jezzer wrote:Like most of you, there was a lot of positive to the game for Leinster. There were signs of a very good (and fairly different) defensive system, which hopefully won't be too easily figured out during the season (space in behind our serious line speed in midfield). in attack, I thought we were excellent when we played flat and pretty average wen we played deep. We don't have the pace to be a good team attacking from depth, but we do have great footwork from 1 to 23 and we're better off using that with a flat , hard running gameplay. Would like to see the ball out in front of the receiver more (as Henry pointed out was a problem). But some great running lines and great distribution. Loving the support running of the back row, which was a joy to watch all game long, well mainly after Jordi came on. Leavy made himself look virtually undroppable and VDF had a huge game (though I think he's lost a bit of speed to the breakdown with the extra bulk).
Kudos to McGrath for his excellent defence and workrate. Liked our 10-12-13 axis a lot. Not the biggest, but they got over the gainline and distributed really well. I wouldn't change that combo until the senior guys put their hands up.
Healy aside, I thought our front 5 were outplayed and overall I think it cost us the game. We didn't clear out well on our ball in their 22 and we (plus Lacey) let them lie all over it. Think we struggled to match the power and athleticism of Gray and Swinson in the row. I think if we'd been able to boss the ruck a bit better we would have scored at least 2 more tries.
I don't think our early subs were what killed the game for us, but they came at a bad time, when everything that could go wrong did. Carbery's gift to Seymour, the restart, his head dropping for a bit afterward, McGrath going off the boil, us getting poached on the deck, breaches in our defence... we sort of switched off and the changes didn't help. Another day, the subs would have been exactly what was needed but we didn't have the bench to really lift things. Byrne I thought had a great cameo though.
Seymour's success against us just shows you what an extra dimension a speedster who is full of confidence can do for your attack. We're missing a player like that so badly and have done for a few seasons now. Find it hard to understand why we haven't fixed it. Kirchner was OK, a bit dodgy in defence, but he doesn't have the killer instinct needed. Dave K neither and the less said about Ferg as a top level winger the better (I know he didn't play yesterday btw). Maybe O'Loughlin will be the guy but I'm not sure he's a winger. I'm getting sick of the grubber kick in the tramlines because we can't beat anyone on the outside (except maybe Ringrose when he gets moving).
All in all, very unlucky not to be leaving with 2 points, which would have been easily deserved. You can see a blueprint there in attack and defence which is quite exciting, though when we play it behind dummy runners in attack, we need to be putting the ball in front and hitting the line a lot harder (as used to be the DNA of Leinster rugby).
I liked how they played. It was good to watch, and pretty effective. They need to stick at it. I wonder will Henry be staying in touch and highlighting what needs to be worked on?
The lack of a Hickie-like winger who can stand people up or just burn them with acceleration is a bit of a weakness. I think DK and McFadden are good workrate wingers, but it would be useful to have someone who brought more elusiveness. Are any of Byrne, Morris, Kirchner or O'Loughlin the answer?
Byrne has pace, not sure sure about the elusiveness.. wish we would give him some opportunities like Sweetnam is getting in Munster.
O'Loughlin more of a centre. Rather see both than McFadden at this stage.
jezzer wrote:Like most of you, there was a lot of positive to the game for Leinster. There were signs of a very good (and fairly different) defensive system, which hopefully won't be too easily figured out during the season (space in behind our serious line speed in midfield). in attack, I thought we were excellent when we played flat and pretty average wen we played deep. We don't have the pace to be a good team attacking from depth, but we do have great footwork from 1 to 23 and we're better off using that with a flat , hard running gameplay. Would like to see the ball out in front of the receiver more (as Henry pointed out was a problem). But some great running lines and great distribution. Loving the support running of the back row, which was a joy to watch all game long, well mainly after Jordi came on. Leavy made himself look virtually undroppable and VDF had a huge game (though I think he's lost a bit of speed to the breakdown with the extra bulk).
Kudos to McGrath for his excellent defence and workrate. Liked our 10-12-13 axis a lot. Not the biggest, but they got over the gainline and distributed really well. I wouldn't change that combo until the senior guys put their hands up.
Healy aside, I thought our front 5 were outplayed and overall I think it cost us the game. We didn't clear out well on our ball in their 22 and we (plus Lacey) let them lie all over it. Think we struggled to match the power and athleticism of Gray and Swinson in the row. I think if we'd been able to boss the ruck a bit better we would have scored at least 2 more tries.
I don't think our early subs were what killed the game for us, but they came at a bad time, when everything that could go wrong did. Carbery's gift to Seymour, the restart, his head dropping for a bit afterward, McGrath going off the boil, us getting poached on the deck, breaches in our defence... we sort of switched off and the changes didn't help. Another day, the subs would have been exactly what was needed but we didn't have the bench to really lift things. Byrne I thought had a great cameo though.
Seymour's success against us just shows you what an extra dimension a speedster who is full of confidence can do for your attack. We're missing a player like that so badly and have done for a few seasons now. Find it hard to understand why we haven't fixed it. Kirchner was OK, a bit dodgy in defence, but he doesn't have the killer instinct needed. Dave K neither and the less said about Ferg as a top level winger the better (I know he didn't play yesterday btw). Maybe O'Loughlin will be the guy but I'm not sure he's a winger. I'm getting sick of the grubber kick in the tramlines because we can't beat anyone on the outside (except maybe Ringrose when he gets moving).
All in all, very unlucky not to be leaving with 2 points, which would have been easily deserved. You can see a blueprint there in attack and defence which is quite exciting, though when we play it behind dummy runners in attack, we need to be putting the ball in front and hitting the line a lot harder (as used to be the DNA of Leinster rugby).
I liked how they played. It was good to watch, and pretty effective. They need to stick at it. I wonder will Henry be staying in touch and highlighting what needs to be worked on?
The lack of a Hickie-like winger who can stand people up or just burn them with acceleration is a bit of a weakness. I think DK and McFadden are good workrate wingers, but it would be useful to have someone who brought more elusiveness. Are any of Byrne, Morris, Kirchner or O'Loughlin the answer?
Byrne has pace, not sure sure about the elusiveness.. wish we would give him some opportunities like Sweetnam is getting in Munster.
O'Loughlin more of a centre. Rather see both than McFadden at this stage.
I got shot down a while back for suggesting that they have a look at bringing in Fionn Carr. People might not rate him very highly but at least he'd be the type of winger that Leinster are missing.
I think I'd like to see Byrne get a go as well. He's a bit suspect positionally, but does look very fast.
leinsterforever wrote:
I got shot down a while back for suggesting that they have a look at bringing in Fionn Carr. People might not rate him very highly but at least he'd be the type of winger that Leinster are missing.
I think I'd like to see Byrne get a go as well. He's a bit suspect positionally, but does look very fast.
Carr? No thanks.
Byrne isn't going to get much better without playing, like most players at his age.
leinsterforever wrote:
I got shot down a while back for suggesting that they have a look at bringing in Fionn Carr. People might not rate him very highly but at least he'd be the type of winger that Leinster are missing.
I think I'd like to see Byrne get a go as well. He's a bit suspect positionally, but does look very fast.
Carr? No thanks.
Byrne isn't going to get much better without playing, like most players at his age.
He might be relying on an injury to get a go. It doesn't look as if he's going to get consistent gametime anyway.
kermischocolate wrote:You guys think you gifted us two soft tries in the second half, we think the same about your first two. I thought it was a very good game- both teams came to play which I always like. I think we looked more ruthless and hence took more chances. I don't think there was a huge amount between both teams- neither will win "big" games on today's performance.
Onwards and upwards.
Oh, and Carbery looks very exciting!
Really was a very good game for the neutral alright. Seymour in the form of his life atm. I'd say Townsend was tearing them a new one for VDF's try especially. How many first choice players were Glasgow missing yesterday, besides Strauss btw?
This weeks injury list: Adam Ashe (hip / foot), Scott Cummings (shoulder), Chris Fusaro (knee), Ryan Grant (back), Sean Lamont (foot), Finn Russell (face) and Richie Vernon (achilles).
So, to be fair, not many. But the bigger point is we don't have a first choice XV. We don't even have a first choice 23. Like someone else said we looked rusty- we didn't play anything like well for 50 odd minutes. We won't improve this season by picking different players per se. We'll improve by building up to an 80min performance. Our biggest weakness imo is the lack of an international calibre place kicker, Finn not withstanding.
Matt Healy, Sweetman and Little (Ulster) are three wingers who have emerged in the past three seasons who score tries, occasionally look vulnerable in defence but get picked at Pro 12 level to score tries by their pace. Gilroy might be added but nobody from Leinster.
Hickey, Fitzgerald, Earls, Trimble and Bowe were a generation unto themselves, we need to add to the next one and maybe Byrne might be the nearest solution. He certainly looks the part in Sevens.
D'Arse wrote:Not too impressed with the new scrum half from NZ. Can't seem to pass the ball properly.
Yeah McGrath did a much better job passing it for the 10 to run on to, JGP looks a lot better with front foot ball (as do most 9s) so he'll probably get us through most league games
Know I said before maybe Joe wants Ringrose playing a bit on the wing but with henshaw and Payne touch and go for the Autumn especially the first game why not try Ringrose at 12
ESPN gave Reid 9 tackles made and 3 missed but one of those I think was a not held to be fair
Retired from babbling. Can be found on twittter @okeeffesimon
Ruckedtobits wrote:Matt Healy, Sweetman and Little (Ulster) are three wingers who have emerged in the past three seasons who score tries, occasionally look vulnerable in defence but get picked at Pro 12 level to score tries by their pace. Gilroy might be added but nobody from Leinster.
Hickey, Fitzgerald, Earls, Trimble and Bowe were a generation unto themselves, we need to add to the next one and maybe Byrne might be the nearest solution. He certainly looks the part in Sevens.
Terry Kennedy looked to be that type of pacy, elusive runner, so maybe they should have had a look at him?
Hopefully Keenan will develop into a good option. Leinster seem a bit more hesitant than Ulster to give outside backs a run, though.
I thought this match was the best attacking display I've seen from Leinster for a while. They didn't score too many tries but you can see the attack has a totally different dimension than last season with the players having more freedom to have a go. They're still 5 or 10% off but the fans will see better quality and more entertaining rugby this season.
leinsterforever wrote:
Ruckedtobits wrote:Matt Healy, Sweetman and Little (Ulster) are three wingers who have emerged in the past three seasons who score tries, occasionally look vulnerable in defence but get picked at Pro 12 level to score tries by their pace. Gilroy might be added but nobody from Leinster.
Hickey, Fitzgerald, Earls, Trimble and Bowe were a generation unto themselves, we need to add to the next one and maybe Byrne might be the nearest solution. He certainly looks the part in Sevens.
Terry Kennedy looked to be that type of pacy, elusive runner, so maybe they should have had a look at him?
Hopefully Keenan will develop into a good option. Leinster seem a bit more hesitant than Ulster to give outside backs a run, though.
Keenan looks a very good prospect. Kennedy is very quick and I'd like to see him be picked up by some academy. He is small but would be worth a shot.
