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

Buer

Swiwi. wrote: »

I sometimes feel that the judges equate kicking penalties & conversions and therefore amassing a points tally as equating to MOTM. Don't get me wrong, Madigan played well, but was he the best player on the paddock? Not sure, but you'd have to say the forwards did the necessary to secure the win, as people have pointed out Toner's work-rate was excellent.

They do. Contepomi must have left Dublin with about 30 MOTM awards in his pocket. He was superb for us but so many games he was just given it on the basis of scoring 15-20 points. Nacewa got a fair few too when he was doing the kicking.

I recall Mike Ross got MOTM in the HEC away to Scarlets last season but he absolutely marched their scrum back every time and won about 5 penalties off it. Something like that needs to happen or Healy needs to smash through 10 people when he carries.

Buer

P.Walnuts wrote: »

Couldn't watch the game....did i hear Roux got injured?

Nah, he got treatment for a head knock but played on. Went off after 63 minutes for Denton.

Hagz

BOD got Leinster's MOM anyway

durkadurka

durkadurka wrote: »

I promised me self last year, that I'd do my utmost to make sure my son got to watch BOD playing live and tomorrow is one of the last chances i'll get without paying big money, when I'm sure he's playing.

I brought him to the Rabo semi in May but BOD went off after five minutes.

He doesn't realise it, and maybe many of us don't, but we'll never see his like again.
Every game he plays this year is a bonus.

Half time tonight.....

Durka jr: Dad is BOD the best player in the world?
Durkadurka: Yes. Yes he is son.

Durka Jr: is madigan better than Johnny Sexton.
Durkadurka: no. Not yet.

People were gasping at Drico in the first half tonight.

Otherwise, plenty to work on for next week...

Morf

Some good things, some bad things.

Still can't complain with a bonus point.

I imagine the Monday morning review session will be like the curate's egg.

irishbucsfan

Buer wrote: »

They do. Contepomi must have left Dublin with about 30 MOTM awards in his pocket. He was superb for us but so many games he was just given it on the basis of scoring 15-20 points. Nacewa got a fair few too when he was doing the kicking.

I recall Mike Ross got MOTM in the HEC away to Scarlets last season but he absolutely marched their scrum back every time and won about 5 penalties off it. Something like that needs to happen or Healy needs to smash through 10 people when he carries.

Rocky Elsom got MOTM pretty much every game he played for us!

Hippo

Tox56 wrote: »

Noel Reid hasn't been too bad, wouldn't mind see him get another go, didn't see too much of the ball

He butchered at least one overlap. Shows some promise but not much vision. I'm still not sure about him - and I don't mean to be harsh. Still hasn't really convinced in any of his outings.

.ak

Hippo wrote: »

He butchered at least one overlap. Shows some promise but not much vision. I'm still not sure about him - and I don't mean to be harsh. Still hasn't really convinced in any of his outings.

Thought he linked up well with O'Driscoll. He did the basics well, he did miss some things but he didn't make any majorly glaring errors. Thought going forward he did well, hit some inside shoulders and got around the gain line.

Morf

.ak wrote: »

Thought he linked up well with O'Driscoll. He did the basics well, he did miss some things but he didn't make any majorly glaring errors. Thought going forward he did well, hit some inside shoulders and got around the gain line.

He did have one pretty poor missed tackle in the first half from memory. Not alone there though.

durkadurka

.ak wrote: »

Thought he linked up well with O'Driscoll. He did the basics well, he did miss some things but he didn't make any majorly glaring errors. Thought going forward he did well, hit some inside shoulders and got around the gain line.

If I was playing beside drico tonight I think I'd be just standing there watching him.

phog

Hagz wrote: »

BOD got Leinster's MOM anyway.

I saw @RaboInsider tweet that Madigan got MOTM, I only saw from about 10mins to about 60 to 65 mins of the game but for me BOD was my MOTM both in defence and attack.

Overall, I though the score was a bit harsh on Cardiff but they were toothless at times.

While Leinster a had few missed takcles they were generally great in defence close to their own try line.

Hagz

phog wrote: »

I saw @RaboInsider tweet that Madigan got MOTM, I only saw from about 10mins to about 60 to 65 mins of the game but for me BOD was my MOTM both in defence and attack.

Mads probably got the tv MOM. Every RDS game has a separate MOM awarded by one of Leinster's sponsors.

phog

Hagz wrote: »

Mads probably got the tv MOM. Every RDS game has a separate MOM awarded by one of Leinster's sponsors.

I knew that but I felt BOD deserved the TV one too.

Beery Eyed

I thought Reid was very good tonight. Was expecting to see others giving him similar praise so I'm surprised to see some negativity about him based on tonight's performance. Sure you could nitpick a few individual moments, as you can usually do with any player, but overall I thought he looked strong with ball in hand and in defence, and as usual his distribution was good to those outside him.

O'Driscoll obviously stood out for some great moments throughout the game, but a few others like Reid, Moore, Toner, McFadden & Ruddock also showed up well I thought. On the other side I wasn't very impressed by Ryan tonight. R. Kearney & Heaslip also have some way to go to get back to their full sharpness as well, as Heaslip admitted afterwards in his post match interview. Still, good to get the win and the bonus point. Very sloppy at times, but entertaining overall.

Morf

I can't comment very objectively on Reid. I saw him do some good things and one missed tackle he won't be happy with. I'll keep an eye on him when I watch the game again.

The thing I notice with R Kearney is that when he's off form he makes poor decisions. He's too greedy, doesn't give the pass or runs back into a crowd of defenders and holds on. His kicking from hand has been pretty poor for quite a while though. Bar the early touch-finder he seems to be mis-kicking the ball most of the time.

As someone else said Heaslip was industrious but poor.

Denton showed his usual awful hands when the ball seemed to drop right into his hands and he fumbled.

former legend

I thought Reid had a good game, not sure why he's coming in for criticism.

Heaslip was poor in the first half but much improved in the second, to be expected in his first game for nearly three months.

I thought Dave Kearney was very good, Toner too apart from a couple of sloppy penalties and Ruddock.

Madigan was MOTM but O'Driscoll was just phenomenal, special mention also to Dominic Ryan, absolutely delighted to see him play so well.

Swiwi.

durkadurka wrote: »

Half time tonight.....

Durka jr: Dad is BOD the best player in the world?
Durkadurka: Yes. Yes he is son.

Durka Jr: is madigan better than Johnny Sexton.
Durkadurka: no. Not yet.

People were gasping at Drico in the first half tonight.

Otherwise, plenty to work on for next week...

And the best Dad in the world?
Why, Durkadurka Snr of course!

Are you taking your wee man to see Ire v NZ? Last chance to see the best player take on the best team :pac: You could gift him the match programme, and who knows, if Ireland win, it would be really worth something.

durkadurka

Swiwi. wrote: »

And the best Dad in the world?
Why, Durkadurka Snr of course!

Are you taking your wee man to see Ire v NZ? Last chance to see the best player take on the best team :pac: You could gift him the match programme, and who knows, if Ireland win, it would be really worth something.

The likely outcome is that we get wollopped as usual though....

Swiwi.

durkadurka wrote: »

The likely outcome is that we get wollopped as usual though....

If he's fairly young, he won't mind too much. Just the chance to go to an international fixture would be fun. I know the Haka is a bit like vegemite, either you love it or hate it, but I would think for a young fella it would still be a great experience. I still remember my ma whipping me out of school to watch NZ v Fiji at Lancaster Park in the 1987 RWC, these things just stick in the memory when you're a kid.

vienne86

former legend wrote: »

I thought Reid had a good game, not sure why he's coming in for criticism.

Heaslip was poor in the first half but much improved in the second, to be expected in his first game for nearly three months.

I thought Dave Kearney was very good, Toner too apart from a couple of sloppy penalties and Ruddock.

Madigan was MOTM but O'Driscoll was just phenomenal, special mention also to Dominic Ryan, absolutely delighted to see him play so well.

I agree with pretty well all of this. I'm delighted that Madigan had a good game. Disappointed with Heaslip, but I'd say he's just rusty. Devin Toner has really come on in the last year, and somehow this season he seems to be much more industrious - it's great to see. It was an entertaining match, and the the atmosphere was good. Great to forget about the Glasgow crap of last week.

Buer

former legend wrote: »

I thought Dave Kearney was very good, Toner too apart from a couple of sloppy penalties and Ruddock.

Madigan was MOTM but O'Driscoll was just phenomenal, special mention also to Dominic Ryan, absolutely delighted to see him play so well.

I thought our flankers showed up well enough around the park but they were absolutely destroyed at the breakdown for long periods. Jennings was badly missed as someone who can ensure the ball is coming back quickly. Ryan still doesn't have the instincts of an openside although he has shown he has ability in the area previously.

rrpc

Buer wrote: »

I thought our flankers showed up well enough around the park but they were absolutely destroyed at the breakdown for long periods. Jennings was badly missed as someone who can ensure the ball is coming back quickly. Ryan still doesn't have the instincts of an openside although he has shown he has ability in the area previously.

McLaughlin also is very good at mopping up messy ruck ball of which there was plenty last night. Madigan made mention of Toner, BOD and Reid during is MoTM interview saying how the two centres had made it easy for him and how Toner had done a great job calling the lineouts. I hadn't realised that Toner had been given that responsibility.

Buer

I think Toner runs the line out at Leinster regardless of who is on the pitch including Leo. He has done if for Ireland too. He's a pretty clued in bloke.

Buer

Great screen shot on LF showing Cuthbert in touch for his try. Can't expect to rely on these things in a game but, given the extended powers of the TMO, I would expect captains to start badgering the referee to review anything that appears close via the TMO.

Last night was the first time in the league I'd ever seen a TMO come in to advise the referee on something from a couple of minutes beforehand that he picked up on with no prompting.

rrpc

Buer wrote: »

Great screen shot on LF showing Cuthbert in touch for his try. Can't expect to rely on these things in a game but, given the extended powers of the TMO, I would expect captains to start badgering the referee to review anything that appears close via the TMO.

Last night was the first time in the league I'd ever seen a TMO come in to advise the referee on something from a couple of minutes beforehand that he picked up on with no prompting.

Had a look at that, thanks for the heads up. To be fair, the assistant's view was blocked and since the ref awarded the try without the TMO, there was no chance for it to be spotted.

From a defensive point of view, even though tackles were missed, it's a positive that he was forced to put a foot in touch. Hard to stop Cuthbert when he gets a head of steam going anyway.

thomond2006

It wasn't the best match last night but to see that performance from BOD was worth the ticket price. Cuthbert's try was also fantastic.

errlloyd

At the time of scoring I was 80% positive he was in touch, I kinda still only am 80% positive despite the screen grab. If you watch it in real time, it is much more difficult to identify a money where his "in touch" foot was definitely on the ground.

I'd still be 80% though, just to be clear.

rrpc

errlloyd wrote: »

At the time of scoring I was 80% positive he was in touch, I kinda still only am 80% positive despite the screen grab. If you watch it in real time, it is much more difficult to identify a money where his "in touch" foot was definitely on the ground.

I'd still be 80% though, just to be clear.

In that screen grab, his left foot is clearly off the ground and his body is angled away from touch which suggests he's pushed or pushing off his right foot. Now it's possible that both feet are in the air, but there's no break in the shadow under his right foot and the toe looks to be in contact with the grass. It would be better to see the video to be sure, but if the TMO had looked at it, I'm 99% sure he'd have called it in touch.

rrpc

Video here at about 1:20. Looks like Dave Kearney dragged his foot into touch, it seems to actually cross the line.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o09SfLQ9ddE

danthefan

Looks like he was in touch alright but Kearney was totally blocking the AR's view though, so can't really blame him.