Montpellier v Leinster - Sunday 14.00 CET/13.00 Irish time

[molloyjh]

Very happy with that result. The conditions (and the state of the pitch) turned the game into a manky, forwards oriented arm wrestle. Montpellier were always going to come out the better of that. We started well I thought. The first quarter went as well as could be expected, but that break away try lifted Montpellier. A few questionable decisions (scrum penalty in front of the posts and Robs yellow) didn't help but then we got some breaks on that front as well so swings and roundabouts. Preventing them getting the TBP and managing the LBP ourselves was a good days work given the circumstances. Was impressed with Ringrose again and thought Carbery showed up well too. Leavy and Murphy both added a lot when they came on too. I reckon on a better surface where we can make our fitness and athleticism count we have enough to beat them.

[cormac]

What's the problem with pitches in France at the moment? The Bordeaux pitch last week was a disgrace as was the Toulouse pitch yesterday, causing what looked like a serious injury to one of the Wasps players.

[curates_egg]

What's the problem with pitches in France at the moment? The Bordeaux pitch last week was a disgrace as was the Toulouse pitch yesterday, causing what looked like a serious injury to one of the Wasps players.

They all look like they have been played on before the turf had a chance to bed in and root down. The rolls of turf just pop up.
I was at the Bordeaux-Lyon game and asked the fans if the pitch was always that cat...and they said it was.
Clermont the worst offenders in the Top14 supposedly, although they revamped the pitch at the start of this season.
http://www.sports.fr/rugby/top-14/artic ... s-1553033/

[molloyjh]

What's the problem with pitches in France at the moment? The Bordeaux pitch last week was a disgrace as was the Toulouse pitch yesterday, causing what looked like a serious injury to one of the Wasps players.

They all look like they have been played on before the turf had a chance to bed in and root down. The rolls of turf just pop up.
I was at the Bordeaux-Lyon game and asked the fans if the pitch was always that cat...and they said it was.
Clermont the worst offenders in the Top14 supposedly, although they revamped the pitch at the start of this season.
http://www.sports.fr/rugby/top-14/artic ... s-1553033/

Isn't the issue with the Bordeaux pitch the same issue Murrayfield had a few years back with the worm infestation?

[Dave Cahill]

What's the problem with pitches in France at the moment? The Bordeaux pitch last week was a disgrace as was the Toulouse pitch yesterday, causing what looked like a serious injury to one of the Wasps players.

The french for some reason don't have the same attention to detail when it comes to pitches that we do in Ireland and the UK - even Stade de France doesn't have undersoil heating which is absolutely astonishing for a relatively new build. Theres also the fact that the majority of pitches have palletised grass surfaces rather than hybrid pitches or fully natural pitches we prefer on this side of la manche

[Oldschool]

What's the problem with pitches in France at the moment? The Bordeaux pitch last week was a disgrace as was the Toulouse pitch yesterday, causing what looked like a serious injury to one of the Wasps players.

They all look like they have been played on before the turf had a chance to bed in and root down. The rolls of turf just pop up.
I was at the Bordeaux-Lyon game and asked the fans if the pitch was always that cat...and they said it was.
Clermont the worst offenders in the Top14 supposedly, although they revamped the pitch at the start of this season.
http://www.sports.fr/rugby/top-14/artic ... s-1553033/

The length of their season wouldn't help either
It leaves a lot less time for recovery during a period of very dry growing conditions.
Mind you that sort of weather is new in France isn't it?

[curates_egg]

What's the problem with pitches in France at the moment? The Bordeaux pitch last week was a disgrace as was the Toulouse pitch yesterday, causing what looked like a serious injury to one of the Wasps players.

They all look like they have been played on before the turf had a chance to bed in and root down. The rolls of turf just pop up.
I was at the Bordeaux-Lyon game and asked the fans if the pitch was always that cat...and they said it was.
Clermont the worst offenders in the Top14 supposedly, although they revamped the pitch at the start of this season.
http://www.sports.fr/rugby/top-14/artic ... s-1553033/

The length of their season wouldn't help either
It leaves a lot less time for recovery during a period of very dry growing conditions.
Mind you that sort of weather is new in France isn't it?

There is no recovery: like Dave says, they just put in blocks or rolls of grass grown elsewhere in August/September - which is also not a good time for bedding down lawns, as you have to constantly water.
I never heard about any worm problem in UBB (or anywhere other than Edinburgh) and can't find one through googling (UBB, pelous, vers). The problem when I was there was definitely just the turf rolls popping up at every scrum.

[cormac]

What's the problem with pitches in France at the moment? The Bordeaux pitch last week was a disgrace as was the Toulouse pitch yesterday, causing what looked like a serious injury to one of the Wasps players.

The french for some reason don't have the same attention to detail when it comes to pitches that we do in Ireland and the UK - even Stade de France doesn't have undersoil heating which is absolutely astonishing for a relatively new build. Theres also the fact that the majority of pitches have palletised grass surfaces rather than hybrid pitches or fully natural pitches we prefer on this side of la manche

The Stade de France was built on the site of an old gasworks which is why it doesn't have undersoil heating.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/frenc ... 42578.html

[Dave Cahill]

Well thats just adding stupid to dumb

[Flash Gordon]

What's the problem with pitches in France at the moment? The Bordeaux pitch last week was a disgrace as was the Toulouse pitch yesterday, causing what looked like a serious injury to one of the Wasps players.

The french for some reason don't have the same attention to detail when it comes to pitches that we do in Ireland and the UK - even Stade de France doesn't have undersoil heating which is absolutely astonishing for a relatively new build. Theres also the fact that the majority of pitches have palletised grass surfaces rather than hybrid pitches or fully natural pitches we prefer on this side of la manche

The Stade de France was built on the site of an old gasworks which is why it doesn't have undersoil heating.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/frenc ... 42578.html

Seeping gas? Think DLSP had the same issue as the ground was built on a dump!

[jezzer]

Fair play to the full squad for pulling an LB out of the hat. They never gave up on a foul day against a huge team with a game breaking winger.

To be critical of the coaches, I don't think any of the "controversial" or "risky" calls paid off with the selection. We really failed to get MHR to commit bodies to the breakdown because we made errors, went wide wide or kicked it before we could take them through phases. They just strung across the pitch (huge men almost all) and waited for one of our many mistakes.

But we hung tough and with JGP, Carbery and the pack subs we started to punch holes, up the tempo, preventado their line resetting and ultimately we started getting in behind a little. The try at the end was deserved and that point brought home was hard won and very valuable.

One guy you'll never get to take a bow is Isa Nacewa but yesterday he delivered us the win, simple as.

If, as Ruckedtobits suggested, he'd been put on Nadolo from the start, who knows the result? But the players bailed out the coaches with this result imo and I hope the bodies aren't too sore today.

Great craic at the stadium afterwards.

[arsebiscuits1]

Tracey looks a stone short of being able to compete at the highest level.

Tracy is the heaviest hooker in the Leinster Squad

He has 7kgs on Cronin, 6kgs on Strauss, 2kgs on McNulty.

He also has 2kgs on Best.

Leinster have Tracy at close to 17 stone...

[paddyor]

Tracey looks a stone short of being able to compete at the highest level.

Tracy is the heaviest hooker in the Leinster Squad

He has 7kgs on Cronin, 6kgs on Strauss, 2kgs on McNulty.

He also has 2kgs on Best.

Leinster have Tracy at close to 17 stone...

Yeah well, he looks a stone short.....so there.

[Peg Leg]

Meeeeow

[Alex_MHR34]

I can't talk a lot about the match, because of my poor english.

Inspite of the cold and super rainy weather, that was a pretty rough game. Without being disrespectful, I don't know how we missed the BP. In my opinion, Montpellier was superior of the Leinster during (almost) 60 minutes... I didn't recognize your team During the last 20 minute, it seems like Montpellier has decrease its game and level.

Nevermind, thanks for all the Leinster's fans who came to Montpellier. Thanks to you we had a great atmosphere at the Altrad Stadium. You guys are great people and supporter. I, also, had a great time sathurday evening and after the match with John and his friend (don't remember his name. Most of the time, the conversation was hard for me to understand )

See you in January in Dublin !

[curates_egg]

I can't talk a lot about the match, because of my poor english.

Inspite of the cold and super rainy weather, that was a pretty rough game. Without being disrespectful, I don't know how we missed the BP. In my opinion, Montpellier was superior of the Leinster during (almost) 60 minutes... I didn't recognize your team During the last 20 minute, it seems like Montpellier has decrease its game and level.

Nevermind, thanks for all the Leinster's fans who came to Montpellier. Thanks to you we had a great atmosphere at the Altrad Stadium. You guys are great people and supporter. I, also, had a great time sathurday evening and after the match with John and his friend (don't remember his name. Most of the time, the conversation was hard for me to understand )

See you in January in Dublin !

On a commencé avec deux joueurs blessés, on vous a presente deux essaies sur un plateau et l'arbitre n'a regardé qu'une équipe...mais même avec tout ça, et le fait que vous étiez à domicile dans des parfaites conditions pour votre lourde équipe, vous n'étiez pas trop convaincant. Franchement je crois que vous pouvez aussi être contente avec vos 4 points. Évidemment, vous auriez pu marqué 5, mais vous n'auriez pas mérité à mon avis. De l'autre coté, vu le bordel des premieres 60 minutes, nous sommes aussi contentes avec notre point. Un résultat juste.

On verra bien à Dublin en janvier.

[fourthirtythree]

Hi Alex, I agree we were fortunate not to ship a bonus point try, and also to get one.

That said we do know how to take on big French packs like Montpellier, and in general it doesn't involve selecting our biggest ugliest pack and going toe to toe but rather making them run. The weather you mentioned had a big part in the selection, many feel Irish management may have had a part too, and whatever was the cause there were risks taken on injured players which didn't pay off. Plus we found Nadolo difficult to play.

That said all three tries were, to some extent, gifts from us. The video analysis will be harsh on some issues. Outside of that we defended really well (as did Montpellier when we were banging on the line at the end), and we got the try at the end because we had a bench that made the team more suitable to play a big pack like Mont I think.

But back to the first line above: it seems obvious that people here are happy with an away point and keeping you to 4 so I can understand if in Montpellier this is viewed as a frustrating result given the play.

[FourMasters]

On a commencé avec deux joueurs blessés, on vous a presente deux essaies sur un plateau et l'arbitre n'a regardé qu'une équipe...mais même avec tout ça, et le fait que vous étiez à domicile dans des parfaites conditions pour votre lourde équipe, vous n'étiez pas trop convaincant. Franchement je crois que vous pouvez aussi être contente avec vos 4 points. Évidemment, vous auriez pu marqué 5, mais vous n'auriez pas mérité à mon avis. De l'autre coté, vu le bordel des premieres 60 minutes, nous sommes aussi contentes avec notre point. Un résultat juste.

On verra bien à Dublin en janvier.

+1! What he said!
(As long as it isn't rude)...

[fourthirtythree]

On a commencé avec deux joueurs blessés, on vous a presente deux essaies sur un plateau et l'arbitre n'a regardé qu'une équipe...mais même avec tout ça, et le fait que vous étiez à domicile dans des parfaites conditions pour votre lourde équipe, vous n'étiez pas trop convaincant. Franchement je crois que vous pouvez aussi être contente avec vos 4 points. Évidemment, vous auriez pu marqué 5, mais vous n'auriez pas mérité à mon avis. De l'autre coté, vu le bordel des premieres 60 minutes, nous sommes aussi contentes avec notre point. Un résultat juste.

On verra bien à Dublin en janvier.

+1! What he said!
(As long as it isn't rude)...

He said they were fat.

[Ruckedtobits]

On a commencé avec deux joueurs blessés, on vous a presente deux essaies sur un plateau et l'arbitre n'a regardé qu'une équipe...mais même avec tout ça, et le fait que vous étiez à domicile dans des parfaites conditions pour votre lourde équipe, vous n'étiez pas trop convaincant. Franchement je crois que vous pouvez aussi être contente avec vos 4 points. Évidemment, vous auriez pu marqué 5, mais vous n'auriez pas mérité à mon avis. De l'autre coté, vu le bordel des premieres 60 minutes, nous sommes aussi contentes avec notre point. Un résultat juste.

On verra bien à Dublin en janvier.

+1! What he said!
(As long as it isn't rude)...

He said they were fat.

Mais non, il a dit la verite. Bon mots monsieur