Pro 12 Semi-final vs Scarlets

[Peg Leg]

As with many on here, I believe leo should get the sack, all of our players over 30 should be dropped, Fardys new contract should be torn up, and we need to start again from scratch.

[Dexter]

As with many on here, I believe leo should get the sack, all of our players over 30 should be dropped, Fardys new contract should be torn up, and we need to start again from scratch.

Are you sure that's going far enough? There must be more we can do!

[fourthirtythree]

I agree about not holding sexton back.

The knockout game thing was one of our big talking points last night, much more than individual poor performances.

That and Scarlett's defense and intensity.

Big shout out to the Scarlets' fans they were mental. Great crack and it was a pleasure to wish them th best in the final. It's great for the league.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

As with many on here, I believe leo should get the sack, all of our players over 30 should be dropped, Fardys new contract should be torn up, and we need to start again from scratch.

Thanks, that's cheered me up a bit!

Although now that you mention it, was thinking after the game how it's very strange that our season is now over and there still hasn't been an announcement about the coaches.

[riocard911]

The best point made thus far, IMO, which I endorse 100% came from Blueberry (this should apply regardless if we're playing Zebre at home or Dragons away):

Lesson for the coaching team is you need consistent selection at the business end of the season - J10 should have played up in Ulster and Carbery at 15 for example. If someone gets injured it's a pity but wrapping them in cotton wool and you get what happened yesterday. Players I have no doubt were holding back v Ulster, total lack of intensity and this comes from within the management team, coaches should have identified and treated Ulster as a must win game to avoid the form team the Scarlets in the semi - same issue v Castres draw away earlier in the year which cost us a home semi in the Champions Cup quite probably. Winning must always be important, you can't just turn it on and losing always has consequences - the pathetic capitulation v Munster in Thomond this year another example, we threw that game before it even kicked off and that cost us too.

Important to learn from this...............you win at all costs and then deal with injuries and anything else.

[nc6000]

Although now that you mention it, was thinking after the game how it's very strange that our season is now over and there still hasn't been an announcement about the coaches.

Watching the game back on Sky there was an odd comment about Isa and him not wanting his time with Leinster or his playing career to end with a semi-final loss in the RDS. I wonder what that was about.

[carlow man]

Half of the problem is the amount of games the international players are allowed to play. It kills any momentum built up and sticks 2 fingers up at the young lads who have been playing and exceeding expectation. Look at our form over the 6 nations over the last few years. But the Senior lads come back and go straight into the team. Agree that the selection against munster waved the white flag and the attitude against ulster who are woeful this year, stank to high heaven!

[Tobit]

One point about urgency. Scarlets managed the pace of the game by having a man down injured at every opportunity. It destroyed any rhythm in Leinster's play. Good tactics but not nice to watch

[nc6000]

Half of the problem is the amount of games the international players are allowed to play. It kills any momentum built up and sticks 2 fingers up at the young lads who have been playing and exceeding expectation.

So we initially announce a 6:2 split on the bench with Sean O'Brien as the extra forward, then on the day of the game it's announced he's out with a "tight calf" which seems to have been troubling him for about a month now. Ross Byrne then gets the bench spot when we go back to the usual 5:3 split and despite Sexton having a dreadful game he doesn't get a run.

[matt]

Maybe someone needs to get hold of sexton and give him a few home truths. Seems to think he runs the place and his cranky head is becoming poisonous. Other players must be sick of his constant whinging when things fall apart. He shoukd have been off at ht. Couldn't take kicks and couldn't take ball into contact all night. Almost like he was saving himself for lions. No point now as he could be sat watching from the stands if they pick on form.

Was Sexton too powerful for Leo to take off when it was obvious in second half he needed to be replaced. If so very worrying.

[swanelli]

A satisfying win and thoroughly deserved. Believe me, it's difficult to have an objective view following a major disappointment and over the years we have had our fair share of them in recent years. You shouldn't be too harsh on your team. One thing that struck me on the night was the hunger of our players and our collective will to win and that got us through. Hats off to the crowd for their behaviour when Liam took the second half penalty kicks. Sadly, that would never happen in Wales/Parc y Scarlets. Not so good to see the crowd leaving before the end. It's easy to give your support when your team is winning but rugby is also about being able to accept a loss as well.

[simonokeeffe]

Maybe someone needs to get hold of sexton and give him a few home truths. Seems to think he runs the place and his cranky head is becoming poisonous. Other players must be sick of his constant whinging when things fall apart. He shoukd have been off at ht. Couldn't take kicks and couldn't take ball into contact all night. Almost like he was saving himself for lions. No point now as he could be sat watching from the stands if they pick on form.

Was Sexton too powerful for Leo to take off when it was obvious in second half he needed to be replaced. If so very worrying.

dont think he was too powerful, it was a gamble based on his ability v Byrnes but it shouldve been obvious they needed to takerestarts and touch kicks off him if they were keeping him on

[wise7]

Byrne has played well this season especially in the Pro 12 including against Scarlets last time when he set up 3 tries with his boot finding the space. Last night there was zero attempt at probing the glaring space that was available with Scarlets up so flat across the pitch all game. He should have been put on after HT and not in the 79th minute as JS clearly was unable/unwilling to kick and was having a poor game. Same thing happened against Ulster with JC having a poor outing at 10 but was left on for the full 80.

[matt]

Looked again at the three trys we conceded last night and all involve poor defence, communication & decision making.

For the first Adam Byrne should have held his width & trusted his inside defence to tackle Davies who he then misses & then Carbury should concentrate on the speedster Evans outside and leave the cover to take Barclay.

The second is the worst with Ruddock missing Shingler near halfway & JGP was fended off too easy yards out.

Ruddock at fault as well for the third letting Scott Williams come inside him too easily.

A lot of defensive work needed for next season otherwise we are just fooling ourselves & no matter how many trys we score we won't win anything.

[rooster]

As with many on here, I believe leo should get the sack, all of our players over 30 should be dropped, Fardys new contract should be torn up, and we need to start again from scratch.

We will give you Kiss in a swap deal for Leo, we will even chuck in a 4 th choice hooker as he will be better than your 3 rd choice !

[wixfjord]

For the first Adam Byrne should have held his width & trusted his inside defence to tackle Davies who he then misses & then Carbury should concentrate on the speedster Evans outside and leave the cover to take Barclay.

The definition of insanity right there.
It has been the same thing over and over again from Byrne this year. How many times has he been caught in almost that exact same scenario?
Has a LOT of work to be doing over the summer on his defence.

[cormac]

The lack of leadership on the pitch last night was disappointing. We looked incapable of breaking down the Scarlets when they were down to 14. Little clue of how to go about building pressure and scores. We looked panicked once they got the second try. Only the red card probably kept us in with a chance.

I don't like to criticise officials but the Italian touch judge last night should have been charged the full ticket price for admission to the RDS. You could have picked a random member of the crowd (Leinster or Scarlets fan) to do the job he did last night. All he seemed capable of doing was marking where the ball went over the touchline. I could have done that, be 20m behind the line of play, ignore offside, forward passes, crooked lineouts and claim I'd seen nothing of the two main disciplinary issues of the match despite the fact they happened right beside me.

[Blue not red blood]

This was hard to take.
I cannot remember a game where we were so inept.
Was it 9 knock ons after 20 minutes.
No cohesive game plan and to think we lost the last 43 minutes 6-5 with an extra man.

There were so many errors I couldnt start to list them all, but here is just 3 that stood out for me.

JGP kick in the second half. He had acres of space for a grubber to touch and maybe Byrne to chase, but no its straight out on the full

Jonnys kick on the full. it almost reached row 1 of the grandstand

Numerous times they packed 7 on our scrum and we actually give away the decisive penalty on 72 minutes or so. Did Healy concede maybe 4 penalties.

What was the plan for the second half because I sure as hell couldnt see one.
It was a catastrophic failure of management and players to adapt to the circumsatnces.
After all the hard work over 22 games this will leave a very bitter taste in players, coaches and fans mouths over the summer.

One final point is that we want Ospreys to win today for no other reason that it gives the prospect of 2 Welsh teams being seeded one in next years Heineken.
Onwards and upwards

COYBIB

[cormac]

A win for Ospreys this evening gives us a 67% chance of being in Tier 3 of the Champions Cup draw next month. Munster win guarantees Tier 2 for us.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Johnny really was a different animal after his knock. In the first passage of play he made two ferocious clear outs and a big aggressive hit. After his knock the only time I noticed him doing anything particularly physical was a big hit for a desperate cover tackle which is a bit different to being in normal phase play when you can protect yourself a bit better. He was passing a bit too early and just looked uncomfortable. I noticed Ross Byrne was ready to come on just at around the 73rd minute when Ringrose went off but didn't actually come on for another five minutes, wonder why that was? Johnny made another bad mistake in that period.

He also started going wider in defence and we tried to hide JGP out wide as well, plus JGP's sweeping is pretty much non existent. I know we have Luke out wide a bit too but he's an outstanding defender and the difference that those three elements made was huge. Lots of other missed tackles but a fit Johnny and Luke would have made us much stronger and able to scramble better at least.

Ringrose really was briliant. He slid off a couple of tackles but was generally excellent. Don't want to blame Mitrea after such a bad performance from us and when he gave us such a big advantage after the red but thought he missed a big call when Ringrose shot up on Davies and forced a drop ball but was then held back off the ball. It was a definite penalty and yellow card IMO, touch judge very poor there too. I'd like to see the scrums that went against us again, no good replays of them but I can't imagine Healy would have pulled them down.