Bit harsh to say Cronin went crazy, the guy seemed pumped to score his sides ONLY try....give the guy a breakLeRouxIsPHat wrote:It wasn't perfect so not getting carried away, but I really enjoyed that and was delighted with the majority of the performance.
Dooley - barely tested in the scrums, not sure I can remember so few scrums in one half, but excellent in the loose. Really had a brilliant start.
Tracy - brilliant in every respect. Basics were excellent (although thought he got away with some dodgy throws), got at least one great turnover and showed brilliant hands to put Isa away down the right. Would have been MOTM if he'd stayed on longer IMO.
Furlong - easy to forget how young he is because of the other guys in today's team, he was also really good. Showed serious gas to keep up with Isa after that break mentioned above and was really powerful in defence.
Molony - showed great feet to make yards in contact every time, won at least two lineouts on opposition throws, tackled everything that moved. Basically a perfect performance and deserved MOTM. Has to be 3rd choice for the rest of the season now and will hopefully be a big asset during the 6N.
McCarthy - big hits in defence and noticeable that the scrum deteriorated without him. Even with all the front row changes, think it's obvious how much he improves our scrum.
Ruddock - think he might have been reading the comments on here about his debut and decided to go back to his upright carrying ways. Good workrate to get on the ball and keep things ticking over but don't think he was as good as usual.
Murphy and VDF - thought both had really similar games, good in the first half and less prominent in the second. Jordi's first half was an improvement on recent games but still nowhere near his best.
McGrath - caught once at the base and still looked slightly laboured to me when he was bending down. Definitely think he's carrying an injury and that strapping on his leg is huge, has to be prohibitive. That said, I thought he played really well. Passing was pretty much always on the money, made one huge hit that forced a pass which was then knocked on, did brilliantly to recover a loose ball on the deck, and ripped one of their big ball carriers in our 22 which stopped a potential try and then had the composure and presence of mind to start a counter attack.
Madigan - got better as the game went on and his kicking was good, but very poor overall in open play. Disappointing considering the platform he got, although he did some good stuff too. Basically a typical performance with a couple of bonus errors throw in.
Te'o - excellent. Looked far more comfortable at 12 this time, carried brilliantly and showed some subtle touches and made good dummy runs too. Looking forward to himself and Ringrose continuing this partnership during the 6N.
Ringrose - top class on both sides of the ball. Constant threat, brilliant in defence, can go himself and also bring others into play...he's got the lot.
Kearney - in much better form now. A threat in attack and strong in contact, outstanding play to deny Bath the try.
Isa - looking much sharper in attack and his usual huge effort in defence. His influence on the younger lads is obvious.
Kirchener - probably his best game for Leinster, way more physical and decisive than usual in the first half in partcular. If he keeps that up he'll be a huge asset. Thought he was good against Munster too, hope it continues.
bench - Cronin was great in the loose but apart from that I thought they were all really disappointing. Well, most of them were fine, but didn't offer much impact really, not the kind of impact you'd expect from seasoned internationals replacing youngsters who'd played well. Reddan blew a certain try by going himself when we had numbers out wide. Cronin's place really is under threat, I reckon that's why he went a bit mad after scoring.
Coaches - deserve huge credit for backing this side and getting them to play so well.
Has to be said that Bath didn't show up and that we were wasteful in the 22 again, plus the scrum looks poor without McCarthy. So lots to work on but still really happy with the performance and expect us to kick on further. I would replace most if not all of the kids next week though. Get the internationals back to prove their worth and earn their places with Ireland, then play the kids again against the Dragons.
I do agree he's under pressure though, Tracy was immense but to ridicule a who's scored a superb try is wrong
