Henshaw injured

[mildlyinterested]

Realistically we won't see much of any of the lions until round 3 & 4 of europe.

Thats not actually true though, is it.

When was the last time, injury aside, a Lion was unavailable for selection for the first round of a european campaign?

they likely won't play at all upto that point.

[Dave Cahill]

Realistically we won't see much of any of the lions until round 3 & 4 of europe.

Thats not actually true though, is it.

When was the last time, injury aside, a Lion was unavailable for selection for the first round of a european campaign?

they likely won't play at all upto that point.

When was the last time, injury aside, a Lion was unavailable for selection for the first round of a european campaign?

[cormac]

Realistically we won't see much of any of the lions until round 3 & 4 of europe.

Thats not actually true though, is it.

When was the last time, injury aside, a Lion was unavailable for selection for the first round of a european campaign?

they likely won't play at all upto that point.

Yes they will.

[curates_egg]

I think we can assumed Henshaw will miss rounds one and two.
If there are no other injuries, then I guess we will see the other four either a week or two before.
It is undeniably a recipe for disruption though: no preseason and parachuted back into a squad that will already have found its rhythm (hopefully).

Furlong is clearly absolutely essential to our season, so we have to make sure he is managed to get the best out of him: the problem is the same applies for Ireland.
Jack Mc looks knackered but thankfully Church looked to be returning to form and fitness at times last season, and Dooley showed in the previous season he can hack it at the top level.
Seanie's miraculous(!) run of form and fitness on the Lions tour is galling. If he would be on that form, and that fit, for Leinster, then he would be well worth his parachute. Thankfully, we have such good backrow stocks, we are not reliant on him.

As I see it, the problem will be Sexton (again). Sexton's involvement in our season will be hyper-managed, with the priority again being elsewhere. It is hard to see how he was handled this season as being in Leinster's interests. Certainly, he rarely hit his straps with us.
Clearly, he is one of the best out-halves in the world and neither of our young pretenders is near him, when he is on form. So the management can be understood for facilitating the IRFU's parachute policy. It just doesn't seem to be serving us well. Ross Byrne was progressing nicely and then disappeared at the end of the season. Carbery had been flagged as the Irish ten for a generation and is now firmly shoehorned into fullback.
Presumably, those two guys will steer the ship (hopefully as well as last season) until the week before the Champions Cup and then be told to stand down.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Fast forward to next May and we might be saying that this injury was a blessing in disguise. The other Lions might be shagged and Robbie could benefit from having a shorter season/longer break. Robbie has looked tired to me, think this might be coming at a good time for him to be honest.

[scentofgunpowder]

Has Sean O'Brien played more minutes for the Lions than Leinster this season?

[Dave Cahill]

Has Sean O'Brien played more minutes for the Lions than Leinster this season?

Not quite - he's played more minutes for the Lions than Leinster this YEAR, but not this season. But that's Schmifora's call.

Leinster - 537 minutes
Ireland - 577
Lions - 293

[curates_egg]

Has Sean O'Brien played more minutes for the Lions than Leinster this season?

This season? I doubt it. He played in 4 Pro 12 games (265 minutes) and 4 Champions Cup games (similar amount of minutes I think). I guess he will be on around 400 minutes for the Lions?
This year though...
He only played 2 games for us in 2017: Zebre in January and Wasps in April.

He will have played more games for the Lions and Ireland combined than he did for Leinster...probably for the past number of seasons.
Seanie is a legend and you could argue he owes us nothing. Certainly, it is great for him to have his moment in the limelight in NZ, if that is his thing.
For some, it is hard to avoid the impression that the IRFU are taking the pish a little bit in using Leinster as a training ground for Seanie and Sexton though.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Sexton is getting through the games and playing well but he still doesn't look 100% to me. He's always so slow to get back up after contact, it's very worrying IMO.

Seanie is absolutely flying though. I said that he looked tired during his first game but he still seemed healthy and I can't remember the last time he looked this good. I wonder if he's lost a bit of weight? He hasn't been as strong over the ball as usual but is looking really sharp in every other area so maybe that's why.

[the spoofer]

Sexton is getting through the games and playing well but he still doesn't look 100% to me. He's always so slow to get back up after contact, it's very worrying IMO.

Seanie is absolutely flying though. I said that he looked tired during his first game but he still seemed healthy and I can't remember the last time he looked this good. I wonder if he's lost a bit of weight? He hasn't been as strong over the ball as usual but is looking really sharp in every other area so maybe that's why.

I heard Heaslip on OTB and he said that Sean worked really hard to get himself into shape for the Lions.

[johng]

It is undeniably a recipe for disruption though: no preseason and parachuted back into a squad that will already have found its rhythm (hopefully).

AFAIK they do get a preseason. There are 3 x preseasons in effect.

One for players who didn't tour. One for players who were with Ireland/U20s and one for Lions.

Roughly speaking the first has already started. The 2nd will be at least 2 weeks behind and the last will be at least 2 weeks more behind.

Players being managed on an individual basis is normal in modern pro sport.

[curates_egg]

Sexton is getting through the games and playing well but he still doesn't look 100% to me. He's always so slow to get back up after contact, it's very worrying IMO.

Seanie is absolutely flying though. I said that he looked tired during his first game but he still seemed healthy and I can't remember the last time he looked this good. I wonder if he's lost a bit of weight? He hasn't been as strong over the ball as usual but is looking really sharp in every other area so maybe that's why.

I heard Heaslip on OTB and he said that Sean worked really hard to get himself into shape for the Lions.

I wouldn't be surprised. To the uninformed onlooker, it looked like the whole of the first 6 months of 2017 was structured to that end.
That is his prerogative for sure. The players definitely seem to regard the Lions as a pinnacle.
For a Leinster fan who doesn't give a fiddlers about the Lions, it is a bit disappointing though.