Scarlets at home, 25/01 7.35pm

[suisse]

There were a fuckton of negatives out there. They have and will be discussed and analysed to death by the media and management. Here are my positives:

1. Barry Daly was a warrior. Excellent in the air, in the tackle and with ball in hand. He was like a younger McFadden. A superb 80 mins performance.
2. Ross Molony is quietly developing into a very good second row after years of mixed performances. He's close to being considered for a European bench slot which could have repercussions for Fardy next season. The penalty call against him was BS.
3. Noel Reid is a sublime footballer. We all knew he had talent but he has added a maturity and confidence that was previously lacking. He's very passionate.
4. Thought HOS did well in tricky conditions. His hang time on kicks is decent.
5. Line outs were strong and provided us with plenty of possession in a game we never played well in.
6. We won. We had no right to win. That was our worst performance and yet Leinster walked off with 4 points, a ton to work on and a couple of 'coming of age' performances.

[Jonny tight lips]

i really hope we don’t loose Reid in the summer but can understand if he wants to leave. He’s backup to the backup centers at the moment and he’s to good for that at 28.

Unless of course he goes to Munster and strengthens them, if that’s the case he can f%~k off

[Gearzbox2]

There were a fuckton of negatives out there. They have and will be discussed and analysed to death by the media and management. Here are my positives:

1. Barry Daly was a warrior. Excellent in the air, in the tackle and with ball in hand. He was like a younger McFadden. A superb 80 mins performance.
2. Ross Molony is quietly developing into a very good second row after years of mixed performances. He's close to being considered for a European bench slot which could have repercussions for Fardy next season. The penalty call against him was BS.
3. Noel Reid is a sublime footballer. We all knew he had talent but he has added a maturity and confidence that was previously lacking. He's very passionate.
4. Thought HOS did well in tricky conditions. His hang time on kicks is decent.
5. Line outs were strong and provided us with plenty of possession in a game we never played well in.
6. We won. We had no right to win. That was our worst performance and yet Leinster walked off with 4 points, a ton to work on and a couple of 'coming of age' performances.

Excellent post, agree with most bar maybe Hugh O’Sullivan but can’t be too judgmental as he’s so young
Ross Maloney has been impressive, seems to be playing far smarter and has improved in the contact area, hopefully his curve keeps going up

Noel Reid has been excellent, but I’ve heard on the rumour mill he’s off which is very unfortunate

[Ruckedtobits]

i really hope we don’t loose Reid in the summer but can understand if he wants to leave. He’s backup to the backup centers at the moment and he’s to good for that at 28.

Unless of course he goes to Munster and strengthens them, if that’s the case he can f%~k off

Reid has signed for Leicester and he'll be an eccellent signing for Geordan Muphy who is losing his Aussie centre.

An addition to the comments @suisse was the cover, scramble defence of Treacy. Although his throwing still scares me, his physicality, both sides of the ball is really impressive in games like this.

[wixfjord]

Huge shame if that Reid news is true. He's hugely underrated even on here and is really becoming a leader when the other guys are away.

Do IRFU/IRUPA still do the 'Unsung Hero' award? Reid should be a shoe in.

[Jonny tight lips]

Huge shame if that Reid news is true. He's hugely underrated even on here and is really becoming a leader when the other guys are away.

Do IRFU/IRUPA still do the 'Unsung Hero' award? Reid should be a shoe in.

I’m noticed a lot of the young player recently have name checked Reid as somebody who they go to a lot for advice. Best of Luck to him. We might need Tom Daly back now

[Serb]

I’m noticed a lot of the young player recently have name checked Reid as somebody who they go to a lot for advice. Best of Luck to him. We might need Tom Daly back now

Realistically, we’ll be fine at centre without him. When fit, O’Loughlin has been picked ahead of him. Beyond the two first choice players in Henshaw and Ringrose, we’ll have O’Loughlin, C. O’Brien, J. O’Brien and Tomane to pick from.

I’d be more concerned about depth at 10. Frawley has been mixed bag, intercepted twice this season, cost us one game vs Munster and should have cost us this one only for an outrageous mistake.

Reid has stepped in at 10 and done fairly well, changed the game here and against Connacht imo. Also with Sexton missing more and more of the big games, we’ll be looking at benching Frawley in games that actually matter next season.

[mildlyinterested]

I’m noticed a lot of the young player recently have name checked Reid as somebody who they go to a lot for advice. Best of Luck to him. We might need Tom Daly back now

Realistically, we’ll be fine at centre without him. When fit, O’Loughlin has been picked ahead of him. Beyond the two first choice players in Henshaw and Ringrose, we’ll have O’Loughlin, C. O’Brien, J. O’Brien and Tomane to pick from.

I’d be more concerned about depth at 10. Frawley has been mixed bag, intercepted twice this season, cost us one game vs Munster and should have cost us this one only for an outrageous mistake.

Reid has stepped in at 10 and done fairly well, changed the game here and against Connacht imo. Also with Sexton missing more and more of the big games, we’ll be looking at benching Frawley in games that actually matter next season.

well thats the idea behind developing young players, eventually they have to play in "games that actually matter"

If Frawley is not upto it at 10, Harry Byrne and David Hawkshaw will more than happily take the game time next season.

[Serb]

well thats the idea behind developing young players, eventually they have to play in "games that actually matter"

If Frawley is not upto it at 10, Harry Byrne and David Hawkshaw will more than happily take the game time next season.

Right, but my point is that Frawley is a high risk selection at this point, and I don’t think he’ll be up to the level required by next season. Reid has covered the gap there reasonably competently this season, we’ll miss that experience next season if we find ourselves in a similar scenario.

[wixfjord]

Frawley has been mixed bag, intercepted twice this season, cost us one game vs Munster and should have cost us this one only for an outrageous mistake.

You've gone a bit Maud Flanders there Serb...

[paddyor]

Spoke to someone who knows him well at least seasons HEC game vs Glasgow. Leaving has been on his mind for a while. Best of luck to him.

[artaneboy]

Huge shame if that Reid news is true. He's hugely underrated even on here and is really becoming a leader when the other guys are away.

Do IRFU/IRUPA still do the 'Unsung Hero' award? Reid should be a shoe in.

If the IRFU/ IRUPA don’t do it anymore- OLSC should consider it. Noel is on a very short shortlist for that accolade.

If he is going- and that seems to be the case, it would be nice to send him off with affection, as well as good wishes.


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[Ruckedtobits]

Frawley has played "important" matches already for us and done really well e.g. Scarlets last season. Let Lancaster & Felipe keep workin with him and watch the outcome. He has the skills & mental ability to move up so long as he stays patient. He will look a better player with better players around him. His last two games, his centres have consistently been too flat - hence intercepts. Personally, I'm more annoyed at his low trajectory kicking from hand. Needs to change technique.

[curates_egg]

Frawley has been mixed bag, intercepted twice this season, cost us one game vs Munster and should have cost us this one only for an outrageous mistake.

You've gone a bit Maud Flanders there Serb...

What part of his post is wrong?

Frawley has bags of talent but he's definitely been a mixed bag this season.
Beyond forcing passes (which he has done a lot), I'd share the view his kicking from hand needs to improve.
Thankfully, we have the luxury of giving him the opportunity to improve.
Id say there's a chance he won't end up at ten for us.

[Serb]

You've gone a bit Maud Flanders there Serb...

I don’t know what this means [FLUSHED FACE] Will somebody please think of the children? Did she say that?

[wixfjord]

Frawley has been mixed bag, intercepted twice this season, cost us one game vs Munster and should have cost us this one only for an outrageous mistake.

You've gone a bit Maud Flanders there Serb...

What part of his post is wrong?

Frawley has bags of talent but he's definitely been a mixed bag this season.
Beyond forcing passes (which he has done a lot), I'd share the view his kicking from hand needs to improve.
Thankfully, we have the luxury of giving him the opportunity to improve.
Id say there's a chance he won't end up at ten for us.

He didn't 'cost us the game' against Munster.

And saying he 'should have cost us this one'' is also hyperbole.

He's a 21 year old outhalf, he's expected to be a mixed bag. Besides Friday night he has been way more good than bad though. His performance against Ospreys was excellent and he led us to an interpro win against Ulster.

Plenty of players get intercepted. It has happened Luke McGrath a few times this year too. That one really did cost us a game. It happens.

[riocard911]

It even happened to the great RO'G on occasion!!!!

[leinsterforever]

Kearney's tackling has always been suspect. I thought it was good play by the Scarlets players to exploit it.

It shouldn't really matter as regards international selection. He's picked for his covering of kicks and ideally will hardly have to make any tackles

[Serb]

He didn't 'cost us the game' against Munster.

And saying he 'should have cost us this one'' is also hyperbole.

He's a 21 year old outhalf, he's expected to be a mixed bag. Besides Friday night he has been way more good than bad though. His performance against Ospreys was excellent and he led us to an interpro win against Ulster.

Plenty of players get intercepted. It has happened Luke McGrath a few times this year too. That one really did cost us a game. It happens.

His forced pass to Reid did cost us the game against Munster. Obviously that’s my opinion, but we were on top for that whole game, we would have eventually put points on the board in those phases and Munster never looked like scoring at any point in that game.

It’s hardly hyperbole to claim the intercept would have cost us the game when the player drops the ball over the line in the most unlikely of scenarios. Did Freddie Burns cost Bath the game against Toulouse? Same thing.

Now, my point is not to rag on Frawley. It seems likely that he will be a decent player, but my point is that we will miss the experience of someone like Reid at 22 or stepping into 10 from the center when Sexton is not available next season.

I think Frawley looks a lot rougher than Byrne and Carbery did at the same age, probably because he’s only been looked at as a full time 10 since Cathal Marsh got injured. I think he needs a lot more time to be a viable option.

[ronk]

If you play high risk then intercepts are one of the things thst happen. Plays can learn while trying again or they can stop playing the same type of game.

We should want Frawley to do the former. He'll get better at it. The problem against Munster is that the get around the corner really well and it wasnt on anymore, even if it had come off. We should have been more patient, but that wasn't just Frawley.

If Reid is gone, then yes he is a loss. He was doing a bit of a Paddy Wallace in terms of late improvement in effectiveness. We can hope that Wallace continues to develop.