Leinster V Clermont....Part 2 The Return

by Jenifer McLadyboy Tue 11 Dec 2012, 3:59 pm

First topic message reminder :

Leinster Website wrote:The Leinster squad have stepped up their preparations for Saturday afternoon's Heineken Cup Round 4 clash against ASM Clermont Auvergne in the Aviva Stadium (KO: 3.40pm) with a training session in UCD on Tuesday afternoon...
Following Sunday’s bruising encounter in France, in a game which marked Andrew Goodman’s European debut, there are a number of bumps and bruises in the squad which will be monitored by the medical team. Amongst them is Kevin McLaughlin who took a heavy knock towards the end of the game but thankfully walked from the field afterwards.

His availability for selection will be decided later in the week, ahead of Friday’s lunchtime announcement. Sean O’Brien’s next appearance will be his 75th for the province in all competitions.

David Kearney and Eoin O’Malley could return to the panel this weekend as both continue to work hard on their respective rehabilitations, alongside another outside back Luke Fitzgerald who remains on course for a possible return to action over the Christmas interprovincial games against either Ulster away (December 21st) or Connacht in the RDS (December 29th).

In a boost to Leinster’s preparations this week, the attendance figure for Saturday’s game looks set to eclipse last year’s previous Irish pool record of 46,365 which was set by Leinster against Bath in the corresponding round last season. It will also be the biggest game of the Pool stages across Europe so far this season.

Over 46,000 tickets have already been sold for the ‘Christmas Craictacular’ in the Aviva Stadium on Saturday and tickets are selling fast ONLINE HERE, the Leinster Rugby Store (Donnybrook), Spar (Donnybrook) as well as Ticketmaster outlets nationwide.

LEINSTER:

15: Ian Madigan
14: Fergus McFadden
13: Gordon D'Arcy
12: Andrew Goodman
11: Isa Nacewa
10: Jonathan Sexton
9: Eoin Reddan

1: Heinke van der Merwe
2: Richardt Strauss
3: Mike Ross
4: Leo Cullen CAPTAIN
5: Damian Browne
6: Sean O'Brien
7: Shane Jennings
8: Jamie Heaslip

REPLACEMENTS:

16: Sean Cronin
17: Cian Healy
18: Michael Bent
19: Devin Toner
20: Kevin McLaughlin
21: Isaac Boss
22: Andrew Conway
23: Dave Kearney

ASM CLERMONT AUVERGNE:

15: Lee Byrne
14: Sitiveni Sivivatu
13: Aurélien Rougerie CAPTAIN
12: Wesley Fofana
11: Napolioni Nalaga
10: Brock James / David Skrela
9: Morgan Parra

1: Raphael Chaume
2: Benjamin Kayser
3: Davit Zirakashvili
4: Jamie Cudmore
5: Nathan Hines
6: Julien Bonnaire
7: Julien Bardy
8: Damien Chouly

REPLACEMENTS:

16: Ti'i Paulo
17: Vincent Debaty
18: Daniel Kotze
19: Loic Jacquet
20: Alexandre Lapandry
21: Ludovic Radoslavjevic
22: David Skrela / Benson Stanley
23: Regan King

by GunsGerms Mon 17 Dec 2012, 8:43 am

George Carlin wrote:Watched the highlights - that Clermont pack is a bunch of monsters and unfortunately for Leinster, Hines was at the heart of it. Must have been an absolute pisser to lose a player like him, particularly as he made no bones about the fact that he didn't want to go.

Hines was awesome. Well done Clermont. Lots of neutrals would love to see them win outright including myself.

Hey maybe this setback will kickstart leinsters season with the incentive being a potential rematch v Clermont in the Aviva in the final. Wouldnt that be sweet.

by Mickado Mon 17 Dec 2012, 10:18 am

Had we been allowed to hang on to Hines, we wouldn't be signing McCarthy. And the IRFU would have saved themselves no end of hassle.

Anywho. Fair play to Clermont, totally outplayed us. We'll need a miracle to get out of this group now.

by dublin_dave Mon 17 Dec 2012, 10:21 am

French club rugby fans are superb, Clermont and Perpignan in particular.

They deservedly beat us on Saturday and certainly enjoyed their few pints up town afterwards. They are a colourful and loud bunch.

by asoreleftshoulder Mon 17 Dec 2012, 11:10 am

Very disappointed with that performance,I don't think Clermont had to be at their best to beat us but delighted we got the bonus point which still gives us a chance.

Nothing less than 2 bonus point wins will do now but looking at the fixtures in the other pools we aren't relying on other results as much as I had thought going in.A huge improvement will be needed to get those bonus point wins but at least we're still in with a shout.

by GunsGerms Mon 17 Dec 2012, 12:11 pm

Mickado wrote:Had we been allowed to hang on to Hines, we wouldn't be signing McCarthy. And the IRFU would have saved themselves no end of hassle.

Anywho. Fair play to Clermont, totally outplayed us. We'll need a miracle to get out of this group now.

The IRFU achieved exactly what they set out to achieve. Two quality Irish players to cover every position at the top teams in Ireland. As much as I liked Hines I applaud the IRFU. Not afraid to make tough decisions for the greated good.

by Mickado Mon 17 Dec 2012, 12:45 pm

GunsGerms wrote:
Mickado wrote:Had we been allowed to hang on to Hines, we wouldn't be signing McCarthy. And the IRFU would have saved themselves no end of hassle.

Anywho. Fair play to Clermont, totally outplayed us. We'll need a miracle to get out of this group now.

The IRFU achieved exactly what they set out to achieve. Two quality Irish players to cover every position at the top teams in Ireland. As much as I liked Hines I applaud the IRFU. Not afraid to make tough decisions for the greated good.

Why should only the "top sides" in Ireland get a quality player in each position?

by GunsGerms Mon 17 Dec 2012, 1:29 pm

because theyre arent enough to go round. I think we both know that Leinster rely on players from other provinces for sustained success.

by Mickado Mon 17 Dec 2012, 3:27 pm

GunsGerms wrote:because theyre arent enough to go round. I think we both know that Leinster rely on players from other provinces for sustained success.

Players from outside Leinster maybe, but what team can enjoy sustained success with wholly indigenous players? Sean Cronin is the closest thing to a first team player that came from another province.

by GunsGerms Mon 17 Dec 2012, 3:41 pm

Eoin Reddan and Mike Ross are both munster men.
McCarthy when he comes will also be first team.

by Mickado Mon 17 Dec 2012, 3:45 pm

GunsGerms wrote:Eoin Reddan and Mike Ross are both munster men.
McCarthy when he comes will also be first team.

Yep, and we signed them both from English clubs. We’re not in the habit of signing big players from other provinces is all I’m saying.

Felix Jones, Niall Ronan, Ian Keatley, Dave McSharry, Paul O’Donaghue, Jason Harris-Wright, Nathan White and plenty of others were all playing for Leinster at some age level before they moved to other provinces so it’s not all 1-way traffic.

by Guest Mon 17 Dec 2012, 7:38 pm

Just seen that Lee Byrne has broke a bone in his back, it didn't look that bad in the game but hope he has a speedy recovery

by asoreleftshoulder Mon 17 Dec 2012, 10:23 pm

Yikes that's unlucky,obviously it's serious can only wish him a full and speedy recovery.He was top class when he was on the pitch and looked to back to top form

by Guest Mon 17 Dec 2012, 10:29 pm

Yep i agree, he looked like he was really settling in at Clermont and loving his rugby.Real shame.

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