Leinster Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread XII (The Byrne Supremacy)

Madeoface

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122097962#Comment_122097962

LoLol. Did they? You don't watch much rugby.

CptMonkey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122098006#Comment_122098006

Maybe you don't 🤡

Madeoface

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122097967#Comment_122097967

He's a dose. Saying Leinster were top of the URC versus top of the premier. Did it three times. Glasgow are... poor stuff but big Donal didn't correct the clown

Deusexmachina

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122098024#Comment_122098024

Lenihan was also calling game over when Leinster only had a 10 point lead. Useless. I miss the days when the panel discussion was interesting. Jacqueline, Heaslip, Fiona, Bernard - atrocious.

I feel Leo Cullen was most at fault here. The substitutions were too soon and too many. Leinster looked headless in the second half. And Gibson Park was kicking everything? Why do this when we were so dominant?

Very very lucky.

ersatz

Toulouse would shred Leinster if they play that poorly, defense was savage but Northampton don’t have anywhere near the creativity and counterattack that Toulouse do and their scrum is top drawer. Hoping that was Leinster’s poor performance out of their system but the cost of miserly defence seems to be pedestrian attack. RB had a game to forget and we missed Ringrose badly in midfield.

tanko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122097964#Comment_122097964

Did he not miss three kicks off the tee and kick two, not great.

VayNiice

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122098023#Comment_122098023

Northampton were completely shite until the last 20 minutes.

In some ways it's ideal that leinster had that scare to focus the minds for the final. Win win situation.

ironingbored

Think it felt Leinster were more ahead than they were. When you score in the corner there's always the risk of missing the extras (which Smith didn't in fairness to him). Baird had Sheehan and JGP on his right shoulder for a run in under the posts and went into contact. Should've scored before half time too. Bench underperformed compared to LAR.

theVersatile

Only Leinster could be unhappy with a Champions Cup semi final win. Take the learnings and get set for Tottenham

Agree that Cullen made too many changes too early in the second half. Sheehan and VDF off at 50 minutes is crazy stuff

VayNiice

Northampton wing was very lucky not to get carded for the shoulder straight to the head of Molony at the ruck. Loads of high tackles in the game too.

Fingers crossed Keenan will be fit. Freeman really exposed Frawleys lack of pace with his kick through

Foxtrol

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122098057#Comment_122098057

Leinster this season have tended to play down to their opposition. Look at the night and day performances against Leicester and LAR. When they feel there is a threat is when they up their game.

Leinster started off strong but when NH looked overawed they took their foot off. There is no concern that they take Toulouse lightly, if they get there.

You don't get style points for how you win a semi - you just have to get the job done, which they did.

Much rather this type of performance to sharpen their minds. Far happier the team will be taking pot shots from the media and opposing fans rather than blowing smoke up them for the next three weeks. Hopefully it also pushes them to get the frontliners more minutes in the run up to the final. If they'd beaten NH by 40 there could have easily been a sense of holding back the starters because it was working so well for this match.

joseywhales

Maybe I should have said, his kicking is average but it is the best part of his game. I don't really mind missed kicks from the touchline which I think two of the three misses were, it's the fact that he is non existent as any sort of threat and puts pressure on his receivers and just takes time out of the ball.

Foxtrol

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122098149#Comment_122098149

People will never be happy when it comes to bench strategy.

Don't use the bench early, like Ireland, and people complain and say look at Rassie and the early use of his bomb squad.

Leinster use their bench early and people still complain.

50HX

2 ways of looking at it

V v dominant in first half & you could over analyse the second half but semis are there to be won & all focus now on the final.

Ye need keenan back for sure, current centre partnership is blossoming but part of me says ringrose is a huge loss.

Best of luck in London, if ye can do it without keenan, ringer, Ryan & possibly frawley then the whole of Europe will doff their hats to ye.

Hopefully at least 2 of the above 4 are available with keenan being the central one

Dont Be at It

Don't like picking on him but Ross Byrne is not good enough, has never been good enough, and will never be good enough at this level.

Unless the leinster forwards are monstering the opposition he struggles. Hope I'm wrong but I find it hard to see leinster beating Toulouse. If there was another 5 minutes there today they'd have lost that game.

awec

the big thing for me is this Leinster defensive system is something I think Toulouse will savour playing against. It really is high risk.

when teams get outside that rush it’s on every single time. It took Northampton way too long to realise this. At the end they had a 3 man break, IMO instead of trying to cut back inside they just needed to pin the ears back and go. The Leinster midfield chase was gassed, the remaining Leinster cover was just desperately running across the field.

Toulouse have the skill to tip the ball on and get around the corner very quickly. They have a 9 who can put manners on a rush defence with both hand and feet.

Leinster weren’t at their best today but I think there are also systemic limitations that could prove costly in the final. I’m obviously assuming Toulouse beat Harlequins because there’s no chance that they don’t.

Dont Be at It

Also, I'm not sure that resting the front line players so much is actually beneficial. They looked very tired for the last 15 minutes. Ask any player and they'll tell you there's nothing like a proper match to keep you sharp.

Ben Bailey

Raynal & Charabas not bothering to review the Moloney ruck incident served to lessen their authority.

Maybe a review would not have resulted in a penalty or a card, but a review was warranted.

Thoughts & prayers to those who had to endure the insufferable crap churned out by RTE's commentary 'team'.

Turgid match enlivened by moments of genuine talent, but hey ho, another final awaits.

KaneToad

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122097963#Comment_122097963

All Leinster rugby fans were and most Irish rugby fans were. Minority of teenage boys weren't, they'd rather any Irish team lose despite their team being out.

Exclamation Marc

Leinster bring their La Rochelle performance to the final and it's a fifth star.

Bring today's performance and they'll get ripped apart.

Rugbyf565

Doris obviously was goated today with the turnover at the end to save our arse but I’ve always felt that Leinster need a second jackler option, someone like Tadhg Beirne who can come in handy when we need to stop the momentum of the opposition. JVDF is not a proper jackal threat. It would really put us up another level, there’s a Scott Fardy sized hole missing there.

Rugbyf565

Doris obviously was goated today with the turnover at the end to save our arse but I’ve always felt that Leinster need a second jackler option, someone like Tadhg Beirne who can come in handy when we need to stop the momentum of the opposition. JVDF is not a proper jackal threat. It would really put us up another level, there’s a Scott Fardy sized hole missing there.

Neil3030

A bit closer than I expected it to be. Northampton are a good side, and were always going to score, I just expected Leinster to score more. In the end, I fancied a home win near the spread, which I think was 12 or so points.

There was definite signs of rust, mostly early handling errors, and you'd expect those to be remedied by the final.

But I also don't think today's Leinster performance is necessarily one that Toulouse would rip apart. That's somewhat a disservice to Saints. Once they stopped spilling ball they really did cause Leinster problems, and defended very aggressively themselves.

The name of the game in a final against Toulouse (presuming that's the case) will be to frustrate Dupont, and keep possession away from him. Could see LC/JN leaning selection toward their better carriers in the back-row i.e., Conan, vdF and Doris.

Pete_Cavan

I really don't get people are saying that Ringrose needs to be brought in for the final. He hasn't played in months and almost certainly won't play with his midfield partner between now and the final. I thought both centres today have been very good for a while now and the partnership between them is bearing fruit. Ringrose does everything to a very high standard but I don't think he does anything that amazing that he should be brought straight in.

Keenan on the other hand is simply far better than the other options at 15. Hopefully he can get some match sharpness back over the next couple of weeks. Frawley did well overall today but Keenan brings so much more.

Dubinusa

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122098469#Comment_122098469

Agree with the Ringrose take. He's been unlucky to have missed out. He surely doesn't come right back in.

Dubinusa

Next week v Ospreys is a fairly big match, imo. We've got to pound them. 5 points are needed and I hope Leo doesn't go with a weak team. I'm hoping Ringrose is back and I expect J.O.B to start. HB should get the nod and I'd risk Kelleher starting.

Exclamation Marc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122098494#Comment_122098494

I don't think starting Kelleher is a risk. He needs game time. I would start a mix of front liners and second string. Ospreys at home should be a straightforward one.

Clegg

Cullen in his post match press conference said he'll be selecting strong sides for the two URC games in the lead up to the Champions Cup final.

I'm glad to hear it. Leinster looked very well drilled defensively today, but were crabbing across the pitch in attack quite a lot. The three week break for much of the squad definitely affected their on pitch prowess in attack.

I imagine they'll split their selection for the next few fixtures to give everyone enough preparation for the final.

https://twitter.com/RuaidhriOC/status/1786845050640433532?t=lA6H48CrJHhLeJnjuNcvDQ&s=09

scott1974

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122098179#Comment_122098179

Was that incident mentioned on TV looked blatant at the game..