Leinster Team Talk Thread (Love you Furlong time)

Nobody does oblivious quite like the South Africans.

If things are as miserable as it sounds, I certainly would have no issue with Jacques deciding to head home.

I would have Frawley, he deserves a start there after the last few games. That said Sam at 10 and Frawley at 12 is not a bad suggestion either as was said above.

Team has been named. Very strong side overall even if there has been some rotation. Changes at 10 and the centres are notable. We have to start trusting Osborne there as I doubt we're getting many great days left from Henshaw. If Sam goes well and Leinster win, he has to be persisted with in the semi final. Frawley is leaving and Harry failed the audition.

Great to see Lowe make his 100th appearance. Hope he scores a try to break the Leinster try scoring record to boot.

15. Hugo Keenan (83)

14. Jimmy O’Brien (118)

13. Rieko Ioane (15)

12. Jamie Osborne (74)

11. James Lowe (99)

10. Sam Prendergast (49)

9. Luke McGrath (254)

1. Andrew Porter (148)

2. Dan Sheehan (87)

3. Tadhg Furlong (166)

4. Joe McCarthy (63)

5. James Ryan (109)

6. Max Deegan (158)

7. Scott Penny (105)

8. Caelan Doris (106) CAPTAIN

Replacements:

16. Gus McCarthy (29)

17. Alex Usanov (7)

18. Thomas Clarkson (77)

19. Diarmuid Mangan (28)

20. Josh van der Flier (173)

21. Jamison Gibson-Park (171)

22. Harry Byrne (91)

23. Robbie Henshaw (121)

He's the utility back

I mean, I think it should be anyway, but surely even his most strident defenders would have to concede if he loses this game, to a team who haven't won a game outside SA all year, who we beat comfortably just a few weeks ago, then his position is entirely untenable.

Bizarre team for me. There are 3 games max left this season. Potentially 1. How many times has this blown up in Cullens face not picking the best possible 15 at this stage of the season.

No Frawley at all comes across as petty and spiteful for me. Henshaw at 23 makes no sense. Ioane has looked good since going to wing, so let’s move him back to 13? I don’t understand changing both flanks. Furlong doesn’t deserve to be starting anything this season.

How many times has this blown up in Cullens face not picking the best possible 15 at this stage of the season.

Once. Three years ago.

But I'd dispute that this is a very weak team. Lots of people were calling for Osborne to start at 12 last week, Ringrose is dropped for a guy with 90 caps for the All Blacks.

There are (hopefully) three more matches this season, and this will the easiest of the lot. Asking JGP, Conan, Ringrose, Henshaw and VDF to start all of the remaining games would mean guys in their thirties starting five weeks on the trot at the end of an already very long 12 months. VDF in particular looked out on his feet last week. We have to manage the squad somehow. I'd rather give them something of a rest now rather than have them drained against Bulls/Munster and whoever we could meet in any potential final.

No Frawley at all comes across as petty and spiteful for me. 

I really doubt it is tbh. With JOB and Osborne playing, we don't need his versatility. If he'd dropped Byrne completely you'd have people saying he was being made the scapegoat for the final etc.

Is there really no one else that couldve been on the bench for Henshaw, really liked the look of Deegan in the recent A game hope he gets minutes next season

Jack Deegan is 19, and missed 80% of the season with injury. I think he looks a super prospect, but he was never realistically a candidate here. It could have been Tector arguably (given Cooney is hurt) instead of Henshaw.

I genuinely think Deegan could be the most talented Irish prospect in a long time.

However, yes, this is far too soon for him.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if we see more of him next season, though.

Munster 3 years ago yes. I also consider Northampton last year one. I don’t consider this a weak team, and if some are injury enforced as FtD v2 says, fair enough, I take back some of what I said. I have stayed away from pretty much anything rugby related this week so didn’t see the injury report on Monday.

I don’t think going 5 weeks in a row is crazy to be honest, when it’s knockout rugby.

Where has Prendergast starting come from? He has had a poor season. This is knockouts and not the time in the season to try build some confidence. Frawley starts, Byrne at 22 is what I’d have thought.

Hopefully I’m wrong and they smash Lions but for me it’s too many changes, again, unless they are enforced which is fair enough.

He has been the least worst of the 3. Prendergast almost cost Leinster the semi vs Toulon, he was a complete liability. Byrne wasn’t much better and poor last weekend.

Frawley has played the best from them all recently so on that basis I’d start him.

Sorry, you're right, he is.

He hasn’t started at 10, I’m aware of that, might have been an idea from the coaches to start him there a couple of times if he was going to potentially be backup in a European final.

He came on at 10 against Edinburgh in Europe, Vs Ospreys, last weekend obviously. So he must have been in the minds of the coaches to cover 10.

My point is I don’t see what the other 2 have done to deserve getting into the 23 over him. Are you be more confident of coming out with a win with Prendergast at 10? I’m not anyway. I understand Prendergast is the better attacking 10 of them all, but the defence is so poor he is just a liability. Penny, McGrath and Osbourne will be looking to cover missed tackles all evening, in my opinion.