Leinster v Dragons Sat 3rd Dec at 19.35 pm

[Peg Leg]

Dreadful second half display against inept opposition, no other way to say it. Some strong individual performances (Conan, Leavy, Carberry, A.Byrne) but the standard really dropped, on everything from set-piece function to individual skills. Bonus point win, we'll take it.

+1
Totally concur with that assessment. Have never previously felt like asking for a 25% refund on way out, but the substitutions made the last 20 mins a joke and instead of Leinster closing that 60 points differential with Munster and Ospreys, we pi*#ed away the last 20 minutes like a kids picnic.

Have no interest in debuts unless the players coming in add something to the team at the time. Tonight, very few, if any, added anything with their arrival.

A bit of a nonsense comment RE subs RTB. I'd agree with you if the oppo were in someway competitive, but match minutes in a senior pro match for Deegan (who appears to have a high ceiling) and Rock are worthwhile and will stand to them and the coaching staff.

[nc6000]

Not much of a crowd. I trust everyone who was successful in the Six Nations ticket lottery was there.

[jezzer]

Wow. Tough crowd in here.

Some truly stellar running and ball handling from our 2nd/3rd stringers. Set piece very wobbly all evening but there were late front row and back row changes, plus Molony isn't our tallest or most powerful lock.

Carbery was a pleasure to watch. Reid did well while he was on. Rory at 13 had his best regular season game, albeit against very weak opposition. But runs, passes and offloads are runs passes and offloads no matter who you play.

Conan was terrific. Going to be hard to keep a guy that talented happy with the back row logjam we have. Hope we can.

Isa total shocker. Hilariously bad. Who cares. The idea he'll have 2 bad games in a row seems so ridiculous.

Adam Byrne. It's not all perfect but I think you just have to roll with him now in as many matches as you can and he'll be a force for us. Zane was poor enough but given the quality back options we're developing this season I really don't care much.

Great win. Subs were a total mishmash of kids and out of form seniors. Again, don't care much.

Commentator was abysmal. Almost turned the sound off but then I wouldn't have heard the awesome crowd noise......

[leinsterforever]

Wow. Tough crowd in here.

Some truly stellar running and ball handling from our 2nd/3rd stringers. Set piece very wobbly all evening but there were late front row and back row changes, plus Molony isn't our tallest or most powerful lock.

Carbery was a pleasure to watch. Reid did well while he was on. Rory at 13 had his best regular season game, albeit against very weak opposition. But runs, passes and offloads are runs passes and offloads no matter who you play.

Conan was terrific. Going to be hard to keep a guy that talented happy with the back row logjam we have. Hope we can.

Isa total shocker. Hilariously bad. Who cares. The idea he'll have 2 bad games in a row seems so ridiculous.

Adam Byrne. It's not all perfect but I think you just have to roll with him now in as many matches as you can and he'll be a force for us. Zane was poor enough but given the quality back options we're developing this season I really don't care much.

Great win. Subs were a total mishmash of kids and out of form seniors. Again, don't care much.

Commentator was abysmal. Almost turned the sound off but then I wouldn't have heard the awesome crowd noise......

O'Loughlin reminded me of a young Garry Ringrose

[jezzer]

Ha!

He's got more wiggle than Garry. Not as good a reader of the game but has some burst to him.

[riocard911]

Wow. Tough crowd in here.

Some truly stellar running and ball handling from our 2nd/3rd stringers. Set piece very wobbly all evening but there were late front row and back row changes, plus Molony isn't our tallest or most powerful lock.

Carbery was a pleasure to watch. Reid did well while he was on. Rory at 13 had his best regular season game, albeit against very weak opposition. But runs, passes and offloads are runs passes and offloads no matter who you play.

Conan was terrific. Going to be hard to keep a guy that talented happy with the back row logjam we have. Hope we can.

Isa total shocker. Hilariously bad. Who cares. The idea he'll have 2 bad games in a row seems so ridiculous.

Adam Byrne. It's not all perfect but I think you just have to roll with him now in as many matches as you can and he'll be a force for us. Zane was poor enough but given the quality back options we're developing this season I really don't care much.

Great win. Subs were a total mishmash of kids and out of form seniors. Again, don't care much.

Commentator was abysmal. Almost turned the sound off but then I wouldn't have heard the awesome crowd noise......

+1

[molloyjh]

Wow. Tough crowd in here.

Some truly stellar running and ball handling from our 2nd/3rd stringers. Set piece very wobbly all evening but there were late front row and back row changes, plus Molony isn't our tallest or most powerful lock.

Carbery was a pleasure to watch. Reid did well while he was on. Rory at 13 had his best regular season game, albeit against very weak opposition. But runs, passes and offloads are runs passes and offloads no matter who you play.

Conan was terrific. Going to be hard to keep a guy that talented happy with the back row logjam we have. Hope we can.

Isa total shocker. Hilariously bad. Who cares. The idea he'll have 2 bad games in a row seems so ridiculous.

Adam Byrne. It's not all perfect but I think you just have to roll with him now in as many matches as you can and he'll be a force for us. Zane was poor enough but given the quality back options we're developing this season I really don't care much.

Great win. Subs were a total mishmash of kids and out of form seniors. Again, don't care much.

Commentator was abysmal. Almost turned the sound off but then I wouldn't have heard the awesome crowd noise......

Yeah I'd agree with this. We started the game with a predominantly 2nd and 3rd string team and finished it with a few 4th string guys. Dragons were poor, but we were a long, long way off our best squad. Yet we still played some really good stuff in the opening 50 mins. Sure the final 30 were a bit frustrating but getting a bunch of guys game time like that is hugely important. In the end we were well worth our 5-0 win and we saw some lovely stuff for some of the tries. Compare that to some of our performances in previous years where we may have struggled to get the BP, or gotten it without ever really deserving it, or even worse lost the game.

The line-outs were a disaster but I think that was the calls more than the throws tbh. We were just very predictable. It was good to see Rhys back, Conan was fantastic, I thought McGrath was really good again, Carbery and ROL stood out while Byrne had a very strong first half. Isa had a poor game, as did Zane. Zane hasn't much game time lately though so I wouldn't be firing him out of a cannon for that one game. I can't see him getting another extension, but we need Dardis to get fit and get some game time. Rock looked solid enough when he came on, but Ross Byrne has a little way to go yet. Given the type of player he is I'm not worried just yet. A lot of his game will require him to grow into the role a bit. He'll need game time to do that. Daly didn't impress the way I'd hoped he would either. Shot out of the line a couple of times opening big gaps for the Dragons.

All in all it was a comfortable TBP win with positives and negatives. Anyone expecting anything more from a squad of 2nd, 3rd and 4th string lads is being very harsh IMO.

[joooooe]

Any highlights yet? A colleague didn't believe me when I said Leinster scored one of the best tries I've ever seen. I also hope any highlights include Molony's catch from a Leinster kick off soon after. If he hadn't gone to school in D4 it would've had people purring about his GAA background.

[molloyjh]

Any highlights yet? A colleague didn't believe me when I said Leinster scored one of the best tries I've ever seen. I also hope any highlights include Molony's catch from a Leinster kick off soon after. If he hadn't gone to school in D4 it would've had people purring about his GAA background.

No Pro12 highlights yet, but you can get the tries here:

https://twitter.com/yclwbrygbi

[Ruckedtobits]

Do TG4 not have a playback on RTE app?

[wixfjord]

Highlights here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2KA5Y3 ... youtu.be&a

McGrath's effort for the second try is brilliant. He and Conan work well together.

Also without wanting to sound like a broken record, ROL's running style reminds me of a certain BOD at times! Maybe that's confirmation bias at play.
He had a very good game.

[jezzer]

Highlights here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2KA5Y3 ... youtu.be&a

McGrath's effort for the second try is brilliant. He and Conan work well together.

Also without wanting to sound like a broken record, ROL's running style reminds me of a certain BOD at times! Maybe that's confirmation bias at play.
He had a very good game.

I think the young BOD had even more shake and bake about him, but Rory has the same ability, to my eye, of being able to shift his direction or his balance without scrubbing off speed. It's a brilliant ability. Compare it to guys like Rob K or Ferg or Zane, who have to make exaggerated "jump cuts" to shift direction. Kills your speed and makes you a target. I still think Ringrose is the better player, with his all round game (a la Henshaw) but ROL has something a bit special as an attacking threat that's only going to improve if he stays healthy and gets more games.

[wixfjord]

Highlights here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2KA5Y3 ... youtu.be&a

McGrath's effort for the second try is brilliant. He and Conan work well together.

Also without wanting to sound like a broken record, ROL's running style reminds me of a certain BOD at times! Maybe that's confirmation bias at play.
He had a very good game.

I think the young BOD had even more shake and bake about him, but Rory has the same ability, to my eye, of being able to shift his direction or his balance without scrubbing off speed. It's a brilliant ability. Compare it to guys like Rob K or Ferg or Zane, who have to make exaggerated "jump cuts" to shift direction. Kills your speed and makes you a target. I still think Ringrose is the better player, with his all round game (a la Henshaw) but ROL has something a bit special as an attacking threat that's only going to improve if he stays healthy and gets more games.

I actually think ROL looks more like the BOD of the last few years. That cut and attempted one hand offload for the first try being a great example.
His awareness for the Carbery try is excellent too. A lesser player would've messed that up. You can see him decide that the pass to Isa isn't on, then take the ball on and shift left for the pass inside.

If Reid and ROL could turn into a Pro12 partnership for Henshaw/Ringrose like Ferg and EOM did back in the day, sitting in when BOD/Darce were unavailable, then it would be a huge plus.
Reid is in great form too btw. Hope his injury isn't bad.

[jezzer]

Highlights here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2KA5Y3 ... youtu.be&a

McGrath's effort for the second try is brilliant. He and Conan work well together.

Also without wanting to sound like a broken record, ROL's running style reminds me of a certain BOD at times! Maybe that's confirmation bias at play.
He had a very good game.

I think the young BOD had even more shake and bake about him, but Rory has the same ability, to my eye, of being able to shift his direction or his balance without scrubbing off speed. It's a brilliant ability. Compare it to guys like Rob K or Ferg or Zane, who have to make exaggerated "jump cuts" to shift direction. Kills your speed and makes you a target. I still think Ringrose is the better player, with his all round game (a la Henshaw) but ROL has something a bit special as an attacking threat that's only going to improve if he stays healthy and gets more games.

I actually think ROL looks more like the BOD of the last few years. That cut and attempted one hand offload for the first try being a great example.
His awareness for the Carbery try is excellent too. A lesser player would've messed that up. You can see him decide that the pass to Isa isn't on, then take the ball on and shift left for the pass inside.

If Reid and ROL could turn into a Pro12 partnership for Henshaw/Ringrose like Ferg and EOM did back in the day, sitting in when BOD/Darce were unavailable, then it would be a huge plus.
Reid is in great form too btw. Hope his injury isn't bad.

Reid and ROl are already better than McF/EOM were and against better opposition. Totally agree about that offload for the Carbery try. He had 3 possible outlets for the pass, decided in a second to take contact and hit the hardest of the three outlets. It was by far the toughest option of the three and his offload - as he was falling - to a guy at full belt about 3m from him, was probably the best individual piece of skill in the whole game.

[wixfjord]

Reid and ROl are already better than McF/EOM were and against better opposition. Totally agree about that offload for the Carbery try. He had 3 possible outlets for the pass, decided in a second to take contact and hit the hardest of the three outlets. It was by far the toughest option of the three and his offload - as he was falling - to a guy at full belt about 3m from him, was probably the best individual piece of skill in the whole game.

Oh I wouldn't agree there at all! Both had a lovely partnership going around 2010/11. Remember particularly a game away to Cardiff, and also at home to Sarries in the Heino (Ferg started, EOM came on a both scored tries). EOM was great at 13 against Clermont away that year too. I really think he could've been class given a fair break with injuries.
Reid/ROL looks good, but haven't been tested together (or much individually) at that sort of level yet.

[erskinechilders]

I know it was only the Dragons but here are some of the stats :

19 Clean Breaks
21 Offloads
27 Defenders beaten
651 metres made

Thats fairly encouraging!

[dropkick]

Highlights here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2KA5Y3 ... youtu.be&a

McGrath's effort for the second try is brilliant. He and Conan work well together.

Also without wanting to sound like a broken record, ROL's running style reminds me of a certain BOD at times! Maybe that's confirmation bias at play.
He had a very good game.

I think the young BOD had even more shake and bake about him, but Rory has the same ability, to my eye, of being able to shift his direction or his balance without scrubbing off speed. It's a brilliant ability. Compare it to guys like Rob K or Ferg or Zane, who have to make exaggerated "jump cuts" to shift direction. Kills your speed and makes you a target. I still think Ringrose is the better player, with his all round game (a la Henshaw) but ROL has something a bit special as an attacking threat that's only going to improve if he stays healthy and gets more games.

I actually think ROL looks more like the BOD of the last few years. That cut and attempted one hand offload for the first try being a great example.
His awareness for the Carbery try is excellent too. A lesser player would've messed that up. You can see him decide that the pass to Isa isn't on, then take the ball on and shift left for the pass inside.

If Reid and ROL could turn into a Pro12 partnership for Henshaw/Ringrose like Ferg and EOM did back in the day, sitting in when BOD/Darce were unavailable, then it would be a huge plus.
Reid is in great form too btw. Hope his injury isn't bad.

I haven't seen much of RO'L but what he done for Carberys try was top class. He made it from nothing and made it look easy.

[molloyjh]

I know it was only the Dragons but here are some of the stats :

19 Clean Breaks
21 Offloads
27 Defenders beaten
651 metres made

Thats fairly encouraging!

It is, but given the Dragons performance and how easy we found it to get in behind them in the opening 50 mins or so it's hard to get too excited about those stats. Some of their tackling was downright embarrassing. Dooley should never have been able to score his try for example.

[the spoofer]

I was away so missed the match and only got to see it last night. Some of the reaction here is a little OTT. My impressions were:

Kirchner was not nearly as bad as was mentioned here, he worked hard, not everything came off.

Isa had a really poor game by his standards, two bad drops.

Loughman did fine for the first 30 but struggled in the scrum after.

The lineout was one of the worst I've seen from a professional team, there appeared to be a number of issues but most seemed to be down to Tracey under/over throws. We threw a few to Triggs that didnt work.

McGrath had a fine game, was really busy and is a great defender. Adam Byrne was lethal, he added to each move. Carbery & Daly need to be careful on defensive reads, both came out of the line and missed.

[Peg Leg]

I know it was only the Dragons but here are some of the stats :

19 Clean Breaks
21 Offloads
27 Defenders beaten
651 metres made

Thats fairly encouraging!

4 is the answer as to why those stats are terrible.