Leinster Team Talk Thread (Love you Furlong time)

Ok but that loss was on the players not the coaches. They missed the tackles that scored the Saints tries. Some absolute shockers not acceptable at this level of rugby

Hats off to NH - they relished being underdogs and had a game plan to beat Leinster and delivered.

But Leinster did not help themselves -

• Undercooked - the team should have played together in the last 4 weeks. Wrapping in cotton wool does not work and Leinster have a big enough squad in case of injuries.
• Not picking Barrett was a mistake. Furlong is not the player he was either. Should he have started? Also, why Healy?
• SP is not yet ready (will he ever be?) - aside from his defence, there were aimless kicks, he lacks pace (slower than Porter), he is not an individual attacking threat and his goal kicking was not up to scratch. Is this why they didn’t opt for three points to level it up?
• I don’t see how Cullen can survive this. Despite resources upon resources the same mistakes are being made.
• The Leinster rugby media do you no favors. They act like super optimistic fans and are dismissive of the opposition. Did they even watch NH this season?

Pity that an Irish team will not be European champions again this year.

He’ll be fine, this is just a case of Ireland/Leinster not getting the best out of him just like with most of the Irish squad this season it seems.

This game has highlighted an issue with Sam as well.

He has no versatility to play anywhere outside of 10. It means you have to put another 10 on the bench, because you can’t move him anywhere else to cover.

I thought they should have put Barrett at 10 when he came on, but they couldn’t because prendergast or Byrne couldn’t go anywhere else.

Indeed.

That defensive system needs constant work IMHO. Maybe if the coaches selected a settled team these last couple of weeks Leinster would not have lost 2 in a row.

Continuing to select a 38 year old Healy over Boyle just sums up everything that’s wrong with the mentality of Irish rugby, too scared to move on clearly past it players.

Like I said previously, no other major rugby nation would have Healy over Boyle.

That and idiotic decisions.

76mins TAKE YOUR POINTS.

Deserving to lose for that alone.

Northampton exposed the Leinster defence so easily they could have walked a few tries in. Nienaber has to go.

Congratulations to Northampton they fully deserved to win.

It’s one of many gripes I have had with selection at Leinster.
There is enough evidence and lack of success to suggest that Leinster are not good selectors and game planners.

Leo Cullen has been around long enough now to shoulder the blame.

Unfortunately I think change is needed. Again I think Nienaber has to go. It’s not working.

It just hasn’t worked.

My problem is that team should have had a warm up game last week. They were not ready for the intensity, leading to too many basic errors, knock ons, missed tackles, shite line out. Not battle hardened

I’m still in utter disbelief about the decision to go to the corner with 4 minutes to go.

While it was a dreadful performance all round, they still should have come through it - they were the better team in the second half especially with the subs on, would have fancied them to squeak though in extra time.

Serious questions will be asked of Leo and rightly so.

Well i won't be adding much to what hasn't already been written since the game kicked off but yes, I was at the game too. While it was (likely) a great game for neutrals and the rugby world, I couldnt believe what i was watching. How different the team performed vs. The game against the Warriors and that inability to adapt, take your points and be strategic rather than panic was on show once more. It's somewhat excusable in last years final given the opposition.

I hate to say this but it must be time to move on to a new coaching ticket. This isn't working and the whole 2-3 weeks were a sh*tshow beginning with the ticket price gouging.

P.S Credit to NH, they were absolutely worth their victory, but this was basically like Japan beating South Africa in the WC (given the line-ups)

probably not allowed due to player management protocols.

Some of the reason for this loss is Leinster are victims of their own success, that team has a 6 nations in their legs already and that took its toll

Yeah, that was the moment the game was lost for me - Leinster had the momentum , playing against 14, with a strong home cowd, would have expected proper leadership from Conan - but when Doris went off , no one stood up , reminded me of the lack of leaership against Argentina at WC '15

Does that make it a successful season?

FFS Northampton players have played more minutes this season that Leinster

They didn't look tired

Leinster's look tired from seating on their arses for the last 3 weeks