Champions Cup Quarter Final: Leinster v Saracens

[Not Mike Brown's Sock]

Itoje hard done by not to get motm I think

 

[big ginger 8]

Crap way to end the 'season' Sarries were good value for their win but we gave them their ideal game. Letting them build an early lead so outside the try they had nothing to do in attack.

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

So 12th place prem team beats Pro 14 champions

 

[Leinster Fan]

Left ourselves too much to do.

Scrum made the difference.

Proud of the second half performance.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

So 12th place prem team beats Pro 14 champions

More like Poo 14

English sides dominating in both comps so far this weekend, even tigers with the 50-0 win

 

[Leinster Fan]

Credit to Saracens, deserved winners.

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

Best team won. Vincent Koch was man of the match. Was it 7 scrum penalties? Nobody had a bigger impact on the game.

Second half subs brought Leinster back into it. Ryan Baird was excellent when he came on.

 

[Not Mike Brown's Sock]

Bottom team in England for almost 12 months beat the top team in the entire rest of the BI Lions arena for 12 months.

Says it all

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Bottom team in England for almost 12 months beat the top team in the entire rest of the UK for 12 months.

Have a joke sure, don't be a ****** with that shite

 

[Not Mike Brown's Sock]

Have a joke sure, don't be a ****** with that shite

Fixed it x
Was actually unintentional lol

 

[Jimbo]

Leinsters bench almost saved them.

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Find it funny when Ealing sign a guy with like 2 prem caps and 10 prem cups caps and some media people start saying Ealing buidling up a good squad should give Saracens a good.
Good run to the try line maybe.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Really not looking forward to the replay where Sarries wear white and we wear green in a couple months either.

 

[Groundhog]

Though Gauzzere was terrible today. Couldn't string two consistent calls together. Leinster left themselves with too much to do in the end.

 

[Leinster Fan]

Thought Itoje got away with a lot but part of being a good forward is knowing what you can and can't get away with. He used to cough up penalties but now he manages the line as well as anyone since McCaw.

In the absence of a genuine standout candidate he's my choice for Lions captain.

 

[munstermuffin]

Thought Itoje got away with a lot but part of being a good forward is knowing what you can and can't get away with. He used to cough up penalties but now he manages the line as well as anyone since McCaw.

In the absence of a genuine standout candidate he's my choice for Lions captain.

I mean this in a genine way. Leinster get away with murder from IRFU refs at scrum and breakdown. Not a dig as they are smart at it. But that effected them hugely today. As they got so used to the leniency that today a stricter french ref meant theu took alot of time to adjust.
The physicality was phenomenal too and whatever the opinions about Sarries are the fact are they are an excellent team. But more vitally they are a streetwise team from McCall down and will benefit from their year off

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

Tells you all need to know about Sarries. Whatever their financial misdeeds you just can't buy that.

They'll blood the next generation next year and with Earl, Isiekwe, Malins etc all returning they'll be right back at the top table before long.

 

[Curls]

Overall a very disappointing end to a promising season but **** period in history...

From a Leinster point of view I think questions must now be asked about what exactly is achieved in the P15? If you look at the standard of opposition then Leinster should be beating them all easily. Even the other provinces are pretty handily shrugged off now. The results are ring rusty untested throat clearing like the first 40mins today.
In the second half it was somewhat evident that Leinster were a better team than Saracens but Saracens had their first half points haul to sit on and soak up pressure. After the Larmour try it looked like Saracens had run out of steam but credit to them they dug in and ground it out. Leinster lacked their usual savage "blood in the water" tenacity when they got within 5 points and that most likely was due to not actually having played much from behind a decent team this year.

Saracens were physical and really pushed the pressure points they exposed. They took their opportunity with the wind at their back and defended stoutly and intelligently when required.

The criticism going around of the referee is a bit unfair. Yes IMO he managed the scrums poorly and was inconsistent on players moving away from the ball at the breakdown BUT he had 2 second rate ARs who due to the current situation were thrust into the action. One occasion they let him down was when Itoje was WELL offside and he knew it but the AR didn't back the call so he played on. Saracens took advantage of them better than Leinster did and that's part of the game too.

In a broader sense I'm worried for Irish rugby. At national level the players have looked ring rusty since winning the Grand Slam and that's starting to flow in the provinces now. The quality of product outside of Leinster is patchy and as a result the quality of what Leinster are facing is suspect.
End result is results like today.

 

[unrated]

More like Poo 14

English sides dominating in both comps so far this weekend, even tigers with the 50-0 win

J e sus maybe this is why we should not join pro 14, not even Leinster is getting respect despite their great season. English fans are going ape ****. Then they lose to an overated french team before being demoted.

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Acting like SA clubs get respect anyway