Leinster Team Talk Thread (Love you Furlong time)

For the poor selections alone Barrett/Porter/Conan on bench , Leo should be in serious trouble , but the fiasco at the end where Conan was looking for direction , and none came Leo and Nienaber should both go. Biggest game of the season and it was mis-managed - I know Leo is a sound guy, and leinster legend , but change is needed at top, like when Chieka came in.

Well Conan was trying to communicate with someone , and its clear he did not get clear instruction.

I agree I would have expected better leadership from Conan, but he was a replacement, replacement captain and probably realised SP was having a poor game, and cofidence shot - surely someone on the sideline should have given clear instruction, to help out - you see it at every level.

But it wasn't in a few seconds.

There is an age from when we see Tommy late tackled, he gets treatment, they do a TMO check. I was screaming for 3 as soon as tommy got tackled. its not hard to say "if the ref gives us a penalty we take the 3" and have someone ready to sprint on with the kicking tee before players even get a chance to make a decision! (we have seen refs deny a side a chance to go to the corner because a tee was on the pitch)

That decision should have been taken away from the players

It's the 77th minute penalty that should have been kicked, rather than the more difficult last minute one. Of course, if we had kicked the easier one, Saints would probably have come straight down the pitch and either dropped a goal or scored a 6th try.

Yeah that's the one I was referring to. The one with the camera shot of Conan not knowing what to do. I remember that being nearly in front of the posts but could be misremembering how straightforward it was.

The second one near the touchline was far more difficult. I didn't think I trusted Prendergast to kick that so I actually didn't blame them for foing for the try from that one.

The earlier one on 77mins seemed clear that the kick at goal was the best option.

You'd have to think missing Ryan and Doris played a part. Sheehan is another who's previously captained Leinster and Ireland, but he was off the pitch.

A lot of the focus is on Conan, I'm presuming he was the stand-in captain after Doris went off? But wasn't Ringrose named co-captain last season? You'd imagine he should've been involved in the decision too but it seemed to get left up to Conan.

Leo is stealing a living. The Irish media and rugby beurocrats are too soft on unacceptable performances year on year out. Could you imagine the Nz press if one of their best teams in generations, full to the brim with the best international players were getting sunk by lack lustre performances, poor decision making on field, poor decision making off field, every year for five years. There is no edge to this leinster team and that's on Leo

Compare these player ratings for leinster. One gives every leinster player and coach a decent ratings, the other tell the truth

https://archive.ph/MYSQF

I really think that was the reason - they were against a team that had tore the defence to shreds almost at will and simply didn’t back themselves to beat them in ET.

People have been saying the call was arrogant but I think it was the opposite, it was the fearful call, and a testament to how well Northampton executed their game plan. Leinster opted for the higher risk option in the hope that they come away with a score and only have to defend the lead for a couple of minutes.

Leinster were hard done by for Northampton's last try. Lowe had a clear as day turnover at the ruck that the ref tells him to release, then they score from the next phase. That was a massive swing in the momentum of the match at that point.

I was trying to think who was left on the pitch with the smarts to make the correct decision and for me keenan should have been the one. When Doris and Sheehsn are gone i wouldn't trust any of the rest apart from Keenan just my opinion. Players shouldn't need to look for advise from the touchline for an easy enough penalty to tie the game with 4 minutes left on the clock by the time the restart from halfway one good exit and discipline and your into extra time. It was a no brainer

any replay of it available?

Well it's shocking that a 32 year old experienced Leinster and Ireland international can't make a good decision.

There are those type of coaches and then the ones who trust their players to make the right decisions.

In fairness those you mention are the rare ones albeit successful.

I remember the Pollock one. He gets over the ball quickly but is on one knee the entire time. Far more obvious a penalty to give than the two or three Brousset whistles for hands beyond the ball.

Still had the chance to tie the game even after that though and we just didn't take it. It's a regret they'll have for the rest of their lives. And one we'll be mystified about too.

The more you watch the penalty at the end, the harder it is to fathom how that wasn't a penalty try. We should never have put ourselves in a spot to be vulnerable to ref's calls, but damn if some big ones went against us at the end.