Match thread Leinster v Toulon 17.15 Aviva Stadium

aimee1

offside the 9 played it and gorgodze picked it up in front of him

AbusesToilets

Luke McGrath finally on, only about 40 mins late.

Hagz

AbusesToilets wrote: »

Luke McGrath finally on, only about 40 mins late.

That's Nick McCarthy.

ThisRegard

Leinster so lucky there.

Peregrine

AbusesToilets wrote: »

Luke McGrath finally on, only about 40 mins late.

Nick McCarthy. McGrath is injured, no?

B0X

Jaysus, Healy to the glue factory please.

corny

Great effort. Have to improve the basics. I hope the English sides knock Toulon out.

aimee1

the good news is leinster face nobody near that level in the pro12.

captbarnacles

What has happened to Healy

AbusesToilets

Hagz wrote: »

That's Nick McCarthy.

Well I'm an idiot

degsie

Not a bad win for a 'manufactured' side

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

captbarnacles wrote: »

What has happened to Healy

Shouldn't have bothered appealing that ban.

matthew8

0 from 4 in Europe, you can talk about heart all you like but the second half performance was unacceptable. Ill-disciplined, poor set piece and the kicking game was non-existent.

aimee1

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Shouldn't have bothered appealing that ban.

maybe offer bordeaux a package deal. Buy Madigan get Healy free. Dunno what has happened to him but he is so far off the pace. McGrath surely can go further then 46 minutes.

The front row changes were telling.

Sean Kinsella

matthew8 wrote: »

0 from 4 in Europe, you can talk about heart all you like but the second half performance was unacceptable. Ill-disciplined, poor set piece and the kicking game was non-existent.

This...together with being steamrollered completely over the piece.

flouncer

Hagz wrote: »

This has been a heroic performance from Leinster. I would never have expected them to be just 1 point adrift against Toulon with 10 mins to go. When you consider that all they had to play for was pride, the effort they gave was monumental. Good sign of things to come this season.

in years past leinster would have considered this as a disappointing performance. has something changed? many of our internationals misfired. healy is on a downward spiral. rob kearneys mundane play is as ever. heaslip replaced? toulon are a well paid side but they aint a great team. they have a really strong pack and in the end that simply worked. giteau wasnt great, nonu want great. habana? leinster were simply overpowered. they were always going to be overpowered. the only way they were going to win is if the backline fired. and the only player with any credibility out of this game was luke fitzgerald

hogandrew

I think tactics were spot on the last 2 games and in general I think the coaching team is showing some good signs but some of the player choices and substitutions all season really baffle me.

Loosing teo was huge today and probably cost us the game but definitely a lot of positives

AbusesToilets

The lineout has been really **** of late, inexcusable that they make the same mistakes game after game.

Triumvirate

aimee1 wrote: »

the good news is leinster face nobody near that level in the pro12.

The bad news is that the above is true because the Pro12 is miles behind the AP and T14 now.

0/3 this weekend so far in games between Pro12 and opponents from AP/T14.

Round 3: 2/5
Round 2: 0/6
Round 1: 1/3

Looking at the results and pools at this point in time, it's looking likely that there isn't a single Pro12 side in the knock out stages.

Sean Kinsella

AbusesToilets wrote: »

The lineout has been really **** of late, inexcusable that they make the same mistakes game after game.

And our head coach was a LO forward, to boot.

aimee1

flouncer wrote: »

in years past leinster would have considered this as a disappointing performance. has something changed? many of our internationals misfired. healy is on a downward spiral. rob kearneys mundane play is as ever. heaslip replaced? toulon are a well paid side but they aint a great team. they have a really strong pack and in the end that simply worked. giteau wasnt great, nonu want great. habana? leinster were simply overpowered. they were always going to be overpowered. the only way they were going to win is if the backline fired. and the only player with any credibility out of this game was luke fitzgerald

Heaslip replaced means nothing. It doesnt signify anything he was very good in the first half. Dont understand why he cops so much criticism for no apparent reason.

sheep?

Moflojo wrote: »

Were Toulon driving straight though?

Absolutely not. That was pivotal in my opinion. In fact, he gave a penalty to Leinster later when Toulon did the exact same. Inconsistent. I thought Barnes did well for the most part, but **** me, that drove me crazy.

First half: Great

Second Half: Immense defense until that scrum screwed us. iirc there was a forward pass just before that too, in the Toulon 22.

Swings and roundabouts, I know. But jesus that was frustrating. I really want to beat them now. Kenny Dalglish Levels of want.

Triumvirate

flouncer wrote: »

toulon are a well paid side but they aint a great team.

Agree mostly aside from this. Toulon are a great team. Mentally, they're the best team Europe has ever seen. They don't care if they're behind. They know they're top class and will never panic or get flustered. Tonight was the perfect evidence.

Whilst they don't play particularly flashy rugby (especially on the road), they are a formidable side and superb at winning and that's because they're a great side.

They got stuffed in their opening game. I'd say that result was forgotten by the time they got on the plane and they'll just go out and make sure they get out of the pool and then do what they do.

aimee1

Triumvirate wrote: »

The bad news is that the above is true because the Pro12 is miles behind the AP and T14 now.

0/3 this weekend so far in games between Pro12 and opponents from AP/T14.

Round 3: 2/5
Round 2: 0/6
Round 1: 1/3

Looking at the results and pools at this point in time, it's looking likely that there isn't a single Pro12 side in the knock out stages.

The amount of top level players from the SH in france especially now it is nuts. Toulon just overpowered Leinster. Lobbe and Gorgodze were the back 5 replacements against Jordi and Denton for Leinster. Its going to be the same now for the english clubs and the french and english national teams will suffer even more going forward.

The deep pockets cant be matched which is why i reckon the IRFU are identifying the 6n as a potential success regularly and will block some NIQ signings.

The only way the ERCC will be a level playing field is if a rule about Non Qualified players for the national team of each club was brought in to prevent sides in england and france from loading up with the top players from the SH. They complained about the irish sides being able to rest players but when Toulouse, Leicester and Wasps were winning the HEC they were very quiet.

sheep?

sheep? wrote: »

Absolutely not. That was pivotal in my opinion. In fact, he gave a penalty to Leinster later when Toulon did the exact same. Inconsistent. I thought Barnes did well for the most part, but **** me, that drove me crazy.

First half: Great

Second Half: Immense defense until that scrum screwed us. iirc there was a forward pass just before that too, in the Toulon 22.

Swings and roundabouts, I know. But jesus that was frustrating. I really want to beat them now. Kenny Dalglish Levels of want.

WFT AM I SAYING. Meant Kevin Keegan.

flouncer

aimee1 wrote: »

Heaslip replaced means nothing. It doesnt signify anything he was very good in the first half. Dont understand why he cops so much criticism for no apparent reason.

i just find him awfully one directional. bring the ball into contact. get up and do the same again. indeed i find the same with folks like rob kearney as well. its simply boring. i'm not trying to be intentionally critical but there has to be something more interesting. i love fitzgerald in full flow. he is simply brillant.

aimee1

flouncer wrote: »

i just find him awfully one directional. bring the ball into contact. get up and do the same again. indeed i find the same with folks like rob kearney as well. its simply boring. i'm not trying to be intentionally critical but there has to be something more interesting. i love fitzgerald in full flow. he is simply brillant.

JH and RK are doing what they are being asked to do. Otherwise why do they continually do that every time they play

matthew8

aimee1 wrote: »

The amount of top level players from the SH in france especially now it is nuts. Toulon just overpowered Leinster. Lobbe and Gorgodze were the back 5 replacements against Jordi and Denton for Leinster. Its going to be the same now for the english clubs and the french and english national teams will suffer even more going forward.

The deep pockets cant be matched which is why i reckon the IRFU are identifying the 6n as a potential success regularly and will block some NIQ signings.

The only way the ERCC will be a level playing field is if a rule about Non Qualified players for the national team of each club was brought in to prevent sides in england and france from loading up with the top players from the SH. They complained about the irish sides being able to rest players but when Toulouse, Leicester and Wasps were winning the HEC they were very quiet.

Murphy is as big as Lobbe. It's ridiculous to give out about only having Murphy to come off the bench. Some clubs can claim they don't have the squad to compete, but Leinster's squad is massively under performing.

sheep?

matthew8 wrote: »

Murphy is as big as Lobbe. It's ridiculous to give out about only having Murphy to come off the bench. Some clubs can claim they don't have the squad to compete, but Leinster's squad is massively under performing.

S/he didn't say only Murphy. Jordi is very good. But Who would you prefer coming off the bench for your team?

aimee1

matthew8 wrote: »

Murphy is as big as Lobbe. It's ridiculous to give out about only having Murphy to come off the bench. Some clubs can claim they don't have the squad to compete, but Leinster's squad is massively under performing.

Im not giving out about ONLY Jordi. Just compare the changes they can make. How would Toulon really fare if they had to rely far more on homegrown players is the point im making.