Leinster v Dragons, Friday November 19

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

LEINSTER (team to face Dragons):
15: Isa Nacewa
14: Shane Horgan
13: Eoin O'Malley
12: Fergus McFadden
11: David Kearney
10: Shaun Berne
9: Isaac Boss
1: Heinke van der Merwe
2: Richardt Strauss
3: Clint Newland
4: Leo Cullen CAPTAIN
5: Trevor Hogan
6: Rhys Ruddock
7: Shane Jennings
8: Stephen Keogh
REPLACEMENTS:
16: Jason Harris-Wright
17: Jack McGrath
18: Mike Ross
19: Ed O'Donoghue
20: Dominic Ryan
21: Paul O’Donohoe
22: Ian Madigan
23: Andrew Conway




DRAGONS: Pat Leach, Will Harries, Tom Cheeseman, Ashley Smith, Adam Hughes; Jason Tovey, Wayne Evans; Phil Price, Tom Willis CAPTAIN, Nigel Hall, Scott Morgan, Robert Sidoli, Adam Jones, Gavin Thomas, Lewis Evans
REPLACEMENTS: Lloyd Burns, Dan Way, Hugh Gustafson, Luke Charteris, Hugo Ellis, Rhodri Gomer Davies, James Leadbeater, Matthew Jones

 

[coonor]

I think thats a very strong Leinster squad. Good to Berne back. A very strong bench as well. Leinster by 10+ points.

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

It'll be interesting to see how Newland goes. Hopefully Hogan and Berne are up to the task since they've played little or no rugby so far this season. I'm nervous about this game and would take a dull 9-8 win if it was offered immediately.

 

[munstermuffin]

Great to see Cullen (who is unfit) captain the side. Mike Ross will be sitting on wrong bench too but well seen as it about Leinster I'll say mice team which displays good depht and they should come through

 

[munstermuffin]

Snoop how is the younger Ruddock developing

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

He seems to be doing okay. At the start of the season he was rested due to the IRFU and Declan Kidney's ridiculous policy of not allowing internationals play early on. As a result he dropped behind Dominic Ryan in the pecking order. Tomorrow night is a chance for him to stake his claim. He's only just turned 20 so there's a lot of development ahead of him yet.

Leinster's future backrow options are frightening with Ruddock, Ryan, Jamie Heaslip, Kevin McLaughlin and Sean O'Brien still some way from reaching their peak.

 

[Conal]

is dave kearney any good??

 

[munstermuffin]

Is it possible heaslip will leave after World Cup though. Leinster have plenty of backwows but 8 isn't a position they ooze talent from

 

[DuncTheDoodle]

Decent Dragons side too, what with Harries and Tovey back in. I wouldn't be overly suprised to see an upset.

 

[Jockstap]

Leinster 10 - 0 Dragons after 10 minutes courtesy of Berne try and Nacewa Penalty. Clint Newland is a big fecker.

 

[Jockstap]

Half hour gone and Leinster are in the lead 17 - 3. Leo Cullen in the bin.

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

27-6. A very satisfactory bonus point win for Leinster who've well and truly put their early season woes behind them. Impressed with the entire backline, Leo Cullen and Mike Ross when he came on. Good to see game time for Rhys Ruddock, Dominic Ryan, Jack McGrath, Andrew Conway, Dave Kearney and Jason Harris Wright. There's still plenty to work on though. Clint Newland looked out of sorts in the scrum and Ed O'Donoghue was off the pace. Harris Wright's throwing is below par.

All in all, it's refreshing to see an Irish backline play with depth, width and have good ball handling skills. That's the result of Alan Gaffney leaving the Leinster setup in my opinion- I wonder will Declan Kidney cotton on to the same idea with relation to the Ireland backs coach.

 

[coonor]

Mike ross showed that he is a top srummager. When he came on for Newland our scrum became dominant. Lineout was good untill Ed O'Donohue and Harris Wright came on but Harris Wright is usually a fine thrower so he made have just had a bad day. I think Rhys Rodduck was good and made ground well. Issac Boss had a solid game with quick ball and a fine pass. Great to see Berne back in the squad. The two centres worked well together and McFadden is maturing well. Horgan had a very good game and is on form this season. Good to see D.Kearney play he had a solid game. I think Conway made a great impact when he came on and he is very talented. I see him taking R.Kearney's spot in the future.

Also I agree with you snoop. In the provinces our backs play well with ball in hand and they don't knock it on half as much as the Irish backs do.

 

[munstermuffin]

Lads it's the same with Munster backs, In provices they're told 'don't be stupid but have a cut' and with Ireland it's 'safety first'.

And Joe Schmidt is starting to impose his style on now.

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

I agree, the most positive aspects of Leinster's development have Schmidt's hand prints all over them.

Compared to last season, Leinster now look to counter attack from all over the field (last year they played for territory without fail). They challenge their own restarts by sending Horgan and Kearney after the ball in midfield rather than hoofing it towards the pack. They emphasise the importance of the scrum (it was also pretty decent last season to be fair). The backs run onto the ball at pace and from depth (rather than Gaffney's flat configuration). They look to offload out of the tackle all the time and keep the ball alive. Their ball handling has improved tenfold (Sean O'Brien in particular).

Michael Cheika was a brilliant coach for Leinster, picking plenty of young talented players, building a powerful pack, creating a stunning defensive system, making the team bloody hard to beat on top of winning trophies and seeing the fan base expand exponentially. After 5 years in charge though, things began to get stale- there's only so many times you can say the same things without the players getting bored of it. Cheika leaving and allowing a new voice take over has been hugely beneficial to the squad. Hopefully the current coach can have as positive an effect on the team as the man he's replaced.

 

[munstermuffin]

Snoop I agree and well it strange that Munster and Leinster execute the basic skills excellently as shown by Munster (in horrific coditions) Tuesday and Leinster last night yet Ireland fail to get this aspect correct. I can't feel but our provinces are improving while Ireland in decline.

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

I believe that Ireland are playing a game suited to how the sport was refereed a year ago but Leinster and Munster have adapted to the newer, more free flowing style of rugby. As such, Tony McGahan and Joe Schmidt who are both back coaches by trade are having more success than Declan Kidney who although a backs coach has always seemed to prefer risk free 10 man rugby. I can only assume that the players get more of a kick out of the style the provinces play than the stodgy brand of rugby Ireland employ.

 

[munstermuffin]

I think difference is also Munster and Leinster go out determined to play and WIN in style no matter who they play.
For example if you look at Ireland vs New Zealand 2 years ago and Munster vs New Zealand (ok there 2nd team).

Ireland went out thinking it was possible they could win - And were out muscled
Munster went out believing it was their right to win and lost in closing moments, Leinster have also developed this attitude and well that does stem from coaches.

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

Jesus, we're dragging another thread completely off topic!

I see the win has put Leinster into the top 4. If they finish in the top 4 it'll have been a decent season considering the coaching changes and also the added impact of players being called up for Ireland duty in a World Cup year.

Onto the Dragons, that was a woeful performance reminiscent of the worst Connacht away days under Michael Bradley. Did they want to be there or were they more interested in the Wales v Fiji game?!

 

[munstermuffin]

True Snoop. Back to Leinster - Is Rhys Ruddocks brother still on the books at Leinster. And I'd be surprised if Leinster miss out on top 4 as the Irish provinces seem to hit form between Feb and May