Leinster Team Talk Thread (Love you Furlong time)

For morale this Friday is huge, loosing is becoming a bit of a habit, would like to see the following.

JOB, Russell,Ringrose,Ngati,Lowe,Frawley ( will probably be Harry but hope not) Foley, Healy, Keheller , Mike, Moloney, Ryan/ Deeny,Deegan,Penny ,Conan

Christ alive, that's media talk.

The there's the way media tell the story and there's reality. Media needs a cohesive narrative with a story arc, reality isnt that neat. This craic of winning being a habit is purely a retrospective way of telling the story.

Fact is leinster will prepare and sent out the most sensible squad to play next weekend. The squad from this week played a very tough, 100 minute game so I doubt we'll see many of them next week.

There will be 4 rounds in a row and next week is the only one that isn't knock out and is least consequential. They'll want to win but let's not stick so closely to the scripted talking points.

Well how about Russell's brainfart. Or the general sloppiness in the 1st half? Better still, the Lions match. Once again decent territory! Lots of possession and yet nothing to show from it. Mistake after mistake. Going back to the Ulsterr game, how about the pass into touch? The overall squad is the same. But there's a significant drop in standards. Disagree if you will.

Big ask mentally for McGrath to start next week if so, strong statement of zero confidence in him when he didn't see game time. And he can't be unaware how poor his general form has looked for a while now.

Leinster and Irish rugby has a problem once you go past Porter in the loosehead depth chart too. He's a freak, but he plays almost 70 minutes every game he's a part of. He played 90 yesterday. That's just not sustainable for a prop that you want to have a long career. We need someone to bring on after 50/60 minutes that can have a positive impact. It saves wear and tear on Porter and also means he can go all out for the time he's on the pitch rather than worrying about measuring the momenta he can make an impact.

The problem is I've no doubt that Cian Healy is still the next best loosehead after him. Healy is one of Irelands greatest ever players and is still a decent player, but at 36 there probably should have been a replacement to come through by now, whether at Leinster or at another province.

It's up to the coaches to develop greater depth there. I do think that with a bit of time Jack Boyle might be that player. He's young and his work in contact reminds me a lot of Healy at 21 actually. Not seem enough of his work at scrum time, but he's worth investing game time in.

Going to leave my thoughts on the game here since the match thread is a bit of a mess…

As has been repeated ad nauseum here, Leinster not taking their points was huge. So many times they kicked for the corner, and just tried to beat up Toulouse mauling. I kept waiting for some shifty fake-maul strike play - but every time it was just mauls, which were far too messy to be banking on. It's not the first time a failure to take the points on offer has cost Leinster either - they've made a habit of doing this. They've got to respect the game - that's what Toulouse did and it ultimately lead to victory despite going down to fourteen. I'm not a Leinster fan so I'm in no position to comment on whether Cullen should stay or go - it's very much a "devil you know, devil you don't" situation. You can't argue against the fact he's made four finals, and you also can't argue against the fact that he's lost four finals - so it's a sticky situation to be in. It'll obviously all depend on who's available - as there aren't any prominent candidates to promote from within (bar Neinbar as "Senior Coach", but lets be real he's a de-facto head coach at this stage).

Leinster's attack did not fire at all - whether that was a product of Toulouse's defence or Leinster's regression is beyond me. I would agree with some in saying that they've regressed in attack compared to this time a year or so ago under Lancaster. Toulouse's physicality and ruck disruption was exceptional and a huge part of that - but even when Leinster did generate quick ball, their running lines and passes never seemed to generate too much stress in the middle third of the pitch. In the attacking third, their accuracy was poor - there must have been three butchered backline plays in the first half where cleaner execution would've had Toulouse in serious trouble.

Ultimately, their pack and their kicking game kept them in the game. Their forward's tight carries and Byrne's up-and-unders were the only thing which seemed to gain any reasonable territory. Byrne has caught some flak post-game but he's far from the problem - I don't think the attack in this system would've functioned any more smoothly had any other tens been in there. Frawley's impact I'd attribute more to fresh legs being able to exploit tiredness a bit more rather than any game changing ability he has at ten. RB should've been whisked off immediately when he was injured though - letting him play on was madness. While I'd agree he isn't an international starting 10 or a Tier 1 World Class 10, he's good enough to win Champions Cups - if you play cup rugby and take your points.

It's also worth noting the impact injuries had on Leinster's selection. Osborne has come in for a lot of hype recently and, while he was quietly going about his business in the previous rounds, he wasn't stand out for me. I think yesterday he found out how hard life at the top is like. You can't hold it against him, he's obviously a talented kid, but having Ringrose available and fit would've made a mighty difference. The same can be said for Jimmy O'Brien: I posted repeatedly before the game about Larmour's limitations - and while he had a few good aerial contests of RB's contestables and a great cover tackle on Lebel, he was caught in absolute no-man's land for the ET try. He gets caught in two minds as whether to shoot or drift, gets 360'd by Ramos's dummy pump, and then gets skint by Lebel. He didn't offer a huge amount in attack either, as was the case in the semi-final. Fit JOB would've been a lot better. Ryan starting the game would've also meant a huge amount in the early physical exchanges of the game. I also think starting Connors was wrong in hindsight.

The substitutions is also a bit weird. Porter is great, but having him on for 90 minutes and leaving Healy on the bench is mental. The lack of trust in a 100+ cap international (who is far from 'washed up', as some people his age would be) was rather odd. Leinster will have a huge job bringing one of Milne, Boyle or McCarthy up to European level next season (especially if Healy has to shift across to cover TH due to the lack of cover). Same with McGrath and Foley (Gunne did not impress me at 20s level and has two or three years of development minimum before he's anywhere close to the Leinster full strength 23).

Overall, they were just a bit off. Plenty fired up, but lacking the real accuracy of a cup winning side. I'd feared before the game, given the Northampton and Ulster results (the latter of which involved the majority of the pack that finished out the game yesterday), that Leinster had peaked too early v La Rochelle. The more things play out, the more that seems the case. The only question is whether they'll burn out of the URC entirely or embark on a revenge quest and use the emotional backlash to win the URC.

Ultimately, I imagine Leo will go with a mostly unchanged squad for the URC QF. I can see JOB, Ryan and VDF coming into the starting line-up, but I don't see any experimentation happening. I imagine this Emerging Ireland tour will tell a lot for some of Leinster's younger players.

Is Deeny the answer to anything? I see him as a filler who they have to give gametime to. I'd say prefer to cut him loose and spin the wheel on someone who might make the first team.

Am I missing something with Deeny?

Ross Byrne isn't a brilliant 10, but I don't think he was the major difference between the sides yesterday. Ntamack hardly shot the lights out either.

Toulouse won that game through a greater threat at the breakdown, an excellent maul defence and better game management.

I've seen the stats for the final. Leinster had 33 rucks in the Toulouse 22. By comparison, Toulouse only had 4 in Leinster's. Leinster kicked for the corner when Toulouse infringed in the 22 and the French sides excellent maul defence kept them out. And when they didn't infringe they turned us over. Some of it was last gasp stuff and imo illegal, but that just shows they played the referee better and pushed their luck.

I think he's worth persisting with. He's not really had an impact yet. Still only 24. There could be a decent player in there.

Muddled No 10 picture, poor attack and refusal to take points – strategic errors cost Leinster the ultimate prize

https://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/champions-cup/muddled-no-10-picture-poor-attack-and-refusal-to-take-points-strategic-errors-cost-leinster-the-ultimate-prize/a752405054.html

Finally got to see the game and had intended on commenting, but can't improve on theVersatile's post above. Completely enthralling game for the neutral. DuPont is the best rugby player in the world at the moment, but if he can win a RWC with France in 2027, he might just go down as the best of all time.

But commiserations lads, jesus tough one to stomach…