Leinster Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread VIII: May the Fourth Star Be With You!

A quick overview of the team this year from the few matches I saw on the telly and bits I completely made up to fill some space.

Michael Bent
Consolidated his position as a reliable, if unexceptional TH at Pro 12 level. Don't expect much progress. Holding the fort for Porter?

Adam Byrne
Flashes of brilliance, speed and strength in abundance but found badly wanting at the business end of the season. Needs to get his positioning and defence sorted out pronto or could quickly run out of time to make a successful career.

Bryan Byrne / Ed Byrne
Injury and very limited appearance mean we're one year on and no closer to knowing if he have depth at hooker/prop

Ross Byrne
Found himself, perhaps unexpectedly, filling some mighty big boots and only rarely stumbling. The young out-half showed himself as a competent operator, with a good boot and an OK passing range. Whether through a natural reticence or strict coaching, did not venture forward much in search of solo glory, preferring to direct operations outwards. With a solid base, more time and confidence could see him as Leinster's starting 10 very soon.

Joey Carbery
His season looks as if it has been played back in some weird chronological order where he's gone from boot-boy to All-Black conqueror overnight, then back to fiddling about in different positions at club level, masterful displays
belying his tender years followed by borderline inept performances. Questions remain over his size, his best position and his place-kicking and his talent will need to be carefully managed.

Jack Conan
Kicked on hugely from last year, battled manfully for a place in a crowded back row and took his chances when he got them. Lack of experience showed at times but that will come.

Sean Cronin
Injury ruined most of his season. We at least saw he still had the pace against Wasps but we're still pretty sure he can't throw or hook very well.

Barry Daly
Didn't do much to indicate he'll be anything more than a bit-part player for the foreseeable future.

Tom Daly
Made up the numbers. On the few occasions he started he looked a bit overwhelmed or apathetic.

Billy Dardis
Did not play. A specialist full-back who gets no minutes when the incumbent has a long term injury surely has no future at Leinster.

Peter Dooley
Racked up an impressive number of games in a squad with two (occasionally) world-class loose heads and the most promising front-rower in the academy. Didn't look out of place, didn't pull up any trees.

Tadhg Furlong
Possibly the most improved and impressive player for club and country this season. From green prospect to Lion, he showed an array of skills a tight-head has no business displaying, from triple-fending All Blacks
to stepping Charlie Piutau. Showed some signs of fatigue at the end of the road, just to show he may be human.

Jamison Gibson-Park
Ran the gamut from serviceable to wretched. There were whispers of him being a potential project player at the start of the season when he still cared enough to battle for the 9 jersey. It's not surpising he failed to challenge
TJ Pernerara back home.

Cian Healy
A few months into the season, Healy looked like he was climbing the mountain towards the illustrious peak he'd reached as a pup. Frustration and ill-discipline marred the back half of the year and, rather than chasing Jack McGrath, he must be glancing back at Dooley, or Porter if he switches back.

Jamie Heaslip
As his is wont, went about his job in meticulous fashion, like that guy in the corner of the office that seems to be watching the clock but whose sales are through the roof. Heaslip is the first stanza of Kipling's "If". Sorely missed
when most needed when the unthinkable happened and he got injured.

Robbie Henshaw
Henshaw has spent close to a year straight running onto passes and arrowing into a pod of defenders without showing any sign of his energy or enthusiasm waning. Not encouraged enough to use his full box of tricks,
which is a bit of a shame.

Dave Kearney
Dave must have pissed on the same Native American burial ground as Luke Fitzgerald. A nightmare season from which he'll hopefully emerge in September.

Mick Kearney
Played 12 times and did the square root of sod all. No obvious reason to keep him on the roster at this rate.

Rob Kearney
Very little game time due to injury. We know all we ever will about Rob himself by now. The only question is if in the queue of potential replacements there's a challenger who has the all-round game needed to oust him.

Zane Kirchner
ZK has been 'OK', 'fine' and occasionally 'grand' since he joined Leinster and by all accounts he was a well-liked and much respected player in the dressing room. His last few appearances featured a collection of howlers
which hopefully won't sully his memory. His goodbye letter was lovely.

Dan Leavy
Chomping at the bit when the opportunity to make his mark in the back row of doom presented itself, Leavy had three-quarters of a brilliant season yet still has not quite nailed down a starting spot. Perhaps needs to establish
himself as a specialist ruck-smasher, ball-grabber or link-man. Leinster may need to revise their policy of selecting Se?n O'Brien every time he looks like he can walk unaided to keep the young bucks believing the 7 jersey can be earned.

Cathal Marsh
Played less than half an hour over the season while Ross Byrne and Joey Carbery waved back at him from the departing bus. He'll need an injury to Sexton and Carbery moving to FB full-time to have a hope of a place on the bench. Should maybe think about moving north.

Mike McCarthy
He leaves Leinster, and rugby, having never scored a point in blue. A fond farewell to a player who made the most of his limited talents over a long career.

Fergus McFadden
The enigma continues. Is McFadden a hard-hitting defensive rock ideal for tight games against wily opposition or a plodding buffoon who somehow manages to get money (and caps) for playing rugby. Some might say the answer is
in between the two, although these people have never made themselves known to the public.

Jack McGrath
McGrath has looked out of sorts for stretches during the season, but his 'out-of-sorts' is 'possibly starting for the Lions' so there's not a whole lot to worry about there. Moved further ahead of Cian Healy by running on the spot.

Luke McGrath
This was the year Luke McGrath finally got anointed the starting scrummie at Leinster and he added a couple of international caps for good measure. Progressed in the sense that his good game/bad game ratio is up to about 3:1 and his kicking looks like something of a weapon at times. Needs to kick on and challenge for the Ireland 21 shirt on a regular basis.

Ross Molony
There are occasions when Molony has looked promising, as though his skill set just needs a bit of polishing and exposure to make him a force in the row. There are also times when it looks like he's not actually on the pitch. With Fardy and James Ryan in the senior squad next year he needs a good kick up the arse if he's to get any meaningful game time.

Jordi Murphy
A brave warrior fallen in battle. Has a tough challenge now to put the injury behind him and fight off the 37 players who took his seat while we has away.

Isa Nacewa
Like the Isa of old from September to April when his form fell off a cliff, coinciding with a disastrous end of season for the club he captained with panache and dignity. It doesn't seem reasonable to expect a man with so many miles
on the clock to keep performing at the very top level every week. Nobody seems to know what he's doing next but and ending now would seem strangely premature.

Ian Nagle
I don't think I saw him play all season. It would be unfair to comment, then, but, well... there's maybe a reason I didn't see him.

Sean O'Brien
A largely forgettable season for the Carlow man. On the rare occasions he was close to fit, he never really showed the power which has put fear into the hearts of man and machine for all these years. His career has been hanging in the balance for a while and his succession is assured. The unthinkable seems inevitable now. Has the Tank been emptied?

Rory O'Loughlin
For an academy player, ROL has shown remarkable maturity when called upon throughout the season and has caught the eye with some fine running lines. Unfortunate enough to have a baby genius ahead of him at 13 and a set of experienced wide men jostling for the wing position, he's made the most of the opportunity afforded him by injury and international absence and looks a very good prospect.

Noel Reid
"Great passer, can't tackle", has been the mantra around Reid since he first made an appearance in professional rugby. He's come on a bit of late and is no longer a liability in defence. In that bracket of players with Michael Bent that you're glad to have around but probably won't make up a song about.

Garry Ringrose
One of the stars of the season, Ringrose was on something of a hiding to nothing with all they hype around him breaking into the starting 15 and has seamlessly integrated the Irish side in the absence of Payne. The latter battle should be a hot topic for discussion for next year but there's simply nobody within a mile of him at Leinster. Needs to stop shooting out of the line every single time.

Mike Ross
So long Mike Ross, we were blessed to have you in blue and green at a time when Tight Heads couldn't be had for love, money or a bottomless bag of soda farls. "You had ONE job, Mike..." and he did it so well. Best of luck with the new gig.

Rhys Ruddock
Has looked immense at times, carrying with aplomb through the heaviest of traffic and setting up quick ruck ball. Has had a few howlers as well and suffers from the same problem as the other back rowers in that one bad game can undo all the good work of cementing your place with solid performances. Looks the most leader-like of the flankers.

Dominic Ryan
A promising Leinster career that stalled and petered out, culminating in a final appearance that summarised his time in Dublin with a lovely try and a horrible injury. Something had to give in that back row and here's hoping Dom can make a name for himself elsewhere.

Johnny Sexton
On the few occasions he played for Leinster this year he's either looked an effortless class above everyone around him or a racehorse in a plaster-cast head-butting a bees' nest. Opinions are split on whether he needs more rest
or more game-time to get back to his best. Replacements are slowly coming through but are reaslistically still a long way off.

Richardt Strauss
"Hasn't been the same since..." It's true, he doesn't look like the first cousin of an international number 2 these days, but it's not as though we have an embarrassment of riches at hooker. Hard to see him make it back to the top
of his game, and Clermont was a low point, but Strauss is not a man to give up without a fight.

Devin Toner
Lineouts, ruck-splitting, mauls fore and aft, Toner can keep doing the glamorous grunt work of the international lock 80 minutes a week, 44 weeks a year and rarely lets his performance level drop. Just don't ask him to bend down and pick up a rugby ball off the ground or run with it. The leader we need in the tight five, he's not going anywhere any time soon (including New Zealand).

James Tracy
A B- of a season from the blond front-rower. Leinster, and Ireland, need new blood to come good at hooker but Tracy has started, stuttered and stalled throughout the season. He's not been bad, by any stretch, but hasn't really
impressed at any of the core duties of hooker and looks well behind the likes of Niall Scannell in his development at this point. Seems to be the kind of player that badly needs an old head to guide him. There's still a lot of hope
for him at his young age.

Hayden Triggs
It takes some doing to come back from a luke-warm first season, a personal tragedy and turning 35 but Triggs has put together a string of performances forged of steel and guile, whether on the front foot or the back, and completely
changed fans' opinions of him in this, his swan-song season.

Josh van der Flier
Thrown into the deep-end on a couple of occasions, van der Flier has responded to every challenge without blinking. The Highlander-like battle for the 7 shirt has seemed at times to be destined to end in his favour while at others he's been left looking at a team-sheet bereft of his name. The sooner the back row combination has been settled, the better, as for all the individual talents of the flankers available to Leinster, at times as a unit they have looked hoplessly off the pace.

I completely forgot Rory O'Loughlin. But so did the leinster website. Ross Byrne should have had his own section too.