Leinster Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread XI (The Finals Countdown)

Clegg

Leavy nearly back to full fitness. Leinster also confirmed that Jack Conan is fully fit too.

https://twitter.com/Murray_Kinsella/status/1250038353938046978?s=19

Quin_Dub

Clegg wrote: »

Leavy nearly back to full fitness. Leinster also confirmed that Jack Conan is fully fit too.

https://twitter.com/Murray_Kinsella/status/1250038353938046978?s=19

Fantastic to have them both back fit..

Leinster back-row options are silly now.. 6 Irish international back-rows and another couple potentially heading that direction in the next year or two..

salmocab

Quin_Dub wrote: »

Fantastic to have them both back fit..

Leinster back-row options are silly now.. 6 Irish international back-rows and another couple potentially heading that direction in the next year or two..

A few games played and a couple will be out injured, it’s so attritional there now we never seem to have all our backrows available together.

Sheep Shagger

Press conference today by phone where they talked about a return to training and possibly playing games behind closed doors.

https://www.fm104.ie/news/sport/leinster-keeping-open-mind-on-rugby-return/

molloyjh

So....

Ruddock, Leavy, Murphy
VDF, Connors, Penny
Conan, Deegan, Doris

That's not sustainable really. Can see Murphy and possible Penny moving on. Even at that it's hard to see how everyone can be kept happy. Although it still remains to be seen if Leavy can get back to where he was, or even close.

Buer

Based on this season and the opportunities that have fallen respectively, I don't see Penny hanging around. I don't think he's going to make it at Leinster ahead of others long term but he could become first choice long term at another province especially if he has some more development to do.

I think he'd be better off developing at Leinster for another year and, if he hasn't made significant progress in the pecking order, he should consider his options.

salmocab

Buer wrote: »

Based on this season and the opportunities that have fallen respectively, I don't see Penny hanging around. I don't think he's going to make it at Leinster ahead of others long term but he could become first choice long term at another province especially if he has some more development to do.

I think he'd be better off developing at Leinster for another year and, if he hasn't made significant progress in the pecking order, he should consider his options.

The thing is he’s so young he might reason that there’s a really good chance of someone retiring early for whatever reason in the next 2 or 3 seasons and he might want to take his chances in what is likely to be the best setup available.
In so far as he might back himself short term against Connors.

Rigor Mortis

Of those, i think the most likely to go is Rhys. He has ripped up trees for the last number of seasons and hasnt gotten the recognition in green he deserves. He can almost certainly get a significant payday in France.

Penny would be wise to stay. Injuries will see him get game time and he is not Ireland ready yet.

Quin_Dub

salmocab wrote: »

The thing is he’s so young he might reason that there’s a really good chance of someone retiring early for whatever reason in the next 2 or 3 seasons and he might want to take his chances in what is likely to be the best setup available.
In so far as he might back himself short term against Connors.

Ruddock is the oldest of that group and he's only 29 , barring injury he might have another 4 or 5 seasons at club level.

Hanging on in case someone gets invalided out isn't a strategy, especially when it's almost certain that another player is going to come out of the academy behind him.

I don't think he's going anywhere in the next 1 to 2 seasons , but he either overtakes one of the others on the field or he moves on.

errlloyd

I think Ruds would do soooo well in France. But I'd be sickened to see him go.

Quin_Dub

errlloyd wrote: »

I think Ruds would do soooo well in France. But I'd be sickened to see him go.

I don't think anyone will be going to France in any great numbers for a while yet.

There won't be any of the "big payday" contracts getting thrown about for some time when we finally get back to playing when all this is done with..

French and English rugby are going to lose quite a few sugar daddies over the next few months..

Rigor Mortis

Quin_Dub wrote: »

I don't think anyone will be going to France in any great numbers for a while yet.

There won't be any of the "big payday" contracts getting thrown about for some time when we finally get back to playing when all this is done with..

French and English rugby are going to lose quite a few sugar daddies over the next few months..

That put a big smile on my face. Thank you

Burkie1203

Handsome Rob pretending to be Scott Fardy to get himself a new contract

https://twitter.com/leinsterrugby/status/1250363369258979329?s=19

Clegg

My overridng memory of this game is Kearney getting away with murder for a challenge in the air. Anyway, give it a watch if you're at a loose end. A league final victory is always cause to celebrate.

https://twitter.com/PRO14Official/status/1250360267231432705?s=19

Buer

Should have been red but got yellow which largely ended his involvement anyway. He got back on for the last 3-4 minutes. Leinster were comfortably the better side on the day; if they had lost it would have been galling.

I was only happy to see a yellow purely based on the reaction of the supporters and the Scottish commentators who were an embarrassment, going to far as to claim that Kearney (it was actually Sexton but they didn't notice in their fury) tried to kick the Glasgow physio as he gave Hogg attention.

sydthebeat

i think that was a case of Robs legs not working as fast as his brain... a couple of years ago he would have gotten to the pitch of his kick... unfortunately he was a tad slow in this event

Shefwedfan

It was a yellow....he was blocked from my recollection which is why he was late to the tackle

Blocked by a Glasgow player as well

UAEguy2020

It wasn’t a red, clearly lands on his back. It was a very high yellow and was afew inches away from a yellow but where he landed there was enough mitigation for it to be a yellow. In any event there was only 5 mins left so it would be clutching at straws make a big deal about it.

Vinnie222

Is R Kearney contact up this year?

Shefwedfan

Vinnie222 wrote: »

Is R Kearney contact up this year?

He signed a contract till the end of the 2019/20 season which should finish up around May/June this year

awec

Easterby was in one of the papers suggesting they'd do something to let Kearney tog out a final time in blue as the assumption is the season won't restart before his contract expires.

BonnieSituation

awec wrote: »

Easterby was in one of the papers suggesting they'd do something to let Kearney tog out a final time in blue as the assumption is the season won't restart before his contract expires.

I still want Ireland to do that for Stringer a couple more times.

That 98 cap stat bugs me.

Richie_Rich89

BonnieSituation wrote: »

I still want Ireland to do that for Stringer a couple more times.

That 98 cap stat bugs me.

What would be the point of that? There'd be an asterisk beside his stat of 100 if the last two were just token caps and he hadn't actually earned it.

It'd be a lost opportunity to involve someone with a future like Casey as well.

Shefwedfan

BonnieSituation wrote: »

I still want Ireland to do that for Stringer a couple more times.

That 98 cap stat bugs me.

Rob has 3 or something to get to 100 as well

That would be 3 incredible international not to get 100
Rob Kearney
Stringer
Heaslip

BonnieSituation

Richie_Rich89 wrote: »

What would be the point of that? There'd be an asterisk beside his stat of 100 if the last two were just token caps and he hadn't actually earned it.

It'd be a lost opportunity to involve someone with a future like Casey as well.

Wow, you really jumped off the deep end there didn't ya?



Who said token cap? Not I! Full games is what our Peter wants!

What's a token cap anyway? I'm sure you have a list of all the garbage time caps we've given out over the years to hand, and you are actively downgrading the cap totals for those players?

Shefwedfan wrote: »

Rob has 3 or something to get to 100 as well

That would be 3 incredible international not to get 100
Rob Kearney
Stringer
Heaslip

Funny you mentioned them because I was thinking "Surely they broke a 100 with Lions caps thrown in" and no, they didn't. Dang!

rudiger2.0

https://www.epcrugby.com/2020/04/16/heineken-champions-cup-rewind-all-you-need-to-know-2/

2011 Heineken Cup Final being arranged online on Saturday at 17.45

Shefwedfan

BonnieSituation wrote: »

Funny you mentioned them because I was thinking "Surely they broke a 100 with Lions caps thrown in" and no, they didn't. Dang!

I think Heaslip used that to get over the 100 caps but really I would like to see great servants like that get to the 100 caps if possible for Ireland.....


I know not always because of Heaslip injury but the likes of Stringer and Rob its a pity

Buer

So Bill Beaumont has advised that the international calendar may be entirely gone for 2020. If that's the case, then there's potentially scope to complete 2019/20 and start the new season slightly late after a brief break/preseason. I won't be holding my breath on it but I'd love for the domestic and European calendars to be completed even behind closed doors on the basis that each league goes straight into playoff mode.

A major obstacle appears to be the progress of Covid in France and England though. The numbers aren't exactly slowing down and their testing isn't really increasing either. Whilst most nations who have seen numbers increase have been ramping up their testing massively, France and England are still the lowest two of all western European nations.

Buer

Buer wrote: »

So Bill Beaumont has advised that the international calendar may be entirely gone for 2020. If that's the case, then there's potentially scope to complete 2019/20 and start the new season slightly late after a brief break/preseason. I won't be holding my breath on it but I'd love for the domestic and European calendars to be completed even behind closed doors.

From what I've been reading a lot of players are currently on a break or in partial training. I'm resigned to the *hope* that by September we can have live games again and even then I'm dubious.

Clegg

Easterby floated the idea of a summer inter-provincial series of games tide the players over and maybe act as a warm up for the coming season. We'd all love to see that, but it's still far too early to think about that.