Leinster v Northampton - Aviva 19:45 Saturday 17th

[wixfjord]

Adam Byrne is doing a bloody fine job in the starting jersey. Yeah his tries were good, but that set move off the line out just before the intercept was probably his best moment for me. He'll scores at least 1 try this season off that in the Pro12.

He already has! His try against Scarlets was pretty much a carbon copy. Lovely move and so hard to defend when done well. It's one that Ulster/Ireland used a lot with Bowe in years gone by.

[riocard911]

Totally agree. The way Byrne pounced after the initial tackle by Ringrose to get the ball, fended of the defence and ran the thing in under the post for his second try showed true killer instinct.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Yeah the breakdown was very frustrating early on. It wasn't like we weren't winning the ball, we were just very poor at protecting it after we did so. Much harder to do the first part than the second, yet we struggled. It may have been a case of us expecting an easy ride after we got the opening try so easily, and they weren't wrong I suppose, only took until around the half hour mark for Northampton to give up.

[molloyjh]

Yeah the breakdown was very frustrating early on. It wasn't like we weren't winning the ball, we were just very poor at protecting it after we did so. Much harder to do the first part than the second, yet we struggled. It may have been a case of us expecting an easy ride after we got the opening try so easily, and they weren't wrong I suppose, only took until around the half hour mark for Northampton to give up.

Yeah Leo mentioned it after the game about how they were putting numbers into the breakdown and we weren't so much. And given how the game went it was the right call, even if it didn't feel like it at the time from the stands.

[All Blacks nil]

Super display by Leinster last weekend with some clinical finishing. Northampton were below par but Leinster rose above them and completely outclassed them in all aspects of the game.

I was a little surprised at the attendance figure with the attendance dropping a hefty 6000 on the corresponding fixture at the Aviva last year v Toulon from 44K to 38K. When you consider last season that Leinster, playing poorly, were all but out of the competition after three games and that Northampton would have brought more travelling support than Toulon it was quite surprising to see such a drop.
The only reason I can offer is that that the evening kickoff would have had a negative effect on juvenile attendance and would have resulted in a late night for the younger supporters.

[wixfjord]

Super display by Leinster last weekend with some clinical finishing. Northampton were below par but Leinster rose above them and completely outclassed them in all aspects of the game.

I was a little surprised at the attendance figure with the attendance dropping a hefty 6000 on the corresponding fixture at the Aviva last year v Toulon from 44K to 38K. When you consider last season that Leinster, playing poorly, were all but out of the competition after three games and that Northampton would have brought more travelling support than Toulon it was quite surprising to see such a drop. The evening kick off time probably wasn't child friendly.

Timing definitely didn't help. Even coming out it felt strangely late.

[the spoofer]

Super display by Leinster last weekend with some clinical finishing. Northampton were below par but Leinster rose above them and completely outclassed them in all aspects of the game.

I was a little surprised at the attendance figure with the attendance dropping a hefty 6000 on the corresponding fixture at the Aviva last year v Toulon from 44K to 38K. When you consider last season that Leinster, playing poorly, were all but out of the competition after three games and that Northampton would have brought more travelling support than Toulon it was quite surprising to see such a drop. The evening kick off time probably wasn't child friendly.

Quite simple - an 7.45 kick off. It's normally a big family evening but kids were noticeably absent.

[All Blacks nil]

Super display by Leinster last weekend with some clinical finishing. Northampton were below par but Leinster rose above them and completely outclassed them in all aspects of the game.

I was a little surprised at the attendance figure with the attendance dropping a hefty 6000 on the corresponding fixture at the Aviva last year v Toulon from 44K to 38K. When you consider last season that Leinster, playing poorly, were all but out of the competition after three games and that Northampton would have brought more travelling support than Toulon it was quite surprising to see such a drop. The evening kick off time probably wasn't child friendly.

Quite simple - an 7.45 kick off. It's normally a big family evening but kids were noticeably absent.

Yeah
I edited my post and offered the same explanation.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Leo mentioned it when he was interviewed by BT. Said something about BT making things more difficult for us

[simonokeeffe]

Toulon were back to back to back European champions, theyre a much bigger draw than Northampton too

[footrush]

Super display by Leinster last weekend with some clinical finishing. Northampton were below par but Leinster rose above them and completely outclassed them in all aspects of the game.

I was a little surprised at the attendance figure with the attendance dropping a hefty 6000 on the corresponding fixture at the Aviva last year v Toulon from 44K to 38K. When you consider last season that Leinster, playing poorly, were all but out of the competition after three games and that Northampton would have brought more travelling support than Toulon it was quite surprising to see such a drop.
The only reason I can offer is that that the evening kickoff would have had a negative effect on juvenile attendance and would have resulted in a late night for the younger supporters.

My Dad is 85 and loves these games great that it was a mild night and he was able to go all about TV figures these days I'm afraid.

[curates_egg]

Toulon were back to back to back European champions, theyre a much bigger draw than Northampton too

Exactly: come and watch the world's most star studded team or come and watch Northampton b, devoid of internationals, at a crappy time for the same price

[Oldschool]

Toulon were back to back to back European champions, theyre a much bigger draw than Northampton too

Exactly: come and watch the world's most star studded team or come and watch Northampton b, devoid of internationals, at a crappy time for the same price

TBH I go to see our own lads perform.
Being a bit if a phillistine I don't get any great buzz from seeing the greats from other nations doing their thing.
I appreciate that this is just a personal preference btw.

[molloyjh]

Adam Byrne is doing a bloody fine job in the starting jersey. Yeah his tries were good, but that set move off the line out just before the intercept was probably his best moment for me. He'll scores at least 1 try this season off that in the Pro12.

He already has! His try against Scarlets was pretty much a carbon copy. Lovely move and so hard to defend when done well. It's one that Ulster/Ireland used a lot with Bowe in years gone by.

Well there you go, didn't I tell ya!

[Gearzbox2]

Bit late with the post but game was a blow out...can't complain, job done move on
Disgusted to hear Cummiskey bitch and complain about Northampton selection and how leinster learned nothing bla bla bla
I look at it that we stuck the knife in then in franklins gardens and broke tbeir spirit for return in Dublin...simple as

Back to the game, thought pack again drove us on with JVDF outststanding and my MOTM to be honest followed by Cronin( his run in the second half was the highlight) https://grabyo.com/g/v/VvbNl8bS3HI Furlong and SOB
Ross Byrne decent along with Ringer and Adam B
Interesting to see selection for Munster with internationals due to be rested????

[hugonaut]

Leo mentioned it when he was interviewed by BT. Said something about BT making things more difficult for us

The Leinster executive were spitting. Renting out Lansdowne Road costs a fortune and the marketing to sell sufficient tickets to justify it takes a lot of time, energy and money.

Putting the match on at 1945 [it ended at approx 2135] massively hamstrung their efforts to fill the stadium. It's too late for a lot of families with kids, and it's Dublin at Christmas on a Saturday – there are a f*cking shedload of other things to be doing at that time of the night.

We had 14000+ more people at our game than any other fixture in the competition this weekend [and incidentally 30000 more than Connacht, who started at 1730] ... against a Northampton team who are not performing well in any competition, who we whipped the previous week and who ran up the white flag with their team selection. When you combine that with the sh*tty kick off time, I have a lot of sympathy for the Leinster marketing staff. They were trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

[curates_egg]

Toulon were back to back to back European champions, theyre a much bigger draw than Northampton too

Exactly: come and watch the world's most star studded team or come and watch Northampton b, devoid of internationals, at a crappy time for the same price

TBH I go to see our own lads perform.
Being a bit if a phillistine I don't get any great buzz from seeing the greats from other nations doing their thing.
I appreciate that this is just a personal preference btw.

Anyone on this board goes there to see Leinster. It is not us that gets Leinster the extra money. It is those non "fans" who are interested in rugby and might fancy a day out.
They go for the spectacle and event as much as anything and this was a damp squib.
Check out the "letter" at the end of Wardie's article (in which he describes Henrose as already being a comparable replacement for Darcoll):
http://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/l ... 07343.html

[the spoofer]

Leo mentioned it when he was interviewed by BT. Said something about BT making things more difficult for us

The Leinster executive were spitting. Renting out Lansdowne Road costs a fortune and the marketing to sell sufficient tickets to justify it takes a lot of time, energy and money.

Putting the match on at 1945 [it ended at approx 2135] massively hamstrung their efforts to fill the stadium. It's too late for a lot of families with kids, and it's Dublin at Christmas on a Saturday – there are a f*cking shedload of other things to be doing at that time of the night.

We had 14000+ more people at our game than any other fixture in the competition this weekend [and incidentally 30000 more than Connacht, who started at 1730] ... against a Northampton team who are not performing well in any competition, who we whipped the previous week and who ran up the white flag with their team selection. When you combine that with the sh*tty kick off time, I have a lot of sympathy for the Leinster marketing staff. They were trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

As I said, fair dues to Leinster for the One Province deal. We brought up a load of lads to it. Also, thanks for the Premium upgrade although it's harder to get a drink than in the cheap seats!

Leinsters marketing has improved in the last year after a period of decline.

[molloyjh]

Disappointing as it was we still had 50% more at this game than the next highest attendance in the competition to date. Munster have sold out Thomond twice (25,600) and helped get Welford Rd up to 24,213 on Saturday while Bordeaux have managed just over 21,000 twice now. Once against Ulster and the other against Exeter. No other game has hit 20,000. So most teams haven't managed to bring in as many fans at home in 2 games that we brought in on Saturday, and very few games have sold out AFAIK.

[blockhead]

Leo mentioned it when he was interviewed by BT. Said something about BT making things more difficult for us

The Leinster executive were spitting. Renting out Lansdowne Road costs a fortune and the marketing to sell sufficient tickets to justify it takes a lot of time, energy and money.

Putting the match on at 1945 [it ended at approx 2135] massively hamstrung their efforts to fill the stadium. It's too late for a lot of families with kids, and it's Dublin at Christmas on a Saturday – there are a f*cking shedload of other things to be doing at that time of the night.

We had 14000+ more people at our game than any other fixture in the competition this weekend [and incidentally 30000 more than Connacht, who started at 1730] ... against a Northampton team who are not performing well in any competition, who we whipped the previous week and who ran up the white flag with their team selection. When you combine that with the sh*tty kick off time, I have a lot of sympathy for the Leinster marketing staff. They were trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

As I said, fair dues to Leinster for the One Province deal. We brought up a load of lads to it. Also, thanks for the Premium upgrade although it's harder to get a drink than in the cheap seats!

Leinsters marketing has improved in the last year after a period of decline.

Must have been great craic for the 500 or so kids that came up on the Tullow Express. 9 tries, and they wouldn't have given a toss about the level of opposition. Probably sang all the way up to the Aviva, and sang most of the way back home too before they started nodding off.