Leinster vs Ulster, 06/01/18, 17.35pm (Sky, BBC & TG4)

CiaranIrl · Post by **CiaranIrl** » January 1st, 2018, 9:35 pm

It'll be a difficult balancing act to pick the team for this. Just a six day turnaround, with two huge European games coming up on it's coattails, but against the third placed team in our conference.

1. McGrath, 2. Tracey, 3. Furlong, 4. Fardy, 5. Toner, 6. O'Brien (if fit), 7. Jordi, 8. Conan, 9. JGP, 10 Byrne, 11. Barry Daly, 12. Henshaw, 13. Ringrose, 14. Isa, 15. Larmour

Byrne, Byrne, Porter, Maloney, Deegan, McCarthy, Marsh, Dave Kearney

Dave Cahill · Post by **Dave Cahill** » January 1st, 2018, 9:39 pm

I'd say we'll see a blend of what we've seen so far with an eye on the Glasgow game

McGrath, Tracey, Furlong, Fardy, Toner, Murphy, vd Flier, Conan, McGrath, Byrne, Lowe, Henshaw, Ringrose, Larmour, Kearney

Byrne, Byrne, Bent, a lock (they're all much of a sh!t muchness), Deegan, JGP, Marsh, ROL

Isa doesn't really need a game to get up to speed - and getting him a rest is very important

A16 · Post by **A16** » January 2nd, 2018, 3:06 am

1. McGrath, 2. Tracy, 3. Furlong, 4. Fardy, 5. Toner, 6. Murphy, 7. O’Brien/Leavy, 8. Conan, 9. JGP, 10. Byrne, 11. Lowe, 12. Henshaw, 13. O’loughlin, 14. Kearney, 15. Larmour, 16. Byrne, 17. Byrne, 18. Porter, 19. Molony, 20. Deegan, 21. McCarthy, 22. Marsh, 23. Nacewa

the spoofer · Post by **the spoofer** » January 2nd, 2018, 10:29 am

What's the story with Sean O'Brien?

Leinsterlunatic · Post by **Leinsterlunatic** » January 2nd, 2018, 11:39 am

I'd be tempted to give Marsh a go from the start, he's been around for a long time now and never really seen him been tested, if we lose Sexton/Byrne over the coming weeks we could be screwed.

1. McGrath, 2. Tracy, 3. Furlong, 4. Ryan, 5. Toner, 6. Murphy, 7. O’Brien, 8. Conan, 9. JGP, 10. Marsh, 11. Lowe, 12. Henshaw, 13.Ringrose, 14. Barry Daly, 15. Larmour, 16. Byrne, 17. Byrne, 18. Porter, 19. Nagle, 20. Deegan, 21. McCarthy, 22. Byrne, 23. McFadden

the spoofer · Post by **the spoofer** » January 2nd, 2018, 11:47 am

Leinsterlunatic wrote:I'd be tempted to give Marsh a go from the start, he's been around for a long time now and never really seen him been tested, if we lose Sexton/Byrne over the coming weeks we could be screwed.

1. McGrath, 2. Tracy, 3. Furlong, 4. Ryan, 5. Toner, 6. Murphy, 7. O’Brien, 8. Conan, 9. JGP, 10. Marsh, 11. Lowe, 12. Henshaw, 13.Ringrose, 14. Barry Daly, 15. Larmour, 16. Byrne, 17. Byrne, 18. Porter, 19. Nagle, 20. Deegan, 21. McCarthy, 22. Byrne, 23. McFadden

Carbery can't be that far away. He got injured on 18/11 and it was predicted at 6 weeks so should be back soon.

cormac · Post by **cormac** » January 2nd, 2018, 12:02 pm

Leinsterlunatic wrote:I'd be tempted to give Marsh a go from the start, he's been around for a long time now and never really seen him been tested, if we lose Sexton/Byrne over the coming weeks we could be screwed.

1. McGrath, 2. Tracy, 3. Furlong, 4. Ryan, 5. Toner, 6. Murphy, 7. O’Brien, 8. Conan, 9. JGP, 10. Marsh, 11. Lowe, 12. Henshaw, 13.Ringrose, 14. Barry Daly, 15. Larmour, 16. Byrne, 17. Byrne, 18. Porter, 19. Nagle, 20. Deegan, 21. McCarthy, 22. Byrne, 23. McFadden

Marsh simply isn't good enough. James Ryan isn't fit either.

cormac · Post by **cormac** » January 2nd, 2018, 12:19 pm

Injury update:

Luke McGrath passed his HIA, will be available for the Ulster game. Jack McGrath available too after completing return to play protocols. Adam Byrne back in full training. Dan Leavy being assessed after picking up a back injury. Doesn't sound too serious.

Unavailable: O'Loughlin picked up a head injury in the last phases of defending, misses the game against Ulster. Strauss and Ryan are still injured as is SOB who's hopeful of being fit for the Glasgow match. Joey Carbery is returning to on-field training this week.

the spoofer · Post by **the spoofer** » January 2nd, 2018, 12:47 pm

cormac wrote:Injury update:

Luke McGrath passed his HIA, will be available for the Ulster game. Jack McGrath available too after completing return to play protocols. Adam Byrne back in full training. Dan Leavy being assessed after picking up a back injury. Doesn't sound too serious.

Unavailable: O'Loughlin picked up a head injury in the last phases of defending, misses the game against Ulster. Strauss and Ryan are still injured as is SOB who's hopeful of being fit for the Glasgow match. Joey Carbery is returning to on-field training this week.

So SO'B will get a hit out against Glasgow to prepare for the 6N's.

wixfjord · Post by **wixfjord** » January 2nd, 2018, 1:09 pm

So we're maybe looking at something like

McGrath, Tracy, Furlong, Toner, Fardy, Jordi, VDF, Conan, JGP, Byrne, Daly, Henshaw, Ringrose, Byrne, Larmour
Cronin, Dooley/Byrne, Bent/Porter, Molony, Deegan, McGrath, Marsh, Isa

Can't see too many guys playing the full three games but Ringrose looks like he needs a bit of gametime to get up to speed.
Isa probably needs a bit of time on pitch too before Europe.

That pack alone should have enough to take on Ulster.

CiaranIrl · Post by **CiaranIrl** » January 2nd, 2018, 1:21 pm

If Dave Kearney doesn't get a look in here, surely he'll have to look to move at the end of the season. From the looks of things, he's behind Lowe, Isa, McFadden, Daly, Byrne, Larmour and even O'Loughlin for a place on the wings.

LeRouxIsPHat · Post by **LeRouxIsPHat** » January 2nd, 2018, 1:28 pm

And that's with Isa, and Adam Byrne not even being involved in the last two games. Been impressed with ROL recently, his omission from the Ireland squad seems to have had the desired effect.

johng · Post by **johng** » January 2nd, 2018, 1:34 pm

cormac wrote:Injury update:

Luke McGrath passed his HIA, will be available for the Ulster game. Jack McGrath available too after completing return to play protocols. Adam Byrne back in full training. Dan Leavy being assessed after picking up a back injury. Doesn't sound too serious.

Unavailable: O'Loughlin picked up a head injury in the last phases of defending, misses the game against Ulster. Strauss and Ryan are still injured as is SOB who's hopeful of being fit for the Glasgow match. Joey Carbery is returning to on-field training this week.

Did they ever make comment on Ruddock's injury. Reports at the time said he could be out for the rest of the season. Also no news on Heaslip doesn't look good.

molloyjh · Post by **molloyjh** » January 2nd, 2018, 1:46 pm

I'd be surprised if VDF played again on Saturday after that shift. Leavy and SOB are both injured and we don't know when we'll get them back so we'll surely need to keep Josh fresh. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see something like:

McGrath Tracy Furlong
Fardy Toner
Conan Deegan Murphy

JGP Byrne
Henshaw Ringrose
Daly Larmour Nacewa

Byrne, Byrne, Bent, Molony, Josh Murphy, McCarthy, Marsh, D Kearney

** EDIT: Replaced ROL with Ringrose as I didn't realise ROL got a bang to the head. **

LeRouxIsPHat · Post by **LeRouxIsPHat** » January 2nd, 2018, 2:05 pm

The Ulster team could potentially be very weak, not that they'd be great if they were at full strength either. Not sure if Best will be back but it's hard to see Cooney, Leali'ifano, McCloskey and Piutau playing again given how important the next two games are for them, and if I was them I wouldn't risk Henderson or Stockdale either.

I'd like to see Will Connors involved for us.

molloyjh · Post by **molloyjh** » January 2nd, 2018, 2:24 pm

LeRouxIsPHat wrote:The Ulster team could potentially be very weak, not that they'd be great if they were at full strength either. Not sure if Best will be back but it's hard to see Cooney, Leali'ifano, McCloskey and Piutau playing again given how important the next two games are for them, and if I was them I wouldn't risk Henderson or Stockdale either.

I'd like to see Will Connors involved for us.

I think they will play Hendo and Stockdale. And I believe Best is due back. We'll be looking at something like:

Black Best Herbst
Henderson Diack
Ross Deysel Reidy

Marshall McPhillips
McCloskey Ludik
Lyttle Stockdale Trimble

And if that is the team we should be looking to eat them alive.

IanD · Post by **IanD** » January 2nd, 2018, 2:48 pm

LeRouxIsPHat wrote:The Ulster team could potentially be very weak, not that they'd be great if they were at full strength either. Not sure if Best will be back but it's hard to see Cooney, Leali'ifano, McCloskey and Piutau playing again given how important the next two games are for them, and if I was them I wouldn't risk Henderson or Stockdale either.

I'd like to see Will Connors involved for us.

It was mentioned in commentary on BBC Ulster that Leali'ifano has 3 weeks left at Ulster so they don't really need to worry about minutes played affecting his season.

ChrisUppy · Post by **ChrisUppy** » January 2nd, 2018, 3:24 pm

molloyjh wrote:
LeRouxIsPHat wrote:The Ulster team could potentially be very weak, not that they'd be great if they were at full strength either. Not sure if Best will be back but it's hard to see Cooney, Leali'ifano, McCloskey and Piutau playing again given how important the next two games are for them, and if I was them I wouldn't risk Henderson or Stockdale either.

I'd like to see Will Connors involved for us.
I think they will play Hendo and Stockdale. And I believe Best is due back. We'll be looking at something like:

Black Best Herbst
Henderson Diack
Ross Deysel Reidy

Marshall McPhillips
McCloskey Ludik
Lyttle Stockdale Trimble

And if that is the team we should be looking to eat them alive.

With those halfbacks, the rest of the team could be all blacks and we should still beat them.

LeRouxIsPHat · Post by **LeRouxIsPHat** » January 2nd, 2018, 4:23 pm

IanD wrote:
LeRouxIsPHat wrote:The Ulster team could potentially be very weak, not that they'd be great if they were at full strength either. Not sure if Best will be back but it's hard to see Cooney, Leali'ifano, McCloskey and Piutau playing again given how important the next two games are for them, and if I was them I wouldn't risk Henderson or Stockdale either.

I'd like to see Will Connors involved for us.
It was mentioned in commentary on BBC Ulster that Leali'ifano has 3 weeks left at Ulster so they don't really need to worry about minutes played affecting his season.

Yeah but they can't afford for him to get injured and need to make sure they have enough in the tank to beat Wasps in a few weeks. This game is irrelevant for them really, no reason not to save themselves for the La Rochelle game.

neiliog93 · Post by **neiliog93** » January 2nd, 2018, 4:56 pm

With a view to getting out of their Euro group, I'd imagine Ulster will rest Leali'ifano. McPhillips to start, Nelson on the bench, if the latter is injured, who knows? Ulster know that their chances of winning without a full deck of players is very low, and possibly will rest as many players as possible as a result.

Babbling 'brook