Leinster v Ospreys 17/1/14

[FourMasters]

At two separate periods of the game in the second half, the Os were down to 13 men with the ball in play and Leinster attacking in the Os half to no avail.
The first time, there was some big hold-up on the side line when an O went off injured and their staff seemed to be debating among themselves as to who to bring on. That lasted several minutes including a lineout, I was counting the players in white with disbelief.
Second time, one of the props stayed down injured in the Leinster half. All the backs could see him. The ball had moved upfield, Leinser in the Os half, and nobody had the cop-on to manufacture an overlap out of 15 v 13.
I hope, I really hope, that mental fatigue from the short turn-around was responsible for the clueless play out there.

[Donny B.]

Rhys Thomas and ceri sweeney are half wits I really wouldn't take much notice of anything they say

Truly braindead scumbags, especially Thomas who was one of the dirtiest f%~kers to ever play the game. Useless too.

rhys "roller skates in the scrum " thomas

lol he was rubbish god knows how he had a cap

Remarkably he got 7!

The Sunday Times's Stephen Jones was a big fan of his, which tells you all you need to know really

[cormac]

Rhys Thomas and ceri sweeney are half wits I really wouldn't take much notice of anything they say

Truly braindead scumbags, especially Thomas who was one of the dirtiest f%~kers to ever play the game. Useless too.

Wasn't it Rhys Thomas who somehow got away scot-free with a flying headbutt on Shaggy a few seasons back.

[ceemec]

That's the lad.

[Donny B.]

Rhys Thomas and ceri sweeney are half wits I really wouldn't take much notice of anything they say

Truly braindead scumbags, especially Thomas who was one of the dirtiest f%~kers to ever play the game. Useless too.

Wasn't it Rhys Thomas who somehow got away scot-free with a flying headbutt on Shaggy a few seasons back.

That's the sweetheart!

Had to retire due to heart trouble. To use a Roy Keane quote "I'm surprised they found a heart!"

[Offiah]

There is Defo a correlation with Saints away and players being in camp with Schmidt

[cormac]

Congrats to Mike Ross on his 100th Leinster appearance last night. Kinda passed under the radar.

[JB1973]

similar incident today, white gets a yellow , guess comes down to different refs and different view points

ps goode is playing like serge blanco in this half!

[LeRouxIsPHat]

That Thomas chap loved to fly into rucks with his shoulder aimed at people's heads if I remember correctly. Total scumbag.

[TerenureJim]

Edit wrong thread.

[Raydollard]

down to 14 and our pack destroying their pack and yet our backs can do feckall. Replacing Gopperth with madigan was a no-brainer but beyond the wit of O'Connor.

[ceemec]

down to 14 and our pack destroying their pack and yet our backs can do feckall. Replacing Gopperth with madigan was a no-brainer but beyond the wit of O'Connor.

Understanding that Madigan had to come in as a replacement for an injured D'Arcy seems to be beyond your wit.

[RoboProp]

Edit wrong thread.

This.

[tackle-bag]

That's the sweetheart!

Had to retire due to heart trouble. To use a Roy Keane quote "I'm surprised they found a heart!"

He was a truly awful character, no loss to the game of rugby. Remember being delighted the day I heard the fat pr!ck had to retire. From a quick scan of his twitter account, it seems as though he's basically unemployed now.

[artaneboy]

Truly braindead scumbags, especially Thomas who was one of the dirtiest f%~kers to ever play the game. Useless too.

rhys "roller skates in the scrum " thomas

lol he was rubbish god knows how he had a cap

Remarkably he got 7!

The Sunday Times's Stephen Jones was a big fan of his, which tells you all you need to know really

In some contexts that would be called "criminal association".

[Raydollard]

The many occasions where Madigan has subbed at centre while Gopperth takes the OH berth have obviously escaped notice. It baffles me how anyone can believe that, after Contepomi and Sexton, a player of the calibre of Gopperth can prove a viable option at OH for the best team in Europe. He is simply not good enough.

[[Jackass]]

I'm surprised at the amount of negativity surrounding the performance.

I think on the face of it, spanking the O's with a BP 5 try win, keeping them scoreless for the vast majority of the game, getting the shove on their scrum, probably their biggest weapon against us in the past, and in a fairly high pressure game coming into it, we've done ok. This following a weekend where we went away and beat the French champions in their own backyard, somwhere they haven't lost in over a year, and having to show real composure after a poor start, I think it's been a great week from the squad.

We're not playing the game as beautifully as we have done in the past, but we're winning. There's definitely a shift towards more forward orientated attack, but with ball carriers like Healy, Cronin, O'Brien, Heaslip, McGrath, Jordi, Ruddock etc., we've some serious weapons in that facet of attack.

A lot of players coming back to fitness now too (O'Brien now the only long term major absence?) and some players playing superb rugby, especially Fitz, he's like a new signing given his injury record and struggle for form, he's a new player this season, as good as ever.

I'm optimistic. I think we'll have a seriously tough quarter final away, but all bets are off man, we're where we want to be and I'm looking forward to it.

Between now and the quarters, a major boost would be if Madigan can rediscover his form. I think that threat from 10 is the key ingredient missing so far this season, but we're in very good shape in both competitions at this point of the season.

[Oldschool]

I'm surprised at the amount of negativity surrounding the performance.

I think on the face of it, spanking the O's with a BP 5 try win, keeping them scoreless for the vast majority of the game, getting the shove on their scrum, probably their biggest weapon against us in the past, and in a fairly high pressure game coming into it, we've done ok. This following a weekend where we went away and beat the French champions in their own backyard, somwhere they haven't lost in over a year, and having to show real composure after a poor start, I think it's been a great week from the squad.

We're not playing the game as beautifully as we have done in the past, but we're winning. There's definitely a shift towards more forward orientated attack, but with ball carriers like Healy, Cronin, O'Brien, Heaslip, McGrath, Jordi, Ruddock etc., we've some serious weapons in that facet of attack.

A lot of players coming back to fitness now too (O'Brien now the only long term major absence?) and some players playing superb rugby, especially Fitz, he's like a new signing given his injury record and struggle for form, he's a new player this season, as good as ever.

I'm optimistic. I think we'll have a seriously tough quarter final away, but all bets are off man, we're where we want to be and I'm looking forward to it.

Between now and the quarters, a major boost would be if Madigan can rediscover his form. I think that threat from 10 is the key ingredient missing so far this season, but we're in very good shape in both competitions at this point of the season.

Not a bad summary TBH. The key for our likely away game in Toulon is the scrum. It was basically the difference between Glasgow and Toulon yesterday and even at that Glasgow could have got a draw and wouldn't have been flattered by it. We'll need all of our first choice props available.

[artaneboy]

The many occasions where Madigan has subbed at centre while Gopperth takes the OH berth have obviously escaped notice. It baffles me how anyone can believe that, after Contepomi and Sexton, a player of the calibre of Gopperth can prove a viable option at OH for the best team in Europe. He is simply not good enough.

Well that's just not true- and close to being rubbish! Neither Ian nor Jimmy is currently of the standard of Johnny or Felipe- so there's no point other than nostalgia in making comparisons to the previous 10s we have enjoyed.

But this type of stuff is fairly typical of the comment that attends this supposed debate. Madigan has had enough chances and he has not impressed as the obvious candidate as our starting 10 for the big matches. There is a degree of 'nativism' in the whole discussion that sees the 10 jersey as Ian's birthright. Well it isn't! he has to earn it- and I believe he will- eventually. But until then Gopperth is more than justfying his selection.

[Raydollard]

None of what I wrote merits the continuing abusive replies. fact is that Madigan proved his abilities at OH last year but has not been given a fair crack this year. I will not respond to juvenile posts in future.