in the league or as ruthless in the big games without them. Cullen and BOD another year older. Swings and roundabouts. Hopefully the likes of Beirne and Thornbury develop quickly and Madigan continues to improve.

Ulster will also be facing down the barrel of serious issues this time next year. They're currently serious contenders and a formidable side. Take Afoa, Muller, Williams and Pienaar out of their side though and they are nowhere near as strong. That's precisely what will happen next year when all of their contracts end at the same time and, more than likely, they will not be allowed sign NIQ players in those positions to replace them. At least Payne will qualify for Ireland allowing them another NIQ player to come in but it's going to be a very tricky period for them to manage..

bilston

Leinster to lay their Rabo final hoodoo to rest?

Buer wrote: »

I'd be surprised if they didn't. Sexton is near irreplaceable and Nacewa offered a lot when the internationals were gone. I can't see them managing to be as consistent in the league or as ruthless in the big games without them. Cullen and BOD another year older. Swings and roundabouts. Hopefully the likes of Beirne and Thornbury develop quickly and Madigan continues to improve.

Ulster will also be facing down the barrel of serious issues this time next year. They're currently serious contenders and a formidable side. Take Afoa, Muller, Williams and Pienaar out of their side though and they are nowhere near as strong. That's precisely what will happen next year when all of their contracts end at the same time and, more than likely, they will not be allowed sign NIQ players in those positions to replace them. At least Payne will qualify for Ireland allowing them another NIQ player to come in but it's going to be a very tricky period for them to manage..

It depends on how tight the NIQ laws are, but if we're allowed to there is a fair chance we'd be able to re-sign Williams and Pienaar. As I've said loads of times I just can't understand in what world the IRFU could think having Ruan Pienaar playing for Ulster is bad for Ireland!

On the other hand if we lose those four players at once we'll be in trouble so next season needs to be our year.

Buer

bilston wrote: »

It depends on how tight the NIQ laws are, but if we're allowed to there is a fair chance we'd be able to re-sign Williams and Pienaar. As I've said loads of times I just can't understand in what world the IRFU could think having Ruan Pienaar playing for Ulster is bad for Ireland!

On the other hand if we lose those four players at once we'll be in trouble so next season needs to be our year.

I'd say Williams will be allowed to stay but Pienaar will be doing well to get another contract. Ulster have two other Irish scrum halves in Marshall and Heaney. If Heaney shows promise next season then I'd be surprised to see another contract sanctioned. He has already had two contracts at Ulster and will be 30. It would be a serious coup by Humphreys to convince the IRFU to let them give him a third deal.

I reckon this season coming is Ulster's window of opportunity. Everything into this one season and hopefully come up trumps.

irishbucsfan

Pienaar might want to go back to South Africa before the World Cup?

tolosenc

Leinster to lay their Rabo final hoodoo to rest?

Just beginning to come down after this one! Fantastic game. Ulster all but handed it to us in the first 10 minutes.

Really impressed with Toner's contributions. He matched up to the physicality, which is the biggest weakness in his game.

Thought Lacey was pedantic bit fair.

decisions

tolosenc wrote: »

Thought Lacey was pedantic bit fair.

I wouldn't expect any different from him. He got a few things wrong but overall I thought he had a descent game.

.ak

Mahatma Geansai wrote: »

Well done Leinster. You always need some luck to win a trophy. Ulster fans and players must be sick.

The bitter, negative comments throughout the thread are uncalled and haven't gone unnoticed. Infracted.

.ak

Absolutely cracking game. Best at atmosphere I've ever witnessed in the RDS. Fair play to the league for arranging the seating like they did, was great to have both sets of fans trying got out sing each other way before kick off. Immense atmosphere.

I thought Leinster were the dominant team for the entire game, but ever really far enough ahead to put themselves at ease. Credit to ulster, they really put it up to Leinster, especially off their set pieces. The speed of which they operated for the Diack !try was something else.

Definition of an absolute cracker of a game, don't know what some people were smoking when they said it wasn't a good game! Ulster were within range always, Leinster never pulled away, and really it was only Leinsters pedigree that won it n the end.

Credit to Ulsters fans tho! Really brought out the best in the Leinster crowd. Butter ulster guys are such great sports. Ignore the booing over kicks... Really didn't bother me at all. Doubt it bothered Jonny either, sure he'll have to get used to that next year! I thought it was a bit of pantomime. Defo wouldn't be getting precious over it.

I thi k the ulster fans were going to react like that after Lacey blew them off the park in the first quarter, rightly or wrongly.

I was at the game, so don't have video to analyse Lacey's performance, but going into this game I thought I'd be happy with him, he's one of my favourite refs. I thought he had a good game from the stands, sure a few things were harsh on ulster but so were so e of the calls on Leinster in the 2nd half, especially at the breakdown. I think a lot of people will focus on that scrum. But all over he was quite good. Thought both yellows were a bit harsh, but I'd need to see them again.

Best moment of the day was the celebrations at the end. Especially when sexton had the trophy, really saw how much it meant to him, and when the crowd started chanting 'johnny, Jonny' he was loving it. Gas.

End of an era, ended with a triple of trophies, what a season....

Eagerly looking forward to next season and a new era!

Teferi

I really think Dev Toner had a bit of a mixed bag of a game. Lacking that bit of dog is really hindering him to be honest.

Healy was getting absolutely minced in the scrums in the first half. Sort of straightened it out in the second but I'm unsure if that is down to Afoa tiring or what. Healy was good with ball in hand taking it into contact but made some awful attempts at offloads. He was also making some strange moves in defence.

The ref also had a mixed bag of a game. He made an equal amount of bad calls for both sides.

I reckon our backrow deserved the MotM award as a unit.

I am devastated this is the only home game I've missed this year.

irishbucsfan

According to Paul Wallace and Jiffy it was Devin Toner's best game of his career and he should have gotten MOTM. I thought he was very good as well tbh

Definitely think our scrum is noticeably weaker when him and Cullen play together though for some reason.

Edit: Teferi, I'd imagine Healy getting minced in the scrums could be related to who was driving behind Afoa in comparison to who was driving behind Healy!

Swiwi

Ok, a few half-sloshed thoughts

1) Ulster, you cant win big matches if you donate penalties to the opposition
2) Leinster, I'm not sure Madigan is a 12
3) Ulster, despite what the lads in the North Stand say, you didn't lose the match because of the "farkan rafaray"

Teferi

Swiwi wrote: »

2) Leinster, I'm not sure Madigan is a 12

I'm sure we'll be mainly seeing him at 10 next year, fairly certain the Mads at 12 experiment was just to give him as much big game experience as possible alongside Sexton and BOD before they left.

Irlandczyk

Teferi wrote: »

I'm sure we'll be mainly seeing him at 10 next year, fairly certain the Mads at 12 experiment was just to give him as much big game experience as possible alongside Sexton and BOD before they left.

Please God! He's not a 12 or a 15, but I'm sure he'll be a damn good 10. Sure, he even played at 9 for a while against France, did he not? He's been in 9, 10, 12, and 15 now... He needs a crack at 11 or 14 now and that'll be that! :pac:

CatFromHue

Nah he's not a 12, he didn't offer much from there today.

Just rewatched the Diack yellow there, he actually puts one knee on the ground before he engages in the ruck. Bizarre!

Tox56

Leinster to lay their Rabo final hoodoo to rest?

Madigan isn't a 12 but he's also knackered, looked a bit jaded at times today especially in his decision making, gave it everything though. Hope he doesn't play both games in the summer tour although with his versatility I expect he will

Irlandczyk

CatFromHue wrote: »

Nah he's not a 12, he didn't offer much from there today.

Just rewatched the Diack yellow there, he actually puts one knee on the ground before he engages in the ruck. Bizarre!

Almost forgot about that. Jamie Hagan stole the show with his lovely dolphin dive.

pc7

Just home for what is one of the best rugby days I can remember,l for some time maybe with Isa,Johnny and Joe leaving I don't know but that was a special day! Smashing stuff

errlloyd

I hope ulster fans left the RDS today feeling that Leinster fans really respected their team andtheir fans. I did, I know my group did. We all knew that game could go either way. I rremember with another provincial rivalry back in the day there was always a perception that perhaps mutual respect didn't exist.

Swiwi

pc7 wrote: »

Just home for what is one of the best rugby days I can remember

Well that's a plus. The Ulster & subsequently Leinster fans I met up with were very generous with the pints...cheers lads!

bilston

Leinster to lay their Rabo final hoodoo to rest?

Talking of 12 I was really impressed by Olding...again...a couple of nice runs but defensively he was superb, he looked right at home.

I hope he gets a start there in the US and Canada.

Coburger

Leinster to lay their Rabo final hoodoo to rest?

leakyboots wrote: »

Ryle Nugest is nauseating

Couldn't agree more. Donal himself is pretty poor. I'm a Leinster fan but he is so in favour of them I find - they can't seem to do no wrong. He was going on about how great BOD is in defense (which he generally is) when he missed two tackles in a Ulster move.

I turned to watch it on TG4 but the picture quality was too poor that it was back to Ryle and Donal.

neilmulvey

.ak wrote: »

I thi k the ulster fans were going to react like that after Lacey blew them off the park in the first quarter, rightly or wrongly.

Lacey had a decent game but got a few decisions wrong. The first scrums near Leinster line he gave Ulster a penalty when Court had his elbow an inch from the ground, then Ulster went for the scum and he allowed Boss tackle Williams even tho the ball wasnt out.

He gave Ulster an official warning then didnt act on it when they continued to give away peno's at the breakdown. One in particular was a yellow regardless of the warning when Boss was about to pass the ball and Henry kicked the ball when lying on the ground at the base of a ruck.

Completely missed the Afoa/Healy incident that people were talking about earlier in thread.

What Diack was thinking when he had the chance to score I dont know. With Pienaar taking the kicks, trying to get 5-6 metres in from the touchline seemed dumb.

hogandrew

Coburger wrote: »

Couldn't agree more. Donal himself is pretty poor. I'm a Leinster fan but he is so in favour of them I find - they can't seem to do no wrong. He was going on about how great BOD is in defense (which he generally is) when he missed two tackles in a Ulster move.

I turned to watch it on TG4 but the picture quality was too poor that it was back to Ryle and Donal.

Pretty sure I heard Ryle refer to Ulster as the others at one point. Also I'm not sure who was responsible for the cameras on the day but the views of some of the kicks were dreadful.

bilston

Leinster to lay their Rabo final hoodoo to rest?

hogandrew wrote: »

Pretty sure I heard Ryle refer to Ulster as the others at one point. Also I'm not sure who was responsible for the cameras on the day but the views of some of the kicks were dreadful.

Ach sure it's not as if BBC NI were impartial!

rrpc

That was one of the most enjoyable matches I've ever watched and not just for what was happening on the field. Never heard two sets of supporters giving it so much socks for so long in a match at this level and it really ramped up the atmosphere.

Result was in doubt right up to the last minute, Ulster were absolutely fantastic and will be favourites for next season IMO. An absolute classic and a huge boost to the Rabo. Sky won't be too displeased with their purchase .

molloyjh

Wonderful day out yesterday. Cracking weather, top class atmosphere, a fine game of rugby and the right result. I thought Lacey was a bit too quick to blow up at the breakdown in the first half in particular. He seemed to ease off a bit in the second, but not sure if that was him or just the sides adjusting to him. The difference in the first 10-15 seemed to be where Leinster conceded their penalties compared to where Ulster did. Didn't see the scrum on the Leinster line properly that seems to have caused a fuss. But in the few hits before hand Court wasn't binding properly and that was ignored too. Thought our back row was excellent and Jenno fully deserved his MOTM. The guy has been in great form recently.

Had a great sing-song with a bunch of Ulster fans in Kielys afterwards and all the Ulster lads we met were absolutely sound. They were all packed onto a bus fairly early though. Would have made for a really great night if they could have stayed. We were talking to one who said he was really embarrassed about the noise for the Leinster kicks. It was very noticeable in the ground that there was a difference between the two sets of fans. He reckons there's been an increasing soccer element coming into Ulster rugby and its not going down well with a lot of them.

Anyway, well done to Leinster. Great way to say goodbye to the lads. That's every trophy available to Leinster in 2 seasons. That'll do nicely. Next up, the Lions.