Leinster Team Talk Thread (Love you Furlong time)

I'm ambivalent about changing coaches. Leinster has had a totally different trajectory to all the other teams who have won the CC in the last 20 years. The normal trajectory is to peak for a couple of years, maybe winning the champions cup and domestic league, then drop off in both competitions, then either peak again or just stay mid table or maybe get to quarter or semifinal.

Would the posters calling for the coaching staff to go, prefer that normal trajectory or would they prefer the current situation where Leinster keeps competing at the very end of tournaments consistently?

Leinster is about to enter a period of transition with the likes of Conan, Henshaw, JGP, VDF, Lowe, Furlong, Mcgrath, all retiring or declining in the next 18 months. I don't know if they should also change the coaching staff or leave it in place for the transition to new players.

On your last sentence:

Poirot is not a better player than Porter.

Lamothe is not a better player than Sheehan.

Palu is not a better player than JR.

Coleman is not a better player than Joe Mc.

Bochatan is not a better player than Conan.

Gazzotti is not a better player than Doris.

Uberti is not a better player than TOB.

Rayasi is not a better player (15) than Keenan.

Yes, UBB have the edge at 9 (just), 10 (by a country mile) and 11 (no comment).

Yesterday, all of the above performed better individually and collectively than their Leinster counterparts.

That is a failure of coaching. Full stop.

The next problem is, how do you know it will only be a “few years” in mid table?

Most teams who reach European finals cannot sustain it and we’ve seen a few disappear from the top table for long periods. Only ourselves and Toulouse have bucked the trend.

There is a risk of losing what we have while chasing something bigger. Maybe we’ve reached the tipping point now where it’s worth it but it’s definitely a risk.

Yeah That's the conversation we need to have beyond "sack the coaches". Getting to 9 finals in 18 years is already a massive achievement. Winning 4 is a massive achievement. There are a lot of ways to be worse and very few ways to be better. It's a huge risk and we should be aware of what we're asking for.

I'm not opposed to coaching changes, but I expect them that to come with a dip in performance. No point whining about the inevitable consequences of actions we call for.

Realistically, the coaching ream will be there next year. Rugby coaching changes take time and organisation as most people fulfill their contracts. There will probably be some movement after the world cup next year. But that's a while away.

Very balanced.

We're a family of four and quite often budget and standard family scheduling dictate what games we get to.

We spend hundreds each year on Leinster - tickets, gear, summer camps etc. And we will continue to do so.

Leo to his credit has done an immense job during his tenure. His appointment of Lancaster was a master stroke. This season in particular hasnt been an easy watch and I think we have regressed in the last 2 seasons - both in defence and attack.

My Biggest problem with the coaching is that leinster appear to lack the joie de vivre they had in previous years. You could see Bordeaux had it yesterday. They were playing with a plan, but they also played 'heads up rugby' and they were game to run lines and make unexpected things happen.

Leinster has lost that in the last few years. I don't ont think it's lack of talented players, but could be an ageing player profile that becomes more suited to structure rather than just backing themselves and seeing what happens.

This is a bit of a finger in the air assessment so not very measurable. But you know it when you see it. Connacht has it at the moment. Not a brilliant set of individuals but the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Leinster whole is not greater then the sum of its parts. That's most likely a coaching problem

Bring Robertson in now to shadow him/act as a consultant and take over as DoR at the end of next season. Nienaber will probably hit the road anyway and then Robertson will have free rein to build his coaching team.

I know it's not the done thing in rugby , but sack Nienabar now. His joyless rugby does not work for a team with the dna of Leinster. We have not won an away game outside Ireland in the Urc this season. That is a shocking indictment of the coaching.

The question that needs to be asked is why are Leinster so much less than the sum of their parts? We fancy ourselves as a top 4 rugby nation, yet that’s literally the Ireland pack getting absolutely bullied out the gate by guys who hardly get a look in for their national team.

Poirot hasn’t been capped since 2020. Lamothe has 3 caps and is firmly behind Mauvaka and Marchand. Carlu Sadie is 29 and has never been capped by SA. Boris Palu has 2 French caps in 2020. Adam Coleman declared for Tonga in 2023 because he hadn’t got an Australia call up since 2019. Bochatan picked up 2 caps in NZ last summer when France left all their frontliners at home. Gazzotti has one cap off the bench in 2024. Woki is obviously a very good player but he couldn’t get in the French squad for the 6N and hasn’t been capped since the NZ your a year ago.

So either you admit that these “generational” Leinster/Ireland/Lions players just aren’t very good and can’t lay a glove on 4th\5th choice players from other nations, you come to the conclusion that their badly coached, or there’s a serious mentality issue with these Leinster players that when it comes to CC finals/WC 1/4 finals they’re incapable of showing up.

Pat Lam's Bristol shipped 90+ points against Northampton about 2 weeks ago. Doesn't really fill you with confidence.

He went for the job humphries got.

I don’t see where Irish rugby Could put him. I’m sure there would be other clubs interested but the coaching tickets in the provinces are pretty well stocked.

That said, rugby has a long history of looking after their own so something could be done.

When is his contract until

I don't agree. I think Pat's style is from the past. Rugby has moved on.

Did you not hear?

Bristol are not a rugby club…….

I wouldn’t be against Pat Lam at all.

First and foremost he is a better coach than anyone at Leinster.