Cardiff v Leinster Fri 7.35 Eir/TG4

[The Doc]

Don't think this is true at all. Once MOC had shaped the squad to his liking he was fairly consistent in picking an outhalf-style playmaking 12 (Madigan, Reid, Crosbie) and a physical strike-runner 13 (Te'o, Fitzgerald, Macken)

Hardly any point when his game plan didn't allow the ball go past his outhalf

[curates_egg]

Some mistakes but a huge overreaction alright.

Inside centre has been a real problem for us when the big guns were out since Darce retired essentially. MOC (obviously) couldn't decide what type of a system (or player) he wanted.
Since then, we've struggled to find someone who fully fits the bill.
Isa was shoehorned in there last season, and was superb, because (a) he's Isa and (b) he knows our club and systems inside out (and invented half of them). But, without Isa or Henshaw, it was a bit of a mess.

All things being equal, it's a tough position: linchpin in both attack and defence, which means knowing both systems inside out.
But it's even more tough given the context for us.
Add to that that the guy just joined, and had never played outside Byrne before...

It's fair enough to point out his mistakes, but to read anything more into it in his first outing is pretty batshit, even by my low, glasshouse standards.

There's a reasonable chance he won't work out: not everyone does (even if they are good players). But we won't really know until November.
I don't have any problem with shaking hands. Tomane may need to learn that Williams is a dirty tosser, who has a history of cheap shots on our players though.

Don't think this is true at all. Once MOC had shaped the squad to his liking he was fairly consistent in picking an outhalf-style playmaking 12 (Madigan, Reid, Crosbie) and a physical strike-runner 13 (Te'o, Fitzgerald, Macken)

You put doubt in mind, so I did a quick check: Reid, D'Arce, T'eo, Mads, (even Gopperth) all played there in his second season. Can't find Crosbie playing there.
He chopped and changed between Mads and D'Arce, more than anything else. As The Doc points out, it didn't matter so much in attack though.

[leinsterforever]

Some mistakes but a huge overreaction alright.

Inside centre has been a real problem for us when the big guns were out since Darce retired essentially. MOC (obviously) couldn't decide what type of a system (or player) he wanted.
Since then, we've struggled to find someone who fully fits the bill.
Isa was shoehorned in there last season, and was superb, because (a) he's Isa and (b) he knows our club and systems inside out (and invented half of them). But, without Isa or Henshaw, it was a bit of a mess.

All things being equal, it's a tough position: linchpin in both attack and defence, which means knowing both systems inside out.
But it's even more tough given the context for us.
Add to that that the guy just joined, and had never played outside Byrne before...

It's fair enough to point out his mistakes, but to read anything more into it in his first outing is pretty batshit, even by my low, glasshouse standards.

There's a reasonable chance he won't work out: not everyone does (even if they are good players). But we won't really know until November.
I don't have any problem with shaking hands. Tomane may need to learn that Williams is a dirty tosser, who has a history of cheap shots on our players though.

Don't think this is true at all. Once MOC had shaped the squad to his liking he was fairly consistent in picking an outhalf-style playmaking 12 (Madigan, Reid, Crosbie) and a physical strike-runner 13 (Te'o, Fitzgerald, Macken)

You put doubt in mind, so I did a quick check: Reid, D'Arce, T'eo, Mads, (even Gopperth) all played there in his second season. Can't find Crosbie playing there.
He chopped and changed between Mads and D'Arce, more than anything else. As The Doc points out, it didn't matter so much in attack though.

I'm just going from memory, so open to correction obviously, but Darcy started to slip out of the side because MOC was looking for playmaker 12s (mostly Madigan). Darcy at 13 was also looked at a bit more than previously because MOC wanted the physicality coming from the outside centre. Crosbie played inside centre off the bench several times

[curates_egg]

Don't think this is true at all. Once MOC had shaped the squad to his liking he was fairly consistent in picking an outhalf-style playmaking 12 (Madigan, Reid, Crosbie) and a physical strike-runner 13 (Te'o, Fitzgerald, Macken)

You put doubt in mind, so I did a quick check: Reid, D'Arce, T'eo, Mads, (even Gopperth) all played there in his second season. Can't find Crosbie playing there.
He chopped and changed between Mads and D'Arce, more than anything else. As The Doc points out, it didn't matter so much in attack though.

I'm just going from memory, so open to correction obviously, but Darcy started to slip out of the side because MOC was looking for playmaker 12s (mostly Madigan). Darcy at 13 was also looked at a bit more than previously because MOC wanted the physicality coming from the outside centre. Crosbie played inside centre off the bench several times

This is quite the tangent though

I stand by my point that 12 has been a bit of mess for us and I won't be writing Tomane off before Halloween.

[BlueBlue]

I was happy with the win, Cardiff were excellent. Defensive errors by us, yes but lets give some credit to a fine display by Cardiff.

I judge Joe T after 5 games, that's fair I think.

Those 5 points were hard earned, very valuable and Leinster showed real character to dig out that win. I thought Ross Byrne was critical to the success and well deserving of the MOTM

IIRC Joe Schmidt lost 3 of his first 5 away matches including a double point loss to Treviso, its a good job he wasnt judged on one performance.

Yes, the Great George Hook rounded up to 5 losses in a row, counting as you would (being a mouth) the 2 preseason friendlies.

I think 5 is fair as it takes many players 3 to get up to speed and then they have 2 after that to show what they can do. Of course if a player is showing promise at game 5, the other 4 can be forgotten about. The jury it is fair to say is out on Joe T, but I wont judge any player on 1 match.