Leinster Team Talk Thread (Love you Furlong time)

Ryan might be available Saturday according to the injury update, the wording makes me think though it's not likely

No way should Henshaw be on the bench imo.

I'd agree. Outside of an injury, there's little to no chance that Henshaw is left out altogether. Whilst he can't cover the entire back-line himself, any injury can be accommodated with him on the bench.

I really really hope TOB gets the nod and his lack of involvement in the last game suggests he will. He's the kind of player who can be a difference maker in knockout rugby.

Why make the team weaker for Henshaw, what area is he superior to the alternatives in? I think he has an edge in defense, he's still a savage tackler, but in any other facet he's poorer imo. More to the point, having to push someone else out of position to fit him is silly. Osborne is a better winger than Ringrose. He's on a par with Jordie at FB. It makes no sense to me. JOB is a better winger and FB than Henshaw, and can cover the centre too.

I think shutting down the Curry brothers is important. You do that it's a handy win.

I watched him during the 6Ns, I think I'm rating him entirely appropriately. Players get old, they lose speed and ability to influence the game. It's happened to better players than him. It was very clear that he was well off the pace, along with Aki tbf. He's not materially better than Osborne as a centre imo, and certainly not at any other position coming off of the bench. I don't see the value in having to move other players out of their best positions just to accommodate him.

Henshaw is in good form. He played very well against Harlequins and was excellent off the bench against Glasgow. Osborne meanwhile was ok against Harlequins (albeit out of position on the wing), didn't feature against Glasgow and was crap against Scarlets. On form, it's an easy choice between those two.

Whether Osborne or Ringrose move to the wing because of an injury, both are out of position so the notion of 'pushing someone out of position is silly' applies just as much to the cover options with Osborne on the bench as it does to Henshaw.

You wouldn't have to move Ringrose to the wing, or Jordie to FB, if you have proper cover on the bench. JOB was excellent at FB the other week. Osborne was quite good on the wing vs France. They're both better than moving Ringrose out.

Osborne has been serviceable on the wing but he's not a winger so whilst he's doing a good job covering, he's clearly not suited there.

You might not like Henshaw which is fine, but to suggest that either JOB or Osborne are on better form right now is just not true. Henshaw has been very good to excellent against Harlequins, Glasgow and Ulster. Osborne was bad this weekend, dropped for Glasgow and good against Harlequins (albeit on the wing).

JOB as 23 won't happen. No cover at center as nobody else (Lowe, TOB or Keenan) covers there. At least with Henshaw and Osborne, players can move around to positions they can cover but Henshaw is in better form so I'd expect him to get the nod.