Pre-season friendlies

[johng]

Isa at 12 eh? If he plays like that then great.

Ps Larmour's bit of skill for his 2nd try? Kick ahead, chase, volley on, catch bouncing ball and score. Drico v wasps in the Rds 09 level of play.

[fourthirtythree]

That Larmour try was special alright,

Very satisfying evening, bar the lineout. Which wasn't.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

I'm now a paid up member of the Isa at 12 fan club, he was outstanding. The early break where he ran like a train, lovely soft hands on a few occasions, the hits, and then the chase under their posts...just brilliant. Ferg didn't show anything like the range of skills needed in comparison.

Kept a close eye on Fardy and thought he was excellent too. Fair enough he should have been the fittest/sharpest player on the pitch anyway but he was still excellent and I was most interested as to how he operated as a second row. In that regard he fit the bill perfectly, loads of grunt to go with the loose play. He tackled and hit rucks ferociously, won lineout ball, and put pressure on theirs. One thing that also stood out was that he was very vocal. He gave out to players quite a bit and was in the TJ's ear too but it was all in a good way and often with a smile on his face. Heard him giving out about it taking three players to clear a ruck when two should do, just seems to have very high standards and was really driving us on.

Thought Ross Byrne was very good too. Good hands, good variation, good defence and he covers the backfield superbly. Always good at knowing where to be and constantly talking to the others covering behind. At one stage he was covering behind and Gloucester had a massive overlap. His decision to step in to the line and timing of it were superb and Gloucester panicked with a chip, which he then blocked down, caught, and kicked ahead to put us on the front foot where we then won a penalty from at the resulting breakdown. Admittedly Gloucester messed up badly but it was still excellent play.

Adam Byrne seemed a bit wasted at 13, don't remember him doing much. Hugo Keenan has certainly bulked up a lot over the last year or so and took his try very well but I'm just not seeing the power and pace to make him a regular any time soon, he is solid though.

Bit of a mixed bag from the Kearneys. Rob looked great in attack but also threw some hospital passes to Dave (think others may have thrown them too) which put him away but left him without support and he just got smashed several times. Rob was in a tricky situation for the two on one for Gloucester's try but still should have done much better than he did. Great to see him bounce up after the really heavy collision with the Gloucester fullback early on. Thought Dave carried well in difficult circumstances but he really did get smashed a few times. Don't mind the poor dropped pass but I'd be more concerned about him being caught positionally. He left a lot of space in behind and was exposed at least twice. For one of them he went to move back, then moved forward again, and the ball was drilled in behind. I get that he's rusty but would expect a player of his class to be more decisive.

Final word for Larmour...it's hard not to get excited about him. The first thing I noticed was his size, he's a serious unit now. When I first saw him play an A game last year I commented that I didn't get the concerns about his size and that if I hadn't been aware of them already then I'd never have even considered them, but not only is he bigger now, he's physically imposing. He just oozes confidence on the ball and loves to get stuck in too, especially when he moved into the defensive line late on when we seemed to hide Charlie Rock in behind. He actually should have passed for his first try but when you're that good you don't need to, and the second try was just magic. From the moment his foot went towards the ball I knew it was a try, he's just that kind of player and is definitely ready for pro rugby.

[future international]

[CiaranIrl]

Anyone know if there's any video highlights coming?

[wixfjord]

Good win that, that Glos team on paper is much closer to their first choice.

Anyone comment on JGP's performance? How did Marsh get on when he came on also?

[Ruckedtobits]

Very impressed with our second-row pairing in the first half. Nagle on tight-head side in scrum. Fardy gave huge assistance to Dooley to produce a fine scrum performance at LHP. But the very welcome performance at line-out time from both Fardy and Nagle (and Jordi Murphy) was both unusual and impressive from Leinster. Brian Byrne's darts were pacy and accurate and both Fardy and Nagle provided accurate quick ball off the top when required.

Recognise that Ed Slater is only with the cherry and whites a wet week but Jeremy Thrush and him are both international, big, players and didn't trouble us. It would be huge if this pairing and Dev and James Ryan proved interchangeable as we will need depth to meet the challenges ahead.

JGP and Byrne were very competent in selecting the right options. Byrne telegraphed a coouple of inside passes and watched team-mates get emptied, but overall, they maintained tempo whilst alternating the point of attack fairly seamlessly. JGP was the more dominant influence IMO and his occasional show and gos provided three clean line breaks in first half.

Our strength in depth in front and back-row is extraordinary. If we can supplement it with quality alternatives at half-back and second-row, we really will be getting back up to the standard of European contenders. No evidence yet of an alternative pairing (to Henshaw and Ringrose) at mid-field or a real threat on the wings (Lowe's arrival can't come too soon) but there is much promise in what we have seen so far.

[johng]

Our scrum ATE theirs consistently. Despite the WC winner at LH for them. No matter what personnel we had in there. Penos on tap whenever we fancied it. That has to bode well. With dev and james ryan cooling their heels in the clubhouse .

Who'd a thunk that Mickey bent would have Afoa on toast?

Tadhg Furlong and Jack McGrath... Did I mention... TF played ABs 5 times. Won 2 lost 2 drew 1.

Not to mention Porter.

[Cathalsmart]

Our scrum ATE theirs consistently. Despite the WC winner at LH for them. No matter what personnel we had in there. Penos on tap whenever we fancied it. That has to bode well. With dev and james ryan cooling their heels in the clubhouse .

Who'd a thunk that Mickey bent would have Afoa on toast?

Tadhg Furlong and Jack McGrath... Did I mention... TF played ABs 5 times. Won 2 lost 2 drew 1.

Not to mention Porter.

TF Won 2 Lost 2 Drew 1 vs the AB's...who tought we would ever say that about an Irish player! Not as impressive as Carbery's 100% record but still brilliant!

[johng]

Wow. I have no memory of typing that.

[Grumpy Old Man]

Wow. I have no memory of typing that.

You'll not make the drunk posting thread with spelling and use of grammar like that!

[hugonaut]

Good win that, that Glos team on paper is much closer to their first choice.

Anyone comment on JGP's performance? How did Marsh get on when he came on also?

I was very impressed with JGP. Did everything quickly – quick to the breakdown, quick off his mark, quick with the pass off the ground, ball quick through the air, quick decision-making ...

JGP's big weaknesses are his kicking from hand [which is uniformly poor] and his physicality in defense. Playing the game with a smile on your face doesn't preclude you from chopping down people in defense, but JGP was one of the least convincing defenders in the Leinster squad last season.

He's more a functionary than a general as a halfback – i.e. he doesn't control the game from the base – but he adds unpredictability in attack, which is definitely a positive for the way we play.

LMcG/JGP don't quite fit the mould of Boss/Reddan, but there are similarities in the 1-2 punch combination.

[wixfjord]

Good win that, that Glos team on paper is much closer to their first choice.

Anyone comment on JGP's performance? How did Marsh get on when he came on also?

I was very impressed with JGP. Did everything quickly – quick to the breakdown, quick off his mark, quick with the pass off the ground, ball quick through the air, quick decision-making ...

JGP's big weaknesses are his kicking from hand [which is uniformly poor] and his physicality in defense. Playing the game with a smile on your face doesn't preclude you from chopping down people in defense, but JGP was one of the least convincing defenders in the Leinster squad last season.

He's more a functionary than a general as a halfback – i.e. he doesn't control the game from the base – but he adds unpredictability in attack, which is definitely a positive for the way we play.

LMcG/JGP don't quite fit the mould of Boss/Reddan, but there are similarities in the 1-2 punch combination.

Cheers, I think in games like that he can look like a world beater, but in a scenario when he's being put under a lot of pressure and needs to control a game he can look like a J1 player. Very frustrating. There isn't a hope in hell of him playing at test level if he doesn't improve his kicking either.

I do think Nick McCarthy should be pushing this season for the #2 SH spot, albeit JGP is probably a better impact bench option.

[Cathalsmart]

I prefer Nick as a starter but prefer JGP as a bench option.

[wixfjord]

I prefer Nick as a starter but prefer JGP as a bench option.

I would agree for any games that you're going to be under pressure and McGrath isn't avail, although for games against the lesser sides in the Pro14 JGP is perfect. The performance he put in away to Treviso last year was just mesmeric. That's what's so frustrating!

[simonokeeffe]

I prefer Nick as a starter but prefer JGP as a bench option.

I would agree for any games that you're going to be under pressure and McGrath isn't avail, although for games against the lesser sides in the Pro14 JGP is perfect. The performance he put in away to Treviso last year was just mesmeric. That's what's so frustrating!

Spot on

Any sign of him passing more in front of the receiver?

[hugonaut]

I prefer Nick as a starter but prefer JGP as a bench option.

I would agree for any games that you're going to be under pressure and McGrath isn't avail, although for games against the lesser sides in the Pro14 JGP is perfect. The performance he put in away to Treviso last year was just mesmeric. That's what's so frustrating!

From my experience of playing and watching rugby, scrum-half is a position which requires a lot of gametime to progress. Very few scrum-halves have an uninterrupted upwards curve.

You're always going to have the most touches on the pitch, and thus you're going to have the most decisions to make. Every possession is a basic pass/run/kick decision in the first place, then you've got another basic decision on which side [open/blind] to execute one of those three choices.

For example, the Aussie scrumhalves had a combined 118 possessions in yesterday's game: Genia had 65 [63 passes/2 runs/0 kicks] and Phipps had 53 [49 passes/4 runs/0 kicks]. If a scrum-half plays closer to 80 minutes than 50, it's not unusual to have 100 possessions.

Nick McCarthy has had very little exposure to pro rugby, even B&I Cup rugby. Luke McGrath was still playing quite a lot of B&I Cup in 2014-15 [when McCarthy started in the academy] due to Boss and Reddan still getting the nod from MOC. JGP has played in 80-90 more first class games than him. I think that Nick has a big challenge on his hands to displace JGP in any context.

[Degz]

Perpignan beat Bayonne 66-6 on the weekend, by the way. Puts our result out there into a bit of context

[wixfjord]

From my experience of playing and watching rugby, scrum-half is a position which requires a lot of gametime to progress. Very few scrum-halves have an uninterrupted upwards curve.

You're always going to have the most touches on the pitch, and thus you're going to have the most decisions to make. Every possession is a basic pass/run/kick decision in the first place, then you've got another basic decision on which side [open/blind] to execute one of those three choices.

For example, the Aussie scrumhalves had a combined 118 possessions in yesterday's game: Genia had 65 [63 passes/2 runs/0 kicks] and Phipps had 53 [49 passes/4 runs/0 kicks]. If a scrum-half plays closer to 80 minutes than 50, it's not unusual to have 100 possessions.

Nick McCarthy has had very little exposure to pro rugby, even B&I Cup rugby. Luke McGrath was still playing quite a lot of B&I Cup in 2014-15 [when McCarthy started in the academy] due to Boss and Reddan still getting the nod from MOC. JGP has played in 80-90 more first class games than him. I think that Nick has a big challenge on his hands to displace JGP in any context.

Agree with all of that, but I don't think it changes what was said above. McCarthy looked solid and steady in his cameos last season, with a nice pass and good awareness. JGP as I say looks class when game needs speeding up (Mont away) or when we're playing a bottom half of table side, but can
It's a small sample size granted, but I don't think it's an unfair analysis.

Hopefully both come on this season to challenge McGrath a bit.

[Cathalsmart]

I respect that opinion on scrum half's and see what you mean but while I only saw him briefly last season I would have much more faith in him starting a big game than JGP, if it was Northampton/Castres etc JGP because he has experience and his errors aren't as likely to cost Leinster but Nick while he is unlikely to throw a killer pass like JGP's to Nacewa vs Mont away in the final play I doubt he would be kicking the ball out on the full constantly, with the team Leinster could have next season maybe someone calm and collectively like Nick McCarthy is whats required.