Leinster Team Talk Thread (Love you Furlong time)

So if we’re counting Frawley as an outhalf then Harry was 4th choice out of 4. If we’re not counting Frawley as an outhalf then Harry was 3rd choice out of 3.

Either way his location for the Bulls game, a different hemisphere to the other guys, is pretty indicative of where he was seen at the end of the season.

Leinster’s failures in Europe can be explained away by reference to bad luck but there’s a lot of coaching decisions that had a big impact on that bad luck.

Yeah. Looking at the existing options at 12 and 15 it does look pretty stacked:

12: Henshaw, Osborne, Frawley, Brownlee

15: Keenan, Osborne, O'Brien, Frawley, Larmour, McErlean

Will Jordan would have brought a huge amount of pace, and the existing options on the right wing aren't as strong as at 12 and 15.

None of that is to say that Barrett isn't top quality - one of the best in the world in his position.

I made a similar comment and tbh I stand by it.

If Keenan, Ringrose and Henshaw are all available, where does Barrett slot in and make us a significantly better side? Especially if Osborne continues on his current trajectory.

I'm absolutely delighted to have him but if you looked at the Leinster team and said "where do these guys need a 60-cap All Black?", you would not have said centre/full-back. If Jordie can make a go of playing at right wing or even out-half, then awesome.

He starts, he wouldn't have been signed otherwise

Hopefully he turns out to be a game changer and we simply cannot leave him on the bench.
At this distance out though, I’m not sure we can say he’s a nailed on starter.

Barrett is certainly a better playmaking 12 than Henshaw, and maybe that's what we need if our out-half issues continue, but I don't think he's necessarily a better all-round 12.

My guess is that Barrett will be like Nacewa, slotting in wherever he's needed on a given day, rather than being given one position. As @Podge_irl says, it's probably the likes of Osborne, JOB and Larmour who will miss out.

There's an interesting overlap that I can see over the past few pages of debate between Frawley and Snyman.

Snyman is unquestionably coming to be an impact bench player. The level of impact remains to be seen. Before last season I'd have said his ball handling skills would play right into our lads level. But Leinsters ball handling last season left a lot to be desired.

The flip side of the coin is Frawley should be given the reins at 10. Personally I'm still on the fence if he's a long term option there. I do think Prendergasts time is now. Throw him in the pool and let him swim.

But the similarity I draw is Frawleys form in recent months points perfectly to an impact bench player. He came on against Toulouse, instantly changed the pace and narrative of the game. He did similar against South Africa in the second test. He also held his mettle against LAR away to kick us to victory. The last few months have shown a player who backs themselves in big moments to steer us to victory. Who will make the tough decision and execute when the chips are down.

… Is this not the perfect player to bring off the bench in the last 20? At the moment, Frawley is the nearly the best player in Ireland to have at the end of a game.

Oh man I'd love to see us try start Barrett at 10 😂

Humphreys would hop the fence, fight off the pitch invasion squad and drag him off by his ear.

I think you’re confusing it with “depth”, tho.

Of your starting 15 for next season, who do you think is the weakest? For me, it's clearly your 10 (independent of which player you pick).

Prendergast looks to have a lot of the traits to change it from a relative weakness to an area of strength, imo, but he is still plenty young.