Pro 14 Semi-final vs Munster, Friday Sept 4th, 7.35pm

[alanair]

God they're spitting fire on shelbyville.com !!! - Strangely they think Toland is a Leinster fan ???
Most calling for Van Gran departure ....

[Dave Cahill]

God they're spitting fire on shelbyville.com !!! - Strangely they think Toland is a Leinster fan ???
Most calling for Van Gran departure ....

Ah sure leave them to it, it's horrible losing a knockout game so having a bit of teethgnashing can be cathartic

[Ruckedtobits]

That was f%~kin atrocious stuff from us at times.

Our rucking is again not good enough and is killing momentum.

And yet Munster never even looked like scoring a try really.

And that was semi-final which we won without conceding anything like a chance to our opponents. That was the performance I hoped for, pure intensity and absolute commitment to be individually harder, faster and more disciplined that each player opposite us.

Well done Leo and all the Coaching staff. Well done to the entire 23. Munster beaten well again.

[wixfjord]

Delighted for Stephen Archer after another faux hard man dirty shot on Sexton tonight.

He never made any impact and Healy had him on toast a few times in the scrum.

An average TH version of Marcus Horan, which isn’t saying much.

[wixfjord]

That was f%~kin atrocious stuff from us at times.

Our rucking is again not good enough and is killing momentum.

And yet Munster never even looked like scoring a try really.

And that was semi-final which we won without conceding anything like a chance to our opponents. That was the performance I hoped for, pure intensity and absolute commitment to be individually harder, faster and more disciplined that each player opposite us.

Well done Leo and all the Coaching staff. Well done to the entire 23. Munster beaten well again.

That was the performance you hoped for eh? Error ridden and dragged down to the level of a poorer side?

We did what was needed but could’ve been far, far more comfortable. Let’s be realistic here, we never really looked like scoring another try either.

We were really poor and only a small step above two weeks ago.

Intensity and commitment won’t get us near Sarries. Lots of tweaks needed and errors to be ironed out.

[ronk]

=L post_id=time=

That was the performance you hoped for eh? Error ridden and dragged down to the level of a poorer side?

We did what was needed but could’ve been far, far more comfortable. Let’s be realistic here, we never really looked like scoring another try either.

We were really poor and only a small step above two weeks ago.

Intensity and commitment won’t get us near Sarries. Lots of tweaks needed and errors to be ironed out.

No bonus points in the semi final. We’re in the final.

We didn’t go for the knockout and there was hardly a blow landed in the last few rounds but we didn’t need to.

[Theleinsterlad]

God they're spitting fire on shelbyville.com !!! - Strangely they think Toland is a Leinster fan ???
Most calling for Van Gran departure ....

In fairness I can understand them baying for his head. This is not the first time in a semi they looked in with a shout and their strategy was very one dimensional that wasn’t changed at halftime when all could see Munster wouldn’t win it if they continued the same play in the 2nd

[Experimental]

A real dog fight where we battled hard and strangled Munster. Murray and JJ lost the game for them. Scrum looked good, lineout looked horrible and is a real area of concern... Doris, Sexton and McGrath played great, with Connors smashing beautifully once again, its going to be hard to leave him out, but would like to see him carrying harder. Nice cameo by Baird and Josh at the end to waste 2 minutes Plenty to improve, onwards and upwards.

[Theleinsterlad]

A real dog fight where we battled hard and strangled Munster. Murray and JJ lost the game for them. Scrum looked good, lineout looked horrible and is a real area of concern... Doris, Sexton and McGrath played great, with Connors smashing beautifully once again, its going to be hard to leave him out, but would like to see him carrying harder. Nice cameo by Baird and Josh at the end to waste 2 minutes Plenty to improve, onwards and upwards.

Very surprised you named McGrath as a great game, he had a shocker that was maybe upgraded to poor for one or two things he did under presssure. Didn’t feel he bossed the pack in cleaning up the rucks

[Oldschoolsocks]

Delighted for Stephen Archer after another faux hard man dirty shot on Sexton tonight.

He never made any impact and Healy had him on toast a few times in the scrum.

An average TH version of Marcus Horan, which isn’t saying much.

[wixfjord]

A real dog fight where we battled hard and strangled Munster. Murray and JJ lost the game for them. Scrum looked good, lineout looked horrible and is a real area of concern... Doris, Sexton and McGrath played great, with Connors smashing beautifully once again, its going to be hard to leave him out, but would like to see him carrying harder. Nice cameo by Baird and Josh at the end to waste 2 minutes Plenty to improve, onwards and upwards.

Jaysus I must’ve been watching another game if Mcgrath was great!

[wixfjord]

=L post_id=time=

That was the performance you hoped for eh? Error ridden and dragged down to the level of a poorer side?

We did what was needed but could’ve been far, far more comfortable. Let’s be realistic here, we never really looked like scoring another try either.

We were really poor and only a small step above two weeks ago.

Intensity and commitment won’t get us near Sarries. Lots of tweaks needed and errors to be ironed out.

No bonus points in the semi final. We’re in the final.

We didn’t go for the knockout and there was hardly a blow landed in the last few rounds but we didn’t need to.

I think that’s being very, very fair. We didn’t get near to the Munster try long because we made lots of really basic handling and unforced errors. Fardy’s offside, McGrath’s two out on the full, Porter on Murray, Kelleher’s knock on. All stuff we can cut out.

Our level isn’t beating Munster, it’s winning trophies. And an improvement is really needed if we’re to so that.

The narrative is that Munster were poor and they were, but we kept them in it way too long.

[wixfjord]

Dev was class. There’s a very good rationale for stating Dev and Baird next week. Fardy wasn’t great again.

[Theleinsterlad]

Dev was class. There’s a very good rationale for stating Dev and Baird next week. Fardy wasn’t great again.

Totally agree with you, devs last two games continue to show his huge worth that goes under the radar. I really can’t remember a game where Dev gave a performance below 7/10. Interesting what you say about Fardy, I have loved his commitment since he joined but I just noticed in the last couple of games as well as before covid that he isn’t able to give the same impact as he did 12 months ago

[ronk]

They weren’t really in it.

Same think happened against Ulster. They started to get close so we upped our game.

There are up to 4 knockout games left in not a lot of time. It would be really to burn out after the break. We’re still warming up.

[wixfjord]

They weren’t really in it.

Same think happened against Ulster. They started to get close so we upped our game.

There are up to 4 knockout games left in not a lot of time. It would be really to burn out after the break. We’re still warming up.

Look, if that’s what you think then fair enough.

The reality is they missed two easy kicks and our try probably shouldn’t have stood.

As I say, our level isn’t beating Munster. That was a poor performance and won’t be enough to beat Sarries.

I would’ve hoped we would’ve warmed up more today, but hopefully it will be another 15-20% next week.

[mildlyinterested]

leinster were poor, maybe 5/10.

Need spin of team out again next week to work on cohesion etc.

way of beating sarries at the min.

[carlow man]

Spot on. Need a massive jump to beat sarries. Its dev and Ryan in second row for me for the q-f. Baird to bench. Fardy has been well off the pace since the restart. Connors has been unreal for 12 months. Jgp to start next week. Luke was very poor again tonight. Jgp has been the most improved player over the last 2 years. Cant remember the last time he had a bad game.

[Ruckedtobits]

That was f%~kin atrocious stuff from us at times.

Our rucking is again not good enough and is killing momentum.

And yet Munster never even looked like scoring a try really.

And that was semi-final which we won without conceding anything like a chance to our opponents. That was the performance I hoped for, pure intensity and absolute commitment to be individually harder, faster and more disciplined that each player opposite us.

Well done Leo and all the Coaching staff. Well done to the entire 23. Munster beaten well again.

That was the performance you hoped for eh? Error ridden and dragged down to the level of a poorer side?

We did what was needed but could’ve been far, far more comfortable. Let’s be realistic here, we never really looked like scoring another try either.

We were really poor and only a small step above two weeks ago.

Intensity and commitment won’t get us near Sarries. Lots of tweaks needed and errors to be ironed out.

We're in the middle of a five game series. The first two games were inconsequential, other than avoiding injuries and giving all Squad contenders game time. Game three was knock-out and had to be won, ideally without giving the next two opponents a sniff of what they will be facing over the next two weekends.

If we face Edinburgh next week,we'll have a pretty clear idea of their strengths and weakesses. I believe we will play a game compable to tonight. Intense and disciplined without taking any risks or showing our hand excessivly.

Saracens are playing a series of 'warm-up' games with no focus other than Leinster for the next 15 months - unless they beat us in a fortnight's time. I believe we have given them nothing to work on, or plan, for thus far and I hope it continues like that until we meet them.

I am certain that we have been working on specific game plans for the Sarries game since early July. We are probably workin on the assumption of having Furlong, Ryan and Leavy in the match-day 23 for that game and all three will be ready to do their parts.

Leo & Stuart know how to win and understand how to minimise the risks of losing. There are times for the use of skills and tactical acumen to be employed in the pursuit of victory. A semi-final against Munster wasn't one of them.

Mistakes and errors. Yes they happen, particularly on a wet blustery night. But lack of intensity, hiding from front-on confrontation, taking a riskier option without thinking of the downside, none of those traits were displayed by Leinster tonight.

A happy bunny pulling up the duvet tonight.

[wixfjord]

Well we certainly didn’t give anyone a sniff of our game plan or moves tonight, since 90% of the time we got into the 22 we gave away a pen for going off feet or knocked it on.

You can’t just turn on a performance having been poor for multiple games. Lineout misfired, ruck was again a lottery and we didn’t get near to scoring a try bar one that probably shouldn’t have stood.

As I say, intensity is a basic requirement. That won’t be nearly enough to beat Sarries.

We’ve a lot of improvement to do. As Leo said, it was ‘frustrating’.