Pro14 R2: Leinster v Ospreys Fri Oct 4th 19:35 KO

[arsebiscuits1]

Interesting that Osbourne got the nod ahead of Patterson for the bench slot. Thought Patterson looked pretty good in the couple of games he got last season. Good to get a look at someone new I guess.

Back row a little surprising, assuming there’s a plan for rotating all players involved for the next two games, so we should see Deegan reinstated next week.

JGP, Fardy & Lowe playing together for the first time. Glad that whole KOLPAK situation is finally done.

RE: Kelleher not starting, I’m assuming we consider him a wing only and in that regard, he’s never going to be picked ahead of a fit Lowe or McFadden, does beg the question when we will see him — presumably when McFadden inevitably gets injured.

All the signs are pointing to Leo and or/ Stu really not rating Patterson it seems.

Between having a speculative recruitment attempt on Casey and now bringing in an AIL scrumhalf they clearly don't think the stocks they have in Luke, JGP, HOS and Patterson is enough.

[mildlyinterested]

Patterson is 20, Hughie is 21, they need to be playing games and a lot of them.. at any level.. if Osborne helps them play week-in, week out its a good move.. I fear he won't though.

[Serb]

All the signs are pointing to Leo and or/ Stu really not rating Patterson it seems.

Between having a speculative recruitment attempt on Casey and now bringing in an AIL scrumhalf they clearly don't think the stocks they have in Luke, JGP, HOS and Patterson is enough.

Casey looks like an exceptional talent, I think no matter who we had on the books, it’d be worth getting our hands on him if he was available.

JGP & McGrath are both fairly young so we probably have the luxury of time to blood a bunch of scrum halves and hopefully eventually uncover a top class talent.

[leinsterforever]

We haven't had that many fahrden-born players in the side for quite a while. Luke won't be happy.

Still no sign of Cian Kelleher. And still no word of him being injured.

he isn't injured, pictured training last monday in the rain with the rest of the team.

The Kelleher signing is a bit of a strange one. Did they sign him up in advance of RK finishing up with a view to playing him at fullback but now realise Keenan and JOB are better bets there?

If they wanted a third XV winger they could have given Peter Sullivan a deal.

[joooooe]

when McFadden inevitably gets injured.

...or, more likely, suspended

[domhnallj]

Jaysus lads, have a heart, the ref can’t keep up.

[Twist]

That’ll do, pigs


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[Ruckedtobits]

That was a very entertainer opener to our home season. Lowe has lost some acceleration. Kelleher R gained it. Excellentperformance in all facets.

[dropkick]

Osbourne looked very impressive. Quick with a nice pass. No idea what his kicking is like.

[blockhead]

Great performance. Ospreys were abject but we can't be worrying about that now. Ronan Kelleher hat-trick. Whens is the last time a hooker did that?
Leinstertainment at its best!

[Keith]

I really like the looks of Hugo Keenan at FB.

[Blueberry]

Lots to like there, lovely up tempo rugby for the entire game. Really enjoyed that and a breath of fresh air having sat through recent Irish games getting incredibly frustrated !! The young lads look keen, well coached and fit. Ross Byrne had a superb game, why he is not in Japan is bonkers and super games from Kelleher at hooker, Connors, Keenan, Tomane and Deegan. Doris and ROL also looked good. Lineout spot on and yes the Ospreys were poor but we continually smashed them with good line speed and spot on defensive spacing. Several young lads there who could slot into a HEC team if needed.

Ross Byrne Mark II looked good too !!

Hard really to find anything negative and yes Ospreys are pants but its lovely to see the talent coming through.

Also one of the best reffed games I have seen in a while, spot on fair play.

[Ruckedtobits]

Actually I wouldn't be too negative on Ospreys. They lost players early and often but kept making us have to do something very well to score. We were very accurate at clear-outs and, except for a spell of poor passes by JGP, our scrum-halves gave the out-halves and first receivers first option on quick ball. Very hard to stop that and Ospreys kept trying right to the end.

Nobody should under-estimate how good was this performance

[Dave Cahill]

Actually I wouldn't be too negative on Ospreys. They lost players early and often but kept making us have to do something very well to score. We were very accurate at clear-outs and, except for a spell of poor passes by JGP, our scrum-halves gave the out-halves and first receivers first option on quick ball. Very hard to stop that and Ospreys kept trying right to the end.

Nobody should under-estimate how good was this performance

Ospreys were rubbish, utter rubbish, one of the worst teams to visit the RDS.

However, thats not Leinster's problem. Leinster were superb, the workrate from all the players, from start to finish, was one of the highest I've ever seen.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

That was a very entertainer opener to our home season. Lowe has lost some acceleration. Kelleher R gained it. Excellentperformance in all facets.

Thought that too about Lowe, but he's big guy and it was his first game of the season and he was injured over the summer so hopefully it'll return soon.

The Ospreys were rubbish but agree that all facets of our game were good. The set piece and the maul were good, defence was good when the Ospreys had possession for ages in the first half, and our attack was very clinical and varied.

We did make some sloppy errors (Lowe dropping the restart, some of JGP's passes, Keenan giving the ball to them for the quick lineout) but you're always going to get mistakes and it's understandable that you switch off when you're winning so easily and the result is never in doubt.

Hugely impressed with Kelleher. I've doubted his throwing before but he was spot on all game, albeit under no pressure at all from the Ospreys but there was still the pressure of his first home start etc. His power and pace is obvious and he's obviously hungry for work too. Get the feeling that we're eager to have him in the team and get the most out of him because we seemed to use him a lot, he wasn't just expected to be solid, he was expected to make a difference.

Connors' defence was top notch, love how he can put in some big hits even when we're on the backfoot and you'd expect him to make a soak tackle.

JGP had one huge defensive set where he made three tackles in the space of a few seconds. One was a great cover tackle, then he got up straight away and was ready to make a big hit after that ruck, and then he had a great chase after we cleared our lines. Think it was all the one set anyway but would need to watch back.

The Windsor deal about buying a player's car is seriously creepy

[wixfjord]

Ross Byrne's boot is incredible. The one he kicked cross field to Ferg on the run in first half was beautiful.

Thought Doris was really good again. He's a big heavy duty carrier but picks nice lines too. Did it twice in second half for big gains.

Kelleher also looks like he could push for the bench spot. Ruck try was brilliant.
Keenan another really interesting option at 15. Both him and JOB give us something very different to RK and even Larmour.
Connors is a mini JVDF. Some engine and led the line well.

Tomane had another solid game like last week. Looks much more assured than last year in everything he's doing. The draw and offload in second half when ROL threw the forward pass was great.

Bent had a really good game too. Carried more than I've seen him for a while and really solid in lineout. He's just a guy that keeps giving and giving.

Deegan's offload for the disallowed try was pure pure class. Not many Irish players have that in their game.

Lowe looked a bit rusty and will benefit from the game.

Thought JGP was mixed enough again. Passing a bit ropey at times. Osborne was good when he came on. Lively.

Ospreys were atrocious though. Looked like a pub team trying to defend for Kelleher's third.

Wouldn't mind seeing some of these young lads under a bit more pressure in the coming weeks. Hard to tell who can really step up against opposition like that.

[OTT]

Actually I wouldn't be too negative on Ospreys. They lost players early and often but kept making us have to do something very well to score. We were very accurate at clear-outs and, except for a spell of poor passes by JGP, our scrum-halves gave the out-halves and first receivers first option on quick ball. Very hard to stop that and Ospreys kept trying right to the end.

Nobody should under-estimate how good was this performance

Ospreys were rubbish, utter rubbish, one of the worst teams to visit the RDS.

However, thats not Leinster's problem. Leinster were superb, the workrate from all the players, from start to finish, was one of the highest I've ever seen.

+1 I thought they were absolute shite, even from early on when it should have still been a contest they looked like they had no interest in making tackles, hitting rucks, trying to be in the right position to contest things. It was strange for so early in the match to have no want or desire to do basic work, they looked like the Dragons under Jackman.

We played really well though and did things really well, simple things like our passing was f%~king beautiful to watch, our lineouts, our intensity. We looked really well drilled for so early in the season, maybe all the positive performances from the A team has helped us to get up to speed quickly.

Although we didn’t need to play well it’s great that we did, a lovely mild night in the RDS and some great rugby a very nice Friday evening.

On a side note I thought Joe Tomane had some very nice touches, a lovely second half off load. He looked to be enjoying himself during the game which wasn’t always the case last season where he seemed at times to be trying to hard because of form/injuries, he sort of chased the season. I wondered if he got substituted so that he could get an RDS roar which he duly got. I know that sounds stupid but I thought that might have been why we subbed him off or should I take my tinfoil hat off

Anyway well done lads.

[leinsterforever]

I was pleasantly surprised by how comfortable the scrum was with Milne and Abdaladze on considering they've both been under pressure at times in the past. But maybe the Ospreys didn't have that much power coming from the second row.

You don't really see things like Deegan's offload in Irish rugby. It was like something from NZ. I thought he was somewhat unlucky as well cos even though it looked forward, the camera angle used to disallow it wasn't great for showing it was 'clearly and obviously' forward, which is how it's supposed to be judged.

I didn't catch the whole game cos I was watching the athletics from Doha, but Darren Cave's co-commentary was good.

[Logorrhea]

for all the Fun it was to watch, the Ospreys didnt win a collision all day and barely applied pressure in defense. Cant rate any performance against opposition like that.

[Peg Leg]

Connor's core strength seems to me to be ridiculous. The way he seems to use his upper body as a lever is something else. Brilliant smash on their IC too. He was quiet at the start of the match but really grew into it.
O's were terrible, not seen an out half so bad in a long time.