Connacht v Leinster Sat 7:35pm 15.04.17 - TG4

[Leoslovechild]

I would want Cronin, Toner, SO'B, Sexton & Carbury playing in this in their S/F positions. Most because they need the game time and Dev and Sean because they need to keep the engine running.

I'd also be inclined to start Cian and believe that he may start against Clermont as their LHPs don't fancy his size and shape. Given him and "Nugget" Cronin a run together against Connacht would make sense.

Looking at Saturday selection Leo could still have decisions in his mind about:

15. Isa or Joey
14. RO'L, Dave K or Ferg
11. Ferg, or Isa
1. Jack or Cian
6. Dan or Josh
16. Strauss or Treacy
18. Ross or Bent
19. Molony, Nagle or Ruddock
20. Ruddock, Leavy or JVdF
22 & 23. See above at 15, 14 & 11.

Lots of decisions and positions still up for grabs. A great place to be....if they get the calls right.

Looks like Leo doesn't much like your selection!

[curates_egg]

Here's the very strong Connacht 23. Big ask.

15 Tiernan O’Halloran (124)
14 Niyi Adeolokun (55)
13 Bundee Aki (58)
12 Craig Ronaldson (64)
11 Danie Poolman (82)
10 Jack Carty (78)
9 Kieran Marmion (118)

1 Denis Buckley (115)
2 Dave Heffernan (81)
3 Finlay Bealham (79)
4 Quinn Roux (54)
5 Andrew Browne (152)
6 Eoin McKeon (104)
7 Jake Heenan (51)
8 John Muldoon (299) (captain)

Replacements:

16 Shane Delahunt (25)
17 JP Cooney (47
18 Dominic Robertson-McCoy (8)
19 Sean O’Brien (36)
20 Naulia Dawai (10)
21 Caolin Blade (42)
22 Steve Crosbie (2)
23 Eoin Griffin (76)

[alanair]

Here we go again... putting out at best an 'iffy' team against Connacht... The reason we dont do well in Galway, is that we always seem to put out a weakened selection. To be honest I feel a little cheated. Im Making the trek down to Galway again, and I hope Im wrong, but I dont think this team gives us a great chance of winning .... again

[ChrisUppy]

We could be lucky to get anything out of this. The sportsground is a difficult place for Leinster at the best of time and i don't really see anywhere on paper that we have an advantage over them. But luckily the game isn't played on paper as they say.

[Cor. Ind.]

Here's the very strong Connacht 23. Big ask.

15 Tiernan O’Halloran (124)
14 Niyi Adeolokun (55)
13 Bundee Aki (58)
12 Craig Ronaldson (64)
11 Danie Poolman (82)
10 Jack Carty (78)
9 Kieran Marmion (118)

1 Denis Buckley (115)
2 Dave Heffernan (81)
3 Finlay Bealham (79)
4 Quinn Roux (54)
5 Andrew Browne (152)
6 Eoin McKeon (104)
7 Jake Heenan (51)
8 John Muldoon (299) (captain)

Replacements:

16 Shane Delahunt (25)
17 JP Cooney (47
18 Dominic Robertson-McCoy (8)
19 Sean O’Brien (36)
20 Naulia Dawai (10)
21 Caolin Blade (42)
22 Steve Crosbie (2)
23 Eoin Griffin (76)

Looking forward to seeing how a distant relative of mine does @22

[johng]

Crosbie's youngfellah is related to a corksucker?

[Blue not red blood]

Very pleased that we are resting nearly all our starters for next week.
The result last week gave us the opportunity to do this.

Lets hope we can field this team in Ulsterrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

[simonokeeffe]

I think we're much better equipped now in terms of training & skills to cope with Lamball but there does feel like an element of writing this one off. To be more optimistic than that theres a few guys playing their last game for Leinster or certainly their last start and a few guys looking to prove themselves

They get a lead especially an early one it could be a long ass day for us

[CiaranIrl]

[Ruckedtobits]

I think we're much better equipped now in terms of training & skills to cope with Lamball but there does feel like an element of writing this one off. To be more optimistic than that theres a few guys playing their last game for Leinster or certainly their last start and a few guys looking to prove themselves

They get a lead especially an early one it could be a long ass day for us

Totally agree with that assessment. Standards are higher right through camp and barring Luke there is no other obvious front-liner selected to start. But what do we know? Maybe Leo has told Cian, Rossy, Molony, Rhys, Josh, Byrne, Dave K, RO'L, & Zane that they're competing for bench spots or better. Certainly believe we won't be short on effort. Ferg & Nagle will have small smiles!

Further proof of the value of B&I knock-out games at this time of year

[ronk]

15. Zane Kirchner (84)
14. Adam Byrne (20)
13. Rory O’Loughlin (18)
12. Noel Reid (79)
11. Dave Kearney (110)
10. Ross Byrne (20)
9. Luke McGrath (71)
1. Cian Healy (169)
2. James Tracy (38)
3. Mike Ross (150)
4. Ross Molony (40)
5. Hayden Triggs (27)
6. Dominic Ryan (111)
7. Josh van der Flier (41)
8. Rhys Ruddock (127) Captain

Replacements

16. Sean Cronin (126)
17. Peter Dooley (35)
18. Michael Bent (83)
19. Ian Nagle (9)
20. Peadar Timmins (6)
21. Nick McCarthy (5)
22. Tom Daly (7)
23. Barry Daly (9)

It's a relatively weak team but there isn't a single player who hasn't proven himself capable at this level or higher.

Outside the tight 5, subs are inexperienced though

[limecat]

Match Preview

As predicted, there was a notable drop-off in intensity last week after the heroics against Wasps the week before. Leinster were patchy at best and were fortunate to escape with a win against the Ospreys, but it was a very valuable four points. It puts them nine points clear of the Ospreys in third and now they need just six points from the final three games to guarantee a home semi-final. A win against Connacht on Saturday will virtually clinch that home semi-final but Connacht will be determined to make things as hard as possible for Leinster.

Read more...

[neiliog93]

Will be tough. A losing BP here, a losing BP against Ulster and a non-BP win at home against Glasgow is enough to get us a home semi though.

1.D.Buckley v C.Healy = Leinster
2.Heffernan v Tracy = Leinster
3.Bealham v Ross = Connacht
4.Roux v Molony = Connacht
5.Browne v Triggs = Leinster
6.McKeon v D.Ryan = Connacht
7.Heenan v VDF = Leinster
8.Muldoon v Ruddock = Leinster

9.Marmion v L.McGrath = Connacht
10.Carty v R.Byrne = Leinster
11.Poolman v D.Kearney = Leinster
12.Ronaldson v Reid = Leinster
13.Aki v O'Loughlin = Connacht
14.Adeleokun v A.Byrne = Connacht
15.O'Halloran v Kirchner = Connacht

Head to heads: Leinster 8 - 7 Connacht

16.Delahunt v Cronin = Leinster. 17.Dooley v Cooney = Leinster. 18.DRMC v Bent = Leinster. 19.Nagle v SOB 2.0 = Connacht 20. Dawai v Timmins = Connacht 21.Blade v N.McCarthy = Connacht. 22.Crosbie v T.Daly = Connacht 23. Griffin v B.Daly = Connacht

[riocard911]

I'm happy with the selection. It's more proof that our coaches are thinking about the bigger picture, which in my mind is a prerequisite for success. Take this interesting quote from Peter Smyth, Leinster Academy manager, in today's Spindo:

"It's one of the great things about Leo, that he integrates the young lads so much into the senior schedule and squad. It's not just a case of one day there's a big bang and they're exposed to this, it's very much a gradual exposure over the whole season."

The complete article is worth reading: http://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/l ... 22115.html

[neiliog93]

Unusually the Indo has produced some very good rugby stuff lately.

[Ruckedtobits]

Will be tough. A losing BP here, a losing BP against Ulster and a non-BP win at home against Glasgow is enough to get us a home semi though.

1.D.Buckley v C.Healy = Leinster
2.Heffernan v Tracy = Leinster
3.Bealham v Ross = Connacht
4.Roux v Molony = Connacht
5.Browne v Triggs = Leinster
6.McKeon v D.Ryan = Connacht
7.Heenan v VDF = Leinster
8.Muldoon v Ruddock = Leinster

9.Marmion v L.McGrath = Connacht
10.Carty v R.Byrne = Leinster
11.Poolman v D.Kearney = Leinster
12.Ronaldson v Reid = Leinster
13.Aki v O'Loughlin = Connacht
14.Adeleokun v A.Byrne = Connacht
15.O'Halloran v Kirchner = Connacht

Head to heads: Leinster 8 - 7 Connacht

16.Delahunt v Cronin = Leinster. 17.Dooley v Cooney = Leinster. 18.DRMC v Bent = Leinster. 19.Nagle v SOB 2.0 = Connacht 20. Dawai v Timmins = Connacht 21.Blade v N.McCarthy = Connacht. 22.Crosbie v T.Daly = Connacht 23. Griffin v B.Daly = Connacht

Interesting comparisons @neilog93 but what about looking at the units?

Front-five: Connacht more dynamic, Leinster stronger
Back-row: Leinster better individually, Connacht a better unit
Half-backs: Connacht duo just shade it
Mid-field: Connacht stronger but RO'L might surprise.
Back-three: Connacht more counter-attack, Leinster better defenders

On that assessment Connacht must be slight favourites, possibly 5 points in it, Ross Byrne's place kicking versus Carty may re-balance the contest.

BTW, I would reverse all your assessments of the Bench contests between replacement backs, but that just opinion.

[simonokeeffe]

I think youre both overlooking Ronaldson, he'll be kicking for them and has really good stats
He's a better player than reid too even if Reid probably has more pace and is injured far less often

[hugonaut]

Interesting selection. Leo and Lancaster obviously keeping a lot of our best players fresh for a really big effort away at Clermont. Beating the Ospreys last weekend allows us that leeway.

There are individual tests across the pitch, as is natural in an interpro. While we haven't selected our strongest team, we've only got one player playing out of position [Ruddock at No8] and even then that's not a huge stretch for him.

In some ways, I think the biggest test will be of Ruddock's captaincy, because Connacht will no doubt come out full of p*ss and vinegar, as they always do when we play them down in Galway. Ruddock is up against a super captain and a really experienced campaigner in John Muldoon, and he needs to visibly match Muldoon's efforts: talk to the ref, rally the Leinster players around him during breaks in play, fight in contact and lay down some big hits.

We don't really have a leader or a vocal presence from 11-15, and it's important that those lads don't get frazzled and look around for Isa/J10/RK/Henshaw to do something to get them in the game or tell them how to fix things. They're not going to be there! It's on the shoulders of the lads on the pitch. Ideally I'd like to see Reider or ROL step forward and take responsibility, both in terms of setting a physical standard in defense and in organising the backline.

Connacht aren't playing at the same pitch that they were last season, and we're playing a lot better. I think that their biggest threats are all in the outside backs – O'Halloran, Aki and Adeolokun. There's an onus on us to prevent those players breaking off big runs, and at the outset it's important that individuals in the backline complete their first up tackles and complete them as aggressively as possible. If we can keep those guys relatively quiet, we'll be in with a decent chance. It's a big ask though.

[wixfjord]

Reid has had a very good year. Different played to Ronaldson.

I'm really interested to see how R Byrne goes tomorrow. Should be full of confidence after last week. Had a bit of a mare in Thomond at Xmas in a similar scenario, hopefully he has learned a good bit since then.
I'd be particularly interested to see if he tries a few cross kicks. DK and Byrne versus Ade and Poolman would be interesting.

I never put much faith in direct player by player comparisons. I think it's fair to say that Connacht side looks much more coherent and stronger than ours. Would be expecting a LBP here, hopefully we can get a few guys playing well. Particularly interested in Healy, Molony, VDF, Byrne and DK.

[Oldschool]

Apologies if this has already been answered - who is the ref for this game.
Just watched the SC4 English commentary of Ospreys V Leinster.
Lacey was very poor.
A couple of times the Welsh commentator called Leinster peno and remarked that Mr Lacey obviously disagreed with him.
Given how one eyed the welsh commentators usually are that's some comment.
Pro12 refs need to come under a lot more scrutiny.