Leinster Team Talk Thread (Love you Furlong time)

Yeah, I do agree with that. Made the point before, but both Evan O'Connell and Hugh Gavin were good players as U19s but neither were game changers by any means. The impact to both of a year in the Academy programmes was really telling.

Spicer is never going to be the most dynamic of guys, but he can still be a huge force with his size.

A few months back I analysed Lukes passing compared to Ben Murphy (I think it may have been the game against Benetton? Can't fully remember and boards took away the ability to search my posts)

I did it to the same standard that video analysts in Ireland would do (or the standard it was few years back when I was involved - it may have changed since but I doubt by much)

In grading a pass good, average or bad, in and around half of Lukes passes could be considered faultless. So 1 in 2 passes he threw resulted in the receiver needing to - at best - check their run and - at worst - missed the target or significantly compromised their carry.

Murphy came on and had 70% faultless passes. Now the game had changed and the direct comparison isn't entirely accurate but it does paint at least a little picture.

At the core of it. A scrum half is going to have coaching metrics for their Good, Average and Bad passes. And I guarantee you no pro 9 is going to be aiming for 50%.

What the above analysis doesn't factor is in passing speed however. Visually, Lukes passing when compared that day to Murphy was laboured and slow. I used a specific comparison of 2 passes to the 10 in the pocket to clear. Lukes pass died after 10m and barely made it to the receiver who was 12-15m away. Murphys shot right into the hands and gave the kicker a great platform.

I watch pretty much every Leinster game, and more often than not I watch every game back. Lukes passing has been a recurring theme for many years.

A maddening thing that has become prevalent in recent years is his habit for stringing 3/4/5 poor passes in a row together. It's like he gets into his head. His best pass is a good standard but still slow when you directly compare it to his peers. We are seeing him string together several good quick accurate passes in a row more frequently these days.

His passing is bad though. In previous seasons he has had a tendency to start the season poorly but bring it up a notch as he settled. Not the last 2 seasons though.

The reason I trawled through that game in particular was due to the culmination of several poor performances. I wanted a closer look.

Yes in isolation my post references one game. Every player is allowed a stinker of an outlier. But I made a point of analysing this game because I wanted to see if the stats match up to my opinion (they were worse) and I wanted to see how he matched up against a player who was deemed surplus to requirements.

But I'd place a good chunk of change that Lukes passing metrics are far too high in the Average category and far too low in the Good category.

Has it directly cost us at significant moments in significant games? I can't give that as a metric because it's a skilled position with numerous involvements. It would be an oversimplification.

But has his passing directly caused a failure of launch plays we'd be looking for significant territory gain/ a try on? Yes.

Has his passing directly put the team under too much pressure at important times? Yes. We see times the kicker has to check before clearing because of the quality and speed of the pass, as a result they don't go as far an all of a sudden we're defending a different zone of the pitch.

I don't want to sh1t on Luke too much. He's a dedicated player and a Leinster stalwart. 200+ caps is nothing to shake a stick at. He's a great defender, supremely fit, a good leader, an excellent kicking game and seems like an all around good bloke.

He's been in situ this whole time as the best Leinster developed 9 in the last decade. That speaks more on Leinsters development than him. He's been here fit and willing and so far no one has ousted him. So to that I say good on him.

Think you're misprofling Moloney abit. He has a great pass, makes great decisions on the ball and has great feet. I think he's had a torrid time with injury but looks like he's gotten through the worst of it and I'm very bullish on him in the future.

Don't think anyone is saying McGrath is a good passer.

The question is whether anyone is a better 9 than him?

Foley is nearly 25 and he's being talked about like some young year 2 academy prospect, unless he's going to kick on majorly this season he isn't the solution. Ben Murphy looked good in patches but is gone already. Paddy Patterson, Nick McCarthy, Charlie Rock, Hugh O'Sullivan and probably a few more I can't remember have all been and gone and no-one has remotely looked good enough.

JGP isn't as good as Dupont but he's probably the second best SH in the world. You leave your best players on the field as long as you can and you don't yank them off when the game is in the balance.

You "want" to be replacing your front row after 50 or 60 minutes but Furlong and Sheehan played 68 minutes and Porter played 88, because that's how good they are.

Oh that is a typo yes. In fact it's just a poorly worded sentence. I changed the focus mid way through.

That should read we're not seeing him string together quick accurate passes numerous phases in a row these days

As a Luke fan, I agree he was very poor this past season. I can't see him starting many matches this upcoming season. The way I see it, Foley has a better pass and it's definitely more accurate. He's surely got to be backed in the URC?

Gunne will go to S.A on the E. I tour. Great opportunity for him.

Delighted with Coffey's inclusion with the academy. He is strong in most areas of the game. Good kicking game, good accurate passing game and I think a decent all around athletic profile.