Leinster v Ulster Easter special

It's here at last.

The winner of this one will have one hand and a few fingers on a home semi.

Leinster in decent shape. Missing Bod, Fitz, Redser, Sexto & Ferg from the top 23. Perhaps a week early for Strauss too.

Form is decent too. Can we keep it going?

Ulster have more injuries and less form. A HC quarter the following week. And lest we forget..... (Yes I'm going to use that phrase again)

LAST TIME THEY BEAT LEINSTER OUTSIDE RAVENHILL WAS IN THE SAME MILLENNIUM AS THE BATTLE OF HASTINGS.

Means feck all though. They are a quality side, and well able to give us a shock.....But will they?

LEINSTER:

15: Rob Kearney
14: Dave Kearney
13: Brendan Macken
12: Gordon D'Arcy
11: Isa Nacewa
10: Ian Madigan
9: Isaac Boss

1: Cian Healy
2: Richardt Strauss
3: Mike Ross
4: Devin Toner
5: Quinn Roux
6: Kevin McLaughlin
7: Shane Jennings
8: Jamie Heaslip CAPTAIN

REPLACEMENTS:

16: Sean Cronin
17: Jack McGrath
18: Jamie Hagan
19: Leo Cullen
20: Rhys Ruddock
21: John Cooney
22: Andrew Goodman
23: Andrew Conway

ULSTER
(15-9): J Payne, A Trimble, D Cave, S Olding, C Gilroy, P Jackson, R Pienaar;
(1-8): T Court, R Best, R Lutton, J Muller, D Tuohy, R Diack, C Henry, N Williams;
Replacements (16-23): R Herring, C Black, K McCall, L Stevenson, I Henderson, R Wilson, P Marshall, P Nelson.

Still a good Leinster team despite the injuries. We won't have the same depth next year though.

Leinster to give Ulster a rugby lesson.

Jackson needs to get his act together. Madigan had a point to prove yesrerday after losing out in the international pecking order. He definatly proved to me that Kidney made the wrong call on how he ranks Irelands 10s.

Ulster still disjointed. Players who returned had only just returned. Understandably rusty. Next weekend might see a marked improvement and a few more returns from injury.

Don't forget, v Edinburgh, Ulster had their 3rd choice 12 injured in the first half. Far from ideal.

It will be interesting to see who makes it for the weekend, and what an extra week on the training pitch does for performance.

Certainly, points from the boot cannot be treated lighly. I seriously hope Ulster have Pienaar back, or someone sits Jackson down and gets his head sorted. Can he handle the pressure of going head to head with the cool and confident Madigan?

I'm worried...

To be fair Clive, one thing you can trust PJ to do is to handle the pressure. He took all the backlash from the HC Final last year and showed what he could do at the start of the season, he took the backlash from the Scotland game and ran things vs France. He's come off a tough time of late, but I fully expect him to pick things up again.

Also I do think he'll keep the kicking boots next week as well. Having Ruan there will help things. Anyone else thinking that Marshall will lose out off the bench after that performance vs Edinburgh.

Fitness permitting I'd have

Court - Best - Afoa
Muller - Stevenson
Diack - Williams - McComish

Pienaar - Jackson
Olding - Cave
Gilroy - Payne - Trimble

If Hendy is fit then he comes in at 6 with Diack at 7
If Olding misses out then Cave to 12 and Allen to 13.

Bench
Herring, Black, Lutton, Tuohy, Wilson/Hendy/Birch, Heaney, Nelson, Allen/Andrew

I wouldnt be worried about Jackson. His kicking can wait because Pienaar should be back to take them. Even madigan didnt get near the kicking duties in his first full season with Leinster. Its stood to him now though. Jackson hasnt had that luxury.

Madigan should be our (Irelands) starting 10 on the summer tour no question for me (at the minute) but i think last night proved why Kidney went with Jackson. That chip kick was ludicrous! I love watching it but if that doesnt come off thats the game and we are discussing how he cost Leinster.

My own preference is towards that kind of player (with maybe a few less of those moments!). I think he was behind a beaten pack for large parts of that game and he didnt hide or go to pieces. He was solid and then when leinster got the chance to exert some pressure he showed that bit of class. Full marks on that front.

As for next week we can add Pienaar, Marshall, Best, Gilroy and Wilson to the squad with ?s over Henderson and Henry if you beleive the press releases. I cant wait for this game. Im not convinced we will win but a result down there will change everyones mindset heading to twickenham. Leinster strong favourites but who knows. hopefully we see the ulster team from pre-christmas

I think the wind at Murrayfield was much more of a factor than anyone has given credit for.

Just remember what the weather was like here that night. The whole of Belfast as well as a significant portion of the rest of the country without power. The biggest power cut ever here as far as I know. It's hard to believe that Edinburgh was like a Mill Pond.

It may have played a factor MrsP but then Jackson has to be smart enough to judge that. To be honest friday looked to me to be the result of him having to prove something which i dont subscribe to.

The only one i thought was a gimme was the last one. The second one which was infinitely harder than the first should have gone down the line. Its a learning curve but for me he has to be strong enough mentally to say, 'i dont fancy it'.

I dont envy what he has been through at such a young age mind you

It was a virtuoso performance from Madigan. He plays in a way that fans love, but international coaches (who's jobs are on the line) are nervous about. But to be fair, can anyone recall Madigan costing Leinster a game with a moment of madness? I can't.

Madigan is not risky. Because the rewards consistently outweigh any drawbacks of him playing at 10.

He has had shockers though Feckless. Someone mentioned the Ospreys game which is a good example. I dont want undue pressure put on him. It could be counter productive. I like the look of him but we will learn so much more in the next season.

Either way the crux is i feel he has earned the right to start the summer tour and unless there is a dramatic swing in form i see no reason to change that. Good luck to him!

Would anyone have a link to Madigan's famous chip?

Feckless Rogue wrote:It was a virtuoso performance from Madigan. He plays in a way that fans love, but international coaches (who's jobs are on the line) are nervous about. But to be fair, can anyone recall Madigan costing Leinster a game with a moment of madness? I can't.

Madigan is not risky. Because the rewards consistently outweigh any drawbacks of him playing at 10.

How much has he played for you at 10 though?

He has been always at 10 under Schmidt, barring when injuries have forced him to 15. A fair bit this season in fairness.

The few caps he got under Cheika were all at 15.

Standulstermen wrote:I wouldnt be worried about Jackson. His kicking can wait because Pienaar should be back to take them. Even madigan didnt get near the kicking duties in his first full season with Leinster. Its stood to him now though. Jackson hasnt had that luxury.

Madigan should be our (Irelands) starting 10 on the summer tour no question for me (at the minute) but i think last night proved why Kidney went with Jackson. That chip kick was ludicrous! I love watching it but if that doesnt come off thats the game and we are discussing how he cost Leinster.

My own preference is towards that kind of player (with maybe a few less of those moments!). I think he was behind a beaten pack for large parts of that game and he didnt hide or go to pieces. He was solid and then when leinster got the chance to exert some pressure he showed that bit of class. Full marks on that front.

As for next week we can add Pienaar, Marshall, Best, Gilroy and Wilson to the squad with ?s over Henderson and Henry if you beleive the press releases. I cant wait for this game. Im not convinced we will win but a result down there will change everyones mindset heading to twickenham. Leinster strong favourites but who knows. hopefully we see the ulster team from pre-christmas

Actually I think we had an advantage at the time so it wasn't as ludicrous as you think. Shows that he does have a good head on his shoulders.

To be fair to Madigan Leinster had a knock on advantage when he did that chip on his own line, not so risky as it seemed.

But while I say Leinster by 10-12 this week, Ulster get main guys back and stun sarries in Heino!

If PJ is kicking ahead of Pienaar I will be VERY happy.

I didn't realize we had advantage at the time. Not really ludicrous in that case, since if it bounced into a Glasgow players hand we'd have had a scrum. The offload was great.

Anyway it'll be an interesting match up.

Feckless Rogue wrote:I didn't realize we had advantage at the time. Not really ludicrous in that case, since if it bounced into a Glasgow players hand we'd have had a scrum. The offload was great.

Anyway it'll be an interesting match up.

That's the bit that caught my eye, on the slow-mo you can see that he doesn't even look at Cronin.

He knows

Lads,kicking a knock on advantage will end the advantage 9/10. I'm not being down on him but if that goes wrong he is a Tinkywinky. It takes serious balls. Was humph Jr esque!

I will also add, the pass was a thing of beauty

It was the right decision by Madigan for a few reasons. He chipped the ball into space and although he got lucky with the bounce if the Glasgow player collected Madigan would have tackled him a split second later. If he cleared the ball it wouldn't have gone far and Glasgow would have just set up a maul from a few meters out. Lastly, it should have been a penalty to Leinster because Madigan was held back after he kicked it.

Can't agree profitius. It was the right decision because it came off is all that matters. As I say 9 out of 10 times it doesn't and you lose the ball in your own 22. I don't begrudge him his motm as he deserved it but I would be having a word if I were his coach.

Just a friendly 'don't do it again'

As the never ending exodus of Leinster players continues, it has been reported that Jamie Hagan has signed for London Irish on a three year deal from next season.
Last one out, turn off the floodlights.

Its hardly a massive loss submachine. He's our 3rd choice TH and he needs gametime. Its the right move for all parties.

This should be a good game.Things are really hotting up in the league now. I hope Ulster stay in the top 3 at least because they've been the most consistent team this season and deserve a home semi. Munster can do Ulster some favours in the coming weeks by beating Glasgow and Leinster but I wouldn't count on Munster doing it. Ulster have a good run in with winable matchesso they look good still to get the home semi final.

Standulstermen wrote:Can't agree profitius. It was the right decision because it came off is all that matters. As I say 9 out of 10 times it doesn't and you lose the ball in your own 22. I don't begrudge him his motm as he deserved it but I would be having a word if I were his coach.

Just a friendly 'don't do it again'

We'll agree to disagree stand. I love a bit of risk taking myself.

Lie down Ulster fans some good news

Other than 1F and Bowe it could be said every person who would be in our strongest 15 plus 1F and Bowe's replacements trained yesterday.

Not saying they are all fit - they are not but the fact that:

Payne, Gilroy, Cave, Marshall, Trimble, Jackson, Pienaer, Court, Best, Afoa, Muller, Tuohy, Henderson, Williams, Henry

Trained together yesterday is something we have not been able to say for months.

My pessimism dial just took a big step in the other direction

Praise the lord!

profitius wrote:This should be a good game.Things are really hotting up in the league now. I hope Ulster stay in the top 3 at least because they've been the most consistent team this season and deserve a home semi. Munster can do Ulster some favours in the coming weeks by beating Glasgow and Leinster but I wouldn't count on Munster doing it. Ulster have a good run in with winable matchesso they look good still to get the home semi final.

Standulstermen wrote:Can't agree profitius. It was the right decision because it came off is all that matters. As I say 9 out of 10 times it doesn't and you lose the ball in your own 22. I don't begrudge him his motm as he deserved it but I would be having a word if I were his coach.

Just a friendly 'don't do it again'

We'll agree to disagree stand. I love a bit of risk taking myself.

I love it myself, in other teams. I've watched humph Jr for years, maybe my quota is full!
,

Hi any tickets left for this bad boy?

Did Wilson train? I may be tempted to start Wilson ahead of Williams, against Sarries.

Wilson controls game and Willaims comes on to wreck what is a very physical team for last 25 minutes.

Williams starts and Wilson on bench maybe gives more options though.

Think me and Stand came to the conclusion Williams for home games, Wilson for away games.

Wilson may well have trained as well - not sure to be honest

I did hear a wisper that some really good news was on the way re injuries so who knows

Kingshu wrote:
Think me and Stand came to the conclusion Williams for home games, Wilson for away games.

I'd be thinking Williams for games we want to score points, Wilson for games we don't want to concede them.

I have some great news for this game... Clancy is the ref

rodders wrote:

Kingshu wrote:
Think me and Stand came to the conclusion Williams for home games, Wilson for away games.

I'd be thinking Williams for games we want to score points, Wilson for games we don't want to concede them.

Think thats pretty much the Home and away mentality, now against Sarries do we start out wanting to score points, or not wanting to concede them?

Personally I think start out with a controlled game with Wilson, then in second half when game should be opening up more add in Williams, to maximise his effect, either way I don't mind.

Was beginging to worry we would be in for a hiding in this game, geoffs news gives me a glimmer of hope.

First up Leinster, and a chance to show them who the new big dog is in town!?

Think there's still a couple of tickets floating about Rods, but it's very close to a sellout.

LeinsterFan4life wrote:I have some great news for this game... Clancy is the ref

So what your saying its going to be a complete farce then?

There are a few permutations around the 8 debate. I think Williams (purely due to his size) may take slightly longer to get up to speed regarding match fitness but a start this weekend and give him as long as possible is key.

I would go with Williams at present purely because we need the carrying threat. Afoa will be back sans jetlag this week, williams in, possibly Henderson and Tuohy showing a bit more means we have carrying options and i think we need to have them all on the field together.

To beat Saracens will require a MASSIVE turnaround in form and fortune and we need that spark that Williams gives.

SUFTUM!

I think Williams is absolutely fundimental to us. Most of our best performances coincided with Williams being on top form and for me he is the single biggest difference between this season and last.

He's clearly one of the best ball carriers in Europe and him just being on the field creates much more space for everyone else. Without him we've struggled to break teams down.

Wilson is a decent player and less error prone but I wouldn't be going into any big game without Williams.

Kingshu wrote:

First up Leinster, and a chance to show them who the new big dog is in town!?

The old dog might be up for teaching you a few new tricks. I'm hoping that we don't beat you by enough to shatter your confidence for Sarries.

A hard fought 28 20 win with 4 tries for us and 3 for you please. Just enough to make us happy and give you guys a good workout and a bit of a chip on the shoulder for next week.

We have been in your position a lot in recent seasons. A big interpro the week before a HC game. Normally we are hoping for a good workout and no injuries. The result would not be so important.

This time (because we are in the Amlin) we are looking for the win here more than the one next week. (although we would obviously like both) May make the difference in attitude

Forwards (15)
Neil McComb, Callum Black, Rory Best, Robbie Diack, Chris Henry, Dan Tuohy, Lewis Stevenson, Johann Muller, Nick Williams, Rob Herring, Kyle McCall, Ricky Lutton, Tom Court, Iain Henderson, Roger Wilson;

Backs (10)
Ruan Pienaar, Jared Payne, Craig Gilroy, Paul Marshall, Peter Nelson, Michael Heaney, Paddy Jackson, Stuart Olding, Darren Cave, Andrew Trimble.

Luke Marshall the only absentee. Looks for all the world like chris Henry will start at 7!

Standulstermen wrote:Forwards (15)
Neil McComb, Callum Black, Rory Best, Robbie Diack, Chris Henry, Dan Tuohy, Lewis Stevenson, Johann Muller, Nick Williams, Rob Herring, Kyle McCall, Ricky Lutton, Tom Court, Iain Henderson, Roger Wilson;

Backs (10)
Ruan Pienaar, Jared Payne, Craig Gilroy, Paul Marshall, Peter Nelson, Michael Heaney, Paddy Jackson, Stuart Olding, Darren Cave, Andrew Trimble.

Luke Marshall the only absentee. Looks for all the world like chris Henry will start at 7!

What about Afoa?

Oh sheeeeeeet...

Geoff?

Just seen he's off back to NZ for the birth of his child... So Court to TH and Black at LH then...

Healy will be licking his lips...

UlstermaninGlasgow wrote:Just seen he's off back to NZ for the birth of his child... So Court to TH and Black at LH then...

Was that not why he went back to NZ after New Year?

Who's Kyle McCall?
anyone give a bit of a low down on Ricky Lutton hes been in a bit this year.

to be fair Olding as third choice 12 is playing really well, think that Whitten leaving was fair enough, we have some depth at 12 that i'm sure keeping Olding a promising 12 (and cheaper) was better than Whitten (a solid dependable back up), now if Whitten could be a 13 I'd want him back in a heartbeat.

anyways team prob

Black,Best,Court
Muller, Tuohy
Henderson,Wilson, Henry
Pienaar, Jackson
Gilroy, Cave, Olding, Trimble
Payne

and expect bench to be fully used. Williams for Wilson at halftime, Stevenson for Muller 65/70mins,
all others around 60 min mark

McCall is a LH prop in the academy.

Played Ulster schools and I think may have turned out for the Ravens.

May have played Irish U20s too. (Just checked and it was the U20s he started for last season!)

Indeed true Afoa gone back for the birth.
Arrived on Wednesday left today will not return till next Wednesday.

Marshall trained fine but having two weeks off as part of the concussion rules.

Lutton is doing well and may well start.
Lot depends on the Leinster second row - when it was Cullen and Toner we mullered them.

Seeing as we have 2 9's on the bench we may be going for a 6/2 split.
At last we have a backrow worthy of the name - more I think about it the more I reckon 5 backrowers will be in the final 23.

Any word on Bowe, Ferris and Paddy Wallace?

Wouldn't mind seeing Payne and Cave in the centre and Andrew at 15......

You wont see Wallace or Ferris for the rest of the season.

Andrew is not in the squad Nelson is.
Nelson is a better player

Yeah didn't realise Nelson was back Geoff, that would make more sense...