Amlin Final- Leinster v Stade Francais

Right all,

So Leinster get another shot at the double (albeit the downgraded double).

Stade come to Dublin to kick off a predominant French weekend (interesting now how France came last in the 6N eh?). Stade come to Dublin off the back of a very bad loss to Biarritz (52-17) and currently lie in 10th place of the French Top 14 league, that being said they do boast quite a few top drawer players in Pape, Parisse, Dupuy, Warwick and Sackey. On top of that they have ex-Leinster players Contempomi and Stan Wright as part of their overall squad.

On the other side of the halfway line we have Leinster. Leinster have won 15 of their last 16 games in all competitions, they along with Clermont and Toulon are the only team playing for a European and domestic double, this is Leinster 3rd European final in 3 years. They boast the familiar names of Healy, Sexton, Kearney, Heaslip, O'Brien and Nacewa not to mention some chap called O'Driscoll. Working against Leinster is the 6 day turn around. There last number of games have been tough; Darcy has been ruled out with a torn calf, BOD and Strauss both went off early against Glasgow. Coach Joe Schmidt has said that realistically the lads are only going to get to train on Wednesday and Thursday (possibly Tuesday) such was the physicallity of the Glasgow test and indeed the Ospreys and Biarritz ones before it.

I don't know the number of Stade fans who will make it to the game but there are 2 other French teams in town and I imagine they will be supporting the "visitors", the Dublin and Leinster faithful will descent on their D4tress and lend their weight to the team which have got to be running on empty.

Use this thread to discuss possible teams, injury updates, team announcements, verdicts, tactical analysis and whatever else.

I'm heading to the game if anyone fancies a few pints before/during/after???

Believe

Some questions to get the ball rolling?

1) Will BOD be fit? Does anyone have any info?

2) Will McFadden or Madigan replace Darcy?

3) Is Healy fit enough to play? He really looks like he is playing through the pain barrier?

4) Where are Stade strong/weak?

5) Will we see Contempomi about the RDS again?

1) apparently yes
5) nope. He's not qualified but maybe he will be in the stands.

Glad BOD is fit; a Sexton-Madigan-McFadden midfield sounds exciting but a final is not the time to try this sorta thing.

I hope he is in the stands, he was always one of my favourite players and I'd love to see him out there shaking hands with some of the boys regardless of the score

1/ Joe Schmidt and Warren Gatland say he will. Dunno though.

2/ Madigan or Goodman.

3/ Perhaps he'll bench.

4/ Parrise v Heaslip should be good. Their scrum is decent, but so is ours. On paper we should be stronger but they had a week off, we are 6 days after one of the hardest games of the season.

5/ His season and in fact professional carreer is over. He could have already legged it back to Arg.

Hope he hasn't though. I'd love to see him in the RDS for Isa's last game.

Jenny-

Isn't it mad how I actually fear Nick Williams more than Parisse currently? I normally think of him as one of the best 8's in the world and at the moment I amn't too worried about him if I am honest.

That 6 day turn around could be killer tbh HOWEVER I am glad of all the time available between the Stade game and the Ulster one. If a 6 day turn around for this one means a 7 or 8 for the next one it is definitely worth it in my books.

"FAO Stade Francias, your mission if you choose to accept it;

1) To beat Leinster up for 80 minutes and keep the score close enough that they can't rest any players in the last twenty.
2) Still lose though, so we can have another European trophy back in Ireland and Connacht get into the Big Cup again

It would be better if you focus on cheap shots and big tackles than actually winning the game. I don't want you to win. Just beat them up. Sounds good? Good."

Notch wrote:"FAO Stade Francias, your mission if you choose to accept it;

1) To beat Leinster up for 80 minutes and keep the score close enough that they can't rest any players in the last twenty.
2) Still lose though, so we can have another European trophy back in Ireland and Connacht get into the Big Cup again

It would be better if you focus on cheap shots and big tackles than actually winning the game. I don't want you to win. Just beat them up. Sounds good? Good."

It would appear Mission Impossible Headquarters has been infiltrated. They caught the suspect and are interrogating him as we speak however, they haven't learned anything from the suspect as they can't understand a word he says. Some think it may have something to do with his accent but others think it is just too much like nonsense to actually be a formal language."

Yeah Notch, I would like them not to do that for obvious reasons. I'd quite like a few early Leinster tries and Stade to be stepping on to the plane home by the 50th minute.

I always thought Leinster were a great team, but I think this thread has put into perspective just how good they are. Your run-in in this years Amlin kind of reminds of Cardiff Blues' when they won the trophy. Thrashing the teams in the KO stages and then beating a French team in the final .

Ha ha. It's funny how the Amlin is now important to Leinster.

I've taken stick off Gibbo for Wasps being 'an Amlin team'. I'll be seeing him in Dubh Linn over the weekend so.


Good luck Leinster, though part of me wants a SF win so Wasps get into the HC next season*. Finishing 8th in the AP means we don't deserve to though.

* We wouldn't get out of our Pool anyway.

Hound of Harrow wrote:Ha ha. It's funny how the Amlin is now important to Leinster.

I've taken stick off Gibbo for Wasps being 'an Amlin team'. I'll be seeing him in Dubh Linn over the weekend so.


Good luck Leinster, though part of me wants a SF win so Wasps get into the HC next season*. Finishing 8th in the AP means we don't deserve to though.

* We wouldn't get out of our Pool anyway.

Ah everything takes on a pressing importance when you find yourself in the thick of it.

Hound of Harrow wrote:Ha ha. It's funny how the Amlin is now important to Leinster.

I've taken stick off Gibbo for Wasps being 'an Amlin team'. I'll be seeing him in Dubh Linn over the weekend so.


Good luck Leinster, though part of me wants a SF win so Wasps get into the HC next season*. Finishing 8th in the AP means we don't deserve to though.

* We wouldn't get out of our Pool anyway.

How come Wasps qualify over Bath? An English side 'qualifies' when a French side beats an Irish one.
Meanwhile an Irish side 'qualifies' when an Irish side beats a French one.

These free passes to HEC via other teams' success are about as welcome and merited as a septic bladder.

Simple enough Grey, only 7 French teams max can make the HC, and given the winner of this years HC is definitely French they’re already at their max. so if Stade win the next highest ranked but not already qualified team (Wasps) get in.

If Leinster are serious about it they should put 40 on stade, they have no backline to speak of and their pack is average.

Mickado wrote:Simple enough Grey, only 7 French teams max can make the HC, and given the winner of this years HC is definitely French they’re already at their max. so if Stade win the next highest ranked but not already qualified team (Wasps) get in.

Ah. I get it. What a tangled web of the ERC weave.

greytiger wrote:

Mickado wrote:Simple enough Grey, only 7 French teams max can make the HC, and given the winner of this years HC is definitely French they’re already at their max. so if Stade win the next highest ranked but not already qualified team (Wasps) get in.

Ah. I get it. What a tangled web of the ERC weave.

+1

VinceWLB wrote:If Leinster are serious about it they should put 40 on stade, they have no backline to speak of and their pack is average.

I must admit to not knowing an awful lot about Stade but I wouldn't expect us to be putting 40 on them, I think this 6 day turn around is going to hurt us big time. Most of our lads are pretty bollixed after the Glasgow game.

Just out of interest why do you not rate the Stade backs?

pete (buachaill on eirne) wrote:

VinceWLB wrote:If Leinster are serious about it they should put 40 on stade, they have no backline to speak of and their pack is average.

Just out of interest why do you not rate the Stade backs?

They have a centre called Williams who does nothing with the ball at all, their 10 is the most overrated french player in the top14, their wings are nothing spectacular, only decent player is their 15 Porical and he is prone to having off days.
Warwick is pretty average i think too.

I can see this going either way. If Stade score early they could cause an upset. Leinsters defence has struggled all season and that backline isn't great. Physically they were all over the place against Glasgow and they are going to have to dig deep over the next few games.

Sorry Leinster fans.

VinceWLB wrote:

pete (buachaill on eirne) wrote:

VinceWLB wrote:If Leinster are serious about it they should put 40 on stade, they have no backline to speak of and their pack is average.

Just out of interest why do you not rate the Stade backs?

They have a centre called Williams who does nothing with the ball at all, their 10 is the most overrated french player in the top14, their wings are nothing spectacular, only decent player is their 15 Porical and he is prone to having off days.
Warwick is pretty average i think too.

Why is Felipe not registered so? That sounds like a seriously bad call on their part because old or not he is still a class act.

rodders wrote:I can see this going either way. If Stade score early they could cause an upset. Leinsters defence has struggled all season and that backline isn't great. Physically they were all over the place against Glasgow and they are going to have to dig deep over the next few games.

Sorry Leinster fans.

Hopefully you will be eating those words 2 weeks in a row.

Jenifer McLadyboy wrote:

rodders wrote:I can see this going either way. If Stade score early they could cause an upset. Leinsters defence has struggled all season and that backline isn't great. Physically they were all over the place against Glasgow and they are going to have to dig deep over the next few games.

Sorry Leinster fans.

Hopefully you will be eating those words 2 weeks in a row.

Must say I agree re: defense. It is looking unorganised IMO.

The amount of times we elected a soft drift defense when we had the numbers covered was alarming. We allowed the Glasgow players massive amounts of territory when we should have attacked them as a defensive system. This has been a reoccurring trend in the last few months.

When we have the correct number of defenders compared to attackers we should be stepping up to meet them.

As Isa said on Saturday "Line speed in defence is an attitude thing"

Completely agree with him. The lads need to get off their heels and on to their toes and be aggressive

Leinster are considerably better than Stade and an upset is very unlikely.

Notch wrote:Leinster are considerably better than Stade and an upset is very unlikely.

Where are Stade weak/strong Notch? They do have some good players and obviously beat some good teams on their way to the final.

Stade are not the team they were a few years ago, they can still be dangerous, but Leinster are back to thier high flying best, and are again back to being around the best in Europe (euro table has them 2nd, stade 18th), plus Leinster are at home, and have plenty of experience of big games.

The only negatives to Leinster is the short turn around and how physical the Glasgow game was.

I'd have them as odds on Fav's, and hope they can get Connacht into the h-cup again.

pete (buachaill on eirne) wrote:Right all,

So Leinster get another shot at the double (albeit the downgraded double).

Stade come to Dublin to kick off a predominant French weekend (interesting now how France came last in the 6N eh?). Stade come to Dublin off the back of a very bad loss to Biarritz (52-17) and currently lie in 10th place of the French Top 14 league, that being said they do boast quite a few top drawer players in Pape, Parisse, Dupuy, Warwick and Sackey. On top of that they have ex-Leinster players Contempomi and Stan Wright as part of their overall squad.

On the other side of the halfway line we have Leinster. Leinster have won 15 of their last 16 games in all competitions, they along with Clermont and Toulon are the only team playing for a European and domestic double, this is Leinster 3rd European final in 3 years. They boast the familiar names of Healy, Sexton, Kearney, Heaslip, O'Brien and Nacewa not to mention some chap called O'Driscoll. Working against Leinster is the 6 day turn around. There last number of games have been tough; Darcy has been ruled out with a torn calf, BOD and Strauss both went off early against Glasgow. Coach Joe Schmidt has said that realistically the lads are only going to get to train on Wednesday and Thursday (possibly Tuesday) such was the physicallity of the Glasgow test and indeed the Ospreys and Biarritz ones before it.

I don't know the number of Stade fans who will make it to the game but there are 2 other French teams in town and I imagine they will be supporting the "visitors", the Dublin and Leinster faithful will descent on their D4tress and lend their weight to the team which have got to be running on empty.

Use this thread to discuss possible teams, injury updates, team announcements, verdicts, tactical analysis and whatever else.

I'm heading to the game if anyone fancies a few pints before/during/after???

Believe

Pete, the main posse will be in Searsons, Baggott Street, apparently

pete (buachaill on eirne) wrote:

Notch wrote:Leinster are considerably better than Stade and an upset is very unlikely.

Where are Stade weak/strong Notch? They do have some good players and obviously beat some good teams on their way to the final.

Strong- scrum. Some good back three players too. Good backrow. Weak 10 and midfield. Less overall quality than Leinster right across the park. Would give Leinster the advantage everywhere but the tight five. Not registering Contepomi for ERC competition in order to rest him for the league is biting them in the ass.

Like many French mid-table sides, they are less than the sum of their parts. While Schmidt has been given license to build a team in Leinster that has a very clear style of play that everyone buys into in a very disciplined, focused way Stade have had six coaches in six years. So Leinster have these structures in defence and attack that all their players understand and execute very successfully whereas Stade are less organised and coherent. The only thing that can win this for Stade is if Leinster suffer from the six day turnaround and they get some dominance in the scrum and get a good few penalties from there.

Otherwise I can't see any other result but Leinster winning.

The Leinster squad have stepped up their preparations for Friday night's Amlin Challenge Cup final against Stade Français in the RDS (KO: 8pm) with a training session in UCD on Tuesday afternoon...

With the province's six British & Irish Lions representatives involved in camp on Monday, the province didn't train until Tuesday ahead of the visit of the French side to the RDS and there are a number of injury concerns arising from the weekend's PRO12 Play Off victory over the Glasgow Warriors.

Brian O'Driscoll is recovering from a back spasm which curtailed his involvement on Saturday night. At this point the Clontarf man is rated as having a good chance of being available for Friday's fixture.

Gordon D'Arcy suffered a recurrence of the calf injury which had limited his on-field activity in recent weeks and he has been ruled out for the visit of the French side.

The management expect Sean O'Brien (calf) to be available after he missed last weekend's game while Dave Kearney is also poised to return to action after his recent five week absence.

Aside from that there were the usual bumps and bruises arising from the Glasgow game. Leo Cullen received stitches to a cut above his right eye but the influential skipper finished the game, while Kevin McLaughlin received a bruised eye following an accidental collision with his team-mate Fergus McFadden who received treatment after receiving a kick in his right knee which is not thought to be serious enough to keep him out of contention.

Ireland hooker Richardt Strauss also received treatment on a knee injury, but the medical team are also confident that he will be available for selection.

Isaac Boss' next game will be his 75th in all competitions, while out-half Jonathan Sexton is now just a single point shy of the 1,000 point mark in 108 Leinster appearances to date.

It's a big weekend for the province with the 'A' team set to travel to face the Newcastle Falcons in the final of the British & Irish Cup in Kingston Park on Friday night (KO: 7.30pm).

Girvan Dempsey's charges will be keen to finish their campaign and build on their recent 17-15 semi final victory away to Munster. Friday's clash will pit Newcastle out-half Jimmy Gopperth against his future employers. Locks Tom Denton and Ben Marshall are injury concerns for the province and that team will also be named on Thursday

Anyone selling spare tickets for this match? Need two please.

Didn't realise the B and I cup was on this weekend as well. Wow seriously stretching our resources!! Good to hear that most of the lads have come through their injuries/knocks ok and will be good to lineout on Friday.

That 8 day turn around to the Ulster game is a massive blessing. Glad we have a 6 day since Glasgow and 8 to Ulster rather than a 7 since Glasgow and 7 since Ulster.

My take on the team against Stade:

Healy-Strauss-Ross
Cullen-Toner
McL-Heaslip-SOB
Boss-Sexton
Madigan-BOD
Isa-Kearney-McFadden

Cronin-McGrath-Hagan-Roux-Jennings-Cooney-Goodman-Conway

I hope Kearney Jr gets a go for the A team along with the likes of Ryan, Murphy, Bent, O'Malley

Is VDM injured or has he left already?

Golden wrote:Is VDM injured or has he left already?

He's still here, think he is injured but McGrath has been playing out of his skin recently anyway

I'd start McGrath to be honest, just rewards for his performances this season. Healy on the bench to cause havoc after an hour.

pete (buachaill on eirne) wrote:

Golden wrote:Is VDM injured or has he left already?

He's still here, think he is injured but McGrath has been playing out of his skin recently anyway

I agree but it would have been nice to have the ability to rotate Healy a bit more over the these 3 games.

Golden wrote:

pete (buachaill on eirne) wrote:

Golden wrote:Is VDM injured or has he left already?

He's still here, think he is injured but McGrath has been playing out of his skin recently anyway

I agree but it would have been nice to have the ability to rotate Healy a bit more over the these 3 games.

As Mick points out, there'd be no harm in starting McGrath for this one and releasing Healy with 30 to go or so. McGrath is well able for it in the loose and is a decent scrummager so it may be a good idea to start him and give Cian (who really looks knackered) a rest before the Ulster game. Jeez if we are winning well, we don't need to bring him on at all.

McGrath handled Adam Jones very well. He will be up against no such animal this time round.

Slimani is an excellent scrummaging tighthead.

Just want to say best of luck to the Leinster lads, I have some irish solidarity this week I assure you it will dissapear as we get closer top the pro 12 final lol

Notch wrote:Slimani is an excellent scrummaging tighthead.

Yes but think he's injured. Could well have made France team otherwise.

whocares wrote:

Notch wrote:Slimani is an excellent scrummaging tighthead.

Yes but think he's injured. Could well have made France team otherwise.

Phew.

neilthom7 wrote:Just want to say best of luck to the Leinster lads, I have some irish solidarity this week I assure you it will dissapear as we get closer top the pro 12 final lol

Seconded Neil, one more for the ladyboy express! Get to the back of the queue Sin!

Well that could be key. He was the one player who I thought could really cause Leinster serious problems.

I want Leinster to win, but not to coast it after all. Some tired bodies for the Pro12 final would be good!

whocares wrote:

Notch wrote:Slimani is an excellent scrummaging tighthead.

Yes but think he's injured. Could well have made France team otherwise.

You sure? He played in the Semi v Perpignan. The whole team was rested the following week and they had no match last week. When did he get injured?

Some are saying BOD is 50-50 for this game.

Read in a french forum that slimani was "doubtful".

pete (buachaill on eirne) wrote:Some are saying BOD is 50-50 for this game.

True. Had some inside info on that. Not out yet though

whocares wrote:Read in a french forum that slimani was "doubtful".

That would be a bonus

Jenifer McLadyboy wrote:

pete (buachaill on eirne) wrote:Some are saying BOD is 50-50 for this game.

True. Had some inside info on that. Not out yet though

If it meant him being ok for the Ulster game then I'd rest him on Friday night