Leinster v Exeter

[wixfjord]

That is one big imposing Exeter team.

I see they've the Fijian monster brought into 13. Their 4-8 is very strong.

This will be incredibly tough.

If ever there was a day for Dev to stand up it's now.

[Offiah]

On a team selection front happy to see this from Tolon for this weekend

15.Delon ARMITAGE ; 14.Rudi WULF, 13.Maxime MERMOZ, 12.Matt GITEAU, 11.Alexis PALISSON ; 10.Jonny WILKINSON (cap), 9.Frédéric MICHALAK ; 8.Chris MASOE, 7.Steffon ARMITAGE, 6.Pierrick GUNTHER ; 5.Jocelino SUTA, 4.Simon SHAW ; 3.Davit KUBRIASHVILI, 2.Mickaël IVALDI, 1.Andrew SHERIDAN.
Les remplaçants :
16.Jean-Charles ORIOLI, 17.Gethin JENKINS, 18.Carl HAYMAN, 19.Nick KENNEDY, 20.Mathieu BASTAREAUD, 21.Juan-Martin FERNANDEZ LOBBE, 22.Vincent MARTIN, 23.Joe VAN NIEKERK.

Strong team.
One problem may be the emotional element from Montpeiller. Big game after their coach died during the week!

[johng]

Healy, Strauss, McLaughlin, O'Brien, Heaslip. Have we enough ball carriers in there?

Best team we could have hoped for really.

Going to cut loose with Redan, Healy, our "home selection" for quick tempo

[wixfjord]

Interesting that the Exeter front row is completely changed from first game.
Their starting SH wasn't on the bench that day either.

[Offiah]

No 2nd on the bench!!

[tones]

Saw that Offiah. Assume with Jenning & Ruddock covering back-row that Locky will move into the row. Is Browne injured?

[johng]

No 2nd on the bench!!

No 2nd row on the bench? Kev to cover. Ruddock to cover 6. It's fine

[johng]

Is Browne injured?

Yes. Him and Roux are the only HC squad injuries.

[Donny B.]

sorry about the poor alignment

Don't worry about that, at least you got us the team, still not on the bloody Leinster site!

[AdamK]

The stars are aligning....

Yeah, I get the feeling they've been aligning from a long way back!

The Mayans were right, we're all doooooomed, I tells ya!

Well, if last week's anything to go on and the results that followed, I think they're aligning for us... one for the record books, beating the chiefs in the snow to secure our place in the play offs.

[[Jackass]]

For Clarity:

Leinster:

15. Rob Kearney
14. Isa Nacewa
13. Brian O'Driscoll
12. Gordon D'Arcy
11. Luke Fitzgerald
10. Jonathan Sexton
9. Eoin Reddan

1. Cian Healy
2. Richardt Strauss
3. Mike Ross
4. Leo Cullen
5. Devin Toner
6. Kevin McLaughlin
7. Sean O'Brien
8. Jamie Heaslip

Replacements
16. Sean Cronin
17. Heinke van der Merwe
18. Michael Bent
19. Rhys Ruddock
20. Shane Jennings
21. Isaac Boss
22. Ian Madigan
23. Fergus McFadden

[AdamK]

Denton must feel gutted he can't even cut it for the bench, to the point where we don't have any row cover. Locky hasn't locked down in a scrum this season.

[AdamK]

The one selection that's really surprised me is Reddan. IMO I think Boss is the correct choice.

[[Jackass]]

Pleasantly surprised to see Ruddock / McLoughlin sharing second row cover as well as Ruddock and Jennings giving extra depth for the back-row, as that's going to be very combatative, and would like to see both come on and inject some more physicality and energy in the second half.

That's a superb bench for freshening up side in the second half, all capable of making a big impact.

What a great feeling to see us back to virtually full strength.

[lummix]

Wonder if they'll try ruddock in the second row if there's an injury. Shane horgans been banging on about him being the second coming of brad thorn for the last 2 months

[cormac]

sorry about the poor alignment

Don't worry about that, at least you got us the team, still not on the bloody Leinster site!

If you go into the fixtures page and click on the game, it's up on the Line-Ups page.

[simonokeeffe]

The one selection that's really surprised me is Reddan. IMO I think Boss is the correct choice.

Agreed
Boss played great v Scarlets while Reddan didnt.
Cronin bit unlucky but its one hell of a bench (although Chiefs have Mitchell and Hanks there)

Ruddock at 6'3 never going to be a serious second row

[lummix]

Not sold on this height thing matters so much anymore, once your 6 3 athletic you'll be able to get in the air. Harnodquy is biaritzs main jumper, McCarthy is not much bigger, reckon it'd be worth a shot with ruddock,

[simonno6]

Best Leinster team possible - in their hands from here...

http://www.racing-metro92.com/MUN_vs_RM ... -1356.html

f%~kers Racing won't be providing any help. Allez Toulon!!!

[simonokeeffe]

Not sold on this height thing matters so much anymore, once your 6 3 athletic you'll be able to get in the air. Harnodquy is biaritzs main jumper, McCarthy is not much bigger, reckon it'd be worth a shot with ruddock,

It seriously depowers the scrum eg Pelous v Chabal
without straying into double entendres the extra couple of inches matters; reach in lineout not just height but also frame for putting on muscle without reducing mobility

One chink I detect in Exeter is defensively 13/14
You run straight at Naqelevuki and Whitten and theyll knock you down but positionally/structurally theyre not going to be great; converted centre who is not that quick and a guy who never starts normally at 13 (although amazing going forward)