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

Scottmactom

players available for Munster game:

LH Prop(4)
Cian Healy(32/Belvedere/Clontarf)
Ed Byrne(26/Clongowes/UCD)
Peter Dooley(26/Birr RFC/Lansdowne)
Michael Milne(21/Birr RFC-Roscrea/UCD)

TH Prop(4)
Michael Bent(34)
Tadhg Furlong(27/New Ross RFC/Clontarf)
Andrew Porter(24/St. Andrews/UCD)
Tom Clarkson(20/Blackrock/DUFC)

Hooker(4)
Sean Cronin(34)
James Tracy(29/Newbridge/UCD)
Ronan Kelleher(22/St. Michaels/Lansdowne)
Dan Sheehan(21/Clongowes/Lansdowne)

Lock(6)
Scott Fardy(36)
Devin Toner(34Castleknock/Lansdowne)
Ross Molony(26/St. Michaels/UCD)
Jack Dunne(21/St. Michaels/DUFC)
Ryan Baird(21/St. Michaels/DUFC)
Charlie Ryan(21/Blackrock/UCD)

Blindside(2)
Rhys Ruddock(29/Exile/St. Marys)
Josh Murphy(25/St. Michaels/UCD)

Number 8(3)
Jack Conan(28/St. Gerards/Old Belvedere)
Max Deegan(23/St. Michaels/Lansdowne)
Caelan Doris(22/Blackrock/DUFC)

Openside(3)
Josh Van Der Flier(27/Wesley/UCD)
Will Connors(24/Clongowes/UCD)
Scott Penny(20/St. Michaels/UCD)

Scrumhalf(4)
Jamie Gibson Park(28)
Luke McGrath(27/St. Michaels/UCD)
Rowan Osborne(23/Clongowes/DUFC)
Hugh O'Sullivan(22/Belvedere/Clontarf)

Outhalf(4)
Jonathan Sexton(35/St. Marys/St. Marys)
Ross Byrne(25/St. Michaels/UCD)
Ciaran Frawley(22/Skerries RFC/UCD)
Harry Byrne(21/St. Michaels/Lansdowne)

Centre(5)
Robbie Henshaw(27)
Rory O'Loughlin(26/St. Michaels/UCD)
Garry Ringrose(25/Blackrock/UCD)
Jimmy O'Brien(23/Newbridge/UCD)
Tommy O'Brien(22/Blackrock/UCD)

Wing(3)
Dave Kearney(31/Clongowes/Lansdowne)
James Lowe(28)
Cian Kelleher(26/St. Michaels/Lansdowne)

Fullback(3)
Rob Kearney(34/Clongowes/UCD)
Hugo Keenan(24/Blackrock/UCD)
Jordan Larmour(23/St. Andrews/St. Marys)

Clegg

Bit of a dilemma for the coaches in the weeks ahead. It's been months since the squad has played. Di you pick your strongest side for Munster to bed them back in quickly, or play a mix and match for the two derbies and then rotate back in your strongest side for the semi final. That way everyone gets time, but all combinations may not be bedded in as well.

Shefwedfan

Clegg wrote: »

Bit of a dilemma for the coaches in the weeks ahead. It's been months since the squad has played. Di you pick your strongest side for Munster to bed them back in quickly, or play a mix and match for the two derbies and then rotate back in your strongest side for the semi final. That way everyone gets time, but all combinations may not be bedded in as well.

Mix and match.

Buer

I'd be very surprised if we went full strength. This is going to be an extremely intense period for the next 6 weeks and the squad is going to be needed.

The only matches where Leinster will realistically involve the wider squad members will be the first two. After that, it's knock out rugby and we'll see the 23 being selected from a group of less than 30 players for every game, more than likely.

Every front liner will have a start in these two weeks but I would imagine a number of others such as Connors, Bent, Molony, Keenan etc. will be involved in the next 10 days.

thomond2006

I think Leinster should play the U20s to make it a fair game against Munster's first team. Of course they'll need experienced heads in the side so they can recall some Leinster legends like Steven Sykes and Clint Newland.














In completely unrelated news, I backed Munster +9.

AdamD

thomond2006 wrote: »

I think Leinster should play the U20s to make it a fair game against Munster's first team. Of course they'll need experienced heads in the side so they can recall some Leinster legends like Steven Sykes and Clint Newland.














In completely unrelated news, I backed Munster +9.

I think it would be best for Irish Rugby if Leinster spared Munster the embarrassment of being beaten by an under 20s side.

arsebiscuits1

AdamD wrote: »

I think it would be best for Irish Rugby if Leinster spared Munster the embarrassment of being beaten by an under 20s side.

We'd need to be careful playing our under 20s around Munster.

The coaches might bring nets...

Clegg

Bernard Jackman is on today's Rugby Weekly podcast talking about Leinster Vs Munster. Most interesting thing mentioned was a discussion on where both sides could improve their game. According to Jackman, in the Leinster coaches zoom sessions with their Crusaders counterparts the biggest area our guys looked at was how to reset a defensive line and how to transition in attack when we've won the ball back. They out an emphasis on kicking to attack. I suppose that jives with Lancaster's philosophy on being comfortable in chaos. Our kicking game is definitely an area that can be bettered.

They looked at this because they think the current game plan of high ruck rate attacking may not be as easy to implement under the new referee interpretions at the breakdown. So we might see Leinster kicking more tactically with a view to pressuring the opposition I to mistakes. Win the ball back and transition quickly to attack.

AbusesToilets

Clegg wrote: »

Bernard Jackman is on today's Rugby Weekly podcast talking about Leinster Vs Munster. Most interesting thing mentioned was a discussion on where both sides could improve their game. According to Jackman, in the Leinster coaches zoom sessions with their Crusaders counterparts the biggest area our guys looked at was how to reset a defensive line and how to transition in attack when we've won the ball back. They out an emphasis on kicking to attack. I suppose that jives with Lancaster's philosophy on being comfortable in chaos. Our kicking game is definitely an area that can be bettered.

They looked at this because they think the current game plan of high ruck rate attacking may not be as easy to implement under the new referee interpretions at the breakdown. So we might see Leinster kicking more tactically with a view to pressuring the opposition I to mistakes. Win the ball back and transition quickly to attack.

Did they ever release more info on that project? Be fascinated to glean some more of the insights into the respective teams.

Clegg

AbusesToilets wrote: »

Did they ever release more info on that project? Be fascinated to glean some more of the insights into the respective teams.

Jackman's comments are the first I've heard about what was discussed in those meetings.

Richie_Rich89

Think I'd go for something like the following against Munster:

1. Cian Healy
2. Ronan Kelleher
3. Andrew Porter
4. Ryan Baird
5. Devin Toner
6. Josh Murphy
7. Will Connors
8. Caelan Doris
9. Luke McGrath
10. Ross Byrne
11. James Lowe
12. Robbie Henshaw
13. Jimmy O'Brien
14. David Kearney
15. Hugo Keenan

16. Dan Sheehan
17. Edward Byrne
18. Tadhg Furlong
19. Scott Fardy
20. Max Deegan
21. Rowan Osborne
22. Harry Byrne
23. Rory O'Loughlin

So mostly first choice with a mix of others through the side. Think I'd be building towards the quarter final with Murphy and Connors initially being seen as ahead of Ruddock and van der Flier, respectively. Of course, in reality I don't expect them to be ahead. It's harder to get off the Leinster first team than to get on it. It usually takes a long-term injury or a retirement. It's a bit like Eddie O'Sullivan's Ireland.

aloooof

Richie_Rich89 wrote: »

Think I'd be building towards the quarter final with Murphy and Connors initially being seen as ahead of Ruddock and van der Flier, respectively. Of course, in reality I don't expect them to be ahead. It's harder to get off the Leinster first team than to get on it. It usually takes a long-term injury or a retirement. It's a bit like Eddie O'Sullivan's Ireland.

The difference being EOD's Ireland under-achieved. The same can't be levelled at Leinster, they've been consistently winning with the incumbents. It's not like they've suffered greatly.

stephen_n

aloooof wrote: »

The difference being EOD's Ireland under-achieved. The same can't be levelled at Leinster, they've been consistently winning with the incumbents. It's not like they've suffered greatly.

I respect your ability to take certain posters posts on good faith.

Sarries looking very good against Harlequins. 22-3 at half time.

Scottmactom

Will be a huge challenge to defeat them and win the pro 14, no way around it.

Clegg

That's a very good win against a more experienced Munster pack. If we can get Furlong back in we'll be motoring. Shame that Ryan is probably going to be a sent. Thought Baird and Doris finished very strongly after quiet starts.

Bit concerned about our lineout and work at the breakdown. Feel like we kept Munster in that game with our poor set piece work. Stander will win a lot of penalties no matter who he plays, but it's very frustrating watching our players concede for coming in from the side.

Ringrose and Sexton the pick of the backs. The former has licked up where he left off. He's getting even better at identifying the gaps in defence and accelerating through.

Squidgy Black

Lineout was abysmal.

Former Former

We can assume Dave K is gone for weeks if not months. With McFadden and Adam Byrne already out, we're looking very thin on the wings.

Clegg

Former Former wrote: »

We can assume Dave K is gone for weeks if not months. With McFadden and Adam Byrne already out, we're looking very thin on the wings.

If it's a bad injury for Dave we might see his brother back to 15 and Larmour shifted to the wing for the knock out games. Rob will probably start against Ulster anyway for game time. Just hope he doesn't ship an injury as well.

Shefwedfan

Clegg wrote: »

If it's a bad injury for Dave we might see his brother back to 15 and Larmour shifted to the wing for the knock out games. Rob will probably start against Ulster anyway for game time. Just hope he doesn't ship an injury as well.

Hamstring gone, 6 weeks is the norm isnt it?

Buer

Think RK to 15 and Larmour to wing is a no brainer with DK gone.

Larmour looked very vulnerable at 15 in the air tonight and Munster clearly went after him. He needs to be more aggressive in that area. Some of his efforts looked like he didn't feel the ball was his to win as he half-heartedly threw a hand at it.

Back three options are looking very scarce suddenly. Another injury there and we are in real trouble.

Munster really targeted our line out and got good change there. I'm fine with that, we've been exposed by some of the best in the business and will learn a huge amount as a result. That we won in spite of a weak line-out is nice but you can't ignore the losses to Munster's pack early on and the impact that had on the game. Snyman is a massive man and if he'd stayed on the pitch our line out would have been obliterated and the result possibly would have gotten away from us. Our set piece looked rusty and not particularly well drilled but I was happy with how committed our forwards were outside of this and thought we responded better to longer phases of collisions than Munster did.

In much the same way as our lineout was targeted, Larmour was put under huge pressure throughout. I thought he managed fine despite some really good quality kicking from Murray and JJ. You can see the experience of Conway and Kearney in terms of their fielding as against Larmour, but he has plenty of time to develop that aspect of his game. He's well marshalled these days but he still forces a huge amount of cover movement when he has ball in hand.

Ringrose was outstanding but he's one of the most natural footballers in Irish rugby so in a game like this where everyone is finding their feet you would expect him to make hay. Leinster's mid field were much more impressive which is a bit of a worry given the quality of Munster's signing - but I think DeAllende needs a lot of time to familiarise himself within a very different playing structure. Next time the provinces meet I suspect he'll have a much greater saying on proceedings.

It's great to be able to write a post like this and share thoughts on live rugby. Glad it's back.

Former Former

Former Former wrote: »

We can assume Dave K is gone for weeks if not months. With McFadden and Adam Byrne already out, we're looking very thin on the wings.

He could be back in 2 - 3 weeks. He could have pulled up from a minor pull or cramp, backs hadn't been involved in game play for a while before his run.

Clegg

Rather pleased with the win even if the performance was a bit patchy. When you actually look at our pack we had three kids starting and none looked uncomfortable with the physicality. This was Baird's most difficult game as a pro so far and he handled it well. Carried hard and made some good tackles. Basics were good.

sydthebeat

What I think it says with leinster is that the systems are very sound.

Defensively we only gave up one line break in the whole game.

In attack we transitioned defense into attack in quite a ruthless manner, and we finished the chances we had, lowes try was only a half chance but skill opened the door.

The line out as a set piece was very poor, I'd put it down to rustiness and having two locks who wouldn't have line out calling as their forte.

Scrum was fine, I think we won three pens off it, though have away an early push at the start of the game.

Makes for a tasty Pro14 semi

Clegg

It could be because I haven't seen Leinster play in months, but I don't remember an attacking kicking game from us before. Henshaw's grubber led to Ringrose's try and Sexton's chip over the top should have resulted in a try but our own indiscipline on Munster's line cost us.

It's something to look out for over the next few weeks. Adding that sort of kicking game would make sides with a rush defence think twice about coming so hard off the line.

KH25

Wasn’t going to be perfect after the long break but that was a good solid performance. The lineout was the big weakness and needs to be sorted out.

Shefwedfan

It was Leinster worst performance all season(2019-2020) and probably one of Munster best and Leinster still won.

We can only get better across the entire pitch...so job done

Neil3030

With only one NIQ now in the entire squad, it would be class if Leinster could bring in a real superstar on the wing. Wonder if Daly on a season loan might be an option...

Buer

So for the short term future, it seems we'll have Kelleher, Keenan or ROL in the squad. I imagine ROL will be covering wing a bit.

It seems logical that RK comes in at 15 and Larmour shifts which is no bad thing anyway if RK is fully fit.

The set piece has to be a massive concern. That was as bad a line out performance as I can recall from Leinster and it wasn't even largely down to Munster. Leinster managed to botch lineouts with no challenger. There was obviously more wrong than just throwing but Kelleher's spot will be under threat if it isn't sorted quickly; some of his throws were far from accurate. Even the one that led to Healy's try looked very crooked to me.

Discipline was not great either but I thought the referee did go hard on us a bit with a couple of very soft penalty calls. You'd be hard pressed to find a game where Leinster conceded 17 penalties in the last few years before last night. With that said, they still need to tighten up in that area. Some sloppy penalties conceded in the opposition 22 for ruck entry which were likely to have cost us points, notably Henshaw coming in at the side and then 2 or 3 guys going straight off their feet near the posts.

Munster are going to be back in 2 weeks for another shot and will possibly improve as well as have some guys available. If the same discipline and set piece issues persist, it's going to be the toss of a coin for who wins. I think Toner has to come back into the side.

I don't think the Doris and Conan situation really worked. Conan was prominent early on but faded and the opposite was true for Doris. There's a case for moving Fardy to blindside for some extra heft and target in the set piece or Ruddock in as a pack leader and a bit of calm up front.

With next week a complete dead rubber for both sides, it will be interesting to see what team is selected. I imagine there will be a lot of change with most of that pack not starting. We don't really have that luxury in the back line at the moment.