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

prawnsambo

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Anyone know where I could watch the whole game these days?!

BT Sport replayed it on 26th April with BOD doing commentary. If you have BT Sport, you can either download it off catch up TV on your Sky Box or log in to the BT Sport website and watch it there.



I'm downloading it on my Sky box as I type this. In HD.

Burkie1203

Tomane signing for Dragons

https://twitter.com/RodneyRoar/status/1256890879236866050?s=19

Burkie1203

Ferg retiring by looks of it



https://twitter.com/petersuntimes/status/1256911143630786560?s=19

I feel like Tomane never really got a chance to show what he could do.

Part of that was down to poorly timed injury and it took him a while to adjust to Leinster but his form this season suggests that he had a part to play in the business end.

I also feel that part of the Leinster fan base summarily rejected him. Worse again I felt at the time that there was a slight racial element within that rejection and I don't think he got the Leinster welcome he deserved.

I hope Dragon's goes well for him but I don't really rate them as a club. Is Kirchner still there?

Burkie1203

Ferg retiring

https://twitter.com/leinsterrugby/status/1256931730952421377?s=19

Exclamation Marc

Burkie1203 wrote: »

Ferg retiring

https://twitter.com/leinsterrugby/status/1256931730952421377?s=19

I really hope he gets one more game with a home crowd. He deserves a good send off and not just to end off his terms.

Eod100

Whatever about moving to other clubs, will be fairly big anti-climax if players retire without playing another game of rugby between now and end of season. Obviously public health considerations come first and I completely agree. Don't think there's any area of life unaffected by this awful virus.

Think Isa Nacewa was interviewed lately saying would be tough for those players. Hopefully they're supported by provinces and the players association.

Best of luck to McFadden, gave a lot to Leinster over the years.

Sad to see McFadden go. Great career with Leinster and Ireland and a very committed club man by all accounts.

Hope there is some send off for these guys but many may choose not to maintain a pro fitness regime.

Dave_The_Sheep

Always had a soft spot for Ferg, hopefully he gets to play again before retirement. That try against Wasps in the HC quarter that sealed the win, you could see what playing for Leinster meant to him.

salmocab

Ferg was a brilliant player for Leinster rarely first choice but good enough to be pushing and always realiable. Solid player like Toner his form never really dipped and put in solid performances constantly.

Exclamation Marc

O'Driscoll and Hartley looking back at Leinster v Northampton final on BT Sport 3. Really enjoyable so far.

I still maintain that for the @rsehole he is on the pitch, Hartley is a really enjoyable guy to watch and listen to off it.

Sheep Shagger

Exclamation Marc wrote: »

I really hope he gets one more game with a home crowd. He deserves a good send off and not just to end off his terms.

Highly unlikely - if Leinster play in the RDS in 2020 it will be behind closed doors. Very sad given how much he's given (RK likely to be in the same boat).

salmocab

Wondering aloud here but what could be the implications for squads if the European cup is played next season, will new signings be able to play presumably so as obviously players who have left won’t be eligible. It means guys who weren’t even with a club in 19/20 could get a medal for that year.

Scottmactom

Leinster aren't signing anyone, so wont be an issue for us.

AbusesToilets

Exclamation Marc wrote: »

O'Driscoll and Hartley looking back at Leinster v Northampton final on BT Sport 3. Really enjoyable so far.

I still maintain that for the @rsehole he is on the pitch, Hartley is a really enjoyable guy to watch and listen to off it.

He came off really well, I was very pleasantly surprised.

Sheep Shagger

Scottmactom wrote: »

Leinster aren't signing anyone, so wont be an issue for us.

Yep has previously been confirmed.

The covid mess and affect on finances means it won't change either. With a cancelled Horse Show the RDS development looks even further into the sunset too.

clsmooth

Deleted User wrote: »

I feel like Tomane never really got a chance to show what he could do.

Part of that was down to poorly timed injury and it took him a while to adjust to Leinster but his form this season suggests that he had a part to play in the business end.

I also feel that part of the Leinster fan base summarily rejected him. Worse again I felt at the time that there was a slight racial element within that rejection and I don't think he got the Leinster welcome he deserved.

I hope Dragon's goes well for him but I don't really rate them as a club. Is Kirchner still there?

That’s a big statement there. Wouldn’t quite agree with that. Think he was poor enough when he first came and probably never really recovered from that although this year he was much improved but still not good enough to get in the 23. Isa and Auva'a were recent fan favourites so not sure where you’re coming from with the racial element.

Exclamation Marc

clsmooth wrote: »

That’s a big statement there. Wouldn’t quite agree with that. Think he was poor enough when he first came and probably never really recovered from that although this year he was much improved but still not good enough to get in the 23. Isa and Auva'a were recent fan favourites so not sure where you’re coming from with the racial element.

There were posters even here who had Tomane as sixth or seventh choice center behind players who had played once or twice if at all for the senior team. It was bizarre and suggested a very real 'No foreigners policy'. Obviously it sounds daft when they would have chosen Isa or Lowe over anyone, but there was definitely something odd about his near instant rejection from some parts.

Richie_Rich89

Tomane was a quality winger who turned into a solid 12 after a year's worth of investment. Still a ridiculous signing by Cullen, though. If his vision had come to pass Leinster would be in a pretty poor state at inside centre going into next season. Cullen got lucky with COB able to develop significantly while Tomane was injured for months on end in his first year here. O'Brien is actually in a reasonable position to kick on in 2020/'21 despite Cullen's best efforts at short-termism that would have made Munster proud.

It's good JT was able to get a club. I was thinking they should offer him an extension to tide him over if he didn't get any offers as a result of clubs being short of money because of Covid-19. But he's got himself a gig now, so that's good. Hopefully things go well for him.

Shefwedfan

clsmooth wrote: »

That’s a big statement there. Wouldn’t quite agree with that. Think he was poor enough when he first came and probably never really recovered from that although this year he was much improved but still not good enough to get in the 23. Isa and Auva'a were recent fan favourites so not sure where you’re coming from with the racial element.

I don’t think it is, Tomane played one game and the place was awash with hatred, same as here who equally had an issue with T’eo.

The abuse Tomane got was massively over the top, especially for someone who had his first season in Pro 14....this season he had more of a chance but the certain few didn’t give up....same rubbish....

He was a good player, once the virus hit he was never going to be resigned but it does put a huge question mark over Leinster ability to bring in NIQ, would player want to move if they know this is what to expect.....not really the image Leinster wants

Especially when you consider the warm welcome Fardy and Lowe got. Both T’eo and Tomane have been picked out for no reason from what I can see to get abuse.....they are hardly going to write a glowing review

Podge_irl

Shefwedfan wrote: »

He was a good player, once the virus hit he was never going to be resigned but it does put a huge question mark over Leinster ability to bring in NIQ, would player want to move if they know this is what to expect.....not really the image Leinster wants

Especially when you consider the warm welcome Fardy and Lowe got. Both T’eo and Tomane have been picked out for no reason from what I can see to get abuse.....they are hardly going to write a glowing review

I think you are massively over-egging it here. One poster with a well known shtick aside, I don't recall him getting any particular abuse. Tomane, ultimately, just wasn't quite the calibre of player some wanted to see brought in. There is nothing particularly wrong with that opinion.

Leinster are not going to have any trouble attracting NIQs. Ultimately Fardy and Lowe were/are also much better on the pitch than Tomane and Te'o.

Shefwedfan

Podge_irl wrote: »

I think you are massively over-egging it here. One poster with a well known shtick aside, I don't recall him getting any particular abuse. Tomane, ultimately, just wasn't quite the calibre of player some wanted to see brought in. There is nothing particularly wrong with that opinion.

Leinster are not going to have any trouble attracting NIQs. Ultimately Fardy and Lowe were/are also much better on the pitch than Tomane and Te'o.

Tomane has shown at every other club he was the quality of player, even with Montpellier when they got a hammered in RDS he stood out.

Some people made a judgement on him before he even arrived, one poster here of course was most vocal but Check load of other Leinster supporter forums and loads....just not with the same opinion about COB

Podge_irl

Shefwedfan wrote: »

Tomane has shown at every other club he was the quality of player, even with Montpellier when they got a hammered in RDS he stood out.

Some people made a judgement on him before he even arrived, one poster here of course was most vocal but Check load of other Leinster supporter forums and loads....just not with the same opinion about COB

What he showed at other clubs is not really as relevant as what he showed at Leinster. And at Leinster he was grand, but that was about it. There is a reason he is heading to the Dragons next season and not somewhere better.

irishbucsfan

Tomane wasn't amazing but he never got a chance to get going. Plenty of our greatest imports had poor starts at Leinster (Nacewa, Wright). His start was disrupted, he could have gone on to reach his potential but he never got a chance.

thomond2006

Tomane was summarily rejected by a certain pundit, it even became a running joke on here. He was no more than solid and his next club being the Dragons suggests there wasn't a big market for him. See Zane Kirchner.

prawnsambo

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Tomane wasn't amazing but he never got a chance to get going. Plenty of our greatest imports had poor starts at Leinster (Nacewa, Wright). His start was disrupted, he could have gone on to reach his potential but he never got a chance.

You mean "Lord help us, Isa Nacewa".

Rigor Mortis

Shefwedfan wrote: »

Especially when you consider the warm welcome Fardy and Lowe got. Both T’eo and Tomane have been picked out for no reason from what I can see to get abuse.....they are hardly going to write a glowing review

You can add Kane Douglas to that list. Unless a foreign player hits the straps immediately they are given a rougher time by a section of support.

clsmooth

If a big money NIQ doesn't perform better than a locally developed player, he's going to struggle to win the affection of the home crowd. Happens in every sport. Everyone wants to see the local lad do well. To suggest an element of racism is a unfair. I think you could make an argument of xenophobia with Gopperth, but that was more likely frustration of having lost Sexton, our regression under MOC, and Madigan being kept out of the team although Gopperth was consistently out performing him. He unfairly became the fall guy. I don't remember any issue when Healy and VDM were alternating, or when Fardy was picked ahead of Rudduck/Moloney at any stage.

Maybe the feeling is more pronounced in Leinster with some of the home grown talent available as opposed to the other provinces who don't have the same conveyor belt. Fans take a certain pride in the fact that Leinster have accomplished what they have with a team (of mainly) home grown players. To suggest that players won't want to come from abroad is ridculous too. Contepomi and Isa are seen as Leinster legends. Lowes getting there if not already in that bracket. Rocky Elsom would struggle to buy himself a drink at the RDS. Plenty of others in that bracket too. Bottom line, its like any professional environment, come in, work hard, perform well and you'll have the full support of the crowd. Even if you're from Munster

salmocab

Rigor Mortis wrote: »

You can add Kane Douglas to that list. Unless a foreign player hits the straps immediately they are given a rougher time by a section of support.

I thought Douglas looked okay and Te’o was one of our better back 5 players during MOCs reign. He was probably unlucky to be at Leinster for the worst periods recently.

Rigor Mortis

Rigor Mortis wrote: »

You can add Kane Douglas to that list. Unless a foreign player hits the straps immediately they are given a rougher time by a section of support.

I think the way Douglas was received is important to note in this context, Gopperth too - we have a lot of high quality home grown talent here in Leinster and so we expect our precious few NIQ spots to be filled by players of a very high quality ala Contepomi, Elsom, Thorn, Hines, Nacewa etc etc.

This puts an additional layer of pressure on incoming NIQ recruits to perform to a similar high standard that we have come to expect.
This is borne out in examples such as Douglas, T’eo and Gopperth (those these did come good eventually) and more recently Tomane - if they don’t hit the ground running they’re not going to be given the same level of slack as a local guy, and to a degree I think that is understandable.

Ascribing a racial element to this reaction is a bit much I feel - bar one poster here I don’t recall any such disparagements on that basis. They were very much criticisms to do with Tomane’s gameplay - people were expecting the dangerous player they’d seen playing for the Brumbies and Australia and that wasn’t what they got (initially at least). I think there was also probably a degree of the grass is always greener, people looking at the likes of Lowe and thinking “This is the level of player we should be bringing in”. It was unfair on Joe but this is the standard we have come to accept.