Match thread Mexicans v Wildlings (Leinster v Ulster) Kick off 5.30pm 1/4/23

pickarooney

Give it a **** rest with the whingeing about refs

Larbre34

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120428656#Comment_120428656

No. Its a blight on the game. I'll remind you of it the day someone you're shouting for gets ****ed over.

Clegg

Huuuuge Leinster scrum

Stockdale filling in the Hume rile to coont it up afterwards

pickarooney

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120428659#Comment_120428659

Every **** game, perennial moaners are a blight on the game

Interested Observer

The workrate from Leinster is off the charts.

Baird is going to force the hand of the Irish and Leinster coaches if he keeps on like this. You can't leave out a guy playing the way he is.

Clegg

That's a high tackle on Ross Byrne

CIARAN_BOYLE

That was the second time that there was knock on advantage called back after a kick.

99% of the time of referees call advantage over after a kick. Or am I wrong?

Larbre34

Leinster have won this is 2nd gear. No Doris, no Sexton.

I'm afraid 6 Nations dominance is not currently translating at all to the provincial game as a whole.

Clegg

James Ryan or Ryan Baird are motm for me.

Both contributed so many pivotal moments whether at the defensive lineout or in carries in attack.

Clegg

Leinster's pack has been so dominant that I can't remember Stockdale or Baloucoune getting any decent attacking ball.

Delighted that they adapted to the conditions so well.

ulsteru20s

I thought Leinster’s pack were great and kicking game in general was excellent.

I thought the call against Hume was absolute **** horseshit. In general Pearse’s proclivity to award the attacking team in the red zone no matter what did not help us as the underdog. In that case, he wasn’t the tackler… why does he have to release? Bullshit call. Completely killed the game for us realistically.

LostArt

That was grand

Clegg

Ulster never got going in the second half really. After 50 minutes Leinster just ground their pack down despite Ulster bringing on their subs earlier. That wason paper, a strong Ulster bench. Let's Mayer manhandled them.

Interested Observer

Anyone know what time the QF is on Friday? Don't think it's up on the EPCR site.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120428747#Comment_120428747

It was absolutely a bad call - but I don’t think it killed the game, regardless of the scoreboard at that time.

You could also argue Hume took the bullet that 100% should have been given to Tom O’Toole prior to half time.

Ulster never fired a shot though - scored two easy quick tries from two visits to the Leinster 22, but never looked like building a score through phase play or even stretching the Leinster defence. They got some good change from up and unders (Stockdale was good today), but that was it.

The conditions probably saved them from shipping another 15-25 points, because you can’t win rugby games where you’re getting blown away at every collision and ruck.

CIARAN_BOYLE

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120428780#Comment_120428780

Where did you hear that it would be on on Friday?

Bobb Sapp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120428548#Comment_120428548

That says it in a nutshell. Leinster played the percentages and I almost puked at the mind frame they brought to this game. Play negative winning rugby. They played the conditions but it was a very negative stand off philosophy. No mistakes use the attacking mall , kick well - puke. Purist (in more ways than one) rugby for the lads from the 80’s/70’s/50’s/40’s/30’s.

Good win - despite the score it never felt like a game Leinster were in danger of losing.

Pack absolutely demolished them. James Ryan in particular was just immense. There isn’t a harder working player in Irish rugby arguably and he is just so impactful in everything he does.

Ryan Baird would have been my MotM. His athleticism is off the charts. Michael Lowry will be having nightmares about him.

Thought Ross Byrne had a poor game. I know conditions were tough, but he still looked more indecisive than I typically expect him to be out there.

Only real concern is how bad JvDF’s ankle is - will be surprising if it’s good enough to risk him in a week’s time.

Bogwoppit

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120428792#Comment_120428792

That’s one of the maddest takes I’ve seen in a while and that’s saying something, the lads from the 60’s must be mightily disappointed.

Interested Observer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120428783#Comment_120428783

They'd said it on BT. It's at 8pm anyway.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120428792#Comment_120428792

What do you expect? Try a fast paced offloading game when the ball is like a bar of soap?!

They did exactly what they needed to do to win the game by fifteen points without ever getting out of second gear.

Sorry if you weren’t entertained but I doubt Leo and the lads give a ****.

You’ll never convince me Kieran Treadwell is a better rugby player than Ross Molony, and games like today really underlined that.

Genuinely it was hard to know if Treadwell was out there today; he was utterly anonymous.

It will be a disgrace if Molony finishes his career uncapped.

ulsteru20s

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120428781#Comment_120428781

I’d agree that Leinster were well on top in the pack and generally their kicking game was beyond excellent.

I also have no problem with the yellow assuming that was actually a penalty, it just wasn’t a penalty.

When you are the underdog and the underdog for good reason, you need some stuff to go your way. I think we have good backs but our pack just isn’t on the same planet right now.

We also self inflicted alot today. The ryan steal in the lineout looked like a blown call to me. He threw it to the front.

One more thing on Pearse, this modern reffing thing to ref the offside line religiously near the goalline and almost not at all anywhere else annoys the crap out of me.

My takeaway from watching a ton of leinster and ireland this year, is that ulster need to find a 15 who is better in the kicking game. Lowe ate our backs’ lunches.

Leinster are WAY ahead in that aspect than any other province.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120428823#Comment_120428823

I 100% agree on the practice of referees generally seeming to be militant on the offside line at the try line, and oblivious everywhere else, but I don’t think it’s just Luke Pearce who could be saddled with that one.

Also, realistically, given Leinster’s possession and territory if Pearce had been harsher on offsides all over the field it would have been uglier for Ulster.

On the Hume call - I 100% agree, Hume should have had the penalty. He didn’t deserve the yellow, but on balance you couldn’t say Ulster didn’t deserve to get two yellows.

ulsteru20s

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120428839#Comment_120428839

True, although not all of them. I watched the last ten of the la rochelle game and that ref was more lenient around the line lol. It was a war zone.

TRC10

It's funny how literally every referee is terrible and shouldn't be allowed near a field again, isn't it

Bobb Sapp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120428815#Comment_120428815

They played the conditions and Cullen knows how to play winning rugby but at times it hasn’t been attractive rugby. Grind, quick ruck, hit on the break, rinse repeat. Minimal errors, wait for opponents to cough up penalties or handling errors, it’s like waiting for paint to dry, they often don’t go out to win and create game winning moments. It’s stand off and wait for your opponents to make errors. Its not the sort of long range rugby from Leinster of old.

Ulster in fairness came to slow down the game like England did but if you pop the ball from rucks and fall on the ground at the first sign of contact you’re never going to get go forward momentum. Ulster were expecting Leinster to crack without putting them under pressure.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Leinster have handling drills every session and do things like 100 press ups every drop ball. They have probably made it a priority but it’s a negative philosophy. It’s negatively coached, excellent at the basics rugby. And this focus on the kicking game is just mind numbing.

ulsteru20s

Nothing wrong with percentages rugby.

OldRio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120428812#Comment_120428812

We are.

CIARAN_BOYLE

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120428813#Comment_120428813

Am watching the post game on RTE now (I hadn't watched it earlier) and Leo mentioned it in his post match interview.