[Champions Cup 2018] Semi Final - Leinster v Scarlets

[ThebigARena]

Leinster played like the champions elect today. They looked almost unbeatable. A lot of the blame still needs to go to Scarlets for not playing well today, but even at their best I don't know if they could have beaten Leinster the way they were playing today. The chances of Racing or Munster winning the championship this year are very slim, if you ask me.

It's appropriate that Beirne scored the consolation try. That's just the kind of season that Irish rugby is having right now: even the best player in Wales is Irish.

Agree to a certain extent , yes beirne has been a standout player for us and going to be sorely missed , but so will the likes of John Barclay who has been a stalwart for us and Scott Williams. Thinking about it , this season of Irish rugby has to the the strongest in Irish history especially if Munster possible of any country if results go there way . If it's an all Irish champions cup final , Ireland winning the 6 nations and if Leinster go on to win the PRO14 wouldn't that be the most dominant a country has ever been in rugby union history (for a season) genuine question ?

 

[ThebigARena]

Leinster played like the champions elect today. They looked almost unbeatable. A lot of the blame still needs to go to Scarlets for not playing well today, but even at their best I don't know if they could have beaten Leinster the way they were playing today. The chances of Racing or Munster winning the championship this year are very slim, if you ask me.

It's appropriate that Beirne scored the consolation try. That's just the kind of season that Irish rugby is having right now: even the best player in Wales is Irish.

Agree to a certain extent , yes beirne has been a standout player for us and going to be sorely missed , but so will the likes of John Barclay who has been a stalwart for us and Scott Williams. Thinking about it , this season of Irish rugby has to the the strongest in Irish history especially if Munster possible of any country if results go there way . If it's an all Irish champions cup final , Ireland winning the 6 nations and if Leinster go on to win the PRO14 wouldn't that be the most dominant a country has ever been in rugby union history (for a season) genuine question ?

 

[corny]

A bit harsh on Scarlets to say they didn't perform. This is not a back handed compliment but i'm not sure they were able to match Leinster. When your forwards are overpowered in the collisions and your backs are denied space by an aggressive press the game is up.

Leinster were brilliant and I wouldn't be surprised if they blow the other finalist out of the water next month.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Agree to a certain extent , yes beirne has been a standout player for us and going to be sorely missed , but so will the likes of John Barclay who has been a stalwart for us and Scott Williams. Thinking about it , this season of Irish rugby has to the the strongest in Irish history especially if Munster possible of any country if results go there way . If it's an all Irish champions cup final , Ireland winning the 6 nations and if Leinster go on to win the PRO14 wouldn't that be the most dominant a country has ever been in rugby union history (for a season) genuine question ?

So far its pretty similar to '09. That year we won a slam and went the calendar year unbeaten, Leinster beat Munster in the semi final en route to the Heino and Munster won the Magners league. 2016 would have been similar for England and Sarries. I'm sure NZ have probably won RWCs and/or Tri Nations in years where their franchises have won super rugby, possibly SA too.

I really hope Munster win tomorrow but it'd make the final so uncomfortable, that is a game that no fan would want to lose, it'd be horrible and difficult to beat them for a third time this season.

 

[munstermuffin]

Mystic Muff predicts it right again.

I said Leinster would walk it. Glasgow did it. Scarlets have now done it.
Believed their Pro14 form was adequate enough.
Irish provinces in European Rugby are a different beast.

Leinster looked awesome today. We are baking in the heat here in Bordeaux.
Hopefully we see ye in few weeks in Bilbao to settle an old score

 

[Reiser99]

Take nothing away fro Leinster, but it does help when 12/15 of the starting 15 are in the national squad and 6/8 replacements. It does help having less teams so players are more concentrated.

 

[Leinster Fan]

Take nothing away fro Leinster, but it does help when 12/15 of the starting 15 are in the national squad and 6/8 replacements. It does help having less teams so players are more concentrated.

Dunno, surely of Leinster weren't as good then they'd have less players in the Ireland squad.

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

Dunno, surely of Leinster weren't as good then they'd have less players in the Ireland squad.

Chicken and egg. Leinster have been consistently up there for years so it seems the whole team philosophy and training is on point. People have said Lancasters recent influence has given Leinster and extra spark too.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Equally we have the disadvantage of having limited options to recruit, we can't just bring in a world class 9 which is a problem for us, we have to sign a player with no international allegiance, use one of our three foreign player spots or an Irish player all on a smaller budget to the French and English. Any advantage we do have is simply due to a better run union and club structure that was entirely intentional.

 

[dullonien]

Only just finished watching the game after a busy day. Wow, just wow.

I knew the Scarlets were going to be up against it, but that was another level from Leinster! The most impressive aspects of their game was certainly their work at the ruck, and their physicality. On paper the Scarlets are one of the best turnover teams in Europe, but the way Leinster support their ball carriers, and their technique in clearing-out is just about unplayable at times. Scarlets couldn't get a sniff of the ball. This all resulted in massive dominance in the early stages, and put Scarlets under huge pressure, on the scoreboard, physically and mentally. When the Scarlets did get possession, they were under huge pressure to do something with it, and they couldn't with mistakes creeping into their game.

Wouldn't be surprised to see a similar scoreline in the final if they play the same way.

Totally gutted, but congrats Leinster supporters.

 

[munstermuffin]

Take nothing away fro Leinster, but it does help when 12/15 of the starting 15 are in the national squad and 6/8 replacements. It does help having less teams so players are more concentrated.

Yeah 100% agree. How dare they keep budgets relatively low and develop as much home grown talent as they did. It's also a disgrace that lads like Sean O'Brien and that drop off injured and they still have developed depth.
This is nothing to do with just 4 teams or national teams. This is to do with structures being spot on.
Leinster nailed it from Schools rugby up and well IRFU have a system that is clear establish3d and everyone working off same hymn sheet.
As the saying goes Fail to Prepare, Prepare to Fail.

The issue with England and France is it's Club vs Country. In Ireland it's let's give it all for whatever team is in question

 

[curtbob7]

Agree to a certain extent , yes beirne has been a standout player for us and going to be sorely missed , but so will the likes of John Barclay who has been a stalwart for us and Scott Williams. Thinking about it , this season of Irish rugby has to the the strongest in Irish history especially if Munster possible of any country if results go there way . If it's an all Irish champions cup final , Ireland winning the 6 nations and if Leinster go on to win the PRO14 wouldn't that be the most dominant a country has ever been in rugby union history (for a season) genuine question ?

See ya point but I'd say a grand slam and World Cup in the same year still eclipses it. Shame an English team didn't win the Heineken in 03 as 00,01,02 and 04 were all English.

 

[Bluemoon]

Leinster just found another level yesterday to where they might have been in other games, and I think Scarlets were a little shell shocked by the intensity that Leinster brought from the outset. Leinster are built for peaking at this time of the year, and are masters at building their season at the right time. A lot of the Leinster players have just come away with a win with Ireland and have been in these knockout top level scenarios in the past.

I think it showed that al lot of the Scarlets squad haven't had the experience of going away and winning at this stage of the competition, which gets pretty close to, if not at, international level rugby. They will come away stronger for it, although the margin of the loss is quite a hard one to take.

Big congratulations to Leinster. From a neutrals perspective, I would prefer a Racing-Leinster final.

 

[Laighin]

Take nothing away fro Leinster, but it does help when 12/15 of the starting 15 are in the national squad and 6/8 replacements. It does help having less teams so players are more concentrated.

This is the case because Irish teams have traditionally managed to keep their best players at home, while Scottish and Welsh teams have had their best talent cherry picked by English and French teams with far greater budgets. Leinster and Munster's performance in the CC this year has been a victory for their academies.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Bah. It's just not the same when Leinster don't choke on home soil at critical times. Harder to envisage future chokage in the weeks ahead too now that Cullen has that monkey off his back. I want my narrative back dammit!

Lots of reshuffling on the Scarlets side but that was still a bloody good XV they had. It'll be really interesting to see if Pivac can adjust for a Pro14 ***le push.