Leinster A thread

[Justtoby]

Not a bad game. Ian McKinley, Noel Reid and Paul O'Donohoe all had stints at out half. Reid looked very lively in attacking the gainline, chipping over the defence, delivering some good passes and tackling effectively. He needs to bulk up a bit and improve his tactical kicking but is definitely one to watch.

Brendan Macken had an excellent game. He broke clear on a couple of occasions, making huge yardage in the process. He delivered a sublime deft pass to Michael Keating for Leinster's try and was constantly trying to keep his arms free in the tackle, looking to offload. Virtually every time he had the ball he made it across the gainline.

Jack McGrath and Jason Harris Wright were the pick of the forwards. McGrath battled hard with Stephen Archer in the scrum and carried a bit of ball. Harris Wright was generally okay in the lineout although Leinster lost three I think and was very eager to carry the ball.

Scanlon and Dineen were very good for Munster.

[Danthefan]

Was the final scoreline reflective of the game overall?

[Justtoby]

Yeah, Munster were the better team. They defended strongly and could have had another try or two. In the end a 12 point margin was probably fair.

How did our scrum go... Anyone?

It was okay. The starting front row weren't shunted back at all but you could see they were finding it tough. Prescott seeming to struggle a little against Darragh Hurley but McGrath's side was generally solid. When the subs came on, they struggled in the first scrum but Maguire got a great shove on Hurley in the next one shortly before the Munster player was taken off. McCormack and Maguire had no trouble with the Munster replacements and dismantled their scrum on one occasion. There weren't too many scrums in the game.

[Donny B.]

Munster were much more up for the match today. Leinster were strangely lax.

Macken played well and Cooney and Reid looked sharp when they came on.

Munster were far more physical and I was impressed by the two centres Dineen and Smith, the fullback Scanlon and the hooker Henry.

Ref Alan Lewis was hopeless yet again, made absolutely no effort to ref the breakdown. Turned into a free for all and Munster were far cuter.

[munster#1]

Munster were much more up for the match today. Leinster were strangely lax.

Macken played well and Cooney and Reid looked sharp when they came on.

Munster were far more physical and I was impressed by the two centres Dineen and Smith, the fullback Scanlon and the hooker Henry.

Ref Alan Lewis was hopeless yet again, made absolutely no effort to ref the breakdown. Turned into a free for all and Munster were far cuter.

there seems to be a fair few solid players coming through. i have seen henry play a fair few times and i've always been impressed, pity he is coming through in a position that we have a 3 great options already. he may have to follow cronin and old fogs and make a move, unless he can make a massive impact in a year or 2.

good to hear some of our young backs impressed, i haven't seen much of these lads at all. hopefully with a good run in the B&I cup some may see some 1st team rugby this season.

what was your opinion of deasy?

[Donny B.]

Munster were much more up for the match today. Leinster were strangely lax.

Macken played well and Cooney and Reid looked sharp when they came on.

Munster were far more physical and I was impressed by the two centres Dineen and Smith, the fullback Scanlon and the hooker Henry.

Ref Alan Lewis was hopeless yet again, made absolutely no effort to ref the breakdown. Turned into a free for all and Munster were far cuter.

there seems to be a fair few solid players coming through. i have seen henry play a fair few times and i've always been impressed, pity he is coming through in a position that we have a 3 great options already. he may have to follow cronin and old fogs and make a move, unless he can make a massive impact in a year or 2.

good to hear some of our young backs impressed, i haven't seen much of these lads at all. hopefully with a good run in the B&I cup some may see some 1st team rugby this season.

what was your opinion of deasy?

Mixed. Excellent with the ball in hand and showed great gas and awareness for his intercept which decided the game. Place-kicking very ropey though. He got the two gimmiesin front of the posts but made a right hash of the other two not too difficult attempts. Tactical kicking not too great either. I think he has a bright future, but more at full-back/wing than out-half.

As an aside, one of the impressive centres was Ivan Dineen. Do you know if he's anything to Len Dineen?

[cormac]

Munster were much more up for the match today. Leinster were strangely lax.

Macken played well and Cooney and Reid looked sharp when they came on.

Munster were far more physical and I was impressed by the two centres Dineen and Smith, the fullback Scanlon and the hooker Henry.

Ref Alan Lewis was hopeless yet again, made absolutely no effort to ref the breakdown. Turned into a free for all and Munster were far cuter.

Lewis phoned in that performance, looked like he couldn't give a shite. Never seen a ref miss so many obvious offences, especially knock-ons. Was interesting to see most of the Irish coaching staff at the game, spotted Les Kiss, Gert Smal and Alan Gaffney at the match.

Both sides attempted to play enterprising rugby but the execution wasn't quite there, both sides butchered easy try-scoring chances. Munster were better in contact and that decided the game.

[tackle-bag]

I totally agree. Deasy's a great footballer, but I really don't think that he's an out-half. Any time I've seen him play at 12 or 15, he has impressed me a lot more than he ever has at 10. He's also not a sufficiently consistent place-kicker to assume that role for a team of Munster's quality.

Munster are in the interesting position at the moment of having a number of young backs who are all very similar in standard. It will be interesting to see which ones succeed in getting substantial game time over the next year or two and which ones fade into obscurity. Specifically, I'm talking about Scott Deasy, Tom Gleeson, Johne Murphy, Felix Jones, Denis Hurley, Simon Zebo.

[tate]

here's hoping felix sticks around for this year, if only for my fantasy team

[Munsterboy]

I think Jones is being developed as our first choice FB and will stick around for the long haul. Hurley is more effective on the wing but he'll have to fight for his place against the numerous other options we have there. Personally I would pick him ahead of most of them (Dowling included).

Deasy should be developed as a 12. We need an alternative to the bosh-merchants we keep signing and he has the skills to play the 2nd 5/8 role. Could be great alongside Earls.

It's ironic that we now have so many promising options at 13 just when we have Earls coming into his own. Can't see them all sticking around.

[Donny B.]

Deasy should be developed as a 12. We need an alternative to the bosh-merchants we keep signing and he has the skills to play the 2nd 5/8 role. Could be great alongside Earls.

Yeah, 12 could suit him down to the ground alright.

[munster#1]

Deasy should be developed as a 12. We need an alternative to the bosh-merchants we keep signing and he has the skills to play the 2nd 5/8 role. Could be great alongside Earls.

Yeah, 12 could suit him down to the ground alright.

that would be my opinion of him too, he is a very smart player with O/H hands, so could get the ball moving really well. he also has a good step and eye for a gap. he is not the biggest but is fairly strong for his size. unfortunately we have 2 niqs ahead of him, so he may have to make do with being a utility back for a while, which would not be great for his developement.

[munster#1]

I think Jones is being developed as our first choice FB and will stick around for the long haul. Hurley is more effective on the wing but he'll have to fight for his place against the numerous other options we have there. Personally I would pick him ahead of most of them (Dowling included).

Deasy should be developed as a 12. We need an alternative to the bosh-merchants we keep signing and he has the skills to play the 2nd 5/8 role. Could be great alongside Earls.

It's ironic that we now have so many promising options at 13 just when we have Earls coming into his own. Can't see them all sticking around.

we are in a fairly good position this season, we have built a strong squad which shouldn't struggle in the ML even without our internationals.

on form i would have dougie and hurley as our wings

[LeRouxIsPHat]

I think Jones is being developed as our first choice FB and will stick around for the long haul. Hurley is more effective on the wing but he'll have to fight for his place against the numerous other options we have there. Personally I would pick him ahead of most of them (Dowling included).

Deasy should be developed as a 12. We need an alternative to the bosh-merchants we keep signing and he has the skills to play the 2nd 5/8 role. Could be great alongside Earls.

It's ironic that we now have so many promising options at 13 just when we have Earls coming into his own. Can't see them all sticking around.

Who do you rate of the 13s aside from Earls? I really think your backline will struggle in the bigger games this year. Jones, Earls and a return to pre injury form for Tol (which I'm not holding my breath for) aside I see a lot of the other players as just being quite average tbh.

[hugonaut]

Not a bad game. Ian McKinley, Noel Reid and Paul O'Donohoe all had stints at out half. Reid looked very lively in attacking the gainline, chipping over the defence, delivering some good passes and tackling effectively. He needs to bulk up a bit and improve his tactical kicking but is definitely one to watch.

Brendan Macken had an excellent game. He broke clear on a couple of occasions, making huge yardage in the process. He delivered a sublime deft pass to Michael Keating for Leinster's try and was constantly trying to keep his arms free in the tackle, looking to offload. Virtually every time he had the ball he made it across the gainline.

Jack McGrath and Jason Harris Wright were the pick of the forwards. McGrath battled hard with Stephen Archer in the scrum and carried a bit of ball. Harris Wright was generally okay in the lineout although Leinster lost three I think and was very eager to carry the ball.

Scanlon and Dineen were very good for Munster.

Good review - agree with most everything you say, but Reid is very frustrating to watch. Needs to play for his team more – funny criticism, because it's not that he holds on to the ball ala Kearney or Paul O'Donoghue ... he just seems to want to take the complicated or clever option every time rather than knowing what the right option is. A skillful player, but needs tons and tons of gametime and needs a lot of coaching in the right direction.

Really disappointed with Eamonn Sheridan at 12. The phrase "Looks like Tarzan, plays like Jane" springs to mind. He's about the same size as Jauzion, Jamie Roberts and Sonny Bill Williams – 6'4", 17 stone – and yet he plays very, very dainty. I was expecting a big strong runner and hitter with limited skills, sort of like James Downey [now with Northampton]; instead, he's a guy who slows into contact, arm-tackles people in 1-on-1s and tries to showcase skills which aren't quite there yet, highlighted with that appallingly telegraphed skip pass for Deasy's interception try.

I'm delighted that we've got Schmidt as coach, as he has shown a fondness for big hard-running threequarters, and I'm very hopeful that good coaching can turn Sheridan into a viable option at 12 for Leinster. More than anything, I think he needs encouragement, guidance and to be challenged in the basic aspects of the game – hard, straight running and hard, straight hitting. Maybe sounds regressive and basic, but once he can bring this level of his game up to the required standard he can be a contributor at ML level.

[ronk]

Anyone saw how Tom Sexton did? Did he play in the backrow or swap with Harris-Wright?

[Justtoby]

Harris Wright moved to flanker. Sexton didn't stand out but he wasn't on the field too long. The scrum was better with him at hooker but both teams had made a lot of changes by then.

Good review - agree with most everything you say, but Reid is very frustrating to watch. Needs to play for his team more – funny criticism, because it's not that he holds on to the ball ala Kearney or Paul O'Donoghue ... he just seems to want to take the complicated or clever option every time rather than knowing what the right option is. A skillful player, but needs tons and tons of gametime and needs a lot of coaching in the right direction.

I agree with that. If he was the finished article he'd be in the senior squad and wouldn't be playing for the As but he certainly has the raw talent to develop as a player.He showed more spark than Ian McKinley.

What did you think of the 2nd rows? I think it was Galarza who knocked on with acres of open space in front of him after Ben Marshall made a great break and off loaded in the first half. In general the two second rows were fairly anonymous.

[Justtoby]

Double post

[Turnip Boy]

Harris Wright moved to flanker. Sexton didn't stand out but he wasn't on the field too long. The scrum was better with him at hooker but both teams had made a lot of changes by then.

Good review - agree with most everything you say, but Reid is very frustrating to watch. Needs to play for his team more – funny criticism, because it's not that he holds on to the ball ala Kearney or Paul O'Donoghue ... he just seems to want to take the complicated or clever option every time rather than knowing what the right option is. A skillful player, but needs tons and tons of gametime and needs a lot of coaching in the right direction.

I agree with that. If he was the finished article he'd be in the senior squad and wouldn't be playing for the As but he certainly has the raw talent to develop as a player.He showed more spark than Ian McKinley.

What did you think of the 2nd rows? I think it was Galarza who knocked on with acres of open space in front of him after Ben Marshall made a great break and off loaded in the first half. In general the two second rows were fairly anonymous.

Neither Hogan or Galarza made much of an impact. Both were outplayed by their opposite numbers in Foley and Nagle.

In the last few mins both teams were playing with two hookers due to injuries and subs and I think Munster were down to 14 men for the last few plays as well.

[hugonaut]

Harris Wright moved to flanker. Sexton didn't stand out but he wasn't on the field too long. The scrum was better with him at hooker but both teams had made a lot of changes by then.

Good review - agree with most everything you say, but Reid is very frustrating to watch. Needs to play for his team more – funny criticism, because it's not that he holds on to the ball ala Kearney or Paul O'Donoghue ... he just seems to want to take the complicated or clever option every time rather than knowing what the right option is. A skillful player, but needs tons and tons of gametime and needs a lot of coaching in the right direction.

I agree with that. If he was the finished article he'd be in the senior squad and wouldn't be playing for the As but he certainly has the raw talent to develop as a player.He showed more spark than Ian McKinley.

What did you think of the 2nd rows? I think it was Galarza who knocked on with acres of open space in front of him after Ben Marshall made a great break and off loaded in the first half. In general the two second rows were fairly anonymous.

Thought our second rows were brutal, to be honest. Trev Hogan really phoned that performance in ... he's a guy with Irish caps, hugely experienced [99 ML games for Leinster and Munster] and is still only 30, so you'd expect him to show well in all aspects. I can understand not being hugely taken with the idea of an early season A-level game, but he really did nothing other than the bare requirements.

Mariano Galarza looked a bit lost out there as well. He needs to just get involved, hit rucks, defend the fringes, scrummage hard and be a good jumper at 4 for September and October. Just work hard and hit everything hard - the only finesse should be in his lineout play. He was standing around with his head in the clouds too much in both attack and defence for my liking.

I was impressed with Marshall though, thought he looked pretty good at 8. I think he should have just put the foot down when he made his line-break though, rather than doing the well-coached thing of slowing down, putting the ball in two hands and letting your support catch up with you ... f*ck that, just floor it!