Leinster v Racing Métro 92

[Teh Mite]

RDS, 9/10/2010 @ 13:30 (Sky Sports)

 

[Jockstap]

RDS, 9/10/2010 @ 13:30 (Sky Sports)

WOO HOO. HC time again, the best rugby tourny in the world as far as I'm concerned(including the 6 Nations) and nuts to who says different.

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

It is expected that Jonathan Sexton, who made a second half appearance in the 13-9 victory over Munster in the Aviva Stadium, will be available for selection. Shane Jennings will also be available for selection and aside from the usual bumps and bruises there are no other injury concerns for the visit of the Top 14 leaders.
A decision on the availability of captain Leo Cullen will be made at Thursday’s team announcement.
http://www.leinsterrugby.ie/newsroom/5135.php

Even getting 20 minutes or half an hour out of the captain off the bench would be a huge boost. In the space of just one week things are looking up hugely for Leinster - a win against Munster and a returning Sexton and Cullen makes all those idiots *cough* George Hook *cough* questioning the new coach's ability look even more stupid.

Joe Schmidt needs time to bed in his ideas - now that he's got two of his key cogs back (or almost back) we'll begin to get a much clearer picture of his ability. I expect a win by 10 points on Saturday.

 

[Jockstap]

[QUOTE I expect a win by 10 points on Saturday.][/QUOTE]

Only if they can keep the Reddan/Sexton pairing intact, Leinster looked a completely different team(in Attack) when they came on. Do you reckon Heaslip will retain the captaincy if Jennings comes back, I thought he was brilliant in the role the other night, it suits him down to the ground.

 

[lynam1104]

Jennings does not deserve a spot after O'Brien performance last week not by a long shot i never really rated him to highly anyway. I agree that this game is winnable but is also very lose-able(is that a word?). If Sexton starts i think we could take it pretty confidently but Isa can't organize a back line IMO.

 

[munstermuffin]

Leinster should walk this at home and with Racing missing 2 internationals that are vital to them

 

[lynam1104]

whos out?

 

[dangandan]

injuries to benjamin fall and hernandez will boost leinster's confidence.

source: http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,3822_6426310,00.html

 

[dangandan]

Leinster should walk this at home and with Racing missing 2 internationals that are vital to them

whoops. u've gotten there first haha

 

[munstermuffin]

Didn't put names down though ha too much spelling. But without them and fact French don't travel well as it is I'd expect maybe Leinster to have chance of a BP win

 

[lynam1104]

I'm glad to hear about no JMH i don't know who the other guy is though still good news.

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Hernandez has been injured for a while now. Our Polish fly-half is doing great. Fall can be replaced too. I think Leinster is the better side though

 

[munstermuffin]

Ezequiel I don't doubt ye have poor back ups but well they are losses and well French teams for some reason find it a big struggle away and that y I think that Leinster will win well

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Thanks for the confidence boost munstermuff

 

[cyRil]

I'm glad to hear about no JMH i don't know who the other guy is though still good news.

Fall was pretty impressive for Bayonne last season, was top tryscorer (I think) and was in the French squad for the 6 Nations, so he's a decent player.

 

[munstermuffin]

For what it worth if ye do win away ye will qualify as ye will be a scary task in France IF ye field strong team

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

Leinster: R Kearney; I Nacewa, B O'Driscoll, G D'Arcy, L Fitzgerald; J Sexton, E Reddan; H van der Merwe, R Strauss, M Ross; N Hines, D Toner; S O'Brien, S Jennings, J Heaslip (capt).
Replacements: J Harris-Wright, C Healy, S Shawe, M Galarza, D Ryan, I Boss, F McFadden, S Horgan.



Reddan over Boss and van der Merwe over Healy are the only mildly controversial calls. I'd say Healy will come on after 50 minutes to unleash hell. Disappointing that Cullen didn't make it but there's no use risking him and setting his recovery from injury back a few weeks. Great to see a couple of younger players get a shot on the bench- Harris Wright has really come on this season and Ryan must have been pushing hard to start.



Love the decision to stick with Heaslip as captain.

 

[Feicarsinn]

For the first time this year Leinster have named a near full strength side. Excellent. The midfield that ws so effective against Munster last week gets the nod which should ensure good quick ball for our backs. Our back three is little short of world class and our centres ain't to shabby either. The back division should work well.

In the forwards we have a good mix of speed and strength. The front row should do damage at scrum time while the second row should win a lot of lineout ball, especially with Toner in there. Having Jennings back is great, a real fetcher could be vital out there on saturday. Hopefully he'll sure up a few areas at ruck time, we turned a helluva lot of ball over against Munster.

The bench looks bloody good. Players like Healy, Ryan, Boss and Horgan can unleash some fairly immense physicality on a tired team. With those boys coming on there shouldbe not let up for Racing.

Leinster by 10.

 

[munstermuffin]

I know Healy will see game time but it not great for our Irish team when he can't make starting 15 like he's capable of going the full 80. I think Ryan is unlucky to loose out to as he made a good start to season

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

Joe Schmidt seems to like rotating his props quite a bit to keep them all fresh in the long run. Obviously Mike Ross is getting the bulk of game time at tighthead (due to Stan Wright's injury) but at loosehead the coach has two internationals to choose from. In virtually every game so far this season the starting loosehead has been replaced within 10 minutes of the start of 2nd half. I wouldn't necessarly view this as van der Merwe being the number 1, eh, number 1. He and Healy are neck and neck. Healy could easily start next week much like he did against Munster last week. In France the frontline props are often interchangeable and Joe Schmidt is bringing that philospohy to Leinster too.

 

[munstermuffin]

I understand that as Munster tend to do something similar but just for this level which is higher than ML I'd have expected Healy to start

 

[coonor]

Good squad with alot of options throughout the team. Great to see Heaslip captain again. with probably Leinsters strongest backrow option at the moment, Ryan is unluckly not to start but I think Jennings is great especially in the H-cup and I think Ryan is the perfect player to come off the bench and show some physicallity. I think Leinster are using their props brilliantly at the moment and Stan Wright will only add to this when he comes back. Great to see Sexton starting now nacewa can focus on what he does best. I think it was very important that Sexton played last week so that they he isn't just thrown straight into the Heineken. Hopefully Cullen will be back next week but i'm sure his presence will be felt today anyway.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Gah, the person who does the HEC schedule hates me:
The three matches i'm most interested in this weeked (Leinster, Ospreys, Tigers) are all on at the same time =/

 

[King_D'Arcy]

Good God! What a try. Leinster are Racing away

 

[durbutter]

And playing great stuff, the backs are on fire! Redden doing very well. Can he grab the irish jersey? ******* hope so!

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Watching the Toulon/Ospreys match, only seeing the updates from this in breaks in play,
Chabal flattened Heaslip in the first few mins apparently?
Is there any reason why Nacewa is kicking instead of Sexton?
Good to see Leinster pulling away now, i'm not a big fan of F. Steyn :lol:

On a side note, the live updates on the ERC site are ****. They had Kearney down as getting three tries in two minutes, and the score went Leinster: 18, 33, 38, 18 :s

 

[King_D'Arcy]

Poor hands by Heaslip. Shoulda been a try

 

[Charles]

Should not have been a try because Heaslip should not be playing rugby...Should have been banned for a ****** year after KNEEING McCaw in the Face in NZ...Rant over...

 

[Jockstap]

Should not have been a try because Heaslip should not be playing rugby...Should have been banned for a ****** year after KNEEING McCaw in the Face in NZ...Rant over...

Ahem, PUYOL, ahem. Leinster were very impressive today, but I realize Racing were missing a lot of important players. Still I thought Racing's forwards were going to demolish Leinster's pack, boy was I wrong, Sean O'Brien was absolutely immense all around the park, Devon Toner had a great game, Mike Ross was also very good, Healy is a great impact player.

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

A bonus point win and no points for the away side makes for a perfect start in this difficult group.

Mike Ross was my man of the match.