Match Thread: Leinster Rugby vs Cardiff Blues, Friday 26th Sept 19:35, TG4/BBCW

Buer

Just a mention to the Welsh stars last night. Warburton was seriously pumped and put in a great shift. He was a constant threat at every breakdown and destroyed our ball. Cuthbert roamed well, got his hands on the ball and was dangerous whenever in possession. Halfpenny though, the undoubted star of the trio, was pretty poor. I thought his involvements were sloppy often. Fumbled one or two balls, offered little in way of a kicking game and was run over by 90kg outhalf for a try in a manner that would have had people mocking ROG for.

Halfpenny was utterly exceptional on the Lions tour. But I always felt that people suddenly seemed to consider him the best full back in the world as if he had been playing like that for some time. He seemed to be immune from the criticism for his club side that has absolutely plagued Warburton.

Swiwi.

Buer wrote: »

Just a mention to the Welsh stars last night. Warburton was seriously pumped and put in a great shift. He was a constant threat at every breakdown and destroyed our ball. Cuthbert roamed well, got his hands on the ball and was dangerous whenever in possession. Halfpenny though, the undoubted star of the trio, was pretty poor. I thought his involvements were sloppy often. Fumbled one or two balls, offered little in way of a kicking game and was run over by 90kg outhalf for a try in a manner that would have had people mocking ROG for.

Halfpenny was utterly exceptional on the Lions tour. But I always felt that people suddenly seemed to consider him the best full back in the world as if he had been playing like that for some time. He seemed to be immune from the criticism for his club side that has absolutely plagued Warburton.

Cuthbert ran sideways a fair bit last night. Tried to outflank players when it wasn't on. But his workrate was good, and he took his try very well. Warburton was decent alright. I still rate Dagg better than HP, but that's hardly breaking news given my heritage

Buer

Swiwi. wrote: »

Cuthbert ran sideways a fair bit last night. Tried to outflank players when it wasn't on. But his workrate was good, and he took his try very well. Warburton was decent alright. I still rate Dagg better than HP, but that's hardly breaking news given my heritage

I'd put Dagg on a completely different level to Halfpenny, to be honest. He has twice the attacking threat.

Halfpenny had a fantastic summer but he needs to back that up now and show if he's truly one of the greats or is a very good player who peaked at the right time. Last night he was mediocre at best. He was caught out of position also on a couple of occasions, notably when Kearney sent the ball 60m down the pitch.

danthefan

Dagg is miles better than 1/2p imo as a fullback, I think 1/2p is very solid but his performances got blown way out of proportion due to his goal kicking. Just my opinion.

Hagz

I bet he'll win Player of the Year.

Fireball07

I was impressed with Reid last night, very capable performance, although I'm guessing it's easier to look good when BOD puts on a show like he did last night.


Thought Rob Kearney was poor... he's a class player, hopefully he comes under some threat for his position for Leinster and Ireland, so that he pushes back to the levels we know he's capable of.

Swiwi.

danthefan wrote: »

Dagg is miles better than 1/2p imo as a fullback, I think 1/2p is very solid but his performances got blown way out of proportion due to his goal kicking. Just my opinion.

I thought HP was excellent during last years AIs and the Lions series, but he's no Christian Cullen on attack. I don't follow Cardiff unless I'm watching them play an Irish team, but I believe his domestic form is a bit hit & miss.

Swiwi.

Fireball07 wrote: »

I was impressed with Reid last night, very capable performance, although I'm guessing it's easier to look good when BOD puts on a show like he did last night.


Thought Rob Kearney was poor... he's a class player, hopefully he comes under some threat for his position for Leinster and Ireland, so that he pushes back to the levels we know he's capable of.

Reid did all that was asked of him, which wasn't that much. Not his fault when BOD was on fire. He deserves another shot, although I'd have Darcy back for next week, not least because of his experience and proven combination with El Maestro.

Buer

danthefan wrote: »

Dagg is miles better than 1/2p imo as a fullback, I think 1/2p is very solid but his performances got blown way out of proportion due to his goal kicking. Just my opinion.

Pretty much. His goal kicking was freakish. Take it out of the equation and assess his tour purely on the basis of his performance as a full back and he had a really good tour but, to be honest, Kearney and Byrne were both probably better in 2009.

Buer

Fireball07 wrote: »

Thought Rob Kearney was poor... he's a class player, hopefully he comes under some threat for his position for Leinster and Ireland, so that he pushes back to the levels we know he's capable of.

I thought he was mixed. He put in one or two very useful kicks. His positioning was superb. Every time the ball came down our end, he was well placed. It's one of those things you don't really notice until he isn't there.

The missed tackle on Cuthbert was awful. He also should have released his brother when BOD put them in space in the first half. Straighten, draw and pass. He ran on an angle and went into touch.

Fireball07

Buer wrote: »

I thought he was mixed. He put in one or two very useful kicks. His positioning was superb. Every time the ball came down our end, he was well placed. It's one of those things you don't really notice until he isn't there.

The missed tackle on Cuthbert was awful. He also should have released his brother when BOD put them in space in the first half. Straighten, draw and pass. He ran on an angle and went into touch.

Well the two highlighted things were the ones that came to mind immediately, his standout moments in the game. His kicking has always been pretty good, but he does have a tendency to take the wrong option in attack at times.

Buer

Stats are in. If Moore can develop his scrummaging then Mike Ross might not be first choice by the end of his contract. Scrummaged well last night, 10 tackles made, none missed which would have been enough to make him top tackler on the field if he didn't come off after 63 minutes (Ryan with 13). Those tackles though were train wrecks. He absolutely smashed a couple of guys in the first half.

Tox56

Buer wrote: »

Stats are in. If Moore can develop his scrummaging then Mike Ross might not be first choice by the end of his contract. Scrummaged well last night, 10 tackles made, none missed which would have been enough to make him top tackler on the field if he didn't come off after 63 minutes (Ryan with 13). Those tackles though were train wrecks. He absolutely smashed a couple of guys in the first half.

This applies to every tighthead in Ireland in fairness. Ross was never the best around the field and in recent games he has looked even more sluggish. He is there to scrum and that's pretty much it. Not convinced on Moore's scrummaging yet, yesterday was not much of a test, but the potential is absolutely there (inside and outside the scrum).

Swiwi.

Tox56 wrote: »

This applies to every tighthead in Ireland in fairness. Ross was never the best around the field and in recent games he has looked even more sluggish. He is there to scrum and that's pretty much it. Not convinced on Moore's scrummaging yet, yesterday was not much of a test, but the potential is absolutely there (inside and outside the scrum).

Hopefully Moore comes very good. I'm not sure how much longer Mike Ross can go on for, he's been a great late find for Leinster & Ireland, but in his limited appearances so far this season, he's not offering much around the field a la Adam Jones.

If Schmidt can have Ross for 40 minutes or so, and then a genuine backup on the bench, Ireland will be in a much better place. Operation Backup Tighthead is one I'll be keeping a close eye on when the AIs roll around.

Buer

Moore is starting from a much higher point though. He's already better than several tightheads who have been capped. By the time he is 25, he should have improved significantly which would be a full year younger than the age at which Ross left Ireland (without a professional start in his life).

Moore looks very clued in for a young prop. I am a fan and watched him a bit yesterday. He reads the game well, gets in position, makes a lot of tackles, was clued in as to when to counter ruck and when to take a step and defend instead. I've very high hopes for the bloke.

Swiwi.

Hagz wrote: »

I bet he'll win Player of the Year.

Nah, that goes to Carter or McCaw didn't you know? The nominations is just going through the motions to give a semblance of competition. But Carter & McCaw have been injured, I hear you say. Well they just earn points on the sideline, that's how it works. Thanks for coming though Leigh...

Tox56

Buer wrote: »

Moore is starting from a much higher point though. He's already better than several tightheads who have been capped. By the time he is 25, he should have improved significantly which would be a full year younger than the age at which Ross left Ireland (without a professional start in his life).

Moore looks very clued in for a young prop. I am a fan and watched him a bit yesterday. He reads the game well, gets in position, makes a lot of tackles, was clued in as to when to counter ruck and when to take a step and defend instead. I've very high hopes for the bloke.

There's also Tadgh Furlong who is probably a bigger presence around the field (although Moore's performance yesterday has me thinking twice) and put in some serious scrummaging performances in the JWC against high quality props, arguably a better prospect than Moore. If the long term goal is to develop an international standard Irish tighthead with these two we are surely, surely in the money here.

Buer

I would agree Tox. I don't want to see Furlong in the mix yet. I want him to take another 18 months. He's still only 20 (which in itself is mad). So when Ross starts to wind down, he'l have a handful of sub showings and maybe a start or two. He's got a hell of a lot of potential too. Looks like he's putting some bulk on too...almost 19 stone.

Bodes very well that these lads are coming through and Moore seems set to deliver now.

student1990

Furlong is big, but he isn't huge yet..

shuffol

Hopefully Moore will have done enough to cement his place as 2nd choice TH by the time Bent returns, although if their appearances in pre-season are anything to go by that may already be the case. For a guy who looks built to scrummage he sure gets through a lot of work.

Thought Warburton looked on a different planet physically compared to everyone else last night.