Leinster Team Talk Thread (Love you Furlong time)

One thing we can't really judge its his game management given how few minutes he has at ten. We know he can kick, he has a good pass, plays with a lot of confidence, and takes on responsibility when it matters. If he gets the opportunity to show he can steer defences around the field and make good calls then we can compare him to anyone. Comparing him to Sexton is pretty standard, they play for the same team with many of the same players and Sxton is the contemporary template for how both these teams play. He's better than the Byrnes on the small amount of evidence we have. Unfortunately I doubt Leo will back him at ten so we may never find out unless Farrell decides to have him as a dedicated backup to Crowley and see which one of them manages to claim the shirt.

I had this debate several times back then as well. That was influenced by us having no obvious cover for 12 and the byrnes not being able to play in any other position. So trying to think squad first - it was also in the time when Mr. Sexton was number one.

Roll on to 2024 and we know have seen R Byrne in two finals just not really be good enough for the highest level. And Frawley eclipsing him on the national team and that decision vindicated.

I know Gibson park getting on in years but we have seen some 9's play well I to their 30's. If anything it's becoming an "older" position with good s&c snappy decision making that comes with age is more important.

Yeah but the danger is he loses some elements of his fame, like his speed to rucks or running the trail line to score or his ability to make a break. Then you start focusing on the things he does well and ignore the things he doesn't do anymore. See Rory Best as an example.

They know he's aging so they need to give the younger players important gametime so they can challenge and take over. If they back JGP relentlessly, they could end up with a problem when he leaves ,exactly like they have at 10.

URC isn't the important game time though. They need to seriously think about giving giving the younger lads first team game time. Everyone looks better with the first team around them.

It's the difference between wanting to give them a bit of gametime but ultimately always play JGP in big games until he retires. Or try to improve Foley/Gunn to replace JGP as soon as their trajectories cross over.

It leinster so they will be conservative. Likely play the young lads and Mcgrath in the URC games alongside a second team, play JGP any time the first team is out and conclude there's no viable alternative to JGP.

This really doesn’t make a lot of sense.

For starters I don’t know how Leinster, the most successful side in the world at bringing through young players, now has a reputation for being conservative? People throw out 3 cases of McCarthy not getting picked enough and Ross / McGrath getting picked too much and suddenly it undoes all the previous good work. I would agree that Byrne and McGrath got selected too much this year, but let’s not get carried away.

Dismissing URC game time is also getting carried away. Half of our CC pool games this year were against 2nd string sides - do they count for more than URC games? If not then what does that leave?

I’m fully expecting Gunne to get significant minutes at the start of the URC this year, and I hope that his performances are enough to bring him into CC squads. If not it will be Foley. McGrath got the rub of the green getting selected for the knockouts this year but I think his time in a first choice 23 is over, and the coaches now know this.

How many games is JGP likely to miss.

There are 18 regular season URC games. Last year, JGP started a grand total of three.

The problem is not lack of game time.

sensible agree

I'm not slating Cullen or the broader team for being conservative. It's a valid approach but has limitations.

fair enough. Taking a massive and unnecessary gamble with your entire season and the IRFU's budget is not a valid approach and it's never, ever going to happen.

Bit Hyperbolic. If they give Foley for example, good gametime and he makes decent progress and if JGP was injured and Foley had to start a CC game, you probably wouldn't panic and fret the "entire season and the IRFU budget was on the line". It would just be one of those things.

That's an entirely different scenario though. You're now proposing that if he shows progress in URC games and it becomes necessary to play him in a CC game, then we should do so. I wholeheartedly agree, what else would we do?

Based on what we saw last season, Foley has quite a way to go to catch up to McGrath, let alone justify benching a fit JGP in a season-defining game.

Very promising intake I think.

Three props coming in - Usanov played well I thought for the 20s in the 6N a year young, and Sparrow and Smyth both look to have prototypical size. I'm very encouraged by Niall Smyth's profile in particular.

Stephen Smyth didn't shine as much for the U20s I thought as I'd hoped. It's obvious he's a relatively recent convert to hooker as his fundamentals still need work, but he has an outstanding physical profile.

At lock, Billy Corrigan is probably the most surprising addition - he's another U19 who played okay for the U20s this year. Looks a little undersized to me, but another good athlete again. Looks potentially more like a 6 long term to me.

Alan Spicer has all the size in the world, but probably wasn't quite as impactful for the 20s at times as people would have hoped. Will be encouraged what they can do with him in a professional S&C environment, as he has sky high potential based on his physique.

No backrowers added, and it's probably the area of least depth now in the Leinster academy. Leinster had no backrowers on the 20s this year.

Coffey is a tidy player at 9 - and a good kicker. Very different style of player to JGP, more of a bigger, physical 9 (like Conor Murray for example).

Caspar Gabriel at 10 is enormously exciting. Relatively rare for Leinster to take players straight out of school into the academy but there are two in this intake (Gabriel and N Smyth). I haven't seen much of him, but supposed to be a really nice footballer and instinctive player. Will be exciting to see him develop.

Of the two back three players added - Hugo McLaughlin has the more polished CV. He looked the best player in the Schools Cup back in 2023, won a cup with Gonzaga and has a very balanced game. Ruben Moloney is rawer and didn't get the chance to create the same impact at U20s level due to injuries, but to me, might be the higher upside player.

All in though a very promising crop with a lot of athletic potential in there.

Based on last season, I really don't think Foley has quite a way to go to catch McGrath at all. I think McGrath was purely picked on reputation or previous bodies of work for the Champions Cup and even more so URC knockouts. Foley was in better form but with limited games to show it.

McGrath had a poor season. His passing was never a strong suit but it deteriorated to a point that is just not acceptable for a scrumhalf in a team like Leinster, and the coaches have to know this. IMO he kept his place at the end of the season because he had the experience, there was serious jeopardy in the knockouts, and Foley's run in had been disrupted by injury. With a clean run of pre-season and URC games I don't expect that to continue. The question for me is if Foley can keep ahead of Gunne for the entire season.

Maybe Luke will show a marked improvement this season, I wouldn't be too confident. If I was betting on how things progress I'd expect him to be quickly phased into a role similar to Ruddock's last season - experienced pro, incredible servant, gives 100% every time, but basically only brought out when the cupboard is bare.