EPCR SEMI-FINAL V CLERMONT

[riocard911]

I'm cautiously confident although fully aware of the scale of the task. C'mon Leinster!!!

To quote the King of Pop (God rest him): "You are not alone..."

[nopeare]

Great to see optimism here now - I'm going for Leinster by 5

[riocard911]

Last week on "The Hard Yards", sportjoe.ie's rugby podcast, RO'G, who would be well acquainted with the Top 14, predicted we would win. I'm with RO'G!!!

[Blueberry]

Having sat through the depression of MOC ball we are in a fab place now and it has happened very quickly, not long ago Mr Penalty Try was the most likely way of scoring in the RDS and we had some absolute dross on the pitch (not gonna name names) - we now have an exciting, try scoring, young team and there is genuine belief in the coaching panel now too.

To have brought through so many young players this year (think of the progress we've seen in Ringrose, Carberry, Byrne's x 2, Leavy, Conan, Furlong, Tracey, Dooley, Luke etc etc) is remarkable and this is I have no doubt is the start of another good run for this team. Some good signings for next year add to the mix.

To be going to Clermont without Heaslip, O'Brien, Murphy, the Kearney boys, Healy and still be in the running (and I think the young guns will do it) is a super place to be in.

Does anyone remember the 1/4 final against Bath in the Aviva under MOC in 2015 !! Absolute dross...........that was only two years ago.............

[riocard911]

Just listened to this week's "The Hard Yards" - episode 12. RO'G still thinks Leinster can win. Says Clermont'll throw the kitchen sink at us for the first while, but if we can hang with our greater fitness and superior systems we should come out on top at the end. Here's hoping!!!!

[Ruckedtobits]

Even including Dulin, who is the closest comparison, nobody in France has a player like Joey. If their kicking is sloppy, he gets ball with space. If they don't kick and we make our first up tackles all day, he and J10 will get turnover ball.

Only concerns are our line-out throwing and Luke's concentration for at least 60 mins. Get those right and we have a chance. We have a lot of fire power in front row for scrums and mauls. With the back-row names we have a lot of ball carrying ability and ball winning ability.

Keep Parra, Lamarat and Chouly under control and we have a real chance. This game starts on Sunday with no memory. Play it as it comes with the confidence we have earned in 7 months of great learning and let the chips fall as they will.

[curates_egg]

Ross Byrne on bench makes perfect sense when you consider his and Joey's placekicking.

I totally understand the selection but I doubt it has very much to do with placekicking: Byrne missed a few last weekend and, if Sexton comes off, I would imagine Isa will take over the kicking.

I would imagine it is more a horses for courses selection: Carbery was seen as a perfect back-up for a running game at home; Byrne is viewed to be the better option to control the game at the end and put us in the right parts of the pitch.
I think it could be an indication of how we are going to approach the game...not that I am convinced we should be playing territory: I think we need to move their fatties around.
It will be interesting to see if the halfbacks kick more than they have been. Are we scared of the ruck? I'm not sure that is the right option.

[Raydollard]

I believe we will win cos of our exceptional quality and the massive strength in depth of the squad. The MOC days when we squandered our advantages and abandoned our courage are well over. This will be tough but if we believe we can do it over the 80 minutes.

[Donny B.]

Really disappointed in Leo and co for their gutless backline selection. "Safe" options chosen in McFadden and the mighty Dragons record signing with the twenty tries of Adam Byrne and ROL totally discarded.

I complemented them for sticking with youth and pace for the quarter-final, but they've bottled this one. The common thread on here is that Ferg has been preferred for his defence but there are some very short memories on here. Ferg can tackle but often he goes for high impact shots that lead to disciplinary problems. Added to that is his basic lack of pace, which was completely exposed when that Dragons winger ran around him a couple of seasons ago.

Adam Byrne isn't perfect defensively but he's no worse than Ferg and offers real pace. But an even bigger insult is not to include him at all and instead pick Ross Byrne who will only come on if Sexton is injured. Yeah cause we need three f%~king out-halves!

Awful team selection and the confidence I had all week is gone.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Sort of ignoring the fact that we have Joey at 15 there.

[riocard911]

Sort of ignoring the fact that we have Joey at 15 there.

+1. Reckon putting Ferg and Isa on either side of Carbery is cautiously clever. The wunderkind can do his thing, and the two veterans can mop up, if and when necessary. They should also be able to prevent Abendanon and Strettle going too much on walkabout. Thought what BO'D said on Friday night's Off the Ball was interesting. In pointing out the 14 year age difference he pretty much called on Ringrose to skin Rougerie. I remember early on in the Bordeaux match in 2012 BO'D put in a ginormous tackle on Rougerie, thereby laying down a marker. Hopefully we'll see a similar statement of intent from young Mr. Ringrose.

[Cianostays]

I think the coaching team have earned a bit more faith in them from us than that Donny. I, like a lot of people, was very surprised that Adam Byrne was not in the 23 but there must be a good tactical reason for it.

I wonder if having Ross Byrne on the bench is part of the unstructured gameplan? Having 3 potential first receivers on the field at the same time could cause confusion in the Clermont defensive system.

[wixfjord]

Really disappointed in Leo and co for their gutless backline selection. "Safe" options chosen in McFadden and the mighty Dragons record signing with the twenty tries of Adam Byrne and ROL totally discarded.

I complemented them for sticking with youth and pace for the quarter-final, but they've bottled this one. The common thread on here is that Ferg has been preferred for his defence but there are some very short memories on here. Ferg can tackle but often he goes for high impact shots that lead to disciplinary problems. Added to that is his basic lack of pace, which was completely exposed when that Dragons winger ran around him a couple of seasons ago.

Adam Byrne isn't perfect defensively but he's no worse than Ferg and offers real pace. But an even bigger insult is not to include him at all and instead pick Ross Byrne who will only come on if Sexton is injured. Yeah cause we need three f%~king out-halves!

Awful team selection and the confidence I had all week is gone.

Neither of those are true Donny.

[artaneboy]

Picking an in-form Fergus over Adam with the latter's consistent positioning problems- seen again in the Connacht match, is the correct choice. I don't buy the argument that because he gets skinned by a winger a couple of dragons ago that he's a bad defender. That's not even wrong. He's just slower- not a poor defender.

Fergus getting beaten pace by a young winger (who was it again?) is a mismatch on that attribute and it can be both predicted and protected.

Adam's problems are more systemic and harder to prepare for in a team. I'm a huge fan of Adam's, but he's not a reliable defender. I'd have him in the 23 though.


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[cormac]

Really disappointed in Leo and co for their gutless backline selection. "Safe" options chosen in McFadden and the mighty Dragons record signing with the twenty tries of Adam Byrne and ROL totally discarded.

I complemented them for sticking with youth and pace for the quarter-final, but they've bottled this one. The common thread on here is that Ferg has been preferred for his defence but there are some very short memories on here. Ferg can tackle but often he goes for high impact shots that lead to disciplinary problems. Added to that is his basic lack of pace, which was completely exposed when that Dragons winger ran around him a couple of seasons ago.

Adam Byrne isn't perfect defensively but he's no worse than Ferg and offers real pace. But an even bigger insult is not to include him at all and instead pick Ross Byrne who will only come on if Sexton is injured. Yeah cause we need three f%~king out-halves!

Awful team selection and the confidence I had all week is gone.

Rory O'Loughlin wasn't in the 23 for the Wasps game and the backline selected for this match played most of that Wasps match.

[Oldschool]

Adam Byrne is not in the 23 for a few obvious reasons.
Defence - doesn't stay out on his wing - this should be easy to fix.
The fact that it hasn't is a concern and better teams (like Clerment) will exploit this flaw.
Carberry at 15 - Requires players on the wing who will read the situation and react accordingly when Joey is working his magic.
Byrne seems to switch off at times during games and at this level that can be costly.
Byrne is great in attack and poor in defence.
In a tight game the coaches have weighed up the pros and cons and come up with the right answer.

[TerenureJim]

Sometimes you need a few old dogs for a fight and heading to France you'd back Isa and Ferg every day of the week. Those two bleed blue and will leave nothing on the pitch. Anyone doubting Ferg shoul take a look at how he took his try in the quarters.

[Munsterboy]

I see the logic in starting Ruddock and McFadden. They're both physical lads who have been picked to contain Clermont for the first 50-60 minutes.

VdF is an ideal player to come on and run the legs off that pack later on. They're huge but they're not fit.

Bit surprised Byrne isn't in the bench to do a similar job if/when the focus switches from containment to attack in the last quarter of the game.

[YellowfromUS]

For those visiting Lyon this sunday, it sould look like this...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KyPYJ-dI-4

...except for the final score

Warm welcome to all the Leinster guy, we hope you will enjoy your stay in Lyon !

[YellowfromUS]

not many teams in Europe could cope with being without 7 experienced internationals (4 of whom are lions) but we still have 14 internationals starting and 4 more on the bench. We're more than capable of winning on Sunday - bring it on.....

For Clermont it is a bit the same :

14 international on the field :
- Speeding (France : 21 cap),
- Strettle (England : 14 cap),
- Rougerie (France : 76 cap),
- Lamerat (France : 16 cap),
- Abendanon (England : 2 cap),
- Lopez (France : 16 cap),
- Parra (France : 67 cap),
- Yato (Fidji : 8 cap)
- Lee (NZ Seven : 3 cap)
- Chouly (France : 16 cap),
- Vahaamahaina (France : 23 cap),
- Iturria (France : 1 cap),
- Zirakashvili (Georgia : 53 cap)
- Kayser (France : 37 cap)
- Chaume (none)

3 on the bench :
- Ulugia (none)
- Falgoux, (none)
- Jarvis, (Wales : 18 cap)
- Jedrasiak, (France : 6 cap)
- Lapandry, (France : 10 cap)
- Radosavljevic, (none)
- Fernandez, (none)
- Penaud (none)

And 11 international player watching the game : Fofana (France), Nakaitaci (France), Debaty (France), Domingo (France), Toeava (NZ), Planté (France), Bardy (Portugal), kolelishvili (Georgia), Flip van der Merwe (South Africa), Timani (Australia), Stanley (NZ),