Edinburgh v Leinster Myreside Friday 7:35

[outcast eddie]

This loss only matters if Scarlets have a good result against Treviso tomorrow and if we're going to take some positives from this loss it's surely good news that the pack seemed to work well.
If we've got to lose a game over the 6N period this was it, hopefully the disappointment of this loss might see a lift in performance against the Scarlets X2.

[olaf the fat]

One thing that annoyed me re reffing is seeing our scrum marching them forward being told to "use it" no matter how many times I hear it being called these days I still don't like it, but yeah we were shite, still between call ups and injuries we must be down about 25 players?

Yeah, I inhibits the dominant scrum, or at the very least let's the weak scrum off the hook

[the spoofer]

Whatever about the result it was a truly awful game of Rugby to watch.

We really missed Isa in that backline.

[hugonaut]

We really missed Isa in that backline.

Absolutely agree. A frustrating loss where we leaked a couple of very soft tries out of nothing. Quite similar to our last loss against Glasgow: helter skelter try-a-minute stuff in the first half and then much more dour and edgy in the second. I was quite iffy on the selection going into it [we're missing so many players], so I'm not hugely pissed-off ... but having watched the game, I felt that we gave too many even breaks to a bit of a sucker of a team.

With the likes of Ferg [164 Leinster appearances], DK [118 Leinster appearances] and Reid [93 Leinster appearances] in the starting backline, there was a reasonable amount of experience, but there seemed to be very little leadership in the backline. I think that that is a personality issue, which is quite a difficult quality to apportion weight towards. Isa was definitely missed though.

With that said, I thought Gibson-Park offered a lot of direction from No9 and took strain off Ross Byrne. Obviously Barry Daly had an impressive outing and finished both his tries extremely well under serious heat. That's 8 tries in 7 starts for him this season – he's turned himself into a serious weapon at Pro12 level.

Max Deegan really stood out for me up front, but Will Connors had a fine debut as well – he looked very capable at the big three [run/tackle/pass] and that extra bit of height makes him an interesting option in the lineout.

[neiliog93]

Barry Daly is strong, clever and a bit of an athletic freak. Fully deserved being name-checked by Schmidt when injured in November, and then his call-up as cover for Conway last week. Good chance of being capped in Australia this Summer. Unfortunately, this loss could prove costly at the end of the season. Playing a 1/4 final against the Cheehtahs will not be ideal if we make the Champions' Cup final.

[artaneboy]

Treviso’s win over Scarlets has really done us a favour.

Top of the league on points difference before we face our top spot rivals next Saturday.


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[alanair]

Yeah... and to thing we could be leading by a clear 3 points if we hadnt played like complete drains....

[LeinsterLeader]

Yeah... and to thing we could be leading by a clear 3 points if we hadnt played like complete drains....

In fairness, I think for most people, best case scenario we were finishing this weekend 3 points behind Scarlets (absolute best would have been 2 points behind with us get a TBP win and them the same in Italy). Instead we've finished level on points and ahead on Points difference.

I say we call this a win and push on hard for next Saturday (and we all offer up a prayer to St. Anthony for Treviso)

[riocard911]

Yeah... and to thing we could be leading by a clear 3 points if we hadnt played like complete drains....

In fairness, I think for most people, best case scenario we were finishing this weekend 3 points behind Scarlets (absolute best would have been 2 points behind with us get a TBP win and them the same in Italy). Instead we've finished level on points and ahead on Points difference.

I say we call this a win and push on hard for next Saturday (and we all offer up a prayer to St. Anthony for Treviso)

For sure! Upwards and onwards!!!

[Angelsea Angst]

For sure Leinster made a lot of errors which cost us the match but let's not be too hard on the team they did come away with two points from the match.

[TerenureJim]

For sure Leinster made a lot of errors which cost us the match but let's not be too hard on the team they did come away with two points from the match.

Could/should have been five but squad will learn from it, least Scarlets have slipped up so we can hopefully push on to wrap up the conference and maybe do Ulster a favour or two along the way

[molloyjh]

Disappointing result, especially the manner in which we lost it. But let's not lose sight of the fact that we were missing at least 23 players. At the end of the game we must have had our 5th choice flankers on the pitch either side of our 3rd choice novice 8. Had we gotten a TBP win away from home that would have been some result. And we came minutes away from doing just that.

Don't feel like the ref helped (and I'm not normally one to go there). That supposed knock on from Deegan was an incredibly poor call and took all the pressure of Edinburgh. We were knocking on the door again there and had we gone on to score then I've no doubt we'd have seen out the game. As for us attacking at the end, I think that was the right call. We needed another score and McGrath executed well. Unfortunately the support for Byrne at the ruck just wasn't good enough. His brother was pushing out when he should have been securing the ruck. Again, secure that ruck and I think we win that game. We were moving forward and in good control at that point. Even a drop goal would have done the job I reckon.

The Scarlets result opens up the conference a good bit now. They've a tough few weeks ahead:

Leinster (A)
Ulster (H)
Leinster (H)
Munster (A)
La Rochelle (H)
Glasgow (H)
Edinburgh (A)
Dragons (A)

If they don't have the depth to get even a LBP away to a weakened Benetton then it's very conceivable that they could lose their next 3 or 4 games. Ulster haven't lost many and should fancy their chances over in PYS now. And Ulsters next few weeks are:

Edinburgh (H)
Scarlets (A)
Glasgow (H)
Cardiff (A)

Given the international window those are all winnable games. With a home game against the Ospreys as well there are certainly 4 or 5 winnable games for them before the season is out. And they're just 8 points behind ourselves and Scarlets now. They could draw level with, or even move ahead of, Scarlets in the next 2 weeks and possibly move several points ahead of them by the time the Euro QFs roll around. With only 3 rounds left in the regular season after that it's entirely possible Scarlets could end up in 3rd.

[Laighin Break]

Disappointing result, especially the manner in which we lost it. But let's not lose sight of the fact that we were missing at least 23 players. At the end of the game we must have had our 5th choice flankers on the pitch either side of our 3rd choice novice 8. Had we gotten a TBP win away from home that would have been some result. And we came minutes away from doing just that.

Don't feel like the ref helped (and I'm not normally one to go there). That supposed knock on from Deegan was an incredibly poor call and took all the pressure of Edinburgh. We were knocking on the door again there and had we gone on to score then I've no doubt we'd have seen out the game. As for us attacking at the end, I think that was the right call. We needed another score and McGrath executed well. Unfortunately the support for Byrne at the ruck just wasn't good enough. His brother was pushing out when he should have been securing the ruck. Again, secure that ruck and I think we win that game. We were moving forward and in good control at that point. Even a drop goal would have done the job I reckon.

And our 4th choice front row!