Thanks lads, what a season......

[BlueWheels]

Spare a thought too for Jamie Heaslip and Sean O'Brien.

and Josh as well.

Stunning season, a huge thanks to all concerned from the office staff to Leo and the players, but also to the un-sung heros that coach and run the clubs that are the start of the production line to the world class players this amazing club keeps on delivering.

PS. and a pat on the back to us lot as well, who turn up in the lashing rain and biting cold to support them, days like these make it all worthwhile.



PLEASE STAY JOEY

[Flash Gordon]

An amazing season, undoubtedly Leinster's best ever – the double at last! Huge congratulations to everyone involved, and a fitting send off to three retiring greats, Isa, Richardt & Jamie.

And for Girv the Swerve, been with the club for over 2 decades. The lad lives and breathes Leinster ......and of course he was the first of the OLSC Tshirt heroes!

[Laighin Break]

As someone who thought throwing Leo into the hot seat after MOC left was a panic move (i'm still not sure it wasn't to be honest), i'm delighted to say that I'm glad they did. It has been a great move for Leinster mainly because Leo knew he couldn't do it all himself and it was all about the team. He knew he'd need help, he wasn't afraid to ask for it and he went after the best.

Great point. Plenty of people would have looked out for themselves and their reputations. As a true Leinstermen, Leo knew the club was more important than that and more important to him.

[Blueberry]

There is a lovely half hour or so of TV by Sky post the final whistle on Saturday. Lovely interviews with the lads and just lots of great shots of the celebrations, nice words from Ken Owens, interesting interjection from Quinlan..must be tough as Munster royalty to keep smiling !! Super interview with Jordan, he is just bursting and James Lowe is a ticket...Lancaster says some nice things about Leo, it's all there. Watched it again this morning and it's all just happy times...ISA goes onto the next stage in the best possible way.

What a season.....if Carlsberg did rugby seasons....

[FLIP]

There is a lovely half hour or so of TV by Sky post the final whistle on Saturday. Lovely interviews with the lads and just lots of great shots of the celebrations, nice words from Ken Owens, interesting interjection from Quinlan..must be tough as Munster royalty to keep smiling !! Super interview with Jordan, he is just bursting and James Lowe is a ticket...Lancaster says some nice things about Leo, it's all there. Watched it again this morning and it's all just happy times...ISA goes onto the next stage in the best possible way.

What a season.....if Carlsberg did rugby seasons....

My favourite bit of that was when Quinlan was saying Nacewa should move to Munster, and Lowe was saying "Don't swear!"

[simonokeeffe]

Would just like to point out I said for years we should play Isa at 12 and the one year we did it we won a double

[BlueBlue]

Big thanks to all at Leinster, Leo, Girvan, Lancaster, Fogarty and all 55 players who took part in making history. Thank you!

[Mickado]

Unreal stuff, I was texting my mate after the game saying "I TOLD you we'd do the double, I feckin told you" to which he responded with, "you say that every year". A stopped clock and all that.

On a side note, this season is our most successful ever, so will it be the season of "the double" because we've already had the season of "the treble"? That's a problem for anyone who's going to be making the season DVD (if they still do them these days).

[molloyjh]

Some great interviews with Leo over the weekend but I thought this quote was the most telling about the man himself:

“I’m very thankful to Matt [O'Connor] as well, because Matt gave me the opportunity to step in when I stopped playing, and obviously taking over from Matt after that was a reasonably turbulent period for the club, so to see the work that has gone in behind the scenes to get the club to this point, it probably makes it all a little bit better in many ways, because it hasn’t been straightforward."

It would have been easy for him to row in behind the popular narrative that MOC had been a disaster (rightly or wrongly) but instead he took the high road and thanked him.

For various reasons I had to be at the stadiums (particularly the Aviva) early this year, usually before the teams arrived, and I noticed that at every game Leo arrived in suit and the first thing he did was make his way onto the pitch and stroll over to the other teams coaches to shake hands, always smiling. Usually a joke or too followed and a serious conversation too and you couldn't help feel that this guy represents the team really well. The guy has a touch of class about him and as we've seen with other teams you can have all the money in the world but you can't buy class.

As someone who thought throwing Leo into the hot seat after MOC left was a panic move (i'm still not sure it wasn't to be honest), i'm delighted to say that I'm glad they did. It has been a great move for Leinster mainly because Leo knew he couldn't do it all himself and it was all about the team. He knew he'd need help, he wasn't afraid to ask for it and he went after the best.


At the end of a season where ther are too many people to thank, for me anyway, Leo is certainly near the top of the pile.

This. Leo epitomises what is truly great about this club. It's not about any 1 person. It's all about the collective. It doesn't matter if you're head coach, super star player, Academy lad, physio or admin staff. Everyone, every last person, is a cog in a more important wheel. Getting everyone on board with that, believing it to the extent that they clearly do, has played a truly huge role in getting us to where we are. Leo understood what we needed in terms of culture, and he's made it happen. He understood what support he needed as a coach and he made it happen. For as much as it isn't about any 1 person, sometimes 1 person can have a major hand in things. Like Isa or Sexton on the pitch, Leo has been one of those guys off it. Thanks Leo!

[cormac]

Players used this season - 44 senior squad players, 11 academy players + one club player (Adam Coyle)

Loosehead Props (4) : Cian Healy, Jack McGrath, Ed Byrne, Peter Dooley
Tighthead Props (6) : Tadhg Furlong, Andrew Porter, Michael Bent, Vakh Abdaladze*, Oisin Heffernan*, Adam Coyle
Hookers (4) : Sean Cronin, James Tracy, Bryan Byrne, Richardt Strauss
Locks (6) : Devin Toner, Scott Fardy, James Ryan, Ross Molony, Ian Nagle, Mick Kearney
Flankers (8) : Rhys Ruddock, Jordi Murphy, Josh van der Flier, Sean O'Brien, Dan Leavy, Peadar Timmins, Josh Murphy*, Will Connors*
No.8 (3) : Max Deegan, Caelan Doris*, Jack Conan

Scrum-halves (4) : Luke McGrath, Jamison Gibson-Park, Nick McCarthy, Charlie Rock* **
Fly-halves (5) : Johnny Sexton, Joey Carbery, Ross Byrne, Cathal Marsh, Ciaran Frawley*
Centres (8) : Garry Ringrose, Robbie Henshaw, Isa Nacewa, Noel Reid, Rory O'Loughlin, Tom Daly, Gavin Mullin*, Conor O'Brien*
Wingers (6) : Barry Daly, Dave Kearney, James Lowe, Adam Byrne, Fergus McFadden, Hugo Keenan*
Full-backs (2) : Rob Kearney, Jordan Larmour*

* academy players
** Rock was an unused sub for the league game away to Scarlets.

[cormac]

Players who featured in the B&I Cup but who didn't feature for the senior team:

Prop: Jack Aungier, Jeremy Loughman
Hooker: Ronan Kelleher, Sean MCNulty
Lock: Oisin Dowling, Cormac Daly*
Flanker: Richard Dunne, Max Kearney, Ronan Foley
No 8: None

SH: Hugh O'Sullivan
FH: Conor Dean, Harry Byrne
Centre: Jimmy O'Brien, Sean O'Brien*
Winger: Michael Silvester, Tommy O'Brien, Ian Fitzpatrick
FB: Jack Kelly

* Cormac Daly and Sean O'Brien were unused subs

Terry Kennedy and Jamie Heaslip were the only players in the senior or academy squads not to feature in any match-day squads this year.

[blockhead]

What a season indeed.
Our 9th and 10th trophy, gonna need a bigger cabinet.
5 Pro14s
4 Euro Cups
1 Challenge Cups

Here's a reminder of the victories
1. The 2 winning tries from Darce and Shaggy at the old Lansdowne Road
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnMY12ZdRls
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9VpvcBh7J8
2. Leinster V Dragons RTE report from 2008
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aAmjN41h7o
3. 2009 Heino final V Leicester
1st half
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPJbzFhARCc&t=2s
2nd half
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9T588UUylVg
4. Leinster V Northampton Cardiff 2011
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zF5rs9flFlw
5. Leinster V Ulster Twickenham 2012
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtUb-hCd_qE
6. Leinster V Stade RDS 2013
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iM12EvnwJI
7. Leinster V Ulster RDS 2013
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUc2Siw1NlA
8. Leinster V Glasgow RDS 2014
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDzj-DgM6BQ
9. Leinster V Racing Bilbao 2018
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buOFvJm1j5k
10. Leinster V Scarlets Aviva 2018
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXd_n0d45vg&t=523s

[El Diablo]

Players used this season - 44 senior squad players, 11 academy players + one club player (Adam Coyle)

Loosehead Props (4) : Cian Healy, Jack McGrath, Ed Byrne, Peter Dooley
Tighthead Props (6) : Tadhg Furlong, Andrew Porter, Michael Bent, Vakh Abdaladze*, Oisin Heffernan*, Adam Coyle
Hookers (4) : Sean Cronin, James Tracy, Bryan Byrne, Richardt Strauss
Locks (6) : Devin Toner, Scott Fardy, James Ryan, Ross Molony, Ian Nagle, Mick Kearney
Flankers (8) : Rhys Ruddock, Jordi Murphy, Josh van der Flier, Sean O'Brien, Dan Leavy, Peadar Timmins, Josh Murphy*, Will Connors*
No.8 (3) : Max Deegan, Caelan Doris*, Jack Conan

Scrum-halves (4) : Luke McGrath, Jamison Gibson-Park, Nick McCarthy, Charlie Rock* **
Fly-halves (5) : Johnny Sexton, Joey Carbery, Ross Byrne, Cathal Marsh, Ciaran Frawley*
Centres (8) : Garry Ringrose, Robbie Henshaw, Isa Nacewa, Noel Reid, Rory O'Loughlin, Tom Daly, Gavin Mullin*, Conor O'Brien*
Wingers (6) : Barry Daly, Dave Kearney, James Lowe, Adam Byrne, Fergus McFadden, Hugo Keenan*
Full-backs (2) : Rob Kearney, Jordan Larmour*

* academy players
** Rock was an unused sub for the league game away to Scarlets.

Thanks Cormac. A great record to have. Great research, even down to the B&I Cup in the follow up post!

While we are handing out congratulations, well done to the Supporters club committee. I know it can sometimes be a thankless task but when the team walks out to a sea of blue in the Aviva or Bilbao it is a reminder of the important role you play. The supporters buses we particularly much appreciated. Thanks for your efforts this season.
Also well done to this guy!! What a season!!

[Ruckedtobits]

Players used this season - 44 senior squad players, 11 academy players + one club player (Adam Coyle)

Loosehead Props (4) : Cian Healy, Jack McGrath, Ed Byrne, Peter Dooley
Tighthead Props (6) : Tadhg Furlong, Andrew Porter, Michael Bent, Vakh Abdaladze*, Oisin Heffernan*, Adam Coyle
Hookers (4) : Sean Cronin, James Tracy, Bryan Byrne, Richardt Strauss
Locks (6) : Devin Toner, Scott Fardy, James Ryan, Ross Molony, Ian Nagle, Mick Kearney
Flankers (8) : Rhys Ruddock, Jordi Murphy, Josh van der Flier, Sean O'Brien, Dan Leavy, Peadar Timmins, Josh Murphy*, Will Connors*
No.8 (3) : Max Deegan, Caelan Doris*, Jack Conan

Scrum-halves (4) : Luke McGrath, Jamison Gibson-Park, Nick McCarthy, Charlie Rock* **
Fly-halves (5) : Johnny Sexton, Joey Carbery, Ross Byrne, Cathal Marsh, Ciaran Frawley*
Centres (8) : Garry Ringrose, Robbie Henshaw, Isa Nacewa, Noel Reid, Rory O'Loughlin, Tom Daly, Gavin Mullin*, Conor O'Brien*
Wingers (6) : Barry Daly, Dave Kearney, James Lowe, Adam Byrne, Fergus McFadden, Hugo Keenan*
Full-backs (2) : Rob Kearney, Jordan Larmour*

* academy players
** Rock was an unused sub for the league game away to Scarlets.

Thanks Cormac. A great record to have. Great research, even down to the B&I Cup in the follow up post!

While we are handing out congratulations, well done to the Supporters club committee. I know it can sometimes be a thankless task but when the team walks out to a sea of blue in the Aviva or Bilbao it is a reminder of the important role you play. The supporters buses we particularly much appreciated. Thanks for your efforts this season.
Also well done to this guy!! What a season!!

+1, +1, +1

A truly fantastic effort.

[LeinsterLeader]

This is b*ll*x!

I'm bored

I'm used to going to a Semi or a Final on a Saturday

[Blueberry]

Me too..... withdrawal symptoms big time and not in a good mood at all about the whole Carbery business.....

[blockhead]

This is b*ll*x!

I'm bored

I'm used to going to a Semi or a Final on a Saturday

[ronk]

This is b*ll*x!

I'm bored

I'm used to going to a Semi or a Final on a Saturday

I was flicking around the telly and paused to think about whether I’d watch some League. Then I turned it off.

[riocard911]

Wales play Rassie's Saffers later in Washington D.C. Kick off ca. 22.00 Irish time, if you can hang on till then.....

[LeinsterLeader]

Wales play Rassie's Saffers later in Washington D.C. Kick off ca. 22.00 Irish time, if you can hang on till then.....

Nah! f%~k it. I think I’ll head over the Aviva.

I’d say some of the Leinster lads will show up. Just outta habit like