Leinster Team Talk Thread (Love you Furlong time)

Suppose it's true of any team who relies heavily on their excellent 9-10. Same could be said of leinster.

Leinster can attack the ruck when they want to and don't tend to sit off and give quick ball. So thats positive.

It's so frustrating when teams attach the ruck successfully. You feel like you've been mugged. The attack just doesn't work, everyone's under pressure and end up making mistakes. Would be ideal if leinster can slow Toulouse ruck ball

Another angle of attack against leinster is the set piece (but again you could say the same of any good team).

There we have it. The only real options covered by Jenkins, o Connor and Larmour with a 6/2 split and Frawley covering the back line.

Now we know.

It's a conservative decision but that was always more likely than promoting Foley to the squad for the final. I expect to see a lot more of Foley next year as no.2 scrum half with mcgrath as no.3.

I'd hope to see a lot more of Gunn too to hopefully take the no.3 and push for no.2 in 2026

We will be but we would also be in just as much trouble with Foley involved. He's nowhere near ready for something like this. His pass is comfortably better than McGrath's at this stage but he is glacially slow at the ruck. He got done for not using it once last weekend at the breakdown and was fortunate not to be done at least one other time.

I can see both Leinster halfbacks playing 80 minutes.

Sure but injury has really hindered his game time prospects over the last couple of seasons. Hopefully he gets a clean run next year.

With all that said, I think Gunne has the potential to be the Leinster 22 by this time next year with an opportunity (I'm not sure he'll get it though). He has a better pass than McGrath or Foley, is more decisive than Foley and has a fairly decent kicking game too.

Agreed. I heard a question being asked after the SF if the reason JGP resorted to the box-kicking was down to game plan and expected, or was it because he plays at such a blistering high-tempo that it's difficult to sustain across the 80.

No more than Dupont, he'll be pretty integral for Leinster to come away with a win tomorrow.

That's what I don't get. Against this opposition I'm not even sure 50 minutes of Connors and 30 minutes of van der Flier is better than 80 minutes of van der Flier even without factoring in that you get Jimmy O'Brien into the XXIII with the second scenario. Van der Flier is like the Energizer Bunny. He just keeps going and going. He comes across as a student of the game, so he'd be well able to implement whatever techniques Nienaber wants from the openside flanker.

But fingers crossed everything works out and we're hailing a Nienaber masterclass 25 hours from now.

Yeah, without a doubt. But it's also fair to say that Leo losing another final is a bad look given the resources Leinster have.

Yeah, they compare to Leinster. The bones of the best international team in the world on and off for the last 5 or more years. Lets not kid ourselves. I don't think it's controversial to say Leinster should have another star or two given the resources they have, but I won't be continuing with his beyond this comment, Ive been saying the same thing for years here.

Being with the players day in day out is one thing but they are largely banking on the entire backline playing almost the whole game. JGP is so much better than his backup (that's not really on the coaches tbf) and one player covering 10 - 15 is very risky and even more so if you want/need to spring him early. Against one of the best backlines out there, it is undoubtedly fraught with danger.

At least with Frawley and JOB on the bench, you assess how things are going and roll the dice during the game. There are a lot of variables and you can get bitten very easily and best laid plans go out the window. I just don't see the logic in limiting yourself in this way. If it doesn't go their way, questions will rightfully be asked.

Is Ringrose injured ?

Not a fan of the South African style 6 / 2 split, them winning WC with that style was not good for the sport