September 2017 Doubleheader in South Africa

[rooster]

Given that electronic devices in flight mode have no effect on planes, and that the vast majority of airlines now allow their use at any time, I don't see it as embarrassing for Leinster. Embarrassing for the airline stuck in the 20th Century maybe.

But laptops usually have to be put away for take off and landing because if there's an emergency then it's easier to evacuate.

The fact that he was on the next flight out must mean it wasn't serious anyway...but what a clusterfuck of a week.

It is policy that all laptops handbags etc are stowed in seat pockets or under seat for take off and landing so that in the event of a crash they don't go flying around like missiles, window blinds are opened so a rescuer can see in if anyone is in a section and at night lights are dimmed to get passengers eyes used to dark and enhance their vision for a possible escape.
Some people may not want to think about that all when they are flying but those are the reasons behind what seems like silly requests.

[the spoofer]

I wonder if any of the journos who are on this trip were on that flight. If they were then we will get the real reason.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

I'd put this down to over zealous cabin crew, I suspect then backed up by their colleagues which is fair enough, but we've all been on flights with the phone/laptop/iPad nonsense. It makes as much sense as turning off that stuff when you get on a Dublin bus in this day and age, airlines need to move with times on use of electronic devices is anyone still arsed about a useless safety announcement etc? Oh yes and paper not refusing ink. It's a nothing story.

You seem to have missed the point entirely.

But on the use of electronic devices, they do move with the times. On any flight I've been on recently the crew have been very quick to say when you can turn your phone off flight mode (and given a reason why) and I've encountered different policies regarding earphones and headphones.

Can't say I see an issue with the safety demonstration either. You may think it's pointless but see how people reacted on that flight that went on fire in Dubai last year, perhaps if people paid attention to the safety demonstration then they wouldn't have been getting their bags out of the overhead lockers as the plane was burning to the ground.

[mildlyinterested]

I wonder if any of the journos who are on this trip were on that flight. If they were then we will get the real reason.

Is it that important?

Non-story if I've ever seen one.

[blockhead]

I'd put this down to over zealous cabin crew, I suspect then backed up by their colleagues which is fair enough, but we've all been on flights with the phone/laptop/iPad nonsense. It makes as much sense as turning off that stuff when you get on a Dublin bus in this day and age, airlines need to move with times on use of electronic devices is anyone still arsed about a useless safety announcement etc? Oh yes and paper not refusing ink. It's a nothing story.

You seem to have missed the point entirely.

But on the use of electronic devices, they do move with the times. On any flight I've been on recently the crew have been very quick to say when you can turn your phone off flight mode (and given a reason why) and I've encountered different policies regarding earphones and headphones.

Can't say I see an issue with the safety demonstration either. You may think it's pointless but see how people reacted on that flight that went on fire in Dubai last year, perhaps if people paid attention to the safety demonstration then they wouldn't have been getting their bags out of the overhead lockers as the plane was burning to the ground.

Can we move on now from laptopgate, eh? He's with the squad now along with the other 2 Amigo's Isa and JGP.
5 points would be a great return from our first trip to SA. Indeed, the first Northern Rugby club to visit the country for competitive games. It may end up being a rare occurence in the future for anybody to acheive that.
The saffers may be playing like Italians at the moment but they are not Italians and they will respond, you can be sure of that. Lets show them a clean pair of heels on Friday.

[the spoofer]

I'd put this down to over zealous cabin crew, I suspect then backed up by their colleagues which is fair enough, but we've all been on flights with the phone/laptop/iPad nonsense. It makes as much sense as turning off that stuff when you get on a Dublin bus in this day and age, airlines need to move with times on use of electronic devices is anyone still arsed about a useless safety announcement etc? Oh yes and paper not refusing ink. It's a nothing story.

You seem to have missed the point entirely.

But on the use of electronic devices, they do move with the times. On any flight I've been on recently the crew have been very quick to say when you can turn your phone off flight mode (and given a reason why) and I've encountered different policies regarding earphones and headphones.

Can't say I see an issue with the safety demonstration either. You may think it's pointless but see how people reacted on that flight that went on fire in Dubai last year, perhaps if people paid attention to the safety demonstration then they wouldn't have been getting their bags out of the overhead lockers as the plane was burning to the ground.

Can we move on now from laptopgate, eh? He's with the squad now along with the other 2 Amigo's Isa and JGP.
5 points would be a great return from our first trip to SA. Indeed, the first Northern Rugby club to visit the country for competitive games. It may end up being a rare occurence in the future for anybody to acheive that.
The saffers may be playing like Italians at the moment but they are not Italians and they will respond, you can be sure of that. Lets show them a clean pair of heels on Friday.

Agreed, 4 point gained on Friday night might well prove to be 4 points more than our competitors will get later in the season.

[molloyjh]

It is policy that all laptops handbags etc are stowed in seat pockets or under seat for take off and landing so that in the event of a crash they don't go flying around like missiles, window blinds are opened so a rescuer can see in if anyone is in a section and at night lights are dimmed to get passengers eyes used to dark and enhance their vision for a possible escape.
Some people may not want to think about that all when they are flying but those are the reasons behind what seems like silly requests.

[curates_egg]

Can we move on now from laptopgate, eh? He's with the squad now along with the other 2 Amigo's Isa and JGP.
5 points would be a great return from our first trip to SA. Indeed, the first Northern Rugby club to visit the country for competitive games. It may end up being a rare occurence in the future for anybody to acheive that.
The saffers may be playing like Italians at the moment but they are not Italians and they will respond, you can be sure of that. Lets show them a clean pair of heels on Friday.

Agreed, 4 point gained on Friday night might well prove to be 4 points more than our competitors will get later in the season.

For all the moaning about the Pro14, and the logistical problems we have faced, we could well be smiling at the end of the season, having got this "potential bananaskin" out of the way early.
I know very little about Safa rugby but I can't imagine both sides will be pushovers once the Currie Cup is over. Cheetahs, in particular, will surely win a few home games.
So, if we manage to win this weekend - and I don't think we should be complacent about that because if they pick a full team and really want to beat us, at altitude, they probably could - it would be a very successful trip...and the management could be totally forgiven for a few c~*k-ups.

[wixfjord]

Can we move on now from laptopgate, eh? He's with the squad now along with the other 2 Amigo's Isa and JGP.
5 points would be a great return from our first trip to SA. Indeed, the first Northern Rugby club to visit the country for competitive games. It may end up being a rare occurence in the future for anybody to acheive that.
The saffers may be playing like Italians at the moment but they are not Italians and they will respond, you can be sure of that. Lets show them a clean pair of heels on Friday.

Agreed, 4 point gained on Friday night might well prove to be 4 points more than our competitors will get later in the season.

For all the moaning about the Pro14, and the logistical problems we have faced, we could well be smiling at the end of the season, having got this "potential bananaskin" out of the way early.
I know very little about Safa rugby but I can't imagine both sides will be pushovers once the Currie Cup is over. Cheetahs, in particular, will surely win a few home games.
So, if we manage to win this weekend - and I don't think we should be complacent about that because if they pick a full team and really want to beat us, at altitude, they probably could - it would be a very successful trip...and the management could be totally forgiven for a few c~*k-ups.

Currie Cup ending will have no little impact to no Southern Kings unless they pick up a few players from other sides, and little impact on Cheetahs, since they're playing their best side in the Pro14 already.

I agree though, they can only get better over the course of the year, certainly not worse. Heat around December/January might be another factor that Pro14 teams will face that we won't.

[molloyjh]

Can we move on now from laptopgate, eh? He's with the squad now along with the other 2 Amigo's Isa and JGP.
5 points would be a great return from our first trip to SA. Indeed, the first Northern Rugby club to visit the country for competitive games. It may end up being a rare occurence in the future for anybody to acheive that.
The saffers may be playing like Italians at the moment but they are not Italians and they will respond, you can be sure of that. Lets show them a clean pair of heels on Friday.

Agreed, 4 point gained on Friday night might well prove to be 4 points more than our competitors will get later in the season.

For all the moaning about the Pro14, and the logistical problems we have faced, we could well be smiling at the end of the season, having got this "potential bananaskin" out of the way early.
I know very little about Safa rugby but I can't imagine both sides will be pushovers once the Currie Cup is over. Cheetahs, in particular, will surely win a few home games.
So, if we manage to win this weekend - and I don't think we should be complacent about that because if they pick a full team and really want to beat us, at altitude, they probably could - it would be a very successful trip...and the management could be totally forgiven for a few c~*k-ups.

If we come home with 20 points from a possible 20 in the opening rounds (which we could do) while starting slowly and having lots of disruption due to injury and returning players then I think we can officially say that some people really are never happy.

Is it our best start to a season ever? Yes.

Do we have a good few very talented guys to come back into the side? Yes.

Do we know we are capable of a hell of a lot more than we've delivered so far? Yes.

Is the relatively poor start (performance wise) completely normal and explainable for us? Yes.

Are we seeing some young lads coming through with serious promise? Yes.

A lot of the complaints will be well forgotten come the end of the season if we're lifting silverware. And we're putting ourselves in as good a place to do that as we can do at the moment. Sure there are issues with the new SA teams, but there was always going to be. We need to give them until next season before we make any real judgements on them.

[Oldschool]

Given that electronic devices in flight mode have no effect on planes, and that the vast majority of airlines now allow their use at any time, I don't see it as embarrassing for Leinster. Embarrassing for the airline stuck in the 20th Century maybe.

But laptops usually have to be put away for take off and landing because if there's an emergency then it's easier to evacuate.

The fact that he was on the next flight out must mean it wasn't serious anyway...but what a clusterfuck of a week.

It is policy that all laptops handbags etc are stowed in seat pockets or under seat for take off and landing so that in the event of a crash they don't go flying around like missiles, window blinds are opened so a rescuer can see in if anyone is in a section and at night lights are dimmed to get passengers eyes used to dark and enhance their vision for a possible escape.
Some people may not want to think about that all when they are flying but those are the reasons behind what seems like silly requests.

I see somebody else pays attention to the safety blurb pre flight.
I've been meaning to write to the safety authorities re the oxygen mask directive.
An adult human being can survive comfortably and remain conscious for at least a minute without a breath.
I'm not so sure a young child could survive that long.
The logic currently being applied seems quite logical but it is always good to question these things.

[paddyor]

Am I alone in thinking that if the Kings had been able to stick their passes that they would have actually caused us a good bit of difficulty. They have some serious gas and both of their flankers and their hooker look like good operators.

If they get their sh!t together they're gonna be a good asset for the league.

Stadium 'a way too big though -
They need a smaller ground and a good marketing dept to get the crowds in.

Probably wrong. They can't defend.

Well I suppose learning to defend will probably be part of getting their sh!t together ??

I meant in the context of the game. Their approach was kindof "diet Brazil" - You score 2 we'll score 1. I think they'll struggle defensively for most of the season and offensively there skills don't seem to stand-up under pressure from the defense.

[riocard911]

molloyh wrote:

"If we come home with 20 points from a possible 20 in the opening rounds (which we could do) while starting slowly and having lots of disruption due to injury and returning players then I think we can officially say that some people really are never happy.

Is it our best start to a season ever? Yes.

Do we have a good few very talented guys to come back into the side? Yes.

Do we know we are capable of a hell of a lot more than we've delivered so far? Yes.

Is the relatively poor start (performance wise) completely normal and explainable for us? Yes.

Are we seeing some young lads coming through with serious promise? Yes.

A lot of the complaints will be well forgotten come the end of the season if we're lifting silverware. And we're putting ourselves in as good a place to do that as we can do at the moment. Sure there are issues with the new SA teams, but there was always going to be. We need to give them until next season before we make any real judgements on them."

Éist! Éist!!!

[matt]

Agreed, 4 point gained on Friday night might well prove to be 4 points more than our competitors will get later in the season.[/quote]

For all the moaning about the Pro14, and the logistical problems we have faced, we could well be smiling at the end of the season, having got this "potential bananaskin" out of the way early.
I know very little about Safa rugby but I can't imagine both sides will be pushovers once the Currie Cup is over. Cheetahs, in particular, will surely win a few home games.
So, if we manage to win this weekend - and I don't think we should be complacent about that because if they pick a full team and really want to beat us, at altitude, they probably could - it would be a very successful trip...and the management could be totally forgiven for a few c~*k-ups.[/quote]

If we come home with 20 points from a possible 20 in the opening rounds (which we could do) while starting slowly and having lots of disruption due to injury and returning players then I think we can officially say that some people really are never happy.

Is it our best start to a season ever? Yes.
Do we have a good few very talented guys to come back into the side? Yes.

Do we know we are capable of a hell of a lot more than we've delivered so far? Yes.

I would agree with this. So far without our Lions players & others who are important such as Ringrose & Leavy we have max points with very good players to come back soon or arrive in Lowe's case. That is a big reason to be happy with start of season.

The visa & flight issues are unfortunate but no big deal as long as the correct version re Healy is being reported. I have never seen a person thrown off a plane for not closing up a laptop in time so whether we like it or not this story may run a little longer. The conspiracy theories re RWC 2023 might be far fetched but who knows in this world of spin.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

I don't think anyone is being overly critical but I'd also be wary of valuing results against three fairly poor teams so highly.

As Isa said, there were signs last year that we weren't as good as we thought we were, so from that POV I'm disappointed that we've only performed in short bursts. Hopefully that changes this weekend and I wouldn't be surprised if it does because I think we'll want a quick start so as it's not close late on when the altitude really becomes a factor. Given that a relatively small squad will have been away together for over a week at that point (and most have had a decent amount of game time by now) I reckon we might be in for a slicker performance.

[molloyjh]

I don't think anyone is being overly critical but I'd also be wary of valuing results against three fairly poor teams so highly.

I'd completely agree with that. Remember though, we failed to get the TBP at home against Treviso last season and lost away to Edinburgh the season before that. We have struggled against poor teams in the early stages before. There's never any point getting too carried away one way or the other, but we're going okay so far. We do need to see that improvement in performance over the next couple of weeks, but the Clermont game showed where this squad can get to with this coaching team (despite the result). There are more reasons to be cheerful than not right now.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Yeah wouldn't disagree with that last part at all, it's just that we have very high standards.

[wixfjord]

Will be interesting to see what we do for second row bench cover this weekend. Ryan is seemingly out, and Molony and MK will start. Ruddock benching and providing bench cover in that case?

[johng]

I agree though, they can only get better over the course of the year, certainly not worse. Heat around December/January might be another factor that Pro14 teams will face that we won't.

There are no games in South Africa in December and January bar the 2 local derbies during the Jan Euro cup weekends.

Will be interesting to see what we do for second row bench cover this weekend. Ryan is seemingly out, and Molony and MK will start. Ruddock benching and providing bench cover in that case?

Sounds about right.
6 Murphy 7 Van der Flier 8 Conan/Deegan
19 Ruddock 20 Deegan/Conan

Ryan the only worry I think. 3 outhalves and 8 outside backs. That's 11 players for 8 spots (10,11,12,13,14,15,22,23) McFadden and R Byrne seem like they'll make it. Even if both miss out there is still a spare before you are looking at GPark for wing cover.

[Grumpy Old Man]

It is policy that all laptops handbags etc are stowed in seat pockets or under seat for take off and landing so that in the event of a crash they don't go flying around like missiles, window blinds are opened so a rescuer can see in if anyone is in a section and at night lights are dimmed to get passengers eyes used to dark and enhance their vision for a possible escape.
Some people may not want to think about that all when they are flying but those are the reasons behind what seems like silly requests.

Thanks Rooster, I always wondered about the blinds and night lights.