Treviso v Leinster 27th Oct

[mildlyinterested]

Onto the next.

Assume it will be the guys of the victorious A side along with a few senior players.

1. Dooley/Byrne
2. Byrne/Kelleher
3. Vakh/Bent
4. Molony
5. Kearney/Fardy
6. Murphy/Doris
7. Leavy?
8. Deegan/Doris
9. JGP
10. Byrne
11. Kearney
12. Reid
13. ROL
14. Byrne
15. Kearney/Kelly

[leinsterforever]

Penny will presumably get a shot if the other three 7s are unavailable. Guys like him could be better prepared to step up than in previous seasons because of the consistent gametime they've been getting with Leinster A

[mildlyinterested]

Penny will presumably get a shot if the other three 7s are unavailable

possibly, wait and see.

[LeinsterLeader]

Penny will presumably get a shot if the other three 7s are unavailable

possibly, wait and see.

Would have thought there might be benefit in giving SOB a run again (from Joe's perspective). Still looks a little rusty

[curates_egg]

Penny will presumably get a shot if the other three 7s are unavailable

possibly, wait and see.

Would have thought there might be benefit in giving SOB a run again (from Joe's perspective). Still looks a little rusty

That's a euphemistic way of putting it (3 missed tackles, turnovers and general ineffectiveness). No way he'll play that many games in a row for us: we're not the Lions

We need to get one of the young scrumhalves involved for this one. O'Sullivan on the bench?

[Dave Cahill]

Barry Daly, Will Connors, Ferg and Dave Kearney are definitely out, with Ferg having 'sustained a high grade to his hamstring in training and is seeking an opinion from a specialist regarding the management.' Rob and Dan should be available for selection and Josh is undergoing RTP protocols

[curates_egg]

Ferg's injury does not sound good. At all. Coming so soon after the previous one.

[Dave Cahill]

Provided everyone we think will be with Ireland will be with Ireland (remember theres an extra game this autumn, so bigger squad), I can see the following selection

Dooley, Tracy, Bent, Maloney, Kearney, Doris/Murphy, Leavy, Deegan, JGP, Byrne, Tomane, Reid, ROL, Byrne, Lowe

Byrne, Byrne, Abdaladze, Nagle, Doris/Murphy, McCarthy, Frawley

[Dave Cahill]

If we weren't so short on Back Three players then I'd say Fardy would get a run instead of Lowe, but we are, so...

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Anyone know when the Ireland squad is named?

That's shite for Ferg but good news for Adam and hope he grabs his chance.

[LeinsterLeader]

Medical joker for the back 3, anyone?

[cormac]

Provided everyone we think will be with Ireland will be with Ireland (remember theres an extra game this autumn, so bigger squad), I can see the following selection

Dooley, Tracy, Bent, Maloney, Kearney, Doris/Murphy, Leavy, Deegan, JGP, Byrne, Tomane, Reid, ROL, Byrne, Lowe

Byrne, Byrne, Abdaladze, Nagle, Doris/Murphy, McCarthy, Frawley

You're missing one substitute, probably one from Tom Daly, Jimmy O'Brien or Jack Kelly.

I suspect if this game was in Dublin we might get a couple of internationals. Jack McGrath has only made one start (total of 106 mins played) as has Seanie (204 mins played). The game being in Italy might scupper that.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Frawley might be at 15, and Jack Kelly covers the back three as well. Don't think we're in medical joker territory yet...also we're not Munster.

[EarthGorilla]

Would be amazed if Tomane doesn't play seeing as these are the games he was signed for.

[tomthefan]

Would be amazed if Tomane doesn't play seeing as these are the games he was signed for.

I was just reading your other post there on the Munster thread, where you referred to Munster "poaching" Leinster players.
Perhaps you'd be so kind as to clarify a question I have on earthgorillan?
Am I correct in thinking that it's a signing when a player is brought in and a poaching when a player goes out?

[domhnallj]

Would be amazed if Tomane doesn't play seeing as these are the games he was signed for.

I was just reading your other post there on the Munster thread, where you referred to Munster "poaching" Leinster players.
Perhaps you'd be so kind as to clarify a question I have on earthgorillan?
Am I correct in thinking that it's a signing when a player is brought in and a poaching when a player goes out?

I think Tomane was (by his own admission) on his way out of wherever he was in France - a casualty of their new overseas player rules, and Leinster brought him in.

[EarthGorilla]

Would be amazed if Tomane doesn't play seeing as these are the games he was signed for.

I was just reading your other post there on the Munster thread, where you referred to Munster "poaching" Leinster players.
Perhaps you'd be so kind as to clarify a question I have on earthgorillan?
Am I correct in thinking that it's a signing when a player is brought in and a poaching when a player goes out?

Tomane was being released or out of contract. Have no problem with players being brought in. Nobody is complaining about Beirne, Copeland etc.

Carbery, for example, was neither, and yet your management team made an approach. So yea, poached. A very common practice in South Africa.

It's also poaching IMO to approach young academy players promising them the sun moon and stars instead of focusing on your own academy. Leo talked about it just a few days ago. But I imagine you probably already knew that.

[LeinsterLeader]

Frawley might be at 15, and Jack Kelly covers the back three as well. Don't think we're in medical joker territory yet...also we're not Munster.

See that’s thing, we wouldn’t have to come up with a reason we’d just use any of the ones they reel off:

“The guys we have in reserve aren’t good enough”
“We need someone with experience to help the younger players”
“Joey needs top players around him if we’re gonna get the best out of him, for Ireland”
“It’s just for 3 months, I swear......... unless he turns out to be any good”

(Have I missed any)

[hugonaut]

Provided everyone we think will be with Ireland will be with Ireland (remember theres an extra game this autumn, so bigger squad), I can see the following selection

Dooley, Tracy, Bent, Maloney, Kearney, Doris/Murphy, Leavy, Deegan, JGP, Byrne, Tomane, Reid, ROL, Byrne, Lowe

Byrne, Byrne, Abdaladze, Nagle, Doris/Murphy, McCarthy, Frawley

Good selection. I think this will be one where we prioritise Scott Fardy [280 mins thus far this season] over James Lowe [470 thus far] though, even with the injuries in our back three. We need steel in the pack for 80 mins against Treviso over there. I'd go with him at blindside to get as much experience and size in the team as possible: Malony/Kearney/Fardy/Leavy/Deegan as a back five gives a really good mix of breakdown, carrying, handling, tackling, lineout and hitting ... and Fardy provides the leadership and experience. I'd make him captain too.

Obviously it leaves a difficult call at fullback ... but I think we're better served in putting in Jack Kelly than moving pieces around. Kelly hasn't set the world alight in the academy, but he captained the 'A' side to the Celtic Cup title at the weekend, was the first choice captain of the Irish U20s and is a fullback by preference. It's a bit of a trial by fire, but I would tend towards position specificity in terms of building a squad [at this level in the depth chart]: we're looking for a fullback, so put the next fullback in line in the side. If he has a tough first half, we could look at swapping him with Frawley ... if he does okay, he's had a really successful first two months of the season.

[cormac]

Maybe we'll have a slightly stronger side than many are anticipating. Seanie was presumably one of the players on media duty yesterday. He wants a full 80 minutes under his belt before the internationals.

https://www.rte.ie/sport/rugby/2018/102 ... d-fitness/