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

Dog Botherer

Clegg wrote: »

I agree with you on Lowe being our most complete wing. As a strike runner and finisher he's second to none and his offloading ability makes him a secondary playmaker, albeit a rather unorthodox one. He's also a very effective ball carrier and can be used to get over the gain line in set plays.

I have a concern about his pace though. He's not particularly quick after the first 10 metres. That's something we'd have to compensate for.

Ireland haven’t exactly been blessed with out and out speedsters on the wing, a lack of top end pace is something we’ve gotten used to from our back three.

KaneToad

Dog Botherer wrote: »

Ireland haven’t exactly been blessed with out and out speedsters on the wing, a lack of top end pace is something we’ve gotten used to from our back three.

Keenan & Larmour seem fairly pacy, no?
Earls no slouch either.

pickarooney

Dog Botherer wrote: »

Ireland haven’t exactly been blessed with out and out speedsters on the wing, a lack of top end pace is something we’ve gotten used to from our back three.

What's the story with Aaron Sexton?

Which of the O'Brien quintuplets is the fast one?

bayern

KaneToad wrote: »

Keenan & Larmour seem fairly pacy, no?
Earls no slouch either.

Larmours slower than you'd think... top end speed that is.

bayern

pickarooney wrote: »

What's the story with Aaron Sexton?

Which of the O'Brien quintuplets is the fast one?

Sexton is playing 7's for Ulster recently.

Tommy is fastest.

Rigor Mortis

KaneToad wrote: »

Keenan & Larmour seem fairly pacy, no?
Earls no slouch either.

Larmour has great feet and is quick over 10m but not winger quick over 30.

AdamD

I don't think Keenan is overly quick

hirondelle

AdamD wrote: »

I don't think Keenan is overly quick

A sevens player?

Dog Botherer

Don’t think we’ve had a proper speedster since Hickie. Maybe BOD in his early days.

The Lost Sheep

hirondelle wrote: »

A sevens player?

Yeah. Playing 7s doesnt mean you will be an out and out speedster.

AdamD

hirondelle wrote: »

A sevens player?

Think he set Leinster fitness records, but in terms of out and out pace I haven't seen it.

OneLungDavy

AdamD wrote: »

Think he set Leinster fitness records, but in terms of out and out pace I haven't seen it.

Probably his glaring weakness - lacks top-end pace and not very explosive.

Serbian

I had the same feeling about Keenan when he was playing with Ireland. For his disallowed try I was expecting him to cross the line untouched, but he had to ride a tackle to get over. I remember thinking that he should have been outpacing the defender there. But then there was an article in the Journal about him and it mentioned that he was the fastest player in the squad, so I dunno, maybe he is faster than he looks?

kingofthekong

Its very hard too look fast on a rugby pitch, and the players that look fast are usually guys with explosive acceleration and low top end speed because you are rarely getting runs of more than 20 or 30 metres even as a wing

Sure even look at Aaron Sexton whos probably the fastest player in the provinces - hes not exactly just ghosting around other wingers on the pitch, theres so little space.

The most recent player I've seen who look sub 11 on the pitch are guys like Louis Rees Zammit or Jonny may maybe a R.Ioan, Caleb Clarke or Barrett,

But even then its a handful of guys in world rugby. Keenan is no slower then any of our other wingers and has better speed endurance then all of them

AdamD

I'm not trying to be negative but I'd be surprised if hes a long term Ireland option on the wing. He has 1 try in 20 games for a Leinster team who regularly put 6+ tries on teams, he just hasn't shown all that much in attack. I think hes a better fullback prospect. His defense looks very good

FellasFellas

Keenan is an Andrew Trimble type player I think. Very solid and will pick up caps. Agree that he's a good player and probably more at home at 15 than 11.

arsebiscuits1

Thoughts on a team for this week?

Sunday game so will it be announced today or tomorrow?

No injuries reported although Rhys looked in some discomfort coming off.

We don't have too much of a luxury of rotating too many people at the moment so likely we will see:

1) Dooley
2) Sheehan (would we get Kelleher back for game time?)
3) Bent
4) Molony
5) Dev
6) Murphy
7) Penny
8) Ruddock
9) McGrath
10) H Byrne
11) Kelleher
12) Frawley
13) O'Loughlin
14) T O'Brien
15) J O'Brien
16) Tracy
17) Milne
18) Parker
19) Dunne
20) Leavy
21) Osborne
22) Hawkshaw
23) Silvester

Potentially might see Moloney involved? Possibly someone like Turner off the bench? Could Leavy be in line for a start yet?

Dog Botherer

FellasFellas wrote: »

Keenan is an Andrew Trimble type player I think. Very solid and will pick up caps. Agree that he's a good player and probably more at home at 15 than 11.

agreed, i see him as a more skilled Trimble. think he’ll pick up plenty of caps just by being a good reliable option.

FrannoFan

Dog Botherer wrote: »

agreed, i see him as a more skilled Trimble. think he’ll pick up plenty of caps just by being a good reliable option.

Do people remember trimble!? He was an absolute beast of an athlete. Keenan isn't that.

Keenan is more like girve who also scored a couple of tries on the wing for Ireland before moving back to full back his more natural position.

Dubinusa

Keenan was superb with the u20's. He is very solid and seems to meet every challenge and exceed. He's 24, so he has a lot of years left. I see him as Dave kearneys replacement with Leinster.
I think he's going to be in and around the international squad for the foreseeable future. Stockdale is in a rut and had struggled, Earl's is 33 and will be out of favor soon enough.
I think Keenan will be a roving back 3 player. He can play all back 3 position very well. I would give him a shot at fb. He certainly has played very well this year.

bayern

Leinster Rugby (caps in brackets):

15. Jimmy O’Brien (21)
14. Cian Kelleher (16)
13. Rory O’Loughlin (72)
12. Tommy O’Brien (6)
11. Dave Kearney (151)
10. Harry Byrne (13)
9. Luke McGrath (131)
1. Michael Milne (11)
2. James Tracy (113)
3. Michael Bent (144)
4. Ross Molony (99)
5. Scott Fardy (64)
6. Josh Murphy (35)
7. Scott Penny (16)
8. Rhys Ruddock (177) CAPTAIN

16. Dan Sheehan (2)
17. Peter Dooley (78)
18. Ciarán Parker (1)
19. Devin Toner (251)
20. Dan Leavy (65)
21. Hugh O’Sullivan (22)
22. David Hawkshaw (1)
23. Liam Turner (1)

arsebiscuits1

Ross getting the big 100. Very impressive for a 26 year old.

Milne making his first start. Hope it goes well for him.

No sign still of Frawley. Didn't see too much of the injury update but he appears to be fit?

bayern

arsebiscuits1 wrote: »

Ross getting the big 100. Very impressive for a 26 year old.

Milne making his first start. Hope it goes well for him.

No sign still of Frawley. Didn't see too much of the injury update but he appears to be fit?

does he? wasn't been pictured at training this week..

arsebiscuits1

bayern wrote: »

does he? wasn't been pictured at training this week..

Appears fit insofar as he hasn't been included in an injury update this week

Exclamation Marc

bayern wrote: »

does he? wasn't been pictured at training this week..

Irish Times reported a couple of weeks ago that he had recovered from the facial injury.

bayern

Exclamation Marc wrote: »

Irish Times reported a couple of weeks ago that he had recovered from the facial injury.

this is a different injury/niggle.

baaba maal

Stupid question- that can't be Cian Kelleher's total cap count is it? Sixteen is less than Jimmy O'Brien.

The Lost Sheep

baaba maal wrote: »

Stupid question- that can't be Cian Kelleher's total cap count is it? Sixteen is less than Jimmy O'Brien.

Its correct all right. 7 before he left for Connacht and 9 since he came back

bayern

baaba maal wrote: »

Stupid question- that can't be Cian Kelleher's total cap count is it? Sixteen is less than Jimmy O'Brien.

Leinster only.

baaba maal

The Lost Sheep wrote: »

Its correct all right. 7 before he left for Connacht and 9 since he came back

I see why he left! In my mind he had around 20 or so before he went.