Leinster A 17-18

[Donny B.]

Brian Byrne and Ross Maloney got the other two.

Not a bad game in difficult conditions. Really like the look of Frawley as a second five-eight type of centre. He could well see some first team action soon with the dearth of options at centre.

[ronk]

Holy jaysis. They were some skills on show for the first try alone.

Great to see. Great stop on the line from deegan (i think. Watching on a phone) just before their 1st try.

It was some tackle alright

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Awful conditions so hard for anyone to impress. Scrum was good in the first half, won one against the head and a couple of penalties. Vakh looked good and had one nice pass in open play too, but he seemed to tire and the scrum went downhill a bit then in the second half. Loughman and Ed Byrne pretty lively when they came on too. Lineout was generally good, Molony took a couple of throws superbly. Bryan Byrne was good in the loose, had some really dynamic carries. Thought Molony played well, hit rucks ferociously and defended really well, but overheard one learned observer criticise a couple of technical things that I'd have never noticed and once they were pointed out his performance went down somewhat in my estimations, still very positive overall though. Josh Murphy seems to get stepped very easily. My memory of him for the 20's was that he was really athletic but perhaps bulking up has affected him a bit because he gets caught out quite frequently, and I think I said the same thing after one of the pre season games. He still played alright, but I didn't see anything that made me think he could turn into a second row, and have a feeling that the extra bulk may ruin his chances of being a good six. He's probably unlikely to make it as a six here anyway, but I would have thought he was good enough to do well elsewhere.

Really tough conditions so don't want to be harsh on him but I was a bit disappointed with McCarthy at times. He was very vocal and always in good positions and made good decisions, but his execution was off, particularly with his kicking.

Marsh impressed me with his defence, seemed really up for it. Frawley impressed me too, took his try very well and generally looked far more confident than I'd seen him for the 20's. Conor O'Brien made a few poor handling errors and poor reads. The wings struggled to get into the game although I really enjoyed Tommy O'Brien's counter rucking to win a turnover late on. Larmour was a bit mixed. Really tough night for a fullback and he had a few brilliant runs, but was caught out of position a few times and seemed a bit hesitant under a high ball.

I know Dean is still very young but he seems over reliant on kicking. Whenever he did it I felt that it was either the wrong option or poorly executed. I thought he looked like more of a 12 for the 20's and still think so although admittedly it's on very limited evidence. I just feel he has good hands that are wasted a bit at ten where he has less time and doesn't see the bigger picture.

Fair play to Cardiff for coming back into it, it would have been easy to throw in the towel at 17-0 down but they played some good stuff. As with a lot of these games, we just looked more impressive physically. I noticed their centres stretching fairly early on the second half, just so hard for them to compete.

[hugonaut]

Awful conditions so hard for anyone to impress. Scrum was good in the first half, won one against the head and a couple of penalties. Vakh looked good and had one nice pass in open play too, but he seemed to tire and the scrum went downhill a bit then in the second half. Loughman and Ed Byrne pretty lively when they came on too. Lineout was generally good, Molony took a couple of throws superbly. Bryan Byrne was good in the loose, had some really dynamic carries. Thought Molony played well, hit rucks ferociously and defended really well, but overheard one learned observer criticise a couple of technical things that I'd have never noticed and once they were pointed out his performance went down somewhat in my estimations, still very positive overall though. Josh Murphy seems to get stepped very easily. My memory of him for the 20's was that he was really athletic but perhaps bulking up has affected him a bit because he gets caught out quite frequently, and I think I said the same thing after one of the pre season games. He still played alright, but I didn't see anything that made me think he could turn into a second row, and have a feeling that the extra bulk may ruin his chances of being a good six. He's probably unlikely to make it as a six here anyway, but I would have thought he was good enough to do well elsewhere.

Really tough conditions so don't want to be harsh on him but I was a bit disappointed with McCarthy at times. He was very vocal and always in good positions and made good decisions, but his execution was off, particularly with his kicking.

Marsh impressed me with his defence, seemed really up for it. Frawley impressed me too, took his try very well and generally looked far more confident than I'd seen him for the 20's. Conor O'Brien made a few poor handling errors and poor reads. The wings struggled to get into the game although I really enjoyed Tommy O'Brien's counter rucking to win a turnover late on. Larmour was a bit mixed. Really tough night for a fullback and he had a few brilliant runs, but was caught out of position a few times and seemed a bit hesitant under a high ball.

I know Dean is still very young but he seems over reliant on kicking. Whenever he did it I felt that it was either the wrong option or poorly executed. I thought he looked like more of a 12 for the 20's and still think so although admittedly it's on very limited evidence. I just feel he has good hands that are wasted a bit at ten where he has less time and doesn't see the bigger picture.

Fair play to Cardiff for coming back into it, it would have been easy to throw in the towel at 17-0 down but they played some good stuff. As with a lot of these games, we just looked more impressive physically. I noticed their centres stretching fairly early on the second half, just so hard for them to compete.

Out of interest, what were the criticisms of Molony that you overheard?

I'm not at all convinced by Larmour at fullback yet. It was a great attacking platform for him as an U20, but the pro game is typically much better organised both in attack and defense.

[ronk]

Maybe that's one for PMs.

[D4surfer]

Bristol lost 33 22 to Doncaster at home today.

[mildlyinterested]

Would be interested to hear about Molony too.

How'd Dunne at 7 go?

[Xanthippe]

Maybe that's one for PMs.

Why?

Seriously, I'm not looking to have a go but considering so many posters here are happy to discuss, ad nauseum, the real and imagined faults of Ross Byrne, Adam Byrne and Luke McGrath, if someone at a game pointed out faults in Ross Molony's game why should it suddenly be something that's discussed by PM?

[mildlyinterested]

Dissapointing to see Kelleher didn't get off the bench, but happy to see he is healthy again.

McNulty's absence not great for a player in 3rd year in academy.

[ronk]

Maybe that's one for PMs.

Why?

Seriously, I'm not looking to have a go but considering so many posters here are happy to discuss, ad nauseum, the real and imagined faults of Ross Byrne, Adam Byrne and Luke McGrath, if someone at a game pointed out faults in Ross Molony's game why should it suddenly be something that's discussed by PM?

I thought it would be more interesting that way

[mildlyinterested]

Leinster A highlights..

Tries by Frawley, Bryan Byrne & Molony.

Didn't show pen try.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88HNHzWB6Vs

[Keith]

Is this the last year of the B&I cup? Apparently it was in the papers today that it is.

[Dave Cahill]

To be honest, I'm not certain we get a whole lot out of it (apart from regular A team fixtures) so I wouldn't be surprised.

[mildlyinterested]

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/ ... -1.3278278

This season will mark the final instalment of the British & Irish Cup. A meeting between the England Championship clubs and the English RFU produced a resolution that they no longer wished to play in the competition.

It is likely to provide the IRFU with some scope to potentially stage an A interprovincial championship among the provinces at the start of the season run over eight weeks and that would then allow the academy players to return to their clubs and compete in uninterrupted Ulster Bank League campaigns.

The B&I Cup has long been a bugbear for the clubs and even with a potentially later start to the campaign, having all their academy players available on a regular basis will drive up standards and also increase the quality of the club game.

[molloyjh]

Is this the last year of the B&I cup? Apparently it was in the papers today that it is.

Yeah, the English teams want out. I'd say its costing them a fair whack so it's probably no worth it for them.

[Keith]

Is this the last year of the B&I cup? Apparently it was in the papers today that it is.

Yeah, the English teams want out. I'd say its costing them a fair whack so it's probably no worth it for them.

It was always a strange setup anyway and was never going to last forever. The English teams probably only liked it as it was a good way of scouting talent from the provinces.

I wonder if this means the provinces will go into the LV cup as was rumoured a couple of seasons ago.

[Ruckedtobits]

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/ ... -1.3278278

This season will mark the final instalment of the British & Irish Cup. A meeting between the England Championship clubs and the English RFU produced a resolution that they no longer wished to play in the competition.

It is likely to provide the IRFU with some scope to potentially stage an A interprovincial championship among the provinces at the start of the season run over eight weeks and that would then allow the academy players to return to their clubs and compete in uninterrupted Ulster Bank League campaigns.

The B&I Cup has long been a bugbear for the clubs and even with a potentially later start to the campaign, having all their academy players available on a regular basis will drive up standards and also increase the quality of the club game.

The best outcome in Leinster would be a proper re-allocation of the Squad players rather than the nonsense of having the CEO hoover them up for Lansdowne if they haven't already got a UCD scholarship. 'Tarf just ask them 'who should they make the cheque to'?

Allocation of pro players to Clubs should be done formally or not at all!

[mildlyinterested]

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/ ... -1.3278278

This season will mark the final instalment of the British & Irish Cup. A meeting between the England Championship clubs and the English RFU produced a resolution that they no longer wished to play in the competition.

It is likely to provide the IRFU with some scope to potentially stage an A interprovincial championship among the provinces at the start of the season run over eight weeks and that would then allow the academy players to return to their clubs and compete in uninterrupted Ulster Bank League campaigns.

The B&I Cup has long been a bugbear for the clubs and even with a potentially later start to the campaign, having all their academy players available on a regular basis will drive up standards and also increase the quality of the club game.

The best outcome in Leinster would be a proper re-allocation of the Squad players rather than the nonsense of having the CEO hoover them up for Lansdowne if they haven't already got a UCD scholarship. 'Tarf just ask them 'who should they make the cheque to'?

Allocation of pro players to Clubs should be done formally or not at all!

Academy/Sub Academy club breakdown:
UCD: 14
DUFC: 9
St. Marys: 8
Landsowne: 8
Clontarf: 7
Naas: 1
Wanderers: 1
Old Wesley: 1
Old Belvedere: 1
Terenure: 1
Suttonians: 1

[Armchair]

B&I on Friday in Bristol should have a good team possibly Lowe. Jordi Murphy, Cronin, McFadden among the starters

[mildlyinterested]

B&I on Friday in Bristol should have a good team possibly Lowe. Jordi Murphy, Cronin, McFadden among the starters

can't see any of them playing B&I this friday..