Leinster V Castres

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Make a new thread yah lazy boll1x

pete (buachaill on eirne) wrote:the Leinster team I'd like to see this weekend

Healy- best loosehead in the world IMO
Cronin- best option and maybe consistent starts will make him consistent in facets of play
Ross- if fit I think he should play to steady the scrum before Moore comes on for impact
Toner- playing very well
McCarthy- slightly better than Roux IMO
McLaughlin- best option
SOB- best option
Heaslip- best option
Boss- considerably better than Reddan currently I think
Gopperth- has been playing well and can attack so I think should start, with Madigan in early
Kearney- has done well enough so far
Darcy- experienced man in midfield may be necessary for continuity
McFadden- a good outside centre if nothing more, facilitates Fitz on the wing
Fitzgerald- looked really hungry when he came on and hopefully can kick on
Kearney- better game last week but still has a lot to show

Dundon-McGrath-Moore-Roux-Ruddock-Reddan-Madigan-Macken

Don't think Ross is going to make it. Bench at best I'd say. Furlong and Bent out too. Moore is our only fully fit TH.

I think they were planning Benty for a comeback in the B&I cup this weekend, so perhaps he will be on the bench.

Otherwise same as last week. Might leave Macken in at 13 too. Outside (and crazy) chance that they will throw Kirchner in at 13 the way they did with Tuqiri in the Munster game.

I think McFadden is a 12 as well.  For Fitz, I'd like to see him at 13 but I'm afraid that he ends up like earls getting moved around positions.  Maybe at this stage Fitz should just be left to settle as a winger.

Thought MOC was very narrow in his selection and tactics for the game.  I think he went conservative picking Boss and Gopperth.  That Castre team were very big and we should have used a quick tempo to tire them out.  Too often Leinster were keeping it tight and kicking the ball away (the kicks were far too deep, maybe 20m further than we could chase and contend for).  Boss was visibly tiring for a good 10 minutes before that substitution.

Did we have injuries in the backs?  He seemed to leave our pack out for too long also as they were tiring but instead was concentrating on substituting the backs.  Moore gave an inspired performance but he was out on his feet. Though MOC subs Healy before Moore, couldn't figure that out.

We also went quiet at about 30 minutes and never really upt the tempo after that.  And after the break, MOC should have had them chomping at the bit to restart the second half but they were slow and lethargic starting the second half.

MOC needs to learn from this.

I think Boss and Gopperth were selected on form, you can't really say that Reddan and Madigan deserved to start based on their recent performances.

Also Gopperth MOTM? Shaggy, what were you thinking, again SOB was the best player on the pitch.

Shaggy is being smart...taking the pressure off SOB, who I'm sure wants to come in a little under the radar in terms of HC games themselves and then the November Internationals. Too much ooh/ahh publicity concerning SOB can often go overboard in the print media... better to just let him slide along doing his thing.

Was it just the extra tight shirts and camera angles, or was SOB carrying a little extra "muscle" in the midriff section?

all scientifically weighed and calculated Gwent...all factored in

SecretFly wrote:Shaggy is being smart...taking the pressure off SOB, who I'm sure wants to come in a little under the radar in terms of HC games themselves and then the November Internationals.  Too much ooh/ahh publicity concerning SOB can often go overboard in the print media... better to just let him slide along doing his thing.

Seems plausable enough.

SecretFly wrote:Shaggy is being smart...taking the pressure off SOB, who I'm sure wants to come in a little under the radar in terms of HC games themselves and then the November Internationals.  Too much ooh/ahh publicity concerning SOB can often go overboard in the print media... better to just let him slide along doing his thing.

There's a well known gentlemans agreement between the IRFU and ERC that no Irish qualified back rower is allowed more MOTM awards than Peter O'Mahoney.....

Ain't no gentlemen in the IRFU or the ERC, accordin' to some knowledgeable Franglo lawyers.

rodders wrote:

SecretFly wrote:Shaggy is being smart...taking the pressure off SOB, who I'm sure wants to come in a little under the radar in terms of HC games themselves and then the November Internationals.  Too much ooh/ahh publicity concerning SOB can often go overboard in the print media... better to just let him slide along doing his thing.

There's a well known gentlemans agreement between the IRFU and ERC that no Irish qualified back rower is allowed more MOTM awards than Peter O'Mahoney.....

There are calls to have the sole criteria for MOTM awards to be pashun.

SOB doesn't need pressure to be taken off him, when he won the ERC player of the year he was MOTM in plenty of games.

SOB does need the pressure taken off him... because at times in the past it has been downright comical in its silly school-boyish effusiveness.  

And then, when he failed to match the gigantic super-hero persona in the Irish International set-up, people began the infernal, "What number is that lad really?  A 6? A 7, A 6.5??? An 8? An 8.25?"
All excuses to get away the truth that SOB was over-written and suffered the pressure of his fans thinking he'd always replicate the barnstorm approach with every and any coach that controlled him.

Sorry, but I'd like to see him be let get on with his rugby and the comic-book journalists to leave him alone

LF4L
Did Madigan not have some very strong games at 12 at the end of last season? Even in a short cameo for Ireland he impressed there.

Anybody with two eyes can see Madigan causes far more problems than D'arcy at 12, who seems to get an awful lot of plaudits for being defensively "solid". Even then he has missed quite a few crucial tackles in the past, and his handling is awful.
Hopefully Madigan flourishes as a 10 eventually but I'd far rather he played at 12 than he was frozen out at 10...

Sorry lads, I just don't see how D'arcy is any better than a poor man's Brad Barritt these days?

theslosty wrote:LF4L
Did Madigan not have some very strong games at 12 at the end of last season? Even in a short cameo for Ireland he impressed there.

Anybody with two eyes can see Madigan causes far more problems than D'arcy at 12, who seems to get an awful lot of plaudits for being defensively "solid". Even then he has missed quite a few crucial tackles in the past, and his handling is awful.
Hopefully Madigan flourishes as a 10 eventually but I'd far rather he played at 12 than he was frozen out at 10...

Sorry lads, I just don't see how D'arcy is any better than a poor man's Brad Barritt these days?

Against the Ospreys last week Darcy made more ground than any other back and beat 5 defenders, more than anyone else on the field.

Seems to be very popular to take a swipe at Darcy. he is though I think leinsters most capped Hcup player and the 4th of all time. Dont reach that milestone if you are rubbish. Still decent enough.

D'arcy's drag ratios are sky-high with that Ned Kelly beard.  Lose the beard and you'll make it to the World Cup, D'arcy

GunsGerms wrote:Seems to be very popular to take a swipe at Darcy. he is though I think leinsters most capped Hcup player and the 4th of all time. Dont reach that milestone if you are rubbish. Still decent enough.

The guy was a superb player in his prime but I don't see how he is anything better than "decent" these days.
Madigan, on the other hand, is.

theslosty wrote:

GunsGerms wrote:Seems to be very popular to take a swipe at Darcy. he is though I think leinsters most capped Hcup player and the 4th of all time. Dont reach that milestone if you are rubbish. Still decent enough.

The guy was a superb player in his prime but I don't see how he is anything better than "decent" these days.
Madigan, on the other hand, is.

+1

Although I'd rather Madigan moved to a different club than start at 12 for Leinster.

whocares wrote:

LeinsterFan4life wrote:The ref wasn't great but then again Castres shot themselves in the foot with the no arms tackle and feeds into the scrum.

True. Castres can only blame their inacurracy.One of the harshest yellow card I remember though but being in the home of the ERC cant say am surprised.

I have just watched the game - How many squint feeds?  at least two free kicked.  One penalty and warned not to do it again or yellow, did it again.  Stupid stupid.  He was warned

leinster got away with one there the squint feeds, the two yellow cards cost Castre the game I think. Still - winning ugly / lucky is the sign of a good team

The first yellow card was pretty blatant too. Charging into a player with no arms is pretty stupid stuff.

Mickado wrote:The first yellow card was pretty blatant too. Charging into a player with no arms is pretty stupid stuff.

Although it was the sort of body check that JPR was famous, and lauded, for.

Then JPR is lucky he's not playing now. He'd be receiving a lot of yellow cards ... and wouldn't be so famous.