Leinster v Ulster 5 Jan Match Thread

bilston

troyzer wrote: »

It seemed to me that every single Ulster player was too small/weak for their position.

Every one of them was bullied by their opposite number.

McBurney wasn't. Cronin obviously stood out for Leinster, but that was nothing against McBurney who stood out for Ulster IMO.

Heymans

troyzer wrote: »

It seemed to me that every single Ulster player was too small/weak for their position.

Every one of them was bullied by their opposite number.

It wasn't a case that ulsters physicality let them down they just did not show up.

Small mobile sides can be more than a handful for bigger opposition very often - see Ireland.

Heymans

Clegg wrote: »

Strange game. I didn't think Leinster were that great or Ulster poor. Yet the result was 40-7. Just a complete mismatch in physicality.

Let me ask you - do you think the physicality mattered just up front or all across the park. I ask because 1 of their smaller players went off after 10 mins and that only left Lyttle (who played very well with offloads) and Shanahan being the smaller players left on the pitch for them.

Can you name undersized forwards of theirs? If not it's bizarre saying they were undersized/underpowered.

Heymans

Thermoman12 wrote: »

They’re not familiar playing together as a team and just probably didn’t have the confidence in them and weren’t expecting to win from the start and you could tell that from the first half especially the way they were sliding off tackles and not trusting their inside man, tackling all comes down to attitude, not size or strength

Agreed.

Buer

Heymans wrote: »

Can you name undersized forwards of theirs? If not it's bizarre saying they were undersized/underpowered.

If the information on the Ulster side is accurate, the majority of their pack were relatively light for their positions. Herbst, AOC and Timoney are the only ones carrying the normal bulk for their positions and Timoney certainly isn't a powerful player, his lack of physicality is his biggest weakness.

Ulster's issues were generally down to technique and positioning but they definitely suffered from a lack of power up front in the tight exchanges where Leinster completely bullied them.

molloyjh

It was a funny game. I didn’t think Leinster played well enough to get that result and at times the Ulster skills on the ball actually looked pretty good. But in terms of physicality Ulster definitely struggled. Leinster were able to make meters almost at will but also seemed able to either stop Ulster dead in their tracks or drive them back when Ulster had the ball. Ulster couldn’t really do much with so little front foot ball. The lack of familiarity with one another told at times then too.

From a Leinster perspective, I thought Molony, Kearney, Murphy and Deegan went well up front. For the first try Molony took a decent line, popped the ball from the deck and then was up immediately to act as scrum half to feed Cronin. I thought he had a very tidy game. Kearney and Murphy both put in big shifts, being very busy and effective throughout. I was impressed with Dowling when he came on too. Got stuck in straight away with some big physical hits and won a good turnover.

In the back line I think Frawley is continuing his good form and looks like he could be a very useful player for us in the near future. COB was good, picking some really good lines at times. Not sure he was MOTM but he certainly did everything he could have to make a case for himself. Reid’s passing is f-ing excellent and he looked like the more experienced guy out there. I didn’t think JGP had one of his better games though, which isn’t a big deal given his form this season overall. And things that would be Robs strengths in bigger games against tougher opposition seemed to be weaknesses yesterday. There were a couple of times where he probably could have given a pass but was never in a position to based on how he was carrying the ball approaching contact. He didn’t get injured though, so that’s the main thing!

Buer

Glad to see Molony and Kearney go well along with Dowling coming into proceedings and making an impression. There's a solid chance that Fardy isn't retained so we'll need them to step up.

We play Zebre away and both SA teams at home during the 6N. We should be using these games for much development as possible. We've a 19 point cushion at this point. Let's use it.

The Pheasant2

molloyjh wrote: »

And things that would be Robs strengths in bigger games against tougher opposition seemed to be weaknesses yesterday. There were a couple of times where he probably could have given a pass but was never in a position to based on how he was carrying the ball approaching contact.

I've never known giving the pass before contact to be a strength of Rob's, regardless of opposition!

degsie

.

Buer

It's a child being silly. No need to post his picture online and have a pop.

irishbucsfan

Childish behaviour from the most unexpected of places!

baas baa

There's been a few times recently where I've mistook Mick Kearney for Fardy. For a player who I'd all but written off as having a future with Leinster his form has been a pleasant surprise.

degsie

Buer wrote: »

It's a child being silly. No need to post his picture online and have a pop.

It was on public broadcast. Now blurred for reasons anyway...

Faugheen

Child gives a childish reaction.

Nothing to see here.

degsie

Faugheen wrote: »

Child gives a childish reaction.

Nothing to see here.

Just a little annoyed at the behavior, but yeah a child being childish..post deleted.

Buer

baas baa wrote: »

There's been a few times recently where I've mistook Mick Kearney for Fardy. For a player who I'd all but written off as having a future with Leinster his form has been a pleasant surprise.

He has been going well this season overall. With our starting locks being in the Irish 23, we need a strong back up pairing and I think you would be hard pushed to find a better 4th and 5th choice in the league than Molony and Kearney.

Both of them were really good last night although they need sterner tests. At 24 and 27 respectively, they may still have their best days ahead of them too which is encouraging.

Faugheen

Molony's been going really, really well this season which is great to see as he struggled a bit last season.

Kearney was always a weird one in that he'd play well but then do something mind-boggling which would taint his performance. Glad to see he's cut that out of his game.

Heymans

I think while there was no stand outs that was a very effective performance by Leinster. If I had to pick players it would have been Frawley OBrien and Cronin for me.

Penny did well without standing out and Murphy had a very tidy game. Good across the board but time will tell if the young guns can stand up against better opposition

stephen_n

It’s strange the things you find hanging in your hallway the day after taking Ulster to the cleaners.