MATCH THREAD: Benetton Ruvs Leinster; Stadio Monigo Sat 02nd Dec 15:30; TG4

molloyjh

DON'T SWIM IN THE SEA...

It ain't no sea. Yes, Ringrose, Lowe and Larmour are all starting for Leinster tomorrow meaning flood warnings are in effect for parts of Dublin....

With the Autumn Internationals out of the way full focus now returns to the provinces a week out from Round 3 of Europe. Leinster travel to Treviso to face a side that have come close to a few surprising results already this season, losing in the dying minutes at home to Toulon and away to Ulster being the 2 stand outs. They have been far more competitive than in recent seasons, which is great news for the league and for Italian rugby.

Leinster have to make do without a number of their first choice players who are either rested or injured. By my count there are at least 15 missing in total that would feature ahead of guys selected today. And yet when you look at the selection Leinster have been able to field it is still quite a strong one. 11 of the starters have international caps with a further 3 on the bench. Garry Ringrose returns from injury for his first start in over 6 months and James Lowe makes his long awaited debut for the province. Vakh Abdaladze is also in line for his Leinster debut off the bench.

The pack looks strong with a core of very talented and reasonably experienced players throughout. Only Porter and Nagle would stand out and both of those have gone well in their recent showings for Leinster. In the back line Leinster seem primed to run it from everywhere. Both half backs are comfortable kicking from hand, but outside of them are a bunch of players most at home with ball in hand. There's a good bit of mobility in the pack too so I'd expect this to be a pretty expansive and exciting affair from the visitors.

There's a few guys in there who may be rusty or a bit inexperienced with the set-up and the bench, while good, isn't where we are going to be winning this game. We'll make our share of errors and Treviso will try to make a mess of things as much as possible, but there is huge potential in this side. Treviso have won 2 of their 4 home games this season, getting the LBP in 1 of the losses. But I'm still going to go TBP win for Leinster by 14 points.

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01. Cherif Traore|01. Jack McGrath
02. Tomas Baraville|02. James Tracy
03. Tiziano Pasquali|03. Andrew Porter
04. Alessandro Zanni|04. Ian Nagle
05. Irne Herbst|05. Scott Fardy
06. Whetu Douglas|06. Jordi Murphy
07. Nasi Manu|07. Josh van der Flier
08. Robert Barbieri|08. Jack Conan
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09. Giorgio Bronzini|09. Luke McGrath
10. Tommaso Allan|10. Ross Byrne
11. Luca Sperandio|11. James Lowe
12. Alberto Sgarbi|12. Noel Reid
13. Juan Ignacio Brex|13. Garry Ringrose
14. Tommaso Benvenuti|14. Dave Kearney
15. Marty Banks|15. Jordan Larmour
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16. Epalahame Faiva|16. Sean Cronin
17. Nicola Quaglio|17. Ed Byrne
18. Alberto De Marchi|18. Vakh Abdaladze
19. Federico Ruzza|19. Mick Kearney
20. Marco Lazzaroni|20. Max Deegan
21. Sebastian Negri|21. Nick McCarthy
22. Edoardo Gori|22. Fergus McFadden
23. Luca Morisi|23. Rory O'Loughlin


Referee: David Wilkinson

Former Former

It's a pity McKinley won't be playing.

Leinster by at least 5 - 10 puddles.

sydthebeat

nasi manu doesnt have the engine to play 7 against that leinster pack.....

trevios bascially play with 3 8's as their loose forwards

scott1974

With a win here and hopefully the Cheetahs do us a favour then Conference B get tighter all of a sudden..

swiwi_

Abdaladze. Do it Leinster. Do it for Vakh’s sake!

CatFromHue

Triple J in the back row, Jackeen Thunder :eek:

Just as well this is being played in Italy, absolutely soaking here already.

vienne86

Knock on there surely....?

Clegg

Treviso have a player named Nacho Brex.

pickarooney

It's all Treviso so far.

Clegg

Clegg wrote: »

Treviso have a player named Nacho Brex.

Sounds like the hero in a Mexican kids dinosaur cartoon.

vienne86

Treviso all over Leinster so far. 3-0. Leinster need to settle.

Synode

vienne86 wrote: »

Knock on there surely....?

Is it a knock on when a player strips a ball?

Brilliant take.

Jump_In_Jack

Synode wrote: »

vienne86 wrote: »

Knock on there surely....?

Is it a knock on when a player strips a ball?

No, ripping the ball can't be a knock on.

Synode

Jump_In_Jack wrote: »

No, ripping the ball can't be a knock on.

Why was the scrum given then?

vienne86

Synode wrote: »

Why was the scrum given then?

Think there was a KO after the rip.

leakyboots

Two poor passages of play there

vienne86

Good quick thinking from Luke McGrath there to wrap around ....made good ground from the scrum.

sydthebeat

First of many!!

vienne86

Lowe in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Lovely try down the blind side from the scrum.

vienne86

What a kick by Ross Byrne - great conversion!

leakyboots

Nice line

Clegg

Think it's easy to forget that Lowe is a big man. Picked a decent line and powered his way over

vienne86

vienne86 wrote: »

Lowe in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Lovely try down the blind side from the scrum.

Luke McGrath wouldn't have been able to do that, never going to make it on the wing.

Clegg

VdF and Ross Byrne look in bother.

TMO looking at a shoulder to the ribs of Byrne.

vienne86

TG Ross Byrne is OK.....looked nasty.....Treviso lucky to still have 15 on the field.

molloyjh

Ref giving Treviso a few soft ones.

Anyone's tv signal poor on tg4?

vienne86

Deleted User wrote: »

Anyone's tv signal poor on tg4?

Perfect here.....via Sky dish.

irishfan9

Is nagle even playing rugby if he isnt spilling the ball?

molloyjh

Then he pings them for going beyond the ruck. Something a lot of refs have ignored lately. You’re all right by me Wilkinson.

Synode

Lovely round the corner line by Jordi

vienne86

Ah great try - good man Jordi. Lovely little pop from Luke McGrath.

molloyjh

Outstanding kick from Luke.

molloyjh

Nagle knocks on again. Nothing wrong with the pass. He should have held that.

irishfan9

Is nagle serious?

vienne86

irishfan9 wrote: »

Is nagle serious?

He's been unbelievably bad today IMO. Meanwhile Fardy is doing enough work for two locks.

vienne86

Ross Byrne is really good. As is Luke McGrath and so far Lowe looks worth the hype - ready for work. Fardy is phenomenal.

molloyjh

Nagle hasn’t been that bad generally. He’s gotten through some work but his hands aren’t great.

vienne86

Lowe puts in some big tackles.

vienne86

vienne86 wrote: »

Lowe puts in some big tackles.

Yeah this is a quality debut, all hard work. It's like having a young Isa.

Tracey is really impressing me, putting in some powerful hits and stuck in everywhere.

molloyjh

Treviso getting away with obstructing tacklers there right in front of Wilkinson.

molloyjh

Treviso looking to buy penalties all game. Managed it at a line out earlier. Isn’t that the second time they’ve done that? So penalty rather than a free?

vienne86

That was a period of serious pressure by Treviso. Very good defence by Leinster and finally they clear it to safety.

molloyjh

molloyjh wrote: »

Treviso getting away with obstructing tacklers there right in front of Wilkinson.

Isn't the ref Ben Whitehouse?

molloyjh

We’ve been poor this half, but Treviso are no mugs.

Lots of soft penalties going their way though.

molloyjh

Deleted User wrote: »

molloyjh wrote: »

Treviso getting away with obstructing tacklers there right in front of Wilkinson.

Isn't the ref Ben Whitehouse?

No Wilkinson.

molloyjh

molloyjh wrote: »

No Wilkinson.

Apologies, often mix up the two.

vienne86

Try Treviso - certain inevitability about that. Their subs seem to have mad an impact, and we seem to have gone asleep.