[Match Thread] Castres Olympique v Leinster Rugby 1pm SS3

P_1

Castres Olympique: 15 Geoffrey Palis, 14 Max Evans, 13 Christopher Tuatara-Morrison, 12 Romain Cabannes, 11 Remi Grosso, 10 Remi Tales (capt), 9 Cedric Garcia; 1 Saimone Taumoepeau, 2 Brice Mach, 3 Ramiro Herrera, 4 Richie Gray, 5 Rodrigo Capo Ortega, 6 Piula Faasealele, 7 Yannick Caballero, 8 Jannie Bornman
Replacements: 16 Mathieu Bonello, 17 Mihaita Lazar, 18 Yohan Montes, 19 Christophe Samson, 20 Mathieu Babillot, 21 Romain Martial, 22 Julien Dumora, 23 Antoine Dupont

Leinster: 15 Zane Kircher; 14 Darragh Fanning, 13 Gordon D’Arcy, 12 Ian Madigan, 11 Luke Fitzgerald; 10 Jimmy Gopperth, 9 Isaac Boss; 1 Jack McGrath, 2 Sean Cronin, 3 Michael Bent, 4 Devin Toner, 5 Kane Douglas, 6 Rhys Ruddock, 7 Dominic Ryan, 8 Jamie Heaslip (capt)
Replacements: 16 Richardt Strauss, 17 Ed Byrne, 18 Tadhg Furlong, 19 Mike McCarthy, 20 Jack Conan, 21 Eoin Reddan, 22 Noel Reid, 23 Mick McGrath

LUUUUUUUUKKKKKKEEEEE is back!

No on else seems to have popped up a match thread for this so here we go...

Leinster are 2 point favs for some reason while Castres have been pretty poor this season there's nothing better than the scalp of the 3 time champions to get one's season back on track. Needless to say I'm quite nervy about this one.

Podge_irl

Leinster are favorites? Not so sure about that. If they are able to ramp up their performances nearer to the levels the squad is capable of then sure, but not much evidence this season they can do this.

Plus when Luke inevitably pulls out during the warmup our back 3 will be ropey as all ****.

sydthebeat

I have a weird feeling today for some reason Leinster will just let loose in this game and come away with a tbp, and a 15+ winning margin. ....

Is that a full strength Castres side?

former legend

Saul Freezing Meadow wrote: »

Is that a full strength Castres side?

Kockott, Lamerat and Diarra missing.

But then that is not a full strength Leinster side either.

Yep Leinster are narrow favourites

Lamerat did a lot of damage last season, glad he isn't playing.

vienne86

Leinster made heavy weather of this last year. Castres is not an easy place to play. Granted they are going very badly in the Top 14, but there would be nothing better than a scalp like Leinster to get their fans enthused. I am very nervous about this one. And I hope to goodness we avoid injuries.

Tox56

Podge_irl wrote: »

Leinster are favorites? Not so sure about that. If they are able to ramp up their performances nearer to the levels the squad is capable of then sure, but not much evidence this season they can do this.

Plus when Luke inevitably pulls out during the warmup our back 3 will be ropey as all ****.

Yeah but we always seem to find a way in these European games, in recent times anyway. I'm not surprised we're favourites. I'm actually more confident than last week for some reason

irishbucsfan

I'm interested to just see how Leinster will approach this one.

Neil3030

Didn't know kockott was out. That's pretty huge tbh.

molloyjh

They have a 6 day turnaround to Brive away. That's an away game they can target so if expect if we come out of the blocks early they might just decide next week is more important.

With Boss starting and all the injuries in not hugely confident here. Heaslip and Darce will need to have big games again.

phog

I hope Leinster make it two from four Irish provinces this weekend.

Hard to know how it will go but table comparisons would indicate a win for Leinster, if Castres get the lead Wasps got last week it might make an away win so much tougher, so Leinster need to start straight out of the blocks.

ssaye2

https://mobile.twitter.com/leinsterrugby/status/526349635812864001/photo/1

#Castres squad shows two changes to squad announced on Friday - Babillot in for ill Bornman, Diarra onto bench. #ERCC

former legend

molloyjh wrote: »

They have a 6 day turnaround to Brive away. That's an away game they can target so if expect if we come out of the blocks early they might just decide next week is more important.

With Boss starting and all the injuries in not hugely confident here. Heaslip and Darce will need to have big games again.

Bernard Jackman says in the ST that Castres are opening a new stand today so they'll be motivated to give the fans a decent performance.

Clegg

Hope to god Fitz gets through this unscathed.

thomond2006

Remi Tales needs a big game for his France chances.

Quint2010

Is Nathan Hines kneeling down? Supposedly he is six foot seven?

thomond2006

Castres number 23 and replacement scrum-half, Antoine Dupont, is only 17! Born November 1996.

Antoine DUPONT
Pays : France
Date de naissance : 15/11/1996
Lieu de naissance : Lannemezan
Taille :
Poids :
Poste : Demi de mélée

If he makes an appearance could he be the youngest ever player to play in the Heineken/Champions Cup?

Hagz

Quint2010 wrote: »

Is Nathan Hines kneeling down? Supposedly he is six foot seven?

I was always under the impression he was 6'5 but looking around, the stats say he's 6'7. Is he actually taller than Paul O'Connell?

BunkMoreland

Shane not wearing a poppy, good man!

sydneybound

With the new stand opening today I was expecting it to be near full.

UnitedWeStand

Wow Castres missing their three best players arguably. Sivivatu, Kockott and Lamerat. They're nearly on par with us injury wise!

UnitedWeStand

Well done Sean. Butcher a simple lineout.

sydneybound

Stade Pierre-Antoine looks a real nice ground. Really think Leinster have a great chance here today but won't be easy.

WTO

IM with the classic 80s headband. Nice!

thomond2006

Good cross field kick.

Pudsy33

This is gonna be a battle

thomond2006

Great maul and try for the home team

ssaye2

Try

Micky Dolenz

Good score.

UnitedWeStand

All that comes back to Cronins butchering of that simple lineout. Simple ####ing errors.

errlloyd

Hard to argue with that try

Swan Curry

Not even five minutes.****e.

gally74

Oh for the weather in the south of france.

kilns

All this coming from a Cronin throw in, not good enough from him, it happens too often

.ak

Tactically speaking that was a great try. Totally punished our blitz D.

Pudsy33

UnitedWeStand wrote: »

All that comes back to Cronins butchering of that simple lineout. Simple ####ing errors.

It was poor but it's unfair to lay the blame on him. I'd rather say it was because of the sensational kick from Tales

razorblunt

Why are Leinster wearing white here?

ssaye2

Same as Jan result what's the bets

vwgolf08

Any links for the game? sky go acting up. thanks

molloyjh

All the talk this week Leinster talked about not letting them get into the game early like last time. F*** sake.

thomond2006

kilns wrote: »

All this coming from a Cronin throw in, not good enough from him, it happens too often

Bit harsh to blame Cronin.

After that loss of possession it was Tales' superb cross kick that put Castres in the attacking position to maul it over.

errlloyd

Decent phases

Pudsy33

No scores but great response.

UnitedWeStand

Unlucky knock on. Good continuity from Leinster.

Zzippy

razorblunt wrote: »

Why are Leinster wearing white here?

Because Castres wear blue?

molloyjh

We're not troubling the Castres defense at all. Douglas losing ball in contact again. He's been guilty of that a few times since he's arrived.

.ak

Wow, that was a pretty scintillating set of play. Our ball retention it great. I wonder if Castres can weather another one of those onslaughts

ssaye2

Good scrum unlucky

UnitedWeStand

Good pressure on the scrum.

errlloyd

Gopperth should hav dived on it