Wasps v Leinster, Jan 20th - 3:15pm

[riocard911]

Adam's been called up to go to Portugal with Joe. Will hopefully learn a bit from Andy Farrell re D.

[etak252]

Interesting to hear Shane Jennings being critical of Deegan for Wasps second try . For a player that just came on 'he was not working hard enough to get back into position'. Brilliant player going forward but still a bit to learn.

[lotmc]

Interesting to hear Shane Jennings being critical of Deegan for Wasps second try . For a player that just came on 'he was not working hard enough to get back into position'. Brilliant player going forward but still a bit to learn.

Harsh to blame Deegan for that - it was Porter who was in the pillar position on that side of the ruck, and he bought the dummy. Deegan was on the other side of the ruck. Had Deegan switched sides, and potentially left a gap, he could be open to criticism for having done so.

Great player as Porter is, he will need to learn from what happened there.

[joooooe]

that's one of the burdens of greatness and Leinster are close to that adjective.

Noun?

[mildlyinterested]

Valuable training lessons for Byrne and Porter - both culpable and better there yesterday than in a Euro Qtr or further on.

Porter I can guarantee you won't take his eyes off a scrummie ever again - that'll be endlessly on video loop this morning with Leocaster pointing it out.

Bring on the wee men from up North........can't wait. Just hope the 6 Nations injury toll is manageable.....

Porter wont see it then as he is off to Portugal.

[blockhead]

that's one of the burdens of greatness and Leinster are close to that adjective.

Noun?

Are ye going to stand for that RTB?

[Angelsea Angst]

Watching the TV it appeared that there was a very large and vocal leinster fan base present at the match. Does Leinster have a strong fan base in the UK or did all these fans travel over from Ireland?

[outcast eddie]

Watching the TV it appeared that there was a very large and vocal leinster fan base present at the match. Does Leinster have a strong fan base in the UK or did all these fans travel over from Ireland?

Generation emigration wha?

[wixfjord]

Thought Seanie had a great game yesterday considering, but he was definitely feeling the burn at times.

Watch him for the Hughes try in this.

Gets stepped by Campagnaro (looks like he is wee bit fearful of the arm) and then is slow getting into the line for Hughes drive.

Small things, but I think he'll benefit from the game time.
https://www.epcrugby.com/video/highligh ... r-rugby-2/

Also, blaming Deegan for the Robson try is a bit ridiculous of Jenno! Has it become fashionable to rag on Deegan now or something??

[lotmc]

Watching the TV it appeared that there was a very large and vocal leinster fan base present at the match. Does Leinster have a strong fan base in the UK or did all these fans travel over from Ireland?

Generation emigration wha?

My sense, having been at the game, was that it was 50:50 between those who travelled over and those based in the UK. Good to hear that we made some noise!

[carlow man]

Watching the TV it appeared that there was a very large and vocal leinster fan base present at the match. Does Leinster have a strong fan base in the UK or did all these fans travel over from Ireland?

Generation emigration wha?

My sense, having been at the game, was that it was 50:50 between those who travelled over and those based in the UK. Good to hear that we made some noise!

I live in England and met with a few lads who travelled over. Was a good number of Leinster fans living over here who travelled from home. Lots of English accents from boys in blue! I'd say a few were also irish rugby fans who wanted to see an irish team who may have been playing close to home. Was a good atmosphere considering wasps fans had nothing to shout about and seemed to enjoy to crack that irish supporters bring to matches!

[carlow man]

Thought Seanie had a great game yesterday considering, but he was definitely feeling the burn at times.

Watch him for the Hughes try in this.

Gets stepped by Campagnaro (looks like he is wee bit fearful of the arm) and then is slow getting into the line for Hughes drive.

Small things, but I think he'll benefit from the game time.
https://www.epcrugby.com/video/highligh ... r-rugby-2/

Also, blaming Deegan for the Robson try is a bit ridiculous of Jenno! Has it become fashionable to rag on Deegan now or something??

Noticed exactly the same from Sean. He was struggling for a second to get up and back in the line and when he did he was met with the sight of Hughes going full pelt at him. Prob safe to say he was thinking 'ah f***, not this fellah' when he looked up and was hoping to ball had gone to other way from the ruck.

Sean did look very sharp all things considered and his hands were good in close quarters. Henshaw looked like he hadn't been away and was very comfortable in anything did was asked to do.

[etak252]

Thought Seanie had a great game yesterday considering, but he was definitely feeling the burn at times.

Watch him for the Hughes try in this.

Gets stepped by Campagnaro (looks like he is wee bit fearful of the arm) and then is slow getting into the line for Hughes drive.

Small things, but I think he'll benefit from the game time.
https://www.epcrugby.com/video/highligh ... r-rugby-2/

Also, blaming Deegan for the Robson try is a bit ridiculous of Jenno! Has it become fashionable to rag on Deegan now or something??

Think Jenno was just making the point that Deegan needs to be working harder. Porter was at fault for the try.

[ronk]

Thought Seanie had a great game yesterday considering, but he was definitely feeling the burn at times.

Watch him for the Hughes try in this.

Gets stepped by Campagnaro (looks like he is wee bit fearful of the arm) and then is slow getting into the line for Hughes drive.

Small things, but I think he'll benefit from the game time.
https://www.epcrugby.com/video/highligh ... r-rugby-2/

Also, blaming Deegan for the Robson try is a bit ridiculous of Jenno! Has it become fashionable to rag on Deegan now or something??

Think Jenno was just making the point that Deegan needs to be working harder. Porter was at fault for the try.

Deegan is usually one of the best at getting back on his feet and into the game. Even if he was slow once, he still deserves slack. I thought he did okay anyway

[mildlyinterested]

Deegan on the ball stuff has never been in question, it's his off the ball game that has seemingly keeping him back, or at least that has been my reading of the situation.

I think he has re-asserted himself ahead of Doris at 8.

[Peg Leg]

I've never seen Dave K as physical, really impressive. His efforts in defense after initial contact were huge in slowing down their attack play on his wing. A long time since he has appeared so imposing.
This aggressive defensive posture seems to be de rigur since Lowe came on the scene.

Id be interested to see Dave's metres after contact stats in attack too. Delighted for him and hope he gets a run at fullback too.

[carlow man]

I've always thought he was very physical and don't think it's anything new. He has always had an appetite for hard work and goes looking to get himself into the game. Quite often gets onto the opposite wing and not afraid to mix it in the middle aswell. I was at the match at the Ricoh 3 years ago and he was prob the only person in a Leinster jersey that came off the pitch with credit that day. At times it looked like he was playing wasps on his own.
Always felt he gets a bit of unwarranted stick, mainly from fans of other provinces but for me he's a very capable player who might not set the world alight but gets on with his job, rarely makes mistakes, tackles well, does well in the air and is a decent finisher.

[hugonaut]

I've always thought he was very physical and don't think it's anything new. He has always had an appetite for hard work and goes looking to get himself into the game. Quite often gets onto the opposite wing and not afraid to mix it in the middle aswell. I was at the match at the Ricoh 3 years ago and he was prob the only person in a Leinster jersey that came off the pitch with credit that day. At times it looked like he was playing wasps on his own.
Always felt he gets a bit of unwarranted stick, mainly from fans of other provinces but for me he's a very capable player who might not set the world alight but gets on with his job, rarely makes mistakes, tackles well, does well in the air and is a decent finisher.

Absolutely agree that he gets unwarranted stick. He's got a great appetite for work, is super brave and is technically really accomplished. I've watched him play over a pretty lengthy period at this stage [from U19s to the present day] and you can see the good habits that he has had coached into him: he never gets bundled into touch, never over-runs his inside man, always fights on the deck to retain the ball when tackled, always contests well in the air, and always works hard off the ball - whether it's on the chase or returning to position. He's obviously a really coachable, intelligent player.

I watched him play a game for the A's this season in the Celtic Cup [against Munster], and he was practically flawless. His positioning, his defensive communication, his run-timing and his ability in the air were top drawer from gun-to-tape. Far too good to be playing at that level.

The one major knock against him, which is major given his position, is that he doesn't have a finisher's instinct/confidence/selfishness. His Leinster career stats bear that out - so many 2/3 try seasons. Part of that is his being such a conscientious team player, but a winger who doesn't score tries is always going to have a lot of questions asked of him. If Chris Ashton or Juan Imhoff got the bounce-pass that Kearney got against Wasps yesterday, Ashton/Imhoff would have backed himself to skip in and score 9 times out of 10.

[blockhead]

I've always thought he was very physical and don't think it's anything new. He has always had an appetite for hard work and goes looking to get himself into the game. Quite often gets onto the opposite wing and not afraid to mix it in the middle aswell. I was at the match at the Ricoh 3 years ago and he was prob the only person in a Leinster jersey that came off the pitch with credit that day. At times it looked like he was playing wasps on his own.
Always felt he gets a bit of unwarranted stick, mainly from fans of other provinces but for me he's a very capable player who might not set the world alight but gets on with his job, rarely makes mistakes, tackles well, does well in the air and is a decent finisher.

Absolutely agree that he gets unwarranted stick. He's got a great appetite for work, is super brave and is technically really accomplished. I've watched him play over a pretty lengthy period at this stage [from U19s to the present day] and you can see the good habits that he has had coached into him: he never gets bundled into touch, never over-runs his inside man, always fights on the deck to retain the ball when tackled, always contests well in the air, and always works hard off the ball - whether it's on the chase or returning to position. He's obviously a really coachable, intelligent player.

I watched him play a game for the A's this season in the Celtic Cup [against Munster], and he was practically flawless. His positioning, his defensive communication, his run-timing and his ability in the air were top drawer from gun-to-tape. Far too good to be playing at that level.

The one major knock against him, which is major given his position, is that he doesn't have a finisher's instinct/confidence/selfishness. His Leinster career stats bear that out - so many 2/3 try seasons. Part of that is his being such a conscientious team player, but a winger who doesn't score tries is always going to have a lot of questions asked of him. If Chris Ashton or Juan Imhoff got the bounce-pass that Kearney got against Wasps yesterday, Ashton/Imhoff would have backed himself to skip in and score 9 times out of 10.

At the time I couldn't believe he didn't go for it but when you see it from behind he made the right call. He would have been bundled into touch if he had gone for that corner. 3 Wasps players were right there when the ball eventually got to him. He was right to go back inside for a recycle.

[backrower8]

Thought Seanie had a great game yesterday considering, but he was definitely feeling the burn at times.

Watch him for the Hughes try in this.

Gets stepped by Campagnaro (looks like he is wee bit fearful of the arm) and then is slow getting into the line for Hughes drive.

Small things, but I think he'll benefit from the game time.
https://www.epcrugby.com/video/highligh ... r-rugby-2/

Also, blaming Deegan for the Robson try is a bit ridiculous of Jenno! Has it become fashionable to rag on Deegan now or something??

Think Jenno was just making the point that Deegan needs to be working harder. Porter was at fault for the try.

Deegan is usually one of the best at getting back on his feet and into the game. Even if he was slow once, he still deserves slack. I thought he did okay anyway

I am a big fan of Deegan, his special skills on the ball make a difference almost every time he plays. I have watched very carefully of late and he has applied himself really very well to all the hidden grunt work as well...that said, he could have done more to be in a better position at that ruck...but Porter was the first miss.

For all that, there has been less said here of Deegan's excellent line break and offload to ROL for Reid's BP try than his secondary role in Robson's score. Give a dog a bad name!