Leinster Team Talk Thread (Love you Furlong time)

You claim you want a good faith discussion while 1) refusing to answer a perfectly reasonable question and 2) using one posters opinion to have a more general swipe at other provinces fans….

At this stage I've (repeatedly) made my point…

It is far from 'reasonable' for you to 1) use a strawman argument, 2) refuse to acknowledge what you did, 3) get your knickers in a twist when I won't engage with you after 1 & 2.

All while you still have chosen not to engage with the original poster's opinion that you seem to disagree with, instead just hounding me about it.

Dont fully agree, at this stage I'd be more confident about them going away in a semi than I would be them facing the same team in a final. When they have their backs against the wall they seem to perform better than when they are seen a favourites and a team puts it up to them. It is the same situation for Ireland too.

I said somewhere in the last day that the team is just too nice. I don't necessarily mean they need to be meaner on the pitch, more they don't play like they with the intensity of a side who are fully up for battle, having a chip on their shoulder be it as underdogs or feeling they are disrespected (manufactured or not). I hoped Nienaber would bring that in from SA but it looks like that was one of Rassie's roles.

Having said all that Nienaber's defense being schematically torn apart by NH was the real losing of the match. They could have won if they were better mentally (or ref decisions or team decisions or lucky bounces etc etc) but the biggest cause was the defense structure being cut up.

I think it's the exact same issue whether Leinster go into a game as favourites or if the other side is fancied more. Leinster only have their backs to the wall once or twice per season. And every time they're against it they lose.

My opinion is probably down to too small a sample but they're the only matches that align to your Clermont semi example, where they were clear underdogs in a hostile environment.

I was thinking at the likes of LAR away the last two years, especially last year, though not a knock-out scenario. The Leinster side looked ready and played for war but I dont see that same mentality in the games they are favoured and it becomes tight. Rather than fighting for their lives they seem at times to be coasting and inaccurate.

It is an issue when you have to plan your match day squad around it.
If prendergast or Byrne were able to play another position it could have allowed a different split on the bench, there could have been another BR on the bench and RG who was cooked could have come off, Baird could move to 2nd row and someone like soroka, penny could have come on.

Leinster had to go with a 5/3 split because prendergast and Byrne can’t play anywhere else on the pitch.

Leinster scored enough to win most matches, I don't think their attacking play is pretty to watch but they got the scores and arguable should have had another. It was defence that left them down, they were picked apart by the 8th best team in the premiership, who were also missing 2 of their most potent attackers Sleightholme and Furbank. Lots of individual errors in defence but also players slow to get back in the line, chase kicks, fill gaps etc.

Maybe issue is the wrong word. But it limits your options. Having a 10 that can only play one position in the back line is a problem if you have an attritional game.

against saints Jodie can replace henshaw or Keenan. Henshaw can cover 13. Ringrose can cover 11&14. But all that only allows one move. A second injury puts Luke McGrath / ross Byrne or SP having to play somewhere 11-14 and none of them are anyway near able for that.

But the main thing for me is Prendergast's tackling was terrible. He looked afraid of tackling in 2 really obvious instances and a couple more could be debated.

Does it really matter how good he is at other parts of being a 10 if he can't tackle? It's a weakness that teams will aim to exploit but also when he just happens to be the man who needs to make the tackle, he just let them past. That's just not good enough. Automatic fail. He needs to sort it out.