Leinster vs Montpellier Friday 13th Jan 2017

Both team named:

Leinster:

15. Isa Nacewa (Captain)
14. Adam Byrne
13. Garry Ringrose
12. Robbie Henshaw
11. Rory O’Loughlin
10. Johnny Sexton
9. Luke McGrath

1. Jack McGrath
2. James Tracy
3. Tadhg Furlong
4. Devin Toner
5. Hayden Triggs
6. Jack Conan
7. Josh van der Flier
8. Jamie Heaslip

Replacements:

16. Richardt Strauss
17. Cian Healy
18. Michael Bent
19. Ross Molony
20. Dan Leavy
21. Jamison Gibson-Park
22. Ross Byrne
23. Rob Kearney

SOB seems to be rested/dropped, I didn't hear of an injury.

Very strong team. should hopefully be enough, this Montpellier team are huge and doing very well in the top 14.

Montpellier team:

15. Joffrey Michel; 14. Timoci Nagusa, 13. Vincent Martin, 12. Joseph Tomane, 11. Nemani Nadolo; 10. Frans Steyn, 9. Nic White; 1. Mikheil Nariashvili, 2. Shalva Mamukashvili, 3. Jannie Du Plessis, 4. Paul Willemse, 5. Konstantine Mikautadze, 6. Fulgence Ouedraogo, 7. Akapusi Qera, 8. Pierre Spies
16. Charles Geli, 17. Yvan Watremez, 18. Davit Kubriashvili, 19. Antoine Battut, 20. Kelian Galletier, 21. Tomas O'Leary, 22. Henry Immelman, 23. Jesse Mogg

Lots of Georgians in that pack...

That Monty pack looks to have 3 Georgians, 3 South Africans, a Fijian and a lone Frenchman. I can see why their fans have turned off. There are only 2 Frenchman in the backs as well.

I am not a big fan of the Leinster front 5 (okay mainly the second row) but they seem to have put together some good performances and Toner has been rejuvenated for the last few months. This should be a good contest.

Leinster's front 5 is one of their strengths. 2 World Class props, 1 former WC prop, and a club prop, 2 International hookers, 1 top international lock and 2 club locks.

They may not be as big, but as a unit they work very well. I think they will get at least parity.

the-goon wrote:
SOB seems to be rested/dropped, I didn't hear of an injury.

Apparently had a tight calf muscle so wasn't risked should be fit next week

marty2086 wrote:

the-goon wrote:
SOB seems to be rested/dropped, I didn't hear of an injury.

Apparently had a tight calf muscle so wasn't risked should be fit next week

I clicked the "Thanks" button, what happened?

Well we won't loose much with Conan and Leavy, no need to rush the man when we have that depth.

That was a red even before the new directives, dirty cheap shot.

Sorry but think you are being reactionary, Sexton stooped down and it made a bad tackle look awful

Just a quick question for you's to guess the answer to

Do Leinster have more or less NIQ in the starting XV than Montpellier have French Players in their starting XV?

Think Leinster have 2 NIQ to 3 French

marty2086 wrote:Think Leinster have 2 NIQ to 3 French

Bingo

Closer than expected.

Dont forget theres an extra Leinsterman on the pitch too

Kingshu wrote:Just a quick question for you's to guess the answer to

Do Leinster have more or less NIQ in the starting XV than Montpellier have French Players in their starting XV?

Hold the phone mates.  You are jumping to conclusions.  Mikheil Nariashvili, Shalva Mamukashvili, Davit Kubriashvili, and Konstantin Mikautadze are all from ancient French families.  Can't you recognise real French names when you see them?  In fact, they are related to the old Bourbon line of kings.  

And another thing:  How much more French can a French name be than Monsieur Jannie du Plessis?  

I think Tomas O'Leary is the only grubby foreigner..........

And not for nothing, all those Frenchmen put up a heck of a fight today, didn't they? Cricky, they were in the game all the way until kickoff........

The Return of the Kings?

marty2086 wrote:Sorry but think you are being reactionary, Sexton stooped down and it made a bad tackle look awful

Clear red though. He had enough time to adjust, and as the tackler has a duty of care to anticipate Sexton ducking. Looked to by borne of frustration as they were being apart.

He can have no complaints

Gloucester fans must be watching this in abject horror. The man who is trying to buy their club has done this to Montpellier. The local talent is gone and they get performances like this. I think they're having a passable league season though.

the-goon wrote:

marty2086 wrote:Sorry but think you are being reactionary, Sexton stooped down and it made a bad tackle look awful

Clear red though. He had enough time to adjust, and as the tackler has a duty of care to anticipate Sexton ducking. Looked to by borne of frustration as they were being apart.

He can have no complaints

Its a clear red under the current rules but I think its harsh, he can anticipate Sexton stooping but he pretty much takes a knee how many guys you see do that?

I dont think he can adjust too much as he had pretty much committed

Good game for Leinster. Big score, but Montpellier gave up in the last 30.

The red was a clear red, under the new directive, and no doubt a sending off offence before then.

Thought I had good reason to be pleased with the Saints score at the Aviva.

Sexton whether by accident or design does seem to get the wrong end of a lot of collisions. It was arguably a straight red before the focus on this type of tackle so there was no question Steyn had to go. What was disappointing was Steyn trying to argue with the referee saying Sexton dipped and shaking his head - can't do his chance of reducing the ban much good.

Mark Robson is getting increasingly annoying in his commentary with factually wrong statements like 'Saints v Castres is a dead rubber'.

Anyway well done Leinster, they have to be an outside bet for the double, and their young generation are learning fast.

The Great Aukster wrote:Sexton whether by accident or design does seem to get the wrong end of a lot of collisions. It was arguably a straight red before the focus on this type of tackle so there was no question Steyn had to go. What was disappointing was Steyn trying to argue with the referee saying Sexton dipped and shaking his head - can't do his chance of reducing the ban much good.

Mark Robson is getting increasingly annoying in his commentary with factually wrong statements like 'Saints v Castres is a dead rubber'.

Anyway well done Leinster, they have to be an outside bet for the double, and their young generation are learning fast.

He did slightly dip into contact, even sexton said this himself after the match

He barely moved at all. Red all day long before or after the new law.

Accident or design?

I'd declare he's had too many accidents if his brain is designing these dangerous encounters.

Scottrf wrote:He barely moved at all. Red all day long before or after the new law.

That's not what he said himself.

Steyn nearly has to slide along the ground to make a tackle on Sexton that isnt deemed high, thats not right

Agree with the red, but it seems some players need to be almost re-trained to hit lower. Steyn didn't hit him across the chops, but seems to come in on the neck. I think Sexton had it right when he said he thought it wasn't intentional.

By the way, who was the douche making the color commentary saying he thought Steyn hit him high because Steyn was frustrated by how well Sexton was playing?

nathan wrote:

Scottrf wrote:He barely moved at all. Red all day long before or after the new law.

That's not what he said himself.

Doesn't matter what he said, the clip is available.

I'm all for the new rules. Some people think luck comes into it but I don't. If you're lining someone up to smash them and they move a bit so you mistime the hit, thats not unlucky. That is ignoring the likely possibility that the player you are trying to SMASH will make an unexpected move.


Its like driving a car like a maniac around a bend in the countryside and hitting another car. Some people will say it was bad luck since the road has very little traffic but I say you took a big risk and should pay the price.


The match was running away from Montpellier before the card anyway so I'm not sure it made a great difference apart from the winning margin. Good to see Jack Conan back from injury. He was on fire last night.

marty2086 wrote:

Steyn nearly has to slide along the ground to make a tackle on Sexton that isnt deemed high, thats not right

Maybe if Fran was making the tackle a half second earlier and anywhere between the shoulders and ankles of a 6ft+ tall player and without the swinging arm. The ball is almost out of the picture in that link and Frans hasn't even made contact with his swinging right arm at that stage.

The two lads played together didn't they at Racing did they? Or was there a pre-season/post season training before Frans went off to the Panaphonic Brittle Lillies or whatever team it was.

Sexton played down the incident afterwards.
Got the impression at the game that JP wanted to just give a yellow but Wayne Barnes was pushing him to dish out the red card.

It's going to take a while for these rule changes to settle in and the players adjust.

With all the publicity on high tackles in recent weeks, the media talking about the new rules, I wonder how much of a bubble players might be in to put in a shot like that. Refs are backed into a corner with little interpretation or common-sense or judgement available to them. You don't want to be anywhere near putting a high shot on a TMO big screen for the next few months, any player that does runs a serious gaunlet.

Sensational result by Leinster, well done. Leinsters depth is extremely impressive when you look at the player still to come in.

Looks like Saracens, Leinster, Munster or Clermont will contest the title this year.

doctor_grey wrote:Agree with the red, but it seems some players need to be almost re-trained to hit lower.  Steyn didn't hit him across the chops, but seems to come in on the neck.  I think Sexton had it right when he said he thought it wasn't intentional.  

By the way, who was the douche making the color commentary saying he thought Steyn hit him high because Steyn was frustrated by how well Sexton was playing?  

Shane Horgan