Leinster Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread XI (The Finals Countdown)

Buer · 02-03-2021 6:29pm

thomond2006 wrote: »

I'm a bit lost at the negativity towards the Rainbow Cup from a pure rugby point of view.
This season's league has been terrible, the provinces have been coasting it. I'll be happy to see the back of it by the end of March.

It would mean having to play out the full Pro14 fixture list such as Munster coming to Dublin.

As we've discussed at great lengths, training matches like these don't benefit the Leinster fringe players.

irishbucsfan · 02-03-2021 6:44pm

thomond2006 wrote: »

I'm a bit lost at the negativity towards the Rainbow Cup from a pure rugby point of view.
This season's league has been terrible, the provinces have been coasting it. I'll be happy to see the back of it by the end of March.

Would be much more interesting if there was something to play for in the league for anyone other than leinster/Munster

thomond2006 · 02-03-2021 6:46pm

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Would be much more interesting if there was something to play for in the league for anyone other than leinster/Munster

Well there is Europe qualification I guess!

I was more reflecting on the standard of opponents.

bayern · 03-03-2021 11:01am

Frank Murphy is on the whistle for Ulster vs. Leinster on Saturday.

sydthebeat · 03-03-2021 11:11am

bayern wrote: »

Frank Murphy is on the whistle for Ulster vs. Leinster on Saturday.

jaysus.
i thought he was quite poor last sunday.

bayern · 03-03-2021 11:11am

sydthebeat wrote: »

jaysus.
i thought he was quite poor last sunday.

he is a poor ref.

sydthebeat · 03-03-2021 11:15am

bayern wrote: »

he is a poor ref.

i wouldnt say in general hes poor though.

id been impressed with him when he originally come onto the scene.
i felt last sunday though there was a lot of skullduggery around the maul that he hadnt a handle on at all, and his offside calls werent consistent.

a good ref for me will call the same offense in the 80th minute that they do in the 1st.

bayern · 03-03-2021 11:25am

Looks like Ross may have picked up a knock they haven't announced, wrapping on ankle and working with Senior Injury and Rehabilitation Coach Diarmaid Brennan:

bayern · 05-03-2021 11:03am

Ireland and Leinster loosehead prop Cian Healy has signed a 1 year extension to his IRFU contract up to the end of the 2021/22 season.

https://www.irishrugby.ie/2021/03/05/cian-healy-signs-irfu-contract-extension/

salmocab · 05-03-2021 11:05am

bayern wrote: »

Ireland and Leinster loosehead prop Cian Healy has signed a 1 year extension to his IRFU contract up to the end of the 2021/22 season.

https://www.irishrugby.ie/2021/03/05/cian-healy-signs-irfu-contract-extension/

For gods sake could they not have announced this yesterday. Now we have to have the same argument with everyone swapping sides.

bayern · 05-03-2021 11:09am

Leinster's loosehead prop depth chart next season:

Cian Healy(33/Belvedere/Clontarf)
Ed Byrne(28/Clongowes/UCD)
Peter Dooley(27/Birr RFC/Lansdowne)
Michael Milne(22/Birr RFC-Roscrea/UCD)

Marcus Hanan(21/Clane RFC/Old Belvedere) - Academy Yr 2
Jack Boyle(19/St. Michaels/UCD) - Academy Yr 1

Serbian · 05-03-2021 11:55am

salmocab wrote: »

For gods sake could they not have announced this yesterday. Now we have to have the same argument with everyone swapping sides.

hah yeah, was thinking the same.

I think rationally it's sensible and hard to argue against it — there isn't much depth below Healy and Kilcoyne right now, and the deal is only for 12 months. Eric O'Sullivan and Ed Byrne are the next two right now but are a step down. After that, there's no-one obviously ready to step in over the next 12 months. Maybe Dooley? Josh Wycherly? I think it would be hard to make a case for anyone else right now.

I know there's talk of moving Porter back to #1, but I think you end up with the same problem on the other side in the short term.

arsebiscuits1 · 05-03-2021 12:00pm

bayern wrote: »

Leinster's loosehead prop depth chart next season:

Cian Healy(33/Belvedere/Clontarf)
Ed Byrne(28/Clongowes/UCD)
Peter Dooley(27/Birr RFC/Lansdowne)
Michael Milne(22/Birr RFC-Roscrea/UCD)

Marcus Hanan(21/Clane RFC/Old Belvedere) - Academy Yr 2
Jack Boyle(19/St. Michaels/UCD) - Academy Yr 1

Is Hanan officially year 1 at the moment? I know he didn't start the year in the academy and I know people have been promoted mid way through.

Just wondering what the implication is for the start of next season or indeed his 3 year tenure

bayern · 05-03-2021 12:03pm

arsebiscuits1 wrote: »

Is Hanan officially year 1 at the moment? I know he didn't start the year in the academy and I know people have been promoted mid way through.

Just wondering what the implication is for the start of next season or indeed his 3 year tenure

Yeah he and Osborne are year 1 academy players.

Similar to Cormac Foley, who joined mid way through last season and moved to year 2 this season. Hanan and Osborne will be Year 2 academy players next season.

arsebiscuits1 · 05-03-2021 12:05pm

bayern wrote: »

Yeah he and Osborne are year 1 academy players.

Similar to Cormac Foley, who joined mid way through last season and moved to year 2 this season. Hanan and Osborne will be Year 2 academy players next season.

Good to know cheers.

Clegg · 05-03-2021 12:55pm

I see Coetzee is back for Ulster.

Hopefully it's the disinterested version we saw in the Pro 14 final.

bayern · 05-03-2021 12:57pm

Clegg · 05-03-2021 1:02pm

Leinster shade it in the forwards, but Ulster's backline is ridiculously strong. Of we come out of this game with a losing bonus point I'd say we've done well.

arsebiscuits1 · 05-03-2021 1:04pm

Harsh for Dooley to get the chop.

Surprised but glad for him that Penny hung on to the 8 shirt. Let's see how well he deals with Coetzee.

Jimmy covering 10 does not fill me with a huge amount of confidence but we have some amount of beef in the pack to keep it tight

bayern · 05-03-2021 1:04pm

Leinster literally running out of backs..

arsebiscuits1 · 05-03-2021 1:06pm

Amazingly Leinster are still favorites for this. Bookies have us at -6 handicap too.

molloyjh · 05-03-2021 1:08pm

JOB covering 10. Because that went so well against Connacht...

This should be an Ulster win, but then we've proven stubborn feckers in games where I thought we'd be beaten. Should make for an interesting game. We can afford to lose but hopefully we can take something from the game. Would be good to follow up the challenge from Glasgow with a challenge from Ulster so that we can at least get ourselves some really competitive game time. It's been too easy for too long.

bayern · 05-03-2021 1:09pm

molloyjh wrote: »

JOB covering 10. Because that went so well against Connacht...

This should be an Ulster win, but then we've proven stubborn feckers in games where I thought we'd be beaten. Should make for an interesting game. We can afford to lose but hopefully we can take something from the game. Would be good to follow up the challenge from Glasgow with a challenge from Ulster so that we can at least get ourselves some really competitive game time. It's been too easy for too long.

There are no other healthy 10s available.

molloyjh · 05-03-2021 1:11pm

bayern wrote: »

There are no other healthy 10s available.

Hawkshaw?

arsebiscuits1 · 05-03-2021 1:11pm

molloyjh wrote: »

JOB covering 10. Because that went so well against Connacht...

This should be an Ulster win, but then we've proven stubborn feckers in games where I thought we'd be beaten. Should make for an interesting game. We can afford to lose but hopefully we can take something from the game. Would be good to follow up the challenge from Glasgow with a challenge from Ulster so that we can at least get ourselves some really competitive game time. It's been too easy for too long.

Hopefully we learned from some of the mistakes against Connacht.

Clear game plan to keep it tight if we need to use him there hence no Hawkshaw on the bench

bayern · 05-03-2021 1:12pm

arsebiscuits1 wrote: »

Hopefully we learned from some of the mistakes against Connacht.

Clear game plan to keep it tight if we need to use him there hence no Hawkshaw on the bench

Hawkshaw is injured.

sydthebeat · 05-03-2021 1:12pm

arsebiscuits1 wrote: »

Amazingly Leinster are still favorites for this. Bookies have us at -6 handicap too.

Ah jaysus

How the hell did the odds widen after those teams were named ??

i can see ulster winning this by about 7

bayern · 05-03-2021 1:12pm

molloyjh wrote: »

Hawkshaw?

Injured.

arsebiscuits1 · 05-03-2021 1:14pm

bayern wrote: »

Hawkshaw is injured.

Jesus.

There is an outside bet at this rate that Tim Corkery will need to be in the squad for Zebre

bayern · 05-03-2021 1:16pm

arsebiscuits1 wrote: »

Jesus.

There is an outside bet at this rate that Tim Corkery will need to be in the squad for Zebre

Probably part of the squad traveling to Belfast.

arsebiscuits1 · 05-03-2021 1:22pm

bayern wrote: »

Probably part of the squad traveling to Belfast.

Interesting point yeah.

I also wonder what other back they're bringing in case someone drops in the warm up.

I think literally the only other player left who could conceivably cover is Hugh O'Sullivan as a 15.

This is nuts.

Like I play J4 rugby and we'd have an easier time putting a team out

molloyjh · 05-03-2021 1:24pm

So let's see if I have this right. Leinster are now missing:

To international duty:
Healy, Kelleher, Furlong, Porter, Baird, Ryan, Connors, Conan, JGP, Sexton, Henshaw, Ringrose, Lowe, Larmour & Keenan

To injury:
Milne, Abdaladze, Leavy, Doris, Deegan, H Byrne, Hawkshaw, Frawley, TOB, COB, A Byrne, Silvester & Smith

I'm probably missing guys there, including Academy guys who might be ahead of the likes of Osbourne. Butbthats at least 28 players that could realistically be in the 23 this weekend. And we're still favourites away to a fairly strong Ulster side? Someone's having a laugh, right?

EDIT: Added Smith. Thanks AB1.

arsebiscuits1 · 05-03-2021 1:25pm

I also noticed Leinster really trying to put the shove on Glasgow last week at scrum time.

Can see them targeting Ulster similarly as I think they're vulnerable there.

Benty has had flashes of impressive dominance this season there and I think EOS can be got to.

The beef in the second row backs up my theory too.

Scrum, penalty, maul, try, defend tight for the rest.

Good plan haha

arsebiscuits1 · 05-03-2021 1:29pm

molloyjh wrote: »

So let's see if I have this right. Leinster are now missing:

To international duty:
Healy, Kelleher, Furlong, Porter, Baird, Ryan, Connors, Conan, JGP, Sexton, Henshaw, Ringrose, Lowe, Larmour & Keenan

To injury:
Milne, Abdaladze, Leavy, Doris, Deegan, H Byrne, Hawkshaw, Frawley, TOB, COB, A Byrne & Silvester

I'm probably missing guys there, including Academy guys who might be ahead of the likes of Osbourne. Butbthats at least 27 players that could realistically be in the 23 this weekend. And we're still favourites away to a fairly strong Ulster side? Someone's having a laugh, right?

The list I had last week edited to those we got back

Players unavailable due to injury/ international call ups (capped players only)

Healy, Furlong, Porter, Milne, Byrne, Abdaladze

Kelleher

Ryan, Baird, Molony (?)

Leavy, Ruddock, Deegan, Doris, Conan, Connors

Gibson-Park

Sexton, Byrne

Ringrose, Henshaw, T O'Brien, C O'Brien

Keenan, Larmour, Lowe, A Byrne, Silvester, Smith

So we gain Ed, Ruddock and Ross

And we lose Harry, Frawley, Hawkshaw to keep the total at 29

sydthebeat · 05-03-2021 1:31pm

molloyjh wrote: »

So let's see if I have this right. Leinster are now missing:

To international duty:
Healy, Kelleher, Furlong, Porter, Baird, Ryan, Connors, Conan, JGP, Sexton, Henshaw, Ringrose, Lowe, Larmour & Keenan

To injury:
Milne, Abdaladze, Leavy, Doris, Deegan, H Byrne, Hawkshaw, Frawley, TOB, COB, A Byrne & Silvester

I'm probably missing guys there, including Academy guys who might be ahead of the likes of Osbourne. Butbthats at least 27 players that could realistically be in the 23 this weekend. And we're still favourites away to a fairly strong Ulster side? Someone's having a laugh, right?

and put on top of all that that we've conceded 85 points in the last 3 games

arsebiscuits1 · 05-03-2021 1:31pm

Checked odds again.

Clearly took time to update after team announcement.

Leinster still favorites but odds slightly shorter.

PP and Skybet have us at -4 and -3 respectively

sydthebeat · 05-03-2021 1:33pm

arsebiscuits1 wrote: »

Checked odds again.

Clearly took time to update after team announcement.

Leinster still favorites but odds slightly shorter.

PP and Skybet have us at -4 and -3 respectively

it definitely drifted immediately after the teams were named as i took ulster +5 when i saw their team, before seeing the leinster one... it went to +6 for a short while after the leinster team, was named.

Richie_Rich89 · 05-03-2021 3:09pm

arsebiscuits1 wrote: »

The list I had last week edited to those we got back

So we gain Ed, Ruddock and Ross

And we lose Harry, Frawley, Hawkshaw to keep the total at 29

With 47 in the senior squad there will be at least 24 senior players missing from every XXIII Leinster name.

arsebiscuits1 · 05-03-2021 3:11pm

Richie_Rich89 wrote: »

With 47 in the senior squad there will be at least 24 senior players missing from every XXIII Leinster name.

Absolutely. And at any given time it's fair to say we're without a chunk due to minutes managed or injuries.

But generally we have the luxury of not selecting players who are fit and available

arsebiscuits1 · 05-03-2021 3:13pm

In fact - on Richs point.

I checked the list of players fit and available NOT selected

Seniors - 2 (Dan Sheehan, Hugh O'Sullivan)

Richie_Rich89 · 05-03-2021 3:27pm

I think it would have been better to have Dunne or Molony starting and Tim Corkery on the bench, with Fardy dropping out of the XXIII. As it is hopefully RB can last most of the match.

I'm a bit baffled by Fardy's continued involvement. He's not really playing well enough to justify getting picked ahead of Molony and Dunne. And he probably shouldn't make the XXIII for the final against Munster either once Ryan and Baird are back in harness. I'd say Farrell would get slaughtered for such a regressive selection for Ireland, but there's not the same scrutiny around provincial selection probably because people aren't as familiar with the alternatives coming up behind.

Yeah_Right · 05-03-2021 3:31pm

Richie_Rich89 wrote: »

I think it would have been better to have Dunne or Molony starting and Tim Corkery on the bench, with Fardy dropping out of the XXIII. As it is hopefully RB can last most of the match.

I'm a bit baffled by Fardy's continued involvement. He's not really playing well enough to justify getting picked ahead of Molony and Dunne. And he probably shouldn't make the XXIII for the final against Munster either once Ryan and Baird are back in harness. I'd say Farrell would get slaughtered for such a regressive selection for Ireland, but there's not the same scrutiny around provincial selection probably because people aren't as familiar with the alternatives coming up behind.

Translation: get rid of the foreigner.

bayern · 05-03-2021 3:32pm

Richie_Rich89 wrote: »

I think it would have been better to have Dunne or Molony starting and Tim Corkery on the bench, with Fardy dropping out of the XXIII. As it is hopefully RB can last most of the match.

I'm a bit baffled by Fardy's continued involvement. He's not really playing well enough to justify getting picked ahead of Molony and Dunne. And he probably shouldn't make the XXIII for the final against Munster either once Ryan and Baird are back in harness. I'd say Farrell would get slaughtered for such a regressive selection for Ireland, but there's not the same scrutiny around provincial selection probably because people aren't as familiar with the alternatives coming up behind.

:rolleyes:

dublin49 · 05-03-2021 3:36pm

Yeah_Right wrote: »

Translation: get rid of the foreigner.

Get rid of expensive foreigner in these challenging times when there are young Irish replacements champing at the bit to show what they can do.

arsebiscuits1 · 05-03-2021 3:38pm

dublin49 wrote: »

Get rid of expensive foreigner in these challenging times when there are young Irish replacements champing at the bit to show what they can do.

Surely you can do better than that mate

Yeah_Right · 05-03-2021 3:41pm

dublin49 wrote: »

Get rid of expensive foreigner in these challenging times when there are young Irish replacements champing at the bit to show what they can do.

But they still have to pay him???

sydthebeat · 05-03-2021 4:06pm

dublin49 wrote: »

Get rid of expensive foreigner in these challenging times when there are young Irish replacements champing at the bit to show what they can do.

humm....

just a slight lack of understanding about how contracts work I see

Clegg · 05-03-2021 4:16pm

Fardy is one of Leinsters greatest ever signings imo. You could see the difference he made to the pack in his first season. Wouldn't have won the European Cup without him. Was our best player that year.

His excellent handling in the wider channels have a new dimension to Leinsters attack and I've no doubt it has also influenced the younger Leinster forwards to play a more expansive game as well.

Even though he's not as good as he was a few years ago he's still comfortably a top 3 lock in the squad. He's well worth his place.

Buer · 05-03-2021 5:12pm

Clegg wrote: »

Even though he's not as good as he was a few years ago he's still comfortably a top 3 lock in the squad. He's well worth his place.

I really don't think he is, to be honest.

Ryan, Molony and Baird are all more impactful players at this stage. Fardy is an experience hand to have on the field and keep cool heads but I don't think he offers more around the field than the other three at this point.

Molony is the closest to him but his work rate is comfortably higher than Fardy's at this point. He's almost 37 and he looks it out there in recent times.

Purist98 · 05-03-2021 5:37pm

arsebiscuits1 wrote: »

Interesting point yeah.

I also wonder what other back they're bringing in case someone drops in the warm up.

I think literally the only other player left who could conceivably cover is Hugh O'Sullivan as a 15.

This is nuts.

Like I play J4 rugby and we'd have an easier time putting a team out

Corkery and Cosgrave are sub academy backs in training so they're possibly travelling reserves along with HOS.
Is Niall Comerford fit? You'd think he'd be next up if he is.

Leinster Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread XI (The Finals Countdown)

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