Leinster v Conquerors of Europe, Cardiff Blues, Saturday Sept 11

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

Leinster hope to have a few more internationals back for this fixture having lost narrowly against Glasgow. Leo Cullen, Kevin McLaughlin and Stan Wright are definitely out though.

Cardiff are missing Ben Blair, Leigh Halfpenny and Jamie Roberts while Gethin Jenkins, Paul ***o, Taufa'ao Filise and John Yapp are nursing injuries.

Teams will be announced tomorrow.

 

[Feicarsinn]

I wonder what the word on Mike Ross is. I'll be in the north stand for this one so the bloody rain had better hold off.

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

Yesterday's press release stated that Leinster hope Ross will be fit for this game. Cardiff have their own front row issues too with Yapp, Filise and Jenkins carrying knocks. Perhaps it wouldn't be catastrophic if Ross misses this game. It would afford Shawe and Prescott more game time against a weakened front row and they need all the playing time they can get to get up to Heineken Cup speed.

 

[tinchy17]

I predict a Leinster win - and I'm expectin' a big un!

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

I'm not. A 2 or 3 point Leinster win and signs of progression from last week would satisfy me. Cardiff will be very competitive with Dan Parks kicking his goals

 

[munstermuffin]

Could be the link Cardiff have been missing for many years a really good international 10

 

[Feicarsinn]

I thought Nicky Robinson was by far and away the most underrated 10 in Wales when he was plying his trade with the Blues. I'm feeling a Leinster win by about 5-7 points. Hopefully they'll give us Sexy(ton) back and we can shift Isa to either the back three or inside centre.

The Blues have a shedload of players missing too so I'm pretty happy with our prospects heading into this one.

 

[TRF_Cymro]

Gethin will likely be fit along with Yapp and Fiilise so have no fear about that.

 

[munstermuffin]

Feic Robinson was a fine 10 but I just think Parks is the much better all round 10 that Cardiff need. I not saying Robinson was bad.

 

[Feicarsinn]

Feic Robinson was a fine 10 but I just think Parks is the much better all round 10 that Cardiff need. I not saying Robinson was bad.

I'm not sure about Parks at all. Sure he had a great season lat year, but up until then it was universally accepted that he was crap. Last season was a bit weird after all, what with the different law interpretations flying about. I'[m not saying he won'thave a good season, I'm just not convinced that he's suddenly become a top class operator.

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

Parks is a good 10 but he's limited. If you want to play 10 man rugby there are few better but if you want to put width on the ball you should look elsewhere. He's a better 10 than Norton Knightmare but I remain to be convinced that he'll get the best out of Roberts, Laulala, James, Blair, Paterson etc.

 

[Draggs]

Anyone have any idea what Gethin's injury is?

 

[TRF_Cymro]

Quoting the official site:

"Paul ***o is struggling with his calf and Gethin Jenkins has had a bump on his shoulder so we will look at all these players on Thursday."

 

[Draggs]

Glad it isn't his recurring calf injury.
Yapp has been struggling with injury as well, I wonder if this is the same one as he sustained down in NZ.

 

[Jockstap]

Shane Jennings leads the side which includes fellow Ireland internationals Brian O'Driscoll and Jonathan Sexton for the visit of the Welsh side. Isaac Boss links up with Sexton at half-back, with Fergus McFadden partnering O'Driscoll at centre.
Mike Ross has recovered from injury to take his place in the front-row alongside Richardt Strauss and Heinke van der Merwe, while Jennings joins fellow Ireland internationals Jamie Heaslip and Sean O'Brien in the back-row.

Cian Healy and Eoin Reddan are included on the bench for the first time this season. There will be 'Family Day' activities and a host of other events in and around the ground starting from 5pm.

Over 15,000 tickets have been sold for Saturday's match and tickets are still available HERE as well as from Spar (Donnybrook), the Leinster Rugby Store (Donnybrook) and Ticketmaster outlets nationwide.

LEINSTER:

15: Luke Fitzgerald
14: Shane Horgan
13: Brian O'Driscoll
12: Fergus McFadden
11: Isa Nacewa
10: Jonathan Sexton
9: Isaac Boss

1: Heinke van der Merwe
2: Richardt Strauss
3: Mike Ross
4: Nathan Hines
5: Ed O'Donoghue
6: Sean O'Brien
7: Shane Jennings CAPTAIN
8: Jamie Heaslip

REPLACEMENTS:

16: John Fogarty
17: Cian Healy
18: Simon Shawe
19: Mariano Galarza
20: Dominic Ryan
21: Eoin Reddan
22: Ian Madigan
23: Eoin O'Malley

Pretty stong team, anybody know the story with Rob Kearney?

 

[lynam1104]

That's close to our 1st XV im pretty confident about that team.

 

[munstermuffin]

Lads has Boss a chance of making 9 shirt his own

 

[Feicarsinn]

It's a bloody physical 9-12 axis! Expect us to really try and beat the bejasus out of Cardiff early and then try to spray it wide. Great pack, good to see Ross back. He must perform this year.


On an unrelated note, Leinster vs Munster tickets are only 30 quid a pop (for the seats up with the pidgeons I know). Thes bloody quality! Expect to see me there.

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

Boss has every chance of appearing as much as Reddan. I view Reddan and Boss as 1a and 1b. It's almost akin to the French way of thinking where the 1,3 and 9 are interchangable- the starting scrum half and props get 50 minutes to lay down a marker and the subs are given 30 minutes to cause havoc.

I'm happy with that team. It underlines the strength of the squad considering established players like Kearney, D'arcy, Berne, Wright, Cullen, Toner, McLaughlin and Keogh aren't even in the 23 (for various reasons).

A few things I notice are that Strauss gets the 2 jersey for the 2nd week running over Ireland international John Fogarty. Also academy flanker Dominic Ryan is preferred to full squad member Stephen Keogh and development players Eoin Sheriff and Paul Ryan yet again. I'm guessing both have impressed Joe Schmidt enough to have make significant moves forward on the depth chart over the summer.

 

[coonor]

A very strong side IMO. I hope Mike Ross gets oof to a good start. I want Fogarty to get a good bit of game time I thoughthe was impressive last season. I also hope Hines gets his head into the game for once he costs us to many penaltys. Great to see Sexton get going if he continues his kicking form shown in the summer he will nail down the Irish no.10 shirt.