Scarlets V Leinster 20/10/12

First topic message reminder :

Leinster Rugby wrote:The Leinster squad trained in UCD on Monday afternoon with the Leinster management reporting no fresh injury concerns ahead of Saturday's Round 2 Heineken Cup trip to face the Scarlets in Parc y Scarlets (KO: 1.35pm)...

Fergus McFadden, Richardt Strauss and Heinke van der Merwe all required stitches for head wounds following Saturday’s 9-6 victory over Exeter, but all three players are expected to take a full part in training this week.
Leo Cullen and Cian Healy both came through their respective comebacks from injury and will be available for selection again this weekend, while Gordon D’Arcy and Rob Kearney are also likely to be available for selection.

In a further fitness boost, international scrum-half Isaac Boss successfully came through the last half hour of Leinster ‘A’s opening round British & Irish Cup victory over Leeds Carnegie on Saturday night following his recent arm injury.

David Kearney and Rhys Ruddock are making progress on their injuries and they have both stepped up their rehabilitations. It is hoped that they could be in contention for the province’s B&I Cup trip to Pontypridd this weekend.

Darren Hudson damaged his shoulder in the closing moments of the Leeds game and the Academy full-back is in doubt for this weekend.

Travelling in Hope rather than Expectation. Hope Darce makes it. From what I heard initially of Rob Kearney's injury I'll be amazed if he even benches. They are all undercooked anyway.

Only positive I can see is thatwe know the Scarlets pretty well at this stage.

If they lose they are pretty much gone, if we lose we are depending on Exeter to take points off Clermont and Scarlets

Jeebus Taxi for Priestland. Shocking kick.

Penalty Scarlets

They may have a chance for a draw.

But Preistland tries to put too much on it and it goes dead.

Priestland just lost them the game.......................9 points missed and ball kicked dead from a pen...........e,mbarrassing

offload wrote:

thebluesmancometh wrote:Relying on their individuals, but the basics and decisions are awfull, like the tight 5!!!

Spot on. No point bleating about some poor kicking. You can't do well for long without a pack and the Scarlets 8 just aren't good enough. Embarrassing.

Having said that. Priestland's kicking is terrible.

eirebilly wrote:

rodders wrote:Harsh on Madigan there. He's gone for the ball and Priestland has jumped into him.

rodders you scamp

#Justice4Madigan.

Awful by priestland.

Absolutely awful

Can't see Leinster getting out of the group this year, can't even put to bed a poor scarlets team

tatterd wrote:Priestland just lost them the game.......................9 points missed and ball kicked dead from a pen...........e,mbarrassing

No, again, the awful forward platform cost them the game.

No kicker have a 100% record, certainly not from halfway. So perhaps if they had Sexton they would have gotten 6 more points. But the Leinster fans can complain about the 2 simple penalties Sexton missed.

The Scarlets front row, second row and backrow were not good enough today.

Scarlets european season is over, the Blues will be all but out tom, how good is this regional system!!!

sorry rodders, you caught me hook line and sinker!!

Mike Ross MOTM. Not often hes picked out

Got to say, I really hope Priestland isn't on that plane for the Lions Tour. I make Clermont favourites for this group IF they can win in Devon.

Notch wrote:Got to say, I really hope Priestland isn't on that plane for the Lions Tour. I make Clermont favourites for this group IF they can win in Devon.

+++++1

I do hope that Priestland is not the Welsh 10 come the AI's.

The guy just makes so many elementary mistakes. Scarlets need a new 10 if they do not want to keep losing games. They should go and get Hook or Nicky Robinson from Wasps or my Nan, she may be 85 today but I am sure she has a better kicking game than RP.

Well Leinster always turn it on when it matters. Sign of a quality team. Scarlets first weekend rabo result means nothing

Yeah Clermont are favourites for sure but don't rule out the Leinstermen or even Exeter.

Leinster need a huge improvement though.

Great stuff from Ross today. Very deserving MOTM.

People should realise Priestland didn't cost Scarlets the game. It was their front row, back row and starting scrum half. All average and outplayed.

I wouldn't right Leinster off yet, they will get stronger as the season goes on and their best players get back and get into form.

I don't want to hear all this Samson Lee rubbish either, he was average today, against an average scrum. Not saying he was poor but he wasn't good in any way shape or form.

thebluesmancometh wrote:Scarlets european season is over, the Blues will be all but out tom, how good is this regional system!!!

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

Doctor's nan for the lions!!!!
PS Happy birthday

RP is a very good 10, but he has an immature boot, he works for Wales bacause he has very little kicking responsability.

Scarlets are 2 props, lock, fetcher, and kicking option from being a very good european team!!!

That kick to touch that went dead at the end from Priestland sums up how bad he has been for quite some time now, a million miles away from the Lions.

I agree with Notch above that Clermont are looking quite good for this group depending on how their game against Exeter goes.

From a Leinster point of view I have mixed emotions.

Our work at the breakdown is now back to where it was last year and our defence is close. However our backs look a little blunt. They didn't really threaten IMO. Darcy made a semi break, mcf had some nice touches and ISA got the try but most of our attack seemed forward orientated to a scary degree.

Joe said we were at 75% against Exeter. After that I'd say we are at 83%.

pete

I'd say that was part of the plan, keep it tight and keep it in the Scarlets soft underbelly, if the game digressed into a hairem scarem throw about the Scarlets wouldve loved it!!!

83% jesus you're precise. Priestland missed some difficult ones in the second half (didn't see the first) from what I saw but his overall decision making and goal kicking was atrocious.


On the Scarlets try, it seemed to me albeit not having done meticulous research, that D'Arcy was getting called in, BOD drifted across leaving a massive gap. You can't fingerpoint that on one guy in my view. Bod's pace has diminished but sure we all knew that.

Backline was very blunt for Leinster today. Nacewa not as sharp as he was. Kearney missing from backline. But they need better wingers. When does Fitzgerald return?

And who else is missing from backline to add oomph to the bench?

Does this team lineup need to keep playing for next lot of Pro 12 games to prepare them for Clermont?

Pot Hale wrote:Backline was very blunt for Leinster today. Nacewa not as sharp as he was. Kearney missing from backline. But they need better wingers. When does Fitzgerald return?

And who else is missing from backline to add oomph to the bench?

Does this team lineup need to keep playing for next lot of Pro 12 games to prepare them for Clermont?

Dave kearney. He should be back next week, which is great because we really need him.

Leinster are only getting motoring....clermont arent favourites yet...

Missed the game. Will have to download it before I comment. Was it any good?

doctornickolas wrote:I do hope that Priestland is not the Welsh 10 come the AI's.

The guy just makes so many elementary mistakes. Scarlets need a new 10 if they do not want to keep losing games. They should go and get Hook or Nicky Robinson from Wasps or my Nan, she may be 85 today but I am sure she has a better kicking game than RP.

Your nan, fine, Nicky R okay....but Hook at 10....no fecking chance

Thomond wrote:83% jesus you're precise. Priestland missed some difficult ones in the second half (didn't see the first) from what I saw but his overall decision making and goal kicking was atrocious.


On the Scarlets try, it seemed to me albeit not having done meticulous research, that D'Arcy was getting called in, BOD drifted across leaving a massive gap. You can't fingerpoint that on one guy in my view. Bod's pace has diminished but sure we all knew that.

I thought 85 would have been too much.

I thought it was BOD's fault, on the reverse angle you can see that he checks as if his opponent was about to step inside him and then had lost a yard and wasn't going to get his man.

BOD was stood up as Maule checked and then set off outside...it was all BOD's mistake

totally agree mowgli

After the clermont result...now they are favourites...

Yep. Clermont are some team. Leinster need bonus point wins from somewhere.

We have to win both home and away now.

pete (buachaill on eirne) wrote:totally agree mowgli

Me too.... showed his man the outside and got skinned, end of story. Shoite happens. Thought otherwise he had a very good game defensively but the legs aren't there anymore and that's just the reality. Most of the time his speed of thought and game reading ability makes up for that but not in this instance.

LeinsterFan4life wrote:We have to win both home and away now.

Yeah which is very worrying as that is a huge ask and will be just after the Irish Autumn Games so we won't have a good run together.

Other than that maybe if we get a losing bonus point against them and they dont against us and then get another from somewhere else......
Maybe they will lose in LLanelli......




Eek....

I don't think we will have enough points to get us out of this group unless we win the group, I don't see us as a highest runner up option

Stop being soft guys. Just go out and beat Clermont twice and stop yer whining.... runners up?...bonus points? never heard the likes of it .

SUFTLM .

pete (buachaill on eirne) wrote:

LeinsterFan4life wrote:We have to win both home and away now.

Yeah which is very worrying as that is a huge ask and will be just after the Irish Autumn Games so we won't have a good run together.

Other than that maybe if we get a losing bonus point against them and they dont against us and then get another from somewhere else......
Maybe they will lose in LLanelli......




Eek....

I don't think we will have enough points to get us out of this group unless we win the group, I don't see us as a highest runner up option

I'm worried but we need to believe! hopefully we'll have the kearney bros and SOB back. then we have a chance

Don't worry about it. The Scarlets will beat Clermont at PyS. It will be one of our famous (but ultimately meaningless) victories in Europe. We tend to have one every couple of seasons.

Leinster need to kick on & thank their luck they didn't have to play Clermont in one of these first weekends because they would have been soundly beaten.
As it is they have 2 wins with some key players missing.

SubsBench wrote:Don't worry about it. The Scarlets will beat Clermont at PyS. It will be one of our famous (but ultimately meaningless) victories in Europe. We tend to have one every couple of seasons.

Yeah if you could that would be swell thanks lads!

Great try from Maule, he picked the perfect time to check his run, flatfooted BOD, maith an fear.

Nacewas try was sweet, really thought North had held him up, looked like he tackled him in the air anyway so could have been a peno try.

Apart from BODs one error our defense was very good, scrum was beastly, I complained about the selection of Browne over Toner but it worked. We're right where we want to be, 2 wins from 2, with SOB and Kearney to get back before the ASM game. We could really do with Fitzgerald back in there though.

I thought Leinster were much better in the first half than they have been all season. They beat scarlets up in the pack and until the scarlets sort out their tight five I fear that will continue to be the case in europe.

I'm not convinced by Leinster yet. I'm not sure if they are regressing or if this is just a slow start. They have SOB and kearney to come back soon but they are the only starters and I'm not sure that will be enough to beat Clermont. I hope it is juste a blip as I genuinely want to face them (and beat them) but today was much more like it.

One thing I will say, and I may get slated for it, is that the time is fast approaching when you need more threat from your centres than BOD can provide.

Standulstermen wrote:I thought Leinster were much better in the first half than they have been all season. They beat scarlets up in the pack and until the scarlets sort out their tight five I fear that will continue to be the case in europe.

I'm not convinced by Leinster yet. I'm not sure if they are regressing or if this is just a slow start. They have SOB and kearney to come back soon but they are the only starters and I'm not sure that will be enough to beat Clermont. I hope it is juste a blip as I genuinely want to face them (and beat them) but today was much more like it.

One thing I will say, and I may get slated for it, is that the time is fast approaching when you need more threat from your centres than BOD can provide.

I'm the biggest BOD fan you'll ever meet and I wouldn't slate you for that. Everyone ages. Even the mighty BOD. His time is coming to an end very soon unfortunately. The problem is made worse by the fact that we don't have one but two ageing centres. If we had a young dangerous 12 with pace and power, BOD's nous would still be a huge asset in unleashing the best in his partner. But we have D'arcy, who was brilliant once, but is now even further over the hill than BOD. And they're both really very small by today's standards too. Five years ago they were the best combo in Europe. Nowadays, they still have their moments. It was D'arcy's tackle that kept out Fofana and kept us in the Cup last year. But it's not uncommon for them to get outplayed by their opposite numbers. Especially against the real HC contenders.

BOD admit he's passed it ? Please, his fragile ego would explode and take out everyone in a ten mile radius

I swear I read him talk about being in the next WC

I don't he has said that at all. I think the lions was always his target but on current form he would be a sympathy pick, which I don't believe he would want. He is a competitive beast and I fully expect him to raise his game (as much as his body allows)

If I were a new Ireland coach coming in though with the leeway to do it, I would drop him from the green.

I was at the game yesterday, and on reflection many of the comments here are accurate.

Leinster had the ref in their pocket for the first half hour, he only reffed one side. It balanced out a bit for the rest of the game but resulted in Leinster having a 11 point lead which won them the game.

A lot of critisism for Priestland, I thought he had a very good first half, despite getting back foot ball and poor service from his 9. He did make some mistakes in the second half but by then Scarlets were playing catch up and he was probably trying too hard.

North and Liam Williams had games they would rather forget, but North played his part well as a foil for Maul's try.

Scarlets scrum looked OK, despite some rather strange reffing. Until Easterby made a big error in putting a tall thin flanker (Shingler) in the second row. That resulted in three kickable penalties for Leinster which snuffed out the Scarlets comeback. Leinster won the breakdown, but the Scarlets suffered from some one eyed reffing in this aspect of the game.

Great to see Leinster back to their best, Scarlets need to get their overseas from 5 players fit and firing, but thats unlikely to be in time to make any impression on the Heineken this season. They need to be more professional in their handling of the ref. Healy fequently looked to be introuble in the scrum, but he seemed to be able the convince the ref that it was not his fault.

Easterby is a new coach but he needs to get his 9 to vary his tactics, Knoyle's slow long pass, was stifling the Scarlets backs. Also you cant play a flanker in the second row against a strong scrum!

PS
Anyone else think that the new scrum engage rule has made the scrums even more of a lottery?

Feckless Rogue wrote:

Standulstermen wrote:
One thing I will say, and I may get slated for it, is that the time is fast approaching when you need more threat from your centres than BOD can provide.

I'm the biggest BOD fan you'll ever meet and I wouldn't slate you for that. Everyone ages. Even the mighty BOD. His time is coming to an end very soon unfortunately. The problem is made worse by the fact that we don't have one but two ageing centres. If we had a young dangerous 12 with pace and power, BOD's nous would still be a huge asset in unleashing the best in his partner. But we have D'arcy, who was brilliant once, but is now even further over the hill than BOD. And they're both really very small by today's standards too. Five years ago they were the best combo in Europe. Nowadays, they still have their moments. It was D'arcy's tackle that kept out Fofana and kept us in the Cup last year. But it's not uncommon for them to get outplayed by their opposite numbers. Especially against the real HC contenders.

Totally agree Feckless. In BOD and D'arcy's...er... defense, defensively they were both excellent yesterday. I wouldn't read too much on BOD getting skinned it happens to players all the time...gees it happens to McFadden every other game...

I don't agree that BOD would be a sympathy pick for the Lions though. In the games I've seen this year he has been in pretty good form, he's looked fit, scored one excellent try against Connacht and generally has been faultless in defense. Bar the Welsh duo and Tuilagi there aren't that many standout centres and for me BOD is still the best in the home nations all things considered.

He does, as Feckless has eluded to, need to be surrounded by players with a bit of strike threat because as we can all see he doesn't have the afterburners any more to pull away from defenses and needs others to do the running.