Successful first year for Leo?

[the spoofer]

According to ESPN Stats we missed 31 tackles with Teo missing 6. That's shocking. Jordi had highest tackle count.

[Flash Gordon]

Leo has inherited a patched up, once great team, that needed some good coaching to rediscover past glories. Surely we can allow ourselves to concede that he's at least on the right track.

I can't believe there's many who would like to see him replaced.

Irish rugby fans in general have become a very spoiled bunch, utterly unforgiving in the face of anything but extreme success while playing the most attractive rugby. Wonderful lofty ideals though they are, the simple fact is that they are quite divorced from the real world. Add to that the fact that the internet is somewhere you go minus objectivity and reason.....

Without being disrespectful, that mind set is how and why standards drop. We won 3 European Cups because we set high standards and the structures, coaching and players used those objectives to deliver brilliant execution with an incredible level of belief.

It's no about attractiveness when you become a coach its about doing what it takes to win, Checks made us hard nosed b$&%@#ds and we won a final against Leicester in a less than free flowing way - he brought something new and set changed us. Joe came in and step changed us, not with the objective on looking pretty rather by doing what needed to be done to win. What do guys like Leo and Girv bring in that's step change? What are their new ideas? To be honest, I don't blame them - of course they were going to take the deals but the way forward for top level coaching is to a tour of duty like Lam has, like Mark McCall did,like Joe did and like Rog and Birch are doing where you learn and develop new ways of looking at the game and bring something different to Leinster.

Personally I think the branch need to set Leo up for success next year with an expanded team of top notch and experienced coaches that are not Irish.

[riocard911]

Leo has inherited a patched up, once great team, that needed some good coaching to rediscover past glories. Surely we can allow ourselves to concede that he's at least on the right track.

I can't believe there's many who would like to see him replaced.

Irish rugby fans in general have become a very spoiled bunch, utterly unforgiving in the face of anything but extreme success while playing the most attractive rugby. Wonderful lofty ideals though they are, the simple fact is that they are quite divorced from the real world. Add to that the fact that the internet is somewhere you go minus objectivity and reason.....

Without being disrespectful, that mind set is how and why standards drop. We won 3 European Cups because we set high standards and the structures, coaching and players used those objectives to deliver brilliant execution with an incredible level of belief.

It's no about attractiveness when you become a coach its about doing what it takes to win, Checks made us hard nosed b$&%@#ds and we won a final against Leicester in a less than free flowing way - he brought something new and set changed us. Joe came in and step changed us, not with the objective on looking pretty rather by doing what needed to be done to win. What do guys like Leo and Girv bring in that's step change? What are their new ideas? To be honest, I don't blame them - of course they were going to take the deals but the way forward for top level coaching is to a tour of duty like Lam has, like Mark McCall did,like Joe did and like Rog and Birch are doing where you learn and develop new ways of looking at the game and bring something different to Leinster.

Personally I think the branch need to set Leo up for success next year with an expanded team of top notch and experienced coaches that are not Irish.

+1

[maccer]

dream on

[simonokeeffe]

Lucifora quoted today as saying if Leo wants an extra (experienced) coach IRFU will facilitate that, same 42 article said he held up Cullen's appointment over his inexperience, not sure if thats old news or not

[LeRouxIsPHat]

I think we all knew that but not sure why he'd state that publicly.

[goreyguy]

it wasn't a successful year and I fear it won't next season either unless there are some changes.

[simonokeeffe]

I think we all knew that but not sure why he'd state that publicly.

Sorry that was stated by author

Jackman is out of contract after next season by the by

[ceemec]

Jackman is out of contract after next season by the by

I reckon he'll stay out of contract too. I don't think Grenoble will retain him nor will there by too many teams interested in hiring him. He might even be shown the door in advance of that given how he's going at the moment.

[Scott]

Lucifora quoted today as saying if Leo wants an extra (experienced) coach IRFU will facilitate that

Is not not a case of what Mick Dawson wants rather than Leo

[Fred Funk]

Lucifora quoted today as saying if Leo wants an extra (experienced) coach IRFU will facilitate that

Is not not a case of what Mick Dawson wants rather than Leo

I heard Nucifora and Leinster at war over this, Nucifora wants an Aussie DOR in place.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

I heard Nucifora and Leinster at war over this, Nucifora wants an Aussie DOR in place.

Show Spoiler:

[ChrisUppy]

Lucifora quoted today as saying if Leo wants an extra (experienced) coach IRFU will facilitate that

Is not not a case of what Mick Dawson wants rather than Leo

I heard Nucifora and Leinster at war over this, Nucifora wants an Aussie DOR in place.

I'd bite Nuciforas hand off for Ewen McKenzie.

[simonokeeffe]

Lucifora quoted today as saying if Leo wants an extra (experienced) coach IRFU will facilitate that

Is not not a case of what Mick Dawson wants rather than Leo

Think he said Leo/Leinster but if Leo wanted an extra coach I cant see the branch blocling him

I think Jackman will find a good job somewhere, he hasnt been amazing but he hasnt been a disaster by any means. Top14 table nearly identical to budgets and juggling the high tirnover of players mist be hard too

[COYBIB]

Well, if by "facilitate it" they mean "pay for it", then why the hell not? I'm not saying Leo should be emasculated within the setup, but it couldn't hurt to bring in an extra pair of hands who can add something else to the braintank, regardless of how well or otherwise the team is going.

I always thought Alan Gaffney was a key man in the Cheika / Gibbes coaching team who were relatively inexperienced at the time.

But having said all that, Matt O'Connor is probably the most experienced head coach we ever appointed, possibly the only one with extended top level head coaching experience when getting the Leinster gig.

[simonokeeffe]

Or Deccie

Yikes weve bad luck with experienced head coaches

[curates_egg]

I heard Nucifora and Leinster at war over this, Nucifora wants an Aussie DOR in place.

Show Spoiler:

b$&%@#d

[domhnallj]

I heard Nucifora and Leinster at war over this, Nucifora wants an Aussie DOR in place.

Show Spoiler:

b$&%@#d

He's doing a smashing job with the Reds

[COYBIB]

Show Spoiler:

b$&%@#d

He's doing a smashing job with the Reds

Yeah but they're an aging squad / in transition / players not stepping up / illuminati conspiracy, he's really an excellent coach.

[Bluebulls]

When judging Leo we have to put everything that has happened this year into context:

• The majority of our coaching set-up is inexperienced (and McQuilkan has been out of top flight rugby for some time)
  The RWC deprived us of our internationals for longer than normal (and disrupted our pre-season with them)
  The European pool we had was very difficult due to our league standing from last year
  Our internationals only returned the week before the Champions Cup kicked off
  Injuries deprived us of a few of our best for almost the entire season (SOB has managed just 6 games, and 4 starts, so far this season and the less said about Cian Healy the better)
  We don't have a skills coach and have lost a lot of back room staff recently

Given all of that it shouldn't come as a surprise that Europe was a step too far. If we're really honest it was only the Wasps games that were real disappointments. We had the beating of Bath away but for scrum issues and beat them at home with the young lads. I wouldn't be losing sleep over losing to Toulon away and we were competitive at home against them with the benches being the difference (we had Nick McCarthy and Tom Denton on the bench for example). The Wasps games were incredibly disappointing, the away one particularly. No Leinster side should ever allow that to happen to them. But at the same time they had nothing to play for at that stage and Marsh played most of the game. When Sexton was on we had looked dangerous initially. So there's context there too. Still that result was completely unacceptable, if totally meaningless at the same time.

In the league we started out quite well I thought. Our first few away games were poor, but we were blooding a few younger guys like Byrne so it wasn't the end of the world. There were positive steps in our attacking game when we were at home particularly. But when the internationals came back we started to lose a bit of that. I'm not sure if that was because the internationals themselves were struggling to get into the new set-up or because we were playing better sides buy that time. It was probably a bit of both. But over the last couple of months we've been pretty disappointing. We should have won away to Connacht and even away to Glasgow really. The Munster game was a huge let off, but we were found out big time against Ulster a couple of weeks ago. We seem quite predictable in attack and even against Treviso at times we looked fairly average. Yet when Sexton is on we have gone through spells of looking quite dangerous as well. In the first half against Ulster there were real positive signs from him and Te'o I thought.

In all that it should be remembered we're lacking real big ball carrying options. Guys like SOB and Healy to get us on the front foot. But we have seen a good few young lads come through and make an impression. Dooley, Tracey, Molony, VDF, Leavy and Ringrose have all stood up when we needed them to. Mick Kearney looks to have been a very good signing as well. So while we've missed guys we've also brought through some good talent (they may not all have gotten their first caps under Leo but they've all made their mark under him).

As Ruckedtobits said we need to be realistic. It hasn't been a perfect season and there are a few legitimate complaints we can have with the coaching set-up, but overall I think it's fair to say that Leo has done a decent job so far given the context. Not enough for us to be singing his praises, but enough to warrant another season. If we can get in a skills coach (at least) I think that would be a help. It could have been an utter disaster of a season with inexperienced coaches and a hugely disrupted squad. It hasn't been overall. And I do think that there will be improvements next season. With a handier pool in Europe we might not have the same black mark against us next season either.

This, this, this. This should be last word. Close the thread.

+1. (Except the last word part)

As Sexton has talked about, I do think we have let the culture slip under MOC and Cullen. He is obviously a very demanding personality but I get the impression that he was a little shocked and disappointed by what he found in the dressing room. I feel losing a standard bearer like Jennings is hurting us now off the field .So we really need our senior players and coaches to set and demand an incredibly high standard throughout the whole club (players, coaches, management staff, S&C, academy).

Very good point on Jennings - for some of the younger lads Jennings moving on was more of an impact than Drico retiring. Jennings demanded high standards from all and showed it by example. For Leo I think he had an awful season. He went into contract discussions with a heavy handed approach that lost us key players such as Marty Moore and he did not have a strong enough approach/influence with the senior players to ensure they supported him in the dressing room. For the quality of players we have it has to be considered a very poor season and the only way we are going to progress is to follow the Munster model and get a DOR and take the pressure and responsibility away from Cullen. He as a super player and captain but he is not a Head Coach yet.