Treviso v Leinster - Sat 18/1; 1pm your time

[curates_egg]

Treviso gave it a rattle in Northampton. They'll be looking to cause us trouble for sure.

I'd imagine (and hope) we will see some rotation. I'd expect 4/5 changes.
Cronin, Porter, Ryan, Connors, Doris, JGP, Rob all in with a shot of starting I would guess. Kelleher should be on the bench.
Obviously, winning the game and keeping our record going is the priority. Would be nice to see some Euro game time for players like Frawley and Connors. Maybe an O'Brien.

[ronk]

Securing 1st seed is the priority. Home QF and hopefully home SF.

[curates_egg]

Securing 1st seed is the priority. Home QF and hopefully home SF.

Yep. 1st or 2nd seed. But winning will guarantee that.

[Cianostays]

1-23 Dooley, Cronin, Furlong, Fardy, Toner, Ruddock, Connors, Doris, JGP, Frawley, Lowe, Henshaw, Ringrose, Kelleher, Larmour, Tracey (Kelleher if fit), Healy, Porter, Moloney, VDF, McGrath, R Byrne, Dave K

I'd be very happy with that or something similar. Giving the likes of Dooley, Connors, Frawley and Cian Kelleher a run with some of the heavy artillary can only be a good thing.

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[wixfjord]

Team I would go with assuming Ryan/Sexton won’t make it:

Healy, Cronin, Porter, Toner, Fardy, Ruddock, VDF, Doris, JGP, Byrne, Lowe, Henshaw, Ringrose, DK, Larmour
Dooley, Kelleher, Furlong, Molony, Deegan, McGrath, Frawley, RK

Might be a case for bringing in RK for game time, but Larmour/DK played well at the weekend.

I don’t see the likes of Frawley, Connors etc starting personally.
We need to win this game to get top seed and home QF.

Leo and Stu have been clear that they don't want to let anything slip now so I’d say we’ll go pretty much full strength with bit of rotation at hooker, TH, 8 and 9.

“We will be going full at it,” said Cullen, hastily adding that does not necessarily mean he won’t make changes to a side that counted Sean Cronin, Andrew Porter, Caelan Doris and Rob Kearney as replacements in the six-try win over Lyon yesterday.

“Just to freshen things up,” he adds, “it’s full steam ahead and try and make sure we finish the job now."

"We’d all have a pretty sick feeling if we don’t manage to do that. We want to go after that top seed."

[desperado]

I'm inclined to agree; can see Leo or Stu putting out anything other than the best available and most experienced 23. There are lots of calls where the next man up (Frawley, Connors, Kelleher etc) are showing massive progress and ability, but it's also about 'credit in bank' in terms of hours of playing experience at this and even Test level. Don't see any changes in the 23. Would agree with swopping Porter, Doris, PGJ, but I'd say Tracey should still start - dropping him altogether from the 23 would be harsh. I don't think Kelleher will be brought in straight after injury.

[Jonny tight lips]

1-23 Dooley, Cronin, Furlong, Fardy, Toner, Ruddock, Connors, Doris, JGP, Frawley, Lowe, Henshaw, Ringrose, Kelleher, Larmour, Tracey (Kelleher if fit), Healy, Porter, Moloney, VDF, McGrath, R Byrne, Dave K

I'd be very happy with that or something similar. Giving the likes of Dooley, Connors, Frawley and Cian Kelleher a run with some of the heavy artillary can only be a good thing.

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Whatever about swapping a few like for likes but playing Dooley when Healy is available is borderline negligence. Particularly when he won’t be needed again till April.

[Gearzbox2]

Think we’ll see 2/3 changes possibly...nothing drastic but a team to go and go after treviso from the start and a bench with impact
I’d give Cronin and Porter a start, both been very good lately
I’d keep Fards and Dev in the engine room and possibly have a BR of Deegan Doris and Connors
I’d bring in JGP for tempo and RB at 10
Same centres and a back 3 of Lowe, DK and Larmour

Nothing wholesale but 2/3 to freshen it up

1 Healy
2 Cronin
3 Porter
4 Dev
5 Fardy
6 Deegan
7 Connors
8 Doris
9 JGP
10 RB
11 DK
12 Henshaw
13 Ringrose
14 Lowe
15 Larmour

Bench Kelleher (if fit) ,Dooley ,Furlong ,Moloney JVDF, LMcG, Frawley, RK

[offshorerules]

I thought Kelleher was out until the beginning of the 6N's, no?

[Oldschool]

Definitely a potential banana skin.
The Treviso pack are well able.
So long as Leinster recognise the threat then we should be ok but it's easy to see that this game could still be a contest going into the last ten minutes.

[Ruckedtobits]

Total focus on getting the required win. Definitely no logic is bringing in Kelleher after a period of injury. Cian could do with a rest but maybe he has one more 55 mins in the tank.

No gambles anywhere for this one and plenty of playing options in the following 8/9 weeks.

Treviso made a game of it against Saints because Saints were absolutely garbage in possession through most of the first half.

[Cianostays]

1-23 Dooley, Cronin, Furlong, Fardy, Toner, Ruddock, Connors, Doris, JGP, Frawley, Lowe, Henshaw, Ringrose, Kelleher, Larmour, Tracey (Kelleher if fit), Healy, Porter, Moloney, VDF, McGrath, R Byrne, Dave K

I'd be very happy with that or something similar. Giving the likes of Dooley, Connors, Frawley and Cian Kelleher a run with some of the heavy artillary can only be a good thing.

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Whatever about swapping a few like for likes but playing Dooley when Healy is available is borderline negligence. Particularly when he won’t be needed again till April.

A slightly hysterical reaction I think. Dooley is playing very well atm and I believe it'd be great experience for him. I'd have Healy on the bench if he was having a nightmare.

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[Ruckedtobits]

I'd like James Ryan, Andrew Porter & Caelan Doris to start up front and JGP and RK to start in the backs.

[Blue not red blood]

I will put my trust in the management to pick the team.
This cup is our focus and they are not going to feic up a home quarter and semi with selections

[Jonny tight lips]

1-23 Dooley, Cronin, Furlong, Fardy, Toner, Ruddock, Connors, Doris, JGP, Frawley, Lowe, Henshaw, Ringrose, Kelleher, Larmour, Tracey (Kelleher if fit), Healy, Porter, Moloney, VDF, McGrath, R Byrne, Dave K

I'd be very happy with that or something similar. Giving the likes of Dooley, Connors, Frawley and Cian Kelleher a run with some of the heavy artillary can only be a good thing.

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Whatever about swapping a few like for likes but playing Dooley when Healy is available is borderline negligence. Particularly when he won’t be needed again till April.

A slightly hysterical reaction I think. Dooley is playing very well atm and I believe it'd be great experience for him. I'd have Healy on the bench if he was having a nightmare.

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The drop off is huge between them and we won’t have Cian for the next 5 games where Dooley can have all the great experiences he wants. People are talking about playing Porter for Furlong because they think he is playing as good as him, that should be the standard to take a mans shirt in a must win European game, not to have a good time, or because your a nice lad. Dooley has shown nothing to say he deserves Healys place this year.

There’s a lot of complacency knocking around and people thinking we can just stick out and 23 and get a win. For must win games we need to put out our best team.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Agree about not making many changes but I would start Connors. I'd also like to see Ronan Kelleher start if he's fit.

If Josh does start then I'd like to see Doris and Deegan starting with him.

[molloyjh]

We won't be rotating much. Benetton beat Lyon at home and in reality beat Northampton there too but for dodgy refereeing. They gave it a good go in the RDS as well as Franklin's Gardens at the weekend. The only game they weren't competitive in was Lyon away. This is not a game we will be taking lightly.

Healy Cronin Porter
Toner Ryan
Ruddock Doris VDF

McGrath Byrne
Henshaw Ringrose
Lowe Larmour DKearney

Kelleher, Dooley, Furlong, Fardy, Deegan, JGP, Frawley, RKearney

[CiaranIrl]

If we get 5 points, is that some kind of record I wonder? Has anyone dropped less than 1 point?

[Mickado]

If we get 5 points, is that some kind of record I wonder? Has anyone dropped less than 1 point?

Biarittz got 29 points in 06/07, nobody has gotten 30.

[johng]

Biarritz beat Northampton twice in that group stage. Qualified top seeds with a home quarter final which they took to San Sebastian.

Northampton scraped through in 8th, went to san Sebastian and won.

3 English teams in the Semi finals that season