Friendly v Bath in Donnybrook

[johng]

Luke Mc Was in the stands last week with other injured players like Ruddock and Cronin so I presume he is carrying something.

Isa not due back for a few weeks either I think.

[Dave Cahill]

His academy profile listed him at 107, he's now listed at 103. What else would you call that only an update?

Sent from my HTC 10 using Tapatalk

[wwed]

Reckon that Bath team will be too powerful for us.

Anyone know how bad Jack Conan's injury is from last week?

[dropkick]

Unless Byrne comes on at half time for him too the Carberry will appear to have stolen a march on him for at least 3rd choice 10 (for time being)

I'd like to see plenty of Carbery this season. A super talent.

[riocard911]

Me too. Be interesting to see how he gets on against Rhys Priestland, Wales' number 2 outhalf.

[goreyguy]

Realistic expectations need to be place when it comes to carbery..

[riocard911]

Realistic expectations need to be place when it comes to carbery..

Sin fíor!

[simonokeeffe]

Unless Byrne comes on at half time for him too the Carberry will appear to have stolen a march on him for at least 3rd choice 10 (for time being)

I'd like to see plenty of Carbery this season. A super talent.

even if hes 3rd choice he still makes the matchday panel for 10 or 12 league games before any injuries come into it

[riocard911]

Like ourselves Bath are coming into this match on the back of two victories. Their's however were both away: 14-20 v Yorkshire Carnegie two weeks ago and 17-32 v Scarlets last weekend. Ní bheidh sé éasca.......

[Fireworks]

With the sun in the sky this is a game I would love to get to. I am envious of those watching with a cold pint in their hands.

[John23]

With the sun in the sky this is a game I would love to get to. I am envious of those watching with a cold pint in their hands.

Update?

[Ruckedtobits]

Leinster 19 - Bath 39. Despite the scoreline, there was lots to like in this performance from Leinster in their 'Roadworkers' kit change, which does nothing for this fan.

The 2nd quarter saw a scratch Leinster team play with quick feet and hands and score two excellent team tries from Adam Byrne and Ross Molony.

Multiple changes at half time meant Leinster had to start again in the teamwork stakes, whereas Bath were far more coherent throughout and played like a team who have had three outings together and were trying to gel as a team of power and strength. They had an enormous pack on display with the back-five of Attwood, Charteris, Garvey, Falateau and Denton ranging from 6' 5" to 6' 9" and between 115 and 128kg.

For Leinster the best news was that Gibson-Park and Carbery both looked comfortable at this level - with each other and with the contest. Dan Leavy was the standout forward for Leinster, closely followed by Timmons & Treacy. McCarthy and Healy both caught the eye in contact and Cian's offload through a tackle was a major factor in our second try.

O'Loughlin and Ringrose were the pick of the backline but Reid and Kearney also did some good things. Adam Byrne looks more physical, but not yet wholly convincing.

Bath played a very physical game in first half constantly tried to get forwards carrying into mid-field to run at our backs. Carbery & O'Loughlin tackled big men really well

Halftime and following 10 mins saw a full team change for Leinster and concession of points whilst teamwork settled. Changes included:
Barry Daly for RK; Tom Daly, Kirchner, Marsh, McCarthy for Gibson-Park, Carbery, Reid, OLoughlin and Ringrose. Up-front, Dooley, Byrne & Loughman formed new front-rrow with Nagle & Triggs in 2nd row and JvDF, Dom Ryan replacing Timmons & Josh Murphy.

Very few negative thoughts on this: Reid is not a natural tackler, Brian Byrne is too small for the real top level, Adam Byrne does not have quick feet or explosive acceleration and Marsh is competent at best.

Cullen has a lot to mull over. Selection is not straighforward. Blackadder probably has more concerns after tonight as Leinster created many line-breaks and turnovers, often through their back-row. The sizable Bath pack are ponderous rather than dynamic. The Leinster Squad looked elusive, with quick hands and feet and the ability and confidence to run straight and offload at pace.

More to come and much to relish.

[Pendragon]

Thought that Carbery was showing glimpses of outstanding talent. Gets better every time I see him. The play was generally of a very high standard. I would not be worried about playing them again. With the players that we had out against their seasoned internationals I was very positive. Of the second half squad I thought Josh VDF was great. The only player that I was negative about in the whole game was Rob Kearney, passing was poor and tackling weak, thought Zane was showing some good form and was way better than Rob for me. Enjoyed the game though, entertaining.

[alanair]

The scoreline didn't matter tonight... I really hope that the offloading game that we've seen tonight and in the last couple of weeks is here to stay... Ball handling skills have improved 100% since last season .. from 1 to 15... just a matter of combining this with last years defence and we'll have a thoroughly entertaining season... bring it on !!!

[Armchair]

Carberry is ready better than Marsh and Byrne just had that X factor. If he was Welsh he would be called into national squad. Scrum and Lineout were very poor looked very impressive for about 20 minutes in first half with best team out. Good outing valuable for coaches to see who is and isn't up to it.

[Gearzbox2]

Leinster 19 - Bath 39. Despite the scoreline, there was lots to like in this performance from Leinster in their 'Roadworkers' kit change, which does nothing for this fan.

The 2nd quarter saw a scratch Leinster team play with quick feet and hands and score two excellent team tries from Adam Byrne and Ross Molony.

Multiple changes at half time meant Leinster had to start again in the teamwork stakes, whereas Bath were far more coherent throughout and played like a team who have had three outings together and were trying to gel as a team of power and strength. They had an enormous pack on display with the back-five of Attwood, Charteris, Garvey, Falateau and Denton ranging from 6' 5" to 6' 9" and between 115 and 128kg.

For Leinster the best news was that Gibson-Park and Carbery both looked comfortable at this level - with each other and with the contest. Dan Leavy was the standout forward for Leinster, closely followed by Timmons & Treacy. McCarthy and Healy both caught the eye in contact and Cian's offload through a tackle was a major factor in our second try.

O'Loughlin and Ringrose were the pick of the backline but Reid and Kearney also did some good things. Adam Byrne looks more physical, but not yet wholly convincing.

Bath played a very physical game in first half constantly tried to get forwards carrying into mid-field to run at our backs. Carbery & O'Loughlin tackled big men really well

Halftime and following 10 mins saw a full team change for Leinster and concession of points whilst teamwork settled. Changes included:
Barry Daly for RK; Tom Daly, Kirchner, Marsh, McCarthy for Gibson-Park, Carbery, Reid, OLoughlin and Ringrose. Up-front, Dooley, Byrne & Loughman formed new front-rrow with Nagle & Triggs in 2nd row and JvDF, Dom Ryan replacing Timmons & Josh Murphy.

Very few negative thoughts on this: Reid is not a natural tackler, Brian Byrne is too small for the real top level, Adam Byrne does not have quick feet or explosive acceleration and Marsh is competent at best.

Cullen has a lot to mull over. Selection is not straighforward. Blackadder probably has more concerns after tonight as Leinster created many line-breaks and turnovers, often through their back-row. The sizable Bath pack are ponderous rather than dynamic. The Leinster Squad looked elusive, with quick hands and feet and the ability and confidence to run straight and offload at pace.

More to come and much to relish.

Mike Mac looked like a guy who hadn't played in 5 months, Porter is a beast and needs to be signed up ASAP
Hugely impressed by Timmons and O'Loughlin
Don't know what game you were watching in regards the hookers, thought Brian Byrne comfortably outplayed James Tracy this evening
Great feet and has a superior off loading pass game than Tracy
Tracy had a few howlers at lineout time aswel

[FourMasters]

New scrum half has a decent pass, and got the ball away sharply. Nick McCarthy came on and spent a lot of time pointing at forwards before he took a few steps with the ball and finally delivered to a forward lined up by Bath. Charlie Rock came on and didn't dither before getting the ball away. Maybe the combo of forwards weren't giving McCarthy clean enough ball, but I'm really hoping that #1 and #3 are the template we'll play with.

One of Healy's offloads delivered a try, but he threw the ball blind another two times to nobody, with resulting turnover. That ratio isn't going to work. Still, his busting surge over a few Bath forwards was worth the terrace entry fee. Interestingly, Porter came on late and had a similar charge out of the 22 - something he did at U20s a lot - very promising that he can burst holes against some serious Bath opposition.

A Ringrose run down the wing included a sidestep so outrageous that the Bath defender is still in Donnybrook wondering how he fell for it.

Carberry looks a class act.
Reid's tackling - unfortunately he was bumped early, and it sticks in the mind - hope for Leinster's sake he can improve from a low bar.

The announcer told us that an American college team were visiting, and had an upcoming match of "U.S. Football". They headed off in front of me with five minutes to go - by their width I assume they're not soccer players.

Late evening sunshine in Donnybrook - hard to beat.

[cormac]

Lineout was the major concern of the night. Neither hooker fared well and some of the lifting was substandard. Bath had a huge pack but that was only part of our issue.

Otherwise, given the discrepancy in squad strengths, it was a decent outing after a tough start. A better bounce of the ball and Barry Daly would have had a second try, while a TMO might have awarded us a penalty try when Rokodunguni was sin binned. Could easily have been leading going into the last few minutes.

[simonokeeffe]

Just looking at the report Bath made as many subs as they would in a normal match that was going ok, we changed the entire team at halftime and then a fair of the subs were subbed off for new subs

the worry from what I read is the defence out wide was where we were caught out again

[cormac]

Worst aspects of the evening were the jerseys worn by both sides. I thought a couple of match-day stewards came on for us in the second-half.