Leinster V Ospreys

Fitness report from Leinster Rugby

Leinster Website wrote:
The Leinster squad trained in UCD on Monday afternoon ahead of Saturday's opening home game of the RaboDirect PRO12 campaign against the Ospreys in the RDS (KO: 6.15pm) as the province look to build on Friday's bonus point win in Wales...Aside from the usual bumps and bruises there are no major concerns from the medical team arising from Friday's game.

Luke Fitzgerald felt tightness in his groin during the second half of the win over the Scarlets and was withdrawn as a precaution. Tight-head prop Martin Moore, the opening try scorer in the win, received treatment for a cut on his nose which required stitches. It is hoped that both players will be available ahead of Friday's midday team announcement. :happy clapper:

Fergus McFadden was a late withdrawal at the weekend with a tight hamstring, but it is expected that the Ireland back will be in the frame this week and he could be joined by Ian Madigan. Sean O'Brien continues to make positive strides on his arm injury and is expected to return over the coming weeks.

Michael Bent (neck), however, is still unavailable while Quinn Roux rolled his ankle in training and is a doubt for Saturday's game.

There were debuts for three players in Wales; St. Mary's College winger Darragh Fanning, out-half Jimmy Gopperth who scored 22 points and Ireland second row Mike McCarthy.

Leinster
15: Dave Kearney
14: Darragh Fanning
13: Brendan Macken
12: Gordon D'Arcy
11: Luke Fitzgerald
10: Jimmy Gopperth
9: Eoin Reddan

1: Jack McGrath
2: Richardt Strauss
3: Mike Ross
4: Devin Toner
5: Mike McCarthy
6: Kevin McLaughlin
7: Shane Jennings CAPTAIN
8: Jordi Murphy

REPLACEMENTS:

16: Sean Cronin
17: Jack O'Connell
18: Martin Moore
19: Tom Denton
20: Rhys Ruddock
21: Isaac Boss
22: Ian Madigan
23: Darren Hudson

Ospreys
15 Richard Fussell
14 Ben John
13 Andrew Bishop
12 Ashley Beck
11 Eli Walker
10 Dan Biggar
9 Tito Tebaldi

1 Ryan Bevington
2 Scott Baldwin
3 Joe Rees
4 Ian Evans
5 James King
6 Tom Smith (Capt)
7 Sam Lewis
8 Joe Bearman

REPLACEMENTS

16 Richard Hibbard
17 Duncan Jones
18 Adam Jones
19 Tyler Ardron
20 Morgan Allen
21 Tom Grabham
22 Matthew Morgan
23 Jeff Hassler

Good to hear that Fitzgerald will feature. I'd start with Fanning and Hudson and spring him if required.

Mickado wrote:Good to hear that Fitzgerald will feature. I'd start with Fanning and Hudson and spring him if required.

He may or may not. You have to get Ferg a bit of gametime off the bench. If Luke is good to go then start him. If not give him the week off.

How are the residents of Neath, Swansea and surrounding areas feeling?.

Not to bad thanks for asking. Shouldn't eaten thiose two pastries as well as a wrap earlier but what you gonna do? Three night shifts coming up so I'll be tired later. How are you Jen?

Howdy Breadser. I'm grand too. Just heading out to the gym thanks for asking.

I kinda meant how are you feeling about the Ospreys though. What kind of a team will be out? A few Lions on the bench? Perhaps an odd one starting?

We will have zero lions. Hopefully we will be in good enough shape.

 Yeh I know, just messin. Probably see a team similar to the Treviso game. Maybe Hibbard, Evans, A Jones will start I dunno. Tandy might keep faith with the starters from Treviso. Always a big ask going to the RDS. I just hope we play well...

What's the story with Alun Wyn? Like him as a player. Therefor I hope he's out.

I'm not sure why the big guns aren't rested, they'll be fecked (they all came off the bench on Saturday). They'll likely show up with a good team and probably win if SOB, Heaslip, Ross and Healy aren't playing. Looking forward to watching these two teams play each other in the Heineken Cup, it's well overdue .

I was hoping AWJ and Tips might be bench fodder coming on in the second half this weekend?

We'll need to work hard on our defence, Leinster scored from half a chance several times last weekend. We should be able to give them a fair fight up front. But Leinster are mighty canny and quick in the backs.

Could be a great game.

How can I watch this live in the UK as it's being broadcast on RTE?

Cocokav wrote:How can I watch this live in the UK as it's being broadcast on RTE?

Try this...

http://www.aertv.ie/

Pre-match preview video

http://www.ospreysrugby.com/News/Article/30672

Jonno Gibbes the Leinster forwards coach vs his brother Chris Gibbes the Ospreys Forwards coach... Nice bit of sibling rivalry sure to spice it up.

Looking forward to this game, Leinster & Munster are the big games in the P12 i look forward to.

I'm hoping that last weeks win is a starting point for the team (Treviso away isn't a given anymore). As always, we're a bit slow out of the blocks each season, so it'd be nice to have a season where we hit the ground running, than having to wait 5/6 games before performances start to appear.

I'd like to see a few Lions start, but if they come off the bench that'd be good enough, just don't want to see them burnt out before the bigger games start later in the season (HC/6N)

Leinster games are always huge. Especially in my house where one of my best mates is Leinster through and through and my wife was born there too...

I think the teams will be quite evenly matched, Ospreys maybe a touch smarter in the pack, especially at the scrums and Leinster have a killer backline that make tries out of slim chances.

Our defence wasn't up to speed last week, lets hope the lads have worked hard on that this week.

The scrums are a bit of a lottery still, really hope that we've come up to speed on the new laws. I think the likes of Moore and Ross, as technical scrummagers, should benefit from the hit being taken out, but we had a hard time of it last week. Hope whoever starts at SH has sorted out the crooked feeds too...

Mickado wrote:The scrums are a bit of a lottery still, really hope that we've come up to speed on the new laws. I think the likes of Moore and Ross, as technical scrummagers, should benefit from the hit being taken out, but we had a hard time of it last week. Hope whoever starts at SH has sorted out the crooked feeds too...

Crooked feeds? I thought he was just seeing if he could roll the ball to the number 8s feet and manage to run there before it rolled out  

It should be interesting to see what happens in the scrums, as from what I saw of the Ospreys last week (all bar first few mins) they seemed solid enough in the scrums, (until the defensive 5m one, when IMO Adam Jones was playing to his rep of being a solid scrummager and won them the match with a bit of naughty play Not faulting him, if you have an advantage use it!). SO if the ref looks at the poor Leinster scrum last week and the strong Ospreys scrum, I think any 50-50 (or even Osp 40-60 Lein) calls will go the Ospreys way

ScarletSpiderman wrote:

Mickado wrote:The scrums are a bit of a lottery still, really hope that we've come up to speed on the new laws. I think the likes of Moore and Ross, as technical scrummagers, should benefit from the hit being taken out, but we had a hard time of it last week. Hope whoever starts at SH has sorted out the crooked feeds too...

Crooked feeds?   I thought he was just seeing if he could roll the ball to the number 8s feet and manage to run there before it rolled out  

It should be interesting to see what happens in the scrums, as from what I saw of the Ospreys last week (all bar first few mins) they seemed solid enough in the scrums, (until the defensive 5m one, when IMO Adam Jones was playing to his rep of being a solid scrummager and won them the match with a bit of naughty play Not faulting him, if you have an advantage use it!).  SO if the ref looks at the poor Leinster scrum last week and the strong Ospreys scrum, I think any 50-50 (or even Osp 40-60 Lein) calls will go the Ospreys way

We did concede numerous free kicks and a couple of penalties because of the bad feeds though. I think part of the reason out scrum was under pressure was the second row, Toner and Denton are not a strong pairing, I'd expect Mike McCarthy to be starting this week, and he is a very strong scrummaging lock.

Aye and that was against the Scarlets that are not a great scrummaging team on reputation... Though they have a good TH and Hooker in Lee and Owens.

Eoin Reddin's feeding last week was awful and he should have conceded a number of penalties. He'll have to watch that this week.

But I am so worried about that Leinster backline, they looked superb for a first competitive run out of the year. And as i said above our first up, backline defence was not great...

Rumoured team:

15. Dave Kearney
14. Darragh Fanning
13. Brendan Macken
12. Gordon Darcy
11. Luke Fitzgerald
10. Jimmy Gopparth
9. Isaac Boss

1. Jack McGrath
2. Sean Cronin
3. Mike Ross
4. Mike McCarthy
5. Devin Toner
6. Kevin McLaughlin
7. Shane Jennings
8. Jordi Murphy

How long are you expecting Healy to be out for...?

good back five and a handy backline. Wasn't amazed with Gopparth last week would like to see Madigan in the ten position

maestegmafia wrote:How long are you expecting Healy to be out for...?

good back five and a handy backline. Wasn't amazed with Gopparth last week would like to see Madigan in the ten position

I don't think he's injured, just having a longer pre-season on account of being on the Lions tour. Would expect him back in the next couple of weeks though, he'll get probably 2 games before the HC starts.

Gopperth was pretty good last week I thought, his defense wasn't the George Best in the first half but not many of our lads were looking good there, his kicking was very good though and I thought he was able to use his outside backs well, the skip pass to Kearney for his try was a nice move. Madigan has some competition, which is great, but I do expect Madigan to displace him when he gets back. Would imagine he'll be benching this week and starting next.

Gopparth was pretty decent last weekend. His kicking was top class (almost slotted the one from just inside his half, just slightly off target), and he seemed reliable with ball in hand. That said he didn't set the world alight, but I would not be too suprised if he kept hold of the ten shirt with Madigan slotting into the centre (whilst the centre seems pretty weak atm).

ScarletSpiderman wrote:Gopparth was pretty decent last weekend.  His kicking was top class (almost slotted the one from just inside his half, just slightly off target), and he seemed reliable with ball in hand.  That said he didn't set the world alight, but I would not be too suprised if he kept hold of the ten shirt with Madigan slotting into the centre (whilst the centre seems pretty weak atm).

That's definitely an option, we saw him play centre last season in both cup finals, and for Ireland as a replacement in the 6nations. Played very well.

Mickado wrote:

ScarletSpiderman wrote:Gopparth was pretty decent last weekend.  His kicking was top class (almost slotted the one from just inside his half, just slightly off target), and he seemed reliable with ball in hand.  That said he didn't set the world alight, but I would not be too suprised if he kept hold of the ten shirt with Madigan slotting into the centre (whilst the centre seems pretty weak atm).

That's definitely an option, we saw him play centre last season in both cup finals, and for Ireland as a replacement in the 6nations. Played very well.

He's not shabby at fullback either... Bloody good player.

Is it conditioning reason that he might not be selected until next week?

maestegmafia wrote:

Mickado wrote:

ScarletSpiderman wrote:Gopparth was pretty decent last weekend.  His kicking was top class (almost slotted the one from just inside his half, just slightly off target), and he seemed reliable with ball in hand.  That said he didn't set the world alight, but I would not be too suprised if he kept hold of the ten shirt with Madigan slotting into the centre (whilst the centre seems pretty weak atm).

That's definitely an option, we saw him play centre last season in both cup finals, and for Ireland as a replacement in the 6nations. Played very well.

He's not shabby at fullback either... Bloody good player.

Is it conditioning reason that he might not be selected until next week?

Pretty much, different players started preseason at different times depending if they were on the Lions tour, Irish tour or "Emerging Ireland" tour. The idea being that everyone gets a proper preseason. Having said that, I think the expectation is that he will bench this weekend.

OK cheers for letting us know... Still waiting to hear rumours regarding the Ospreys but I wouldn't imagine that they are too far removed from the team we selected last week.

I am dying to see Ross Jones given game time at fullback over Fussell and I would really like to see Ben John at Outside centre with Beck inside him.

Backrow looked good last week but I am imagining that King and Evans would be starting Locks with Ryan Jones moving to 6 and maybe just maybe Tipuric coming into the game from the bench at openside...?

Mick is bang on there.

Pre season started on the 1st of July with the boys who were in Georgia and North America joining in 2 to 3 weeks later. Lions went back in August and are 3 to 4 weeks behind the other tourists.

Current injuries are Bent and Roux. Kirchner with the Boks and Tuqiri sleeping off jet lag.

Fitz is not 100% but reckoned to play at the weekend. Healy and O'Brien are rehabbing from injuries as well as lions rest. Both are in pre season and not too far off.

Strauss, McFadden, McLaughlin and Madigan are the only US tourists not to feature yet, and I would expect them to start or bench this week.

Just read that Ryan Jones shoulder injury from the Treviso victory is preventing him from being selected this week.

maestegmafia wrote:Just read that Ryan Jones shoulder injury from the Treviso victory is preventing him from being selected this week.

No Alun Wyn or Tipps either.

Are yiz taken this serious or wha?

The Leinster back line played very well last week.  It was good to see with Hudson, Fanning just in D Kearney taking the 15 position and a new outhalf that the system and running lines are staying in place.  The quality of the passing at times was very good, nobody having to check a run to take a pass and fast'n'flat passes being spun both to the left and the right.  It is set up for everybody to play well in an exciting attacking system rather than relying on a single players ability to pull something out of the bag against the run of play.

Scrum needs to front up and the feed needs to be crisper (and straighter).  Will young Jack O'Connell get to play some minutes this weekend? (he jogged off laughing after getting a yellow card before play had even resumed, hilarious)

Jenifer McLadyboy wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:Just read that Ryan Jones shoulder injury from the Treviso victory is preventing him from being selected this week.

No Alun Wyn or Tipps either.

Are yiz taken this serious or wha?

Ha ha ha, I think we always take you guys seriously...

Ryan's injured and apparently the other too aren't ready... That said James King and Sam Lewis are not bad deputy's...!

Evans, Hibbard and Jones could start so it won't be a bad team. I'd rather see King at 6, I think he's better there. The O's backline needs a few changes. Their best defender (Bishop) needs to go to 12. They also need a decent full back and another winger on the wing.

The Saint wrote:Evans, Hibbard and Jones could start so it won't be a bad team. I'd rather see King at 6, I think he's better there. The O's backline needs a few changes. Their best defender (Bishop) needs to go to 12. They also need a decent full back and another winger on the wing.

Good calls.

I don't mind King at lock, he does a hell of a lot of work.

I'd rather see Ben John in the centre and work out who fits best with him. I think Beck is my preferred option as he has a lot more flair than bishop. But Bish is a bloody rock to build your defence round

THE OSPREYS TEAM TO PLAY LEINSTER AT THE RDS SHOWGROUND ON SATURDAY 14TH SEPTEMBER, KO 6.15PM, IS AS FOLLOWS:


15 Richard Fussell
14 Ben John
13 Andrew Bishop
12 Ashley Beck
11 Eli Walker
10 Dan Biggar
9 Tito Tebaldi

1 Ryan Bevington
2 Scott Baldwin
3 Joe Rees
4 Ian Evans
5 James King
6 Tom Smith (Capt)
7 Sam Lewis
8 Joe Bearman

REPLACEMENTS
16 Richard Hibbard
17 Duncan Jones
18 Adam Jones
19 Tyler Ardron
20 Morgan Allen
21 Tom Grabham
22 Matthew Morgan
23 Jeff Hassler
Tyler Ardron and Jeff Hassler will make their Ospreys debuts if they come off the bench

Head Coach Steve Tandy said:
“It was good to get off to a positive start last weekend. We wanted to build some real momentum in the opening weeks of the season and although there’s plenty of room for improvement there’s a lot to be happy about after a tough game in Italy.
“The spirit and effort shown by the boys was fantastic, that was probably the most pleasing thing for me. When we had to dog it out at the end, it was backs to the wall stuff and we came through a very difficult test.
“Looking forward to this weekend, there’s been plenty to work on off the back of last Saturday, a few things to put right, but the attitude of the group has been good.
“Leinster away is always tough and we wouldn’t expect it to be any different this weekend. They’ve got strength in depth and whatever team they pick we know that as a team we are going to have to be at our best to be able to build on the win in Treviso and keep the momentum going.
“We want to come back to the Liberty next week to play Edinburgh on the back of another positive performance, so that there will be a real buzz around the Liberty to welcome the boys back for the first home game of the PRO12 season, and a good crowd getting behind the region.”

The following players were unavailable for selection through injury:
Dmitri Arhip – Achilles (Front Row - can cover all three positions apparently)
Hanno Dirksen – Knee (Wing)
Tom Habberfield – Ankle (Scrumhalf)
Dafydd Howells - Shoulder (Wing)
Aaron Jarvis – Knee (Tighthead Prop)
Ryan Jones - Shoulder (Backrow/Lock)
Lloyd Peers – Shoulder (Lock)
Rhys Webb - Knee (Scrumhalf)

LEINSTER:

15: Dave Kearney
14: Darragh Fanning
13: Brendan Macken
12: Gordon D'Arcy
11: Luke Fitzgerald
10: Jimmy Gopperth
9: Eoin Reddan

1: Jack McGrath
2: Richardt Strauss
3: Mike Ross
4: Devin Toner
5: Mike McCarthy
6: Kevin McLaughlin
7: Shane Jennings CAPTAIN
8: Jordi Murphy

REPLACEMENTS:

16: Sean Cronin
17: Jack O'Connell
18: Martin Moore
19: Tom Denton
20: Rhys Ruddock
21: Isaac Boss
22: Ian Madigan
23: Darren Hudson

Not too much to give either way there, its gonna be a bruiser of a game

maestegmafia wrote:Not too much to give either way there, its gonna be a bruiser of a game

Hope so.
To me our team looks stronger. Probably because I know all our players though and not all of yours.

Good entree to the main course in Swansea in 4 weeks.

Delighted to see Luke back fit.

Jenifer McLadyboy wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:Not too much to give either way there, its gonna be a bruiser of a game

Hope so.
To me our team looks stronger. Probably because I know all our players though and not all of yours.

Good entree to the main course in Swansea in 4 weeks.

We have a pretty decent back front row to bring on and its not a poor pack to start with. Our back three defence is my biggest worry. and that we are missing our two first choice scrumhalfs.

No 2nd row cover. What happens if one of them breaks? Bearman to 2nd row?

Tyler Hardon is a bit short as are Smith and Lewis

Morgan Allen can play Lock

maestegmafia wrote:Morgan Allen can play Lock

He'll be the only 6'3" lock in pro rugby I'd say.  

Jenifer McLadyboy wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:Morgan Allen can play Lock

He'll be the only 6'3" lock in pro rugby I'd say.  

He is a number 8 but he can play lock. We are a bit thin on the ground for locks with Goughie leaving the other week, Peers injured, AW jones not fit yet and Ryan getting a knock last week we don't have many options.

They could have brought in Rhodri Hughes, or does he not have a contract?

maestegmafia wrote:

Jenifer McLadyboy wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:Morgan Allen can play Lock

He'll be the only 6'3" lock in pro rugby I'd say.  

He is a number 8 but he can play lock. We are a bit thin on the ground for locks with Goughie leaving the other week, Peers injured, AW jones not fit yet and Ryan getting a knock last week we don't have many options.

We are not to flush there either.

Dunno what the crack is with Leo Cullen. He was at our Friendly with Northampton and was not injured looking.

Quin Roux is out with a twisted ankle. We do have Ben Marshall and a few of good younglads in the academy, but I would not rate Denton as an impact player.

Starting pair of Toner and McCarthy is good, if a little unbalanced in the scrum. 6" height difference between them.

This game appears to be only available on RTE...!

Try aertv.ie - not sure if it will work now but worth a shot.

Mickado wrote:Try aertv.ie - not sure if it will work now but worth a shot.

Thanks ill give it a run..!

Leinster should have had the decency to unload D.Ryan, Gilsenan, and possibly even Leavy. They are good enough and their careers are stalling.

I'm also dissapointed not to see one of Cooney or McGrath involved.

Besides that I'm delighted with the team and it's fantastic to see 4 ex Mary's lads involved for the 2nd straight week.