Pro14 this Weekend...

[Leonormous Boozer]

Pure bogeying Munster there. Diminishes the chances of an all Ireland final.

 

[General Melchett]

Pure bogeying Munster there. Diminishes the chances of an all Ireland final.

Glasgow have to overcome Embra in the last game which won't be easy. Cockers will be fuming after last night so maybe more bogeying to come.

Dave Rennie's best result/performance since taking over IMHO.

 

[Groundhog]

Can't put into words how much Leinster can suck me todger for that.

 

[Leinster Fan]

Glasgow deserved the win but I'm not too disappointed. I do love the idea of Munster fans being disappointed we lost even if us playing them in final would be great.

Tomane was great, hopefully it stops some of the nonsense about him, could see him at 23 next week as well.

The back three were all good and I wouldn't complain if they kept their spots for next week. I think we need JGP on the bench, next week, O'Sullivan doesn't look ready, even compared to McCarthy last year. It'd be tough on Lowe but he really hasn't been great since his suspension.

I love SOB but he really isn't offering much, Deegan should start next week. Nice to see Henshaw and Toner back and Connors coming back from his ACL is great. I hope Furlong is alright, he looked fine coming off but I'm still worried.

Overall more positives than negatives despite the loss I think.

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

There was nothing riding on the game for Leinster. They're top of the conference regardless. The game next weekend is far more important hence the weakened selection. Great to see Rob Kearney, Devin Toner and Robbie Henshaw putting in strong shifts.

 

[General Melchett]

Can't be too many pro rugby games where two sets of brothers each score a try in the same game. Hats off to the Kearneys and Fagersons.

 

[Tooting Carmen]

I'm not usually a "blame the ref" type, but refusing to grant Cardiff that try on the hour while granting Connacht their much more dubious BP one was an utter travesty.

As for the Scarlets-Zebre match, the final 42-0 score really flattered the former, who struggled throughout much of the match even with some blatantly biased refereeing in their favour, esp at scrum time. All the same, if Scarlets get the BP win against Dragons and Benetton and Edinburgh slip up, they could still make the Pro 14 play-offs. (Though nobody should expect them to get very far this time).

 

[Leinster Fan]

I'm not usually a "blame the ref" type, but refusing to grant Cardiff that try on the hour while granting Connacht their much more dubious BP one was an utter travesty.

As for the Scarlets-Zebre match, the final 42-0 score really flattered the former, who struggled throughout much of the match even with some blatantly biased refereeing in their favour, esp at scrum time. All the same, if Scarlets get the BP win against Dragons and Benetton and Edinburgh slip up, they could still make the Pro 14 play-offs. (Though nobody should expect them to get very far this time).

I agree the ref absolutely rode Cardiff. The refs in this league are so f***ing s***. Evens out over the course of the season I suppose.

I do love that 4 Irish teams and 0 Welsh teams look set for the playoffs though.

 

[Tooting Carmen]

Evens out over the course of the season I suppose.

How exactly?

I do love that 4 Irish teams and 0 Welsh teams look set for the playoffs though.

From narrow national self-interest, maybe. But surely it damages the health and integrity of the league?

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

How exactly?



From narrow national self-interest, maybe. But surely it damages the health and integrity of the league?

Maybe not a season but it was only a couple of years back when Connacht were taken for a ride by the ref in Cardiff, it's bad reffing but bad for everyone.

Nothing wrong with the integrity of the league if the best teams are qualifying for the playoffs, itll likely be a once off too and most would argue the league is in rude health as compared to previous years.

 

[profitius]

From narrow national self-interest, maybe. But surely it damages the health and integrity of the league?

You talk about integrity but blame the ref.

Its not the league's fault Welsh teams are poor. You can't expect the league to help out Welsh teams it's up to those teams to strengthen and make the league stronger.

 

[profitius]

Overall more positives than negatives despite the loss I think.

Comical Ali in da house!

Leinster still have a great chance of doing the double but they and their plsyers' form have taken a major dip since the 6 nations.

 

[munstermuffin]

The beauty is it could be Munster v Leinster 2 weeks in a row. Once in Pro14 SF and European final.

And I'll say it here now. I think we would fancy it. Agreed Snoop it was a nothing game but not much continuity since 6 Nations and looses never help. Yes there are weak teams put out but still must say I'd happuly take a cocky Leinster team over having to face a really hungry Glasgow team.

We always said it is likely we will finish 2nd in our conference so are prepared for our likely route

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

It's futile enough analysing Leinster since the 6n. The improvement Sexton, Henshaw and Toner bring to international level where their replacements are far better than in Leinster is still absolutely huge.

We're not as strong as last year where the double required us to dig deep three times all season but we're still favourites in both competitions and rightly so.

 

[Groundhog]

Leinster look more beatable than last year for sure and since March their form has been fairly poor, but at the same time they've had their pro 14 pool secured to a ridiculous level for a while now and the only important game that would cause them worry recently is the Ulster game where they looked shaky, but still pulled out the win. They are still dual favourites, but I wouldn't fear them in a knockout game like last year, because I think we've improved and their form isn't as redhot as it was last year, where the double was just inevitable. I still feel like we're cursed at the Aviva though so I don't fancy that prospect.
Whatever about the conveyer belt of talent™, like any team there's a significant step down between Leinster's starters and their backup in most positions, which is a surprise to no one. Yesterday was a fairy awful performance, but guys like Dunne will be better for it. On the flipside guys like S. O'Brien did themselves no favors and the performance actually got worse when the frontliners were brought in wholesale I felt. Not ideal preparation, but you could hardly say they targeted that game.

 

[munstermuffin]

It's futile enough analysing Leinster since the 6n. The improvement Sexton, Henshaw and Toner bring to international level where their replacements are far better than in Leinster is still absolutely huge.

We're not as strong as last year where the double required us to dig deep three times all season but we're still favourites in both competitions and rightly so.

All very accurate but as @Groundhog said Leinster are not as feared as before. Yes Sexton Toner and Henshaw raise the bar but equally there is a feeling that if you get under Sextons skin he can become your best weapon vs Leinster as we did in December.

I also feel there is very little between most of the top few teams of league and I think most in the knockouts would believe they can beat Leinster or anyone for that matter more so than before.

 

[Leinster Fan]

For all the talk about our form I actually think we're playing better than we were in the Pro14 last year. We haven't had anything like the Connacht and Treviso games from that season. Obviously results aren't great but they don't need to be. You can talk about individual form but players like Conan, Deegan, Mick Kearney (before his injury), Ed Byrne, Gibson-Park, Dave Kearney, Toner and Joe Tomane are playing as well as they ever have in blue. Ryan, Ringrose, Healy etc are playing well as well.

All very accurate but as @Groundhog said Leinster are not as feared as before. Yes Sexton Toner and Henshaw raise the bar but equally there is a feeling that if you get under Sextons skin he can become your best weapon vs Leinster as we did in December.

I also feel there is very little between most of the top few teams of league and I think most in the knockouts would believe they can beat Leinster or anyone for that matter more so than before.

Sexton actually wasn't that bad against Munster, I genuinely think we'd have won that game if he'd stayed on. Munster's attack in that game was pathetic. Against 13/14 men for most of it and one clean break in the whole thing.

How exactly?



From narrow national self-interest, maybe. But surely it damages the health and integrity of the league?

Because everyone gets on the end of terrible refereeing so it evens out. Don't see how it damages the league at all, it's hardly anyone else's problem if the Welsh can't get their s*** together. If the country that came 6th in the Six Nations has more teams in the playoffs than the Grand Slam winners, then it's fairly obvious the problem lies with the underperforming country and not the league. It's hardly narrow self-interest to want Irish teams to do well, might as well say that it's self-interested for me to want Ireland to win the World Cup.

Comical Ali in da house!

Leinster still have a great chance of doing the double but they and their plsyers' form have taken a major dip since the 6 nations.

It's fairly obvious that yesterday had more positives then negatives for Leinster
•Tomane had another excellent game and seems to be coming good, he's been much better since his injury.
•Caelan Doris and Jack Dunne both looked at home when surrounded by international players.
•Toner and Henshaw both came back from injury and looked decent.
•Both Kearneys played well, Rob got his first tries in ages too.
•Max Deegan was brilliant (again) off the bench.
•Will Connors came back from a serious long-term injury.

All of which is far more important than a vaguely irritating loss to a first choice Glasgow who were really up for it and wanted it far more. The only real negatives are Furlong's injury (although he looked alright), and that SOB was again pretty ineffective.

In summary, I don't care if Welsh teams are s*** and while Leinster obviously aren't as good as last year it's not nearly as gloomy as some people would like to make out.

 

[munstermuffin]

For all the talk about our form I actually think we're playing better than we were in the Pro14 last year. We haven't had anything like the Connacht and Treviso games from that season. Obviously results aren't great but they don't need to be. You can talk about individual form but players like Conan, Deegan, Mick Kearney (before his injury), Ed Byrne, Gibson-Park, Dave Kearney, Toner and Joe Tomane are playing as well as they ever have in blue. Ryan, Ringrose, Healy etc are playing well as well.


Sexton actually wasn't that bad against Munster, I genuinely think we'd have won that game if he'd stayed on. Munster's attack in that game was pathetic. Against 13/14 men for most of it and one clean break in the whole thing.


Because everyone gets on the end of terrible refereeing so it evens out. Don't see how it damages the league at all, it's hardly anyone else's problem if the Welsh can't get their s*** together. If the country that came 6th in the Six Nations has more teams in the playoffs than the Grand Slam winners, then it's fairly obvious the problem lies with the underperforming country and not the league. It's hardly narrow self-interest to want Irish teams to do well, might as well say that it's self-interested for me to want Ireland to win the World Cup.


It's fairly obvious that yesterday had more positives then negatives for Leinster
•Tomane had another excellent game and seems to be coming good, he's been much better since his injury.
•Caelan Doris and Jack Dunne both looked at home when surrounded by international players.
•Toner and Henshaw both came back from injury and looked decent.
•Both Kearneys played well, Rob got his first tries in ages too.
•Max Deegan was brilliant (again) off the bench.
•Will Connors came back from a serious long-term injury.

All of which is far more important than a vaguely irritating loss to a first choice Glasgow who were really up for it and wanted it far more. The only real negatives are Furlong's injury (although he looked alright), and that SOB was again pretty ineffective.

In summary, I don't care if Welsh teams are s*** and while Leinster obviously aren't as good as last year it's not nearly as gloomy as some people would like to make out.

Sexton was atrocious vs us. I think he even admitted as much himself. And it's easy say we were poor but given we had poorish form and even mentioning us deflects from that really as opposition shouldn't matter.
Nobody is saying Leinster are gone more so it alot more closer and I think while it's correct to not read too much in to games since 6N it is fair to say they have been very poor since then

 

[Leinster Fan]

Sexton was atrocious vs us. I think he even admitted as much himself. And it's easy say we were poor but given we had poorish form and even mentioning us deflects from that really as opposition shouldn't matter.
Nobody is saying Leinster are gone more so it alot more closer and I think while it's correct to not read too much in to games since 6N it is fair to say they have been very poor since then

Sexton was atrocious vs us. I think he even admitted as much himself. And it's easy say we were poor but given we had poorish form and even mentioning us deflects from that really as opposition shouldn't matter.
Nobody is saying Leinster are gone more so it alot more closer and I think while it's correct to not read too much in to games since 6N it is fair to say they have been very poor since then

I've tried to erase that game from my memory but I definitely don't remember Sexton being awful in that game. He was nowhere near his best obviously but awful no. As I say I think our poor form is overhyped, we haven't been great but 'very poor' is overdoing it.

 

[Groundhog]

Fairly moot point but Sexton wasn't great against us from what I remember. He usually rides the line of aggression pretty well but it shook him out of his game when we played. Leinster's discipline that day in general was appalling and they approached the game in completely the wrong way.
I don't think Leinster need to be worried but at the same time they haven't had great results since the start of March (I think?) and expecting them to turn a top class European performance on a dime may also prove a small bit naive. Tolouse are certainly a better side than Ulster at the moment and proved well able to get it done on the road as they proved against Racing. Will be an interesting fixture.