Match Thread: Leinster v Northampton, 03/05/25

Deegan had the ball on the ground for a second or 2 alright, could well have been pinged for not releasing / playing the ball off feet. But in the spirit of the game maybe the best decision was made.

he couldn’t have been pinged for any of that because he is allowed according to the rules to do what he did

just watching Leo’s post match presser and I swear he is saying the exact same stuff as every other year. He’s fairly masterful with saying nothing much but I think I’ve heard the ‘we want it so much that sometimes there’s desperation and ‘a lack of composure…now we need to turn out attention to the URC’.
‘we’ve a stronger group now, improving year on year’

This is pure PR hot air, a lack of composure leads to bad decisions…that is the problem, not a desire to win. He’s purposely misidentifying the most difficult problem, year on year pressure results in bad decisions, but that is the very end of the line of decisions that produce those moments, and those decisions are to do with rotation, selection and mental prep, all his responsibility.

Leinster are an outstanding club and team who played well, it's just NH played a bit better. Leinster didn't "choke". They go to the well again and again and keep trying. Lads calling them bottlers from the keyboard should be ashamed. They've been in epic games. Bit of luck here and there and they'd have another star , but they have four FFS, and are constantly up there with the very best. There is clearly a great culture, a great team, and folk want to rip that up and get rid of Cullen, who seems a thoroughly decent man to me, and has fostered this excellence.

And going after Sam Prendergast. He's only a young lad learning his trade, and he looks an outstanding prospect to me. He mistimed one tackle (possibly, that NH lad is a flier) over 80 mins of brutal hard rugby.

Some people should take a look at themselves.

This right here is why Irish rugby will continue to underachieve.

The whole culture is way too nice themselves and no one takes responsibility for the sane failings occurring again and again. “We were unlucky”, “we played great just they were better”, “the ref robbed us” Etc

Leinster were 1/25 to win that match yesterday. I doubt there has ever been a semi final in living memory with such a clear favourite. They had by far the stronger team, playing at home, had an extra man for a significant period of the game and blew it against a team that’s in the bottom half of the premiership.

Players and management will get massive criticism for this and I’m sorry to say it but they deserve every bit of it. The team selection, the on field decision making, the missed tackles (Prendergasts effort on Pollock down the touch line is the worst attempt by a professional rugby player I’ve ever seen) all need to be called out or the same things will just happen again and

Cullen keeps saying the same thing again and again every year after all these knockout defeats, he can't see what the problem is, poor decision making under pressure, Leinster are making the same mistakes over and over again in these knockout matches. Obviously no team is going to win every tight match they play, but, if you continue to lose tight matches, then you have to look at yourself and see what you're doing wrong and work on how to solve that problem. Leinster haven't learned from these losses and probably haven't learnt a thing from Saturday, they probably still can't understand why they didn't just blow Northampton away like they do against most URC teams.

Poor decision making both on field and off field are the mean issues, plus there seems to have been an element of complacency too, an expectation that Northampton should just lie down and roll over, and when this didn't happen Leinster went to pieces and panic set in. The fact this Leinster team has won nothing over the last few years given the resources and playing staff is absolutely scandalous, Cullen should be replaced if only to send the signal that what's gone on is no longer acceptable. Cullen might be a decent man, but, doesn't appear capable of getting this Leinster team over the line when it matters most.

he doesn’t need to release the ball because no saints player is trying to take it.

The scrum and the breakdown are different situations and nothing to do with each othet

Law 14.7.1: Tackled players must immediately:

a. Make the ball available so that play can continue by releasing, passing or pushing the ball in any direction except forward. They may place the ball in any direction.

b. Move away from the ball or get up.

c. Ensure that they do not lie on, over or near the ball to prevent opposition players from gaining possession of it.

a poster referenced the rules of the scrum which have no relevance to the breakdown / tackle area, you may as well reference the rules of baton passing in the 4 x 400 mixed relay as that because neither are relevant.

The word immediately is subjective, there is no definition in time as to how quickly that should or shouldn’t be. Deegan was completely legal in what he did.

Every player has a weakness, it’s the ability of the team to compensate for and stop that weakness being highlighted and capitalised upon that matters, and the ability of the opposition to attack that weakness that can win games. Look at Munsters current lineout as the perfect example.

Some international teams have no decent left footed kicker - Ireland and Leinster have Lowe - it means exits from the 22 can be a strength for IRL while it can lead to terrible field Position for other sides.