Clermont v Leinster Build up Thread

Zzippy

So I was in Dublin during the week, the big schmoke if you will, and I dropped into this 4FE place, or whatever Jamie calls it, to see what all the fuss was about. I'll tell you, the coffee was fierce expensive - they wouldn't last long in Ballinasloe!

So anyway, as I'm waiting for my bearded hipster barista to pour my mocha frappucino, who do I bump into in the queue only the bould Venjur, and who was he with only Leo and Stu. In fairness, the lads looked a bit embarrassed to be spotted with him, but they were sound enough. Leo was having a skinny latte, with chocolate frosting, while Venjur had a, what could only be described as a loosely coffee-related girly cocktail. Stu was drinking black coffee, no sugar.

"Well, Venjur, fancy meeting you here!" says I, "and you hanging out with the big lads too! What's the craic?"

"Ah, you know yourself, just giving the goys a few tips for the weekend, you know, a few nice places to be seen in Lyon, the best nail bors, that kind of thing loike. And the best bors for a good pint of Heino too, of course" says he, with a wink and a nudge. Leo looked mortified, shoulda seen the look he gave Stu... "Emm, Venjur..." he murmured, before being interrupted:

"Ah no, really, we're having a chinwag over the team for the weekend" Venjur continued.. "What with Cian being out, and Jamie just getting high on the oxygen for a few weeks, I'm thinking Porter onto the bench and Leavy just has to stort at 8, but Leo here thinks Bent and Conan... shhh Leo, I'm holding court here!" looking around to see who was listening.
Spotting Thornley at a window table, he went on to talk at length about how Leinster were really up against it, while Munster had no excuses, what with home advantage and all the Leinster goys who would be going along to cheer them on, and Rassie clearly playing silly buggers pretending Murray wouldn't be fit.

Thornley looked up, startled at the turn in events... ears pricking up like a nervous deer. Leo tried to say something again, but Venjur just grabbed him by the shoulder and told him to cop himself on, if Carberry didn't start at 10 with Sexton on the bench they were focked. SOB at 8 would be a monumental mistake, and if he had any sense he'd stick Cronin on the bench too, for impact loike...

Stu had clearly had enough by now. Stepping around Leo, he politely murmured "Excuse me" in my direction, pausing for me to step aside so he could line Venjur up. The next thing I knew, Venjur and the barista were sprawled all over the Faema Classic 1961 espresso machine, hand-picked Costa Rican organic fairtrade coffee beans cascading down on their unconscious bodies, like the hopes of Clermont fans in the 79th minute....

"What a load of bollocks" says Stu, "we only met him to look at colour schemes for the new dressing rooms in the RDS. Come on, Leo, let's find a proper coffee shop where I can get a decent black coffee".

As they passed Thornley, he looked up, shocked, and asked "Did he really mean that about Munster? I mean, home advantage and all, but it's Sarries, like, they've got that je ne sais quoi at the moment, surely they can't beat them!".

"Not at all mate, course they can beat 'em - you've just been venjured" says Stu, leading a docile Leo out the door.

I never got my coffeee, machine was f*cked.


G'wan Leinster!

Sangre

Typo in the title - didn't bother reading.

Buer

I see the sleep deprivation has already driven him mad.

Zzippy

Zzippy wrote: »

So I was in Dublin during the week, the big schmoke if you will, and I dropped into this 4FE place, or whatever Jamie calls it, to see what all the fuss was about. I'll tell you, the coffee was fierce expensive - they wouldn't last long in Ballinasloe!

So anyway, as I'm waiting for my bearded hipster barista to pour my mocha frappucino, who do I bump into in the queue only the bould Venjur, and who was he with only Leo and Stu. In fairness, the lads looked a bit embarrassed to be spotted with him, but they were sound enough. Leo was having a skinny latte, with chocolate frosting, while Venjur had a, what could only be described as a loosely coffee-related girly cocktail. Stu was drinking black coffee, no sugar.

"Well, Venjur, fancy meeting you here!" says I, "and you hanging out with the big lads too! What's the craic?"

"Ah, you know yourself, just giving the goys a few tips for the weekend, you know, a few nice places to be seen in Lyon, the best nail bors, that kind of thing loike. And the best bors for a good pint of Heino too, of course" says he, with a wink and a nudge. Leo looked mortified, shoulda seen the look he gave Stu... "Emm, Venjur..." he murmured, before being interrupted:

"Ah no, really, we're having a chinwag over the team for the weekend" Venjur continued.. "What with Cian being out, and Jamie just getting high on the oxygen for a few weeks, I'm thinking Porter onto the bench and Leavy just has to stort at 8, but Leo here thinks Bent and Conan... shhh Leo, I'm holding court here!" looking around to see who was listening.
Spotting Thornley at a window table, he went on to talk at length about how Leinster were really up against it, while Munster had no excuses, what with home advantage and all the Leinster goys who would be going along to cheer them on, and Rassie clearly playing silly buggers pretending Murray wouldn't be fit.

Thornley looked up, startled at the turn in events... ears pricking up like a nervous deer. Leo tried to say something again, but Venjur just grabbed him by the shoulder and told him to cop himself on, if Carberry didn't start at 10 with Sexton on the bench they were focked. SOB at 8 would be a monumental mistake, and if he had any sense he'd stick Cronin on the bench too, for impact loike...

Stu had clearly had enough by now. Stepping around Leo, he politely murmured "Excuse me" in my direction, pausing for me to step aside so he could line Venjur up. The next thing I knew, Venjur and the barista were sprawled all over the Faema Classic 1961 espresso machine, hand-picked Costa Rican organic fairtrade coffee beans cascading down on their unconscious bodies, like the hopes of Clermont fans in the 79th minute....

"What a load of bollocks" says Stu, "we only met him to look at colour schemes for the new dressing rooms in the RDS. Come on, Leo, let's find a proper coffee shop where I can get a decent black coffee".

As they passed Thornley, he looked up, shocked, and asked "Did he really mean that about Munster? I mean, home advantage and all, but it's Sarries, like, they've got that je ne sais quoi at the moment, surely they can't beat them!".

"Not at all mate, course they can beat 'em - you've just been venjured" says Stu, leading a docile Leo out the door.

I never got my coffeee, machine was f*cked.


G'wan Leinster!

This is a very silly post. Nothing like this would ever happen. Stu would only ever drink tea obvs.

Former Former

Teams? No

Kick-off time? Nah

TV details? Pfft

Who's the ref? Haven't a rashers

Now that's how to do a preview thread.

swiwi_

It's Friday, work has finished early, the beers (plural) are cooling as we speak. I'm not even going to try to play this down: I'm off to the game, first Leinster fix live since, hmmm, I actually can't remember, but it should be good craic!

I see 195 caps for Toner. Respect.

I'm still maintaining Leinster will win this, with the young guns to the fore.

Good luck to all and sundry.

CMOTDibbler

Buer wrote: »

I see the sleep deprivation has already driven him mad.

Not enough Zs in Zzippy

Buer

Depressing fact: Clermont have scored 83 tries in their 24 T14 games this season (although 9 of those came against an already relegated Grenoble last week). This is 18 more than the next highest.

Encouraging fact: Clermont have conceded 54 tries in their 24 T14 games this season. 7 teams have conceded less than that and two others have conceded the exact same.

It is a winnable game. It is going to be a big ask and the front five are going to have to have a monster performance. If we can give a platform, I do have some confidence in our 10, 12 and 13 to give us something to feed off.

Their back line is not what it was and certainly isn't as potent given their injuries. They're massive and powerful but they're not flyers. Abendanon is by far the most fleet of foot athough Strettle is on fire this season with 11 tries in the T14.

I've no doubt they're going to try and overpower us and run monsters down Sexton's channel repeatedly. It's a shame SOB is out becuase that's something he's great at dealing with and holding players up. Ruddock at blindside is excellent at it too but off scrum ball, he won't be in position to get there first. It's worth considering putting Ruddock to openside on some defensive plays for that reason. Lamerat and Rougerie are 100% going to try and crash into Sexton early on from a scrum.

Given our pack, we have serious fitness and mobility in there. Jack McGrath and Tadhg Furlong won't be seen breaking any speed records outside a pie shop but they've huge engines. Hopefully we'll look to move the point of attack and not get completely sucked into an arm wrestles against them. If we do, we'll have our energy sapped out of us and they'll eventually break through us.

Mostly though we're going to need 5 or 6 guys play to an intensity that they have never played to before for Leinster. This will be a massive test for them. It's worth remembering just where Carbery, Leavy, Luke McGrath and Ringrose were a year ago as well as Dooley, Ross Byrne and Ross Molony on the bench.

thomond2006

Buer wrote: »

Given our pack, we have serious fitness and mobility in there. Jack McGrath and Tadhg Furlong won't be seen breaking any speed records outside a pie shop but they've huge engines. Hopefully we'll look to move the point of attack and not get completely sucked into an arm wrestles against them. If we do, we'll have our energy sapped out of us and they'll eventually break through us.

How very dare you. Furligind certainly would.

molloyjh

Yeah, I'm not massively confident at all now having seen the respective squads. The nerves I woke up with this morning are all but gone, which is a bad sign. We still have it in us to win this game, and by God this Leinster side have made a mockery of me underestimating them a few times in the last 3 or 4 months, but it's hard to see it at this stage. There's not enough big game experience in the pack for me.

Still I'll be travelling with the intention of making myself heard on Sunday. As Buer said if we can move them around a bit and play at the sort of pace we played a lot of the Wasps game at then we have a real shot at this. The more I think about it the more I reckon Ross Byrnes inclusion owes as much to wanting 2 play makers on the pitch at the same time as anything. If that is the case, and it is an indication of how we want to play, then we might get something special on the day. Neither side are where they were 5 years ago so we might see a more open game as a result. Here's hoping anyway. That we're heading to France without Healy, SOB and Heaslip (never mind both Kearneys and Jordi Murphy as well) and it isn't completely hopeless is in itself a positive.

COME ON LEINSTER!

stephen_n

I'm going to buck the current trend od pessimism about this game. I have no idea why but I think we are going to win this. I probably won't be able to talk by the time the games over and there's no logical reason to feel this way, but I really think we will do this.

Zzippy

Sangre wrote: »

Typo in the title - didn't bother reading.

It was a coffee shop. No tea

CMOTDibbler

Zzippy wrote: »

It was a coffee shop. No tea

Can you please fix the title Zzippy?

My eyes bleed and my inner Rougerie weeps every time I read it.

irishbucsfan

They actually have Earl Grey flown in freshly every morning from the Yorkshire savanna for Stu

CMOTDibbler

irishbucsfan wrote: »

They actually have Earl Grey flown in freshly every morning from the Yorkshire savanna for Stu

Freshly flown tea. And freshly flown Earl Grey at that too.

Can't say I've ever tried it and it must be very difficult to keep hot, but to each their own I suppose.

Bazzo

irishbucsfan wrote: »

They actually have Earl Grey flown in freshly every morning from the Yorkshire savanna for Stu

As if a Yorkshireman would drink anything other than Yorkshire tea.

Dave_The_Sheep

I can actually see us winning this one to be honest.


Which means we're in for a serious hiding tomorrow. Sorry.

lotmc

Dave_The_Sheep wrote: »

I can actually see us winning this one to be honest.


Which means we're in for a serious hiding tomorrow. Sorry.

That's OK.

Provided we win on Sunday.

.ak

With Jamie and SOB out it's hard to see where the win is going to come from...

Ferg in the starting 23 and no Adam Byrne is an interesting one. It's actually a bit experimental as opposed to picking the 'conservative choice', as Adam has established himself as the 1st choice wing this season, and Ferg hasn't played a huge amount of rugby for us and whilst he had a brilliant game against Wasps it was a real work-horse like performance and didn't add anything to our attack.

We lose a massive offensive threat with not selecting Adam Byrne, so I wonder what the reasoning behind it is.

Neil3030

.ak wrote: »

.....With Jamie and SOB out it's hard to see where the win is going to come from...

.....Ferg in the starting 23 .....

Starting 23 players would certainly help alright!

stephen_n

.ak wrote: »

With Jamie and SOB out it's hard to see where the win is going to come from...

Ferg in the starting 23 and no Adam Byrne is an interesting one. It's actually a bit experimental as opposed to picking the 'conservative choice', as Adam has established himself as the 1st choice wing this season, and Ferg hasn't played a huge amount of rugby for us and whilst he had a brilliant game against Wasps it was a real work-horse like performance and didn't add anything to our attack.

We lose a massive offensive threat with not selecting Adam Byrne, so I wonder what the reasoning behind it is.

Maybe to gain of a defensive strength, or maybe there was a reaction in his hamstring after last weekend.

Stheno

The people whose boat I sail on are avid Munster supporters and so are off to the game tomorrow.

We were trying to schedule a couple of pre-racing seasons sails to get up to speed.

They very kindly agreed to sail early on Sunday so we can all sit down and watch the match

GO LEINSTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dave_The_Sheep

lotmc wrote: »

That's OK.

Provided we win on Sunday.

... ****.

.ak

Neil3030 wrote: »

Starting 23 players would certainly help alright!

It's a loophole I hope we expose.

The Rape of Lucretia

molloyjh wrote: »

Here's hoping anyway. That we're heading to France without Healy, SOB and Heaslip (never mind both Kearneys and Jordi Murphy as well) and it isn't completely hopeless is in itself a positive.

COME ON LEINSTER!

Second this.
I really like the look of the back line alone : Carbo, Fadser, Ringsie, Henchie, Isa, Jonno, Graazer.
Fills me with optimism anyway.

Former Former

.ak wrote: »

With Jamie and SOB out it's hard to see where the win is going to come from...

Ferg in the starting 23 and no Adam Byrne is an interesting one. It's actually a bit experimental as opposed to picking the 'conservative choice', as Adam has established himself as the 1st choice wing this season, and Ferg hasn't played a huge amount of rugby for us and whilst he had a brilliant game against Wasps it was a real work-horse like performance and didn't add anything to our attack.


We lose a massive offensive threat with not selecting Adam Byrne, so I wonder what the reasoning behind it is.

We might lose a massive offensive threat, but we also gain a lot in defence.

Adam Byrne has been exposed badly in recent games and Clermont is not a team who would be slow to take advantage.

I also think it's a bit unfair to say McFadden added nothing to the attack against Wasps. You look at Conan's try; https://youtu.be/Inbp9AAruC4?t=57
Ferg gives a nice support line, a step, an offload all in about two seconds. And of course he scored a try himself.

Byrne established himself as first choice - but in the absence of McFadden and Kearney. We never really knew if he'd be retained once the more senior guys came back.

phog

I probably won't be on here much before tomorrow, so let me wish the travelling support a safe and successful trip and best of Luck to Leinster tomorrow.

irishbucsfan

Whose job was it to bring over the giant inflatable version of Wesley Fofana's bicep?

Ectoplasm

Does anyone know of a decent pub in Lyon to watch the Munster game? Unfortunately I'm not there myself but my brother is

molloyjh

EMF2010 wrote: »

Does anyone know of a decent pub in Lyon to watch the Munster game? Unfortunately I'm not there myself but my brother is

The OLSC have 2 bases. The Wallace Bar on the waterfront (there's apparently 3 of them but the waterfront describes where this is I believe) and Accasbel, which is a place run by a Clontarf man but looks a little small. Both look decent enough and will be showing the games.

dregin

Kinnegar beer from Donegal on tap in Lyon here. Give it a whirl: https://www.facebook.com/accasbel/

yosser hughes

Former Former wrote: »

We might lose a massive offensive threat, but we also gain a lot in defence.

Adam Byrne has been exposed badly in recent games and Clermont is not a team who would be slow to take advantage.

I also think it's a bit unfair to say McFadden added nothing to the attack against Wasps. You look at Conan's try; https://youtu.be/Inbp9AAruC4?t=57
Ferg gives a nice support line, a step, an offload all in about two seconds. And of course he scored a try himself.

Byrne established himself as first choice - but in the absence of McFadden and Kearney. We never really knew if he'd be retained once the more senior guys came back.

Has he really? That's a bit harsh and it seems to be just accepted now because of previous reputation. Carbury has missed tackles and there's not a word said about it.
Not picking Adam Byrne is the conservative option. I disagree with it.As someone else pointed out somewhere; Lancaster became more conservative with his England selections after initially trusting younger players.This selection has the same feel about it, slightly nervy.
Dropping Byrne is a negative move, not a positive one and sends the wrong signal.

stephen_n

Byrne isn't getting dropped, it was a 50:50 call and McFadden got it, Byrne wouldn't probably have got anywhere near as many starts as he has if DK and Ferg had been fit. Adam Byrne is a great attacking threat but against Cardiff and Connacht his defending has been exposed. It's something hopefully that will improve because he is an absolute weapon in attack, but at the moment he's not that far ahead of Ferg that he demands inclusion.

yosser hughes

yosser hughes wrote: »

Has he really? That's a bit harsh and it seems to be just accepted now because of previous reputation. Carbury has missed tackles and there's not a word said about it.
Not picking Adam Byrne is the conservative option. I disagree with it.As someone else pointed out somewhere; Lancaster became more conservative with his England selections after initially trusting younger players.This selection has the same feel about it, slightly nervy.
Dropping Byrne is a negative move, not a positive one and sends the wrong signal.

He hasn't been badly exposed, but Leinster and Ireland similarly look to attack in defence by winning the initial contact and this is not something Byrne has shown to bring to the table. He's been caught out of place a few times but he just hasn't shown as much aggression in defence as he has in attack.

I have every faith he'll sort it out, he's in a squad with McFadden and Dave who will help bring him on.

Former Former

Ah it's this old chestnut that every time a younger guy loses out to an established player, it's "conservatism" and "negative".

It's not, it's picking your best players.

Byrne was in pole position for the jersey. Leo gave him every chance. He didn't do enough to keep it.

irishbucsfan

Absolutely. It's a form selection, McFadden has been really good since coming back.

The Pheasant2

Does anyone know will there be any radio coverage? Feckers in work won't let me get covered so I'll miss the entire match ffs

yosser hughes

The Pheasant2 wrote: »

Does anyone know will there be any radio coverage? Feckers in work won't let me get covered so I'll miss the entire match ffs

Newstalk have it, I believe.

CatFromHue

I'm feeling quietly confident about this one.

Castres 26–16 Clermont
Clermont 19–28 Montpellier
Clermont 65–13 Pau
Racing 27–24 Clermont
Clermont 21–26 Brive
Grenoble 18–59 Clermont

That's not awe inspiring form, it's erratic form.

This Leinster team knows that they can stick it right up to French teams in knock out games in France too.

When I look at their backline of

Scott Spedding
David Strettle
Aurélien Rougerie
Remi Lamerat
Nick Abendanon

that's not going to put the fear of God into our lads, granted I don't know much about Lamerat, if anything I rate our lads as better.

shuffol

I've not seen an awful lot of him but from what i have Lamerat is the pick of their backs, very physical and serious workrate. His tussle with Henshaw should be worth the admission on its own.

Bazzo

Lamerat is an excellent centre.

Buer

Lamerat is top quality. Has given us problems when playing for Castres and France in the past.

pickarooney

In Lyon, seeing a few Leinster jerseys around

CatFromHue

Fair enough on Lamerat but when you compare the two 15's there is an experience issue in some places but overall there's not much between them.

Scott Spedding 15 Joey Carbery
David Strettle 14 Fergus McFadden
Aurélien Rougerie 13 Garry Ringrose
Remi Lamerat 12 Robbie Henshaw
Nick Abendanon 11 Isa Nacewa (capt)
Camille Lopez 10 Johnny Sexton
Morgan Parra 9 Luke McGrath
Raphael Chaume 1 Jack McGrath
Benjamin Kayser 2 Richardt Strauss
Davit Zirakashvili 3 Tadhg Furlong
Arthur Iturria 4 Devin Toner
Sébastien Vahaamahina 5 Hayden Triggs
Damien Chouly (capt) 6 Rhys Ruddock
Peceli Yato 7 Dan Leavy
Fritz Lee 8 Jack Conan

BBDBB

I'll need overnight to build up to it, but Im prepared to be a ladyboy for a day

G'wan Leinster

CMOTDibbler

BBDBB wrote: »

I'll need overnight to build up to it, but Im prepared to be a ladyboy for a day

G'wan Leinster

Tadhg Furlong wants to speak to you outside about that ladyboy thing.

BBDBB

CMOTDibbler wrote: »

Tadhg Furlong wants to speak to you outside about that ladyboy thing.

okay, okay, he can borrow the handbag but not the shoes, he'll stretch them

The real mccoy 91

Anyone worried about a size difference in the backs? Could be a little exposed I feel.

I don't think heaslip not being there will hurt too much he doesn't provide alot of big go forward carries anymore and conan has been flying.

Obviously going to be tough but clermont are not unbeatable by any means. Stating the obvious but above average performances are needed all over the field to pull out a win here

Larbre34

CatFromHue wrote: »

I'm feeling quietly confident about this one.

Castres 26–16 Clermont
Clermont 19–28 Montpellier
Clermont 65–13 Pau
Racing 27–24 Clermont
Clermont 21–26 Brive
Grenoble 18–59 Clermont

That's not awe inspiring form, it's erratic form.

This Leinster team knows that they can stick it right up to French teams in knock out games in France too.

When I look at their backline of

Scott Spedding
David Strettle
Aurélien Rougerie
Remi Lamerat
Nick Abendanon

that's not going to put the fear of God into our lads, granted I don't know much about Lamerat, if anything I rate our lads as better.

Totally. Clermont suddenly look past their peak, although both sides obviously have enforced changes which require reverting to experienced campaigners

errlloyd

Our backs aren't too small. Only Ringrose and Carbery are light, and both are in slightly more technical positions.

The real mccoy 91

The real mccoy 91 wrote: »

Anyone worried about a size difference in the backs? Could be a little exposed I feel.

I don't think heaslip not being there will hurt too much he doesn't provide alot of big go forward carries anymore and conan has been flying.

Obviously going to be tough but clermont are not unbeatable by any means. Stating the obvious but above average performances are needed all over the field to pull out a win here

The only guy in the backs who is questionable when it comes to physicality is Carbery. Nacewa is a small guy by pro rugby standards but he hits like a truck. No real concerns there tbh.

Heaslip is a massive loss. He's been excellent this season and knows exactly how to win these matches.