European Cup Semi-Final: Away to La Rochelle, Sunday 2nd of May 3pm

[Blueberry]

- thought LAR adapted to ref quicker than we did..he blew really quickly for turnovers (for both sides)
- thought we lacked something up front when rudders went off.
- LAR deserved the win. Gutted, but, fair play.

Yeah Ruddock a big loss, certainly we needed every mm of physical lumpishness.....

[Dexter]

I said when he was up for grabs we should go all in for Skelton. If Munster can get someone like Snyman then it’s not unrealistic to think we could do similar. We lack that sheer bulk

As long as we’re supplying a huge tranche to Ireland for the 6N we’ll probably always have a lot of injuries in April & May.

Someone like him, fully fit if course, would have made a massive difference today. We just have a different model though. It means we have disappointing days like today, but it's not the end of the world.

Again this is absoulety BS. Ryan is twice the player Skelton is but has been out injured unfortunately. Once again you can't win every game. We had Exeter away than la Rochelle away it doesn't get much tougher than that. No need for any knee jerk reactions, we'll be back in contention next year.

That was my point, Ryan wasn't fully match fit and up to speed yet. I agree with you about being in contention.
I hope rugby doesn't end up like the U20 6n, where the team with the biggest players wins. There must be ways around it but it's bloody difficult.

[Blueberry]

Someone like him, fully fit if course, would have made a massive difference today. We just have a different model though. It means we have disappointing days like today, but it's not the end of the world.

Again this is absoulety BS. Ryan is twice the player Skelton is but has been out injured unfortunately. Once again you can't win every game. We had Exeter away than la Rochelle away it doesn't get much tougher than that. No need for any knee jerk reactions, we'll be back in contention next year.

That was my point, Ryan wasn't fully match fit and up to speed yet. I agree with you.

Ryan didn't look 100% alright.

[blaker]

Again this is absoulety BS. Ryan is twice the player Skelton is but has been out injured unfortunately. Once again you can't win every game. We had Exeter away than la Rochelle away it doesn't get much tougher than that. No need for any knee jerk reactions, we'll be back in contention next year.

That was my point, Ryan wasn't fully match fit and up to speed yet. I agree with you.

Ryan didn't look 100% alright.

Not sure he has all season. Missing the Lions - which isn’t an outlandish chance - could be no bad thing?

[Keith]

Someone like him, fully fit if course, would have made a massive difference today. We just have a different model though. It means we have disappointing days like today, but it's not the end of the world.

Again this is absoulety BS. Ryan is twice the player Skelton is but has been out injured unfortunately. Once again you can't win every game. We had Exeter away than la Rochelle away it doesn't get much tougher than that. No need for any knee jerk reactions, we'll be back in contention next year.

That was my point, Ryan wasn't fully match fit and up to speed yet. I agree with you about being in contention.
I hope rugby doesn't end up like the U20 6n, where the team with the biggest players wins. There must be ways around it but it's bloody difficult.

There's plenty ways around it, we got the toughest draw possible, it is what it is.

[Oldschool]

This nonsense of wearing masks after games needs to stop, Sweltering heat and lads coming off the pitch gasping for air having their breathing restricted, rebreathing their own C02, blood crying out for oxygen they're not getting.

Of course masks are absolute madness in every day life in general, having absolutely ZERO impact on preventing viral spread (that's peer-reviewed science), but putting them on professional athletes that have just had their heads up each others holes for 60 minutes makes me seriously despair for the species.

Absolute utter bloody madness, and a serious health and safety/workplace abuse issue.

As regarding your comments regarding the wearing of masks, it's neither correct or peer reviewed because you're wrong.
However you are correct about your observation regarding the oxygen starvation if players.

[Keith]

This nonsense of wearing masks after games needs to stop, Sweltering heat and lads coming off the pitch gasping for air having their breathing restricted, rebreathing their own C02, blood crying out for oxygen they're not getting.

Of course masks are absolute madness in every day life in general, having absolutely ZERO impact on preventing viral spread (that's peer-reviewed science), but putting them on professional athletes that have just had their heads up each others holes for 60 minutes makes me seriously despair for the species.

Absolute utter bloody madness, and a serious health and safety/workplace abuse issue.

As regarding your comments regarding the wearing of masks, it's neither correct or peer reviewed because you're wrong.
However you are correct about your observation regarding the oxygen starvation if players.

I've worked on a "FDI site" all throughout covid and so has other members of my family. He's not wrong regarding masks.

[neiliog93]

It does come down to the same problem that we had with Saracens - bigger, superior athletes. When those kind of guys are well coached, there's very little you can do.

I wouldn't say there's nothing you can do, but what you have to do, you need to do it well. It looked like it wasn't going to be our day after the first 20 mins or so, nothing went right.

Yes, but your margin for error is much less. It's so difficult to go through phases against a team with so many big athletes, who both hit up in defence and smash your rucks.

[thepunter]

This nonsense of wearing masks after games needs to stop, Sweltering heat and lads coming off the pitch gasping for air having their breathing restricted, rebreathing their own C02, blood crying out for oxygen they're not getting.

Of course masks are absolute madness in every day life in general, having absolutely ZERO impact on preventing viral spread (that's peer-reviewed science), but putting them on professional athletes that have just had their heads up each others holes for 60 minutes makes me seriously despair for the species.

Absolute utter bloody madness, and a serious health and safety/workplace abuse issue.

Masks are a dangerous nonsense, even the CDC made that clear via a meta analysis. For some reason... fearmongering RTE or any other Irish mainstream media have never given any air (no pun intended) to the other side (the correct side) of the debate. This is cast iron peer reviewed science. Not luke o neill or an RTE clown.
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/5/19-0994_article

Glad we agree on one thing anyway. The players wearing masks and everything else associated with masks will be looked back on with incredulity in coming years.

[Oldschool]

FDI is a TLA for Foreign Direct Investment.
Does it have another meaning.
CDC date 5th May 2020, how out of date do you want to be?
Flu epidemic or season.
COVID isn't the flu but for some strange reason there was virtually no flu season in the winter just past.
Nobody is claiming that masks are a panacea but useless and/or dangerous is well wide of the mask.

[Hippo]

This nonsense of wearing masks after games needs to stop, Sweltering heat and lads coming off the pitch gasping for air having their breathing restricted, rebreathing their own C02, blood crying out for oxygen they're not getting.

Of course masks are absolute madness in every day life in general, having absolutely ZERO impact on preventing viral spread (that's peer-reviewed science), but putting them on professional athletes that have just had their heads up each others holes for 60 minutes makes me seriously despair for the species.

Absolute utter bloody madness, and a serious health and safety/workplace abuse issue.

Masks are a dangerous nonsense, even the CDC made that clear via a meta analysis. For some reason... fearmongering RTE or any other Irish mainstream media have never given any air (no pun intended) to the other side (the correct side) of the debate. This is cast iron peer reviewed science. Not luke o neill or an RTE clown.
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/5/19-0994_article

Glad we agree on one thing anyway. The players wearing masks and everything else associated with masks will be looked back on with incredulity in coming years.

This is obviously the reason HCWs wear them all the time. Carry on.

[Keith]

FDI is a TLA for Foreign Direct Investment.
Does it have another meaning.
CDC date 5th May 2020, how out of date do you want to be?
Flu epidemic or season.
COVID isn't the flu but for some strange reason there was virtually no flu season in the winter just past.
Nobody is claiming that masks are a panacea but useless and/or dangerous is well wide of the mask.

No flu except for the fact that me and my whole family had the flu in November... again I work on the biggest FDI sites in Ireland.

[matt]

Bizarre that Leinster fans are arguing about masks instead of what happened on the pitch.

[wixfjord]

FDI is a TLA for Foreign Direct Investment.
Does it have another meaning.
CDC date 5th May 2020, how out of date do you want to be?
Flu epidemic or season.
COVID isn't the flu but for some strange reason there was virtually no flu season in the winter just past.
Nobody is claiming that masks are a panacea but useless and/or dangerous is well wide of the mask.

No flu except for the fact that me and my whole family had the flu in November... again I work on the biggest FDI sites in Ireland.

Ah well I mean with that level of robust scientific data that's QED then innit?

[Hippo]

Bizarre that Leinster fans are arguing about masks instead of what happened on the pitch.

There's nothing to argue about what happened on the pitch!

[Keith]

FDI is a TLA for Foreign Direct Investment.
Does it have another meaning.
CDC date 5th May 2020, how out of date do you want to be?
Flu epidemic or season.
COVID isn't the flu but for some strange reason there was virtually no flu season in the winter just past.
Nobody is claiming that masks are a panacea but useless and/or dangerous is well wide of the mask.

No flu except for the fact that me and my whole family had the flu in November... again I work on the biggest FDI sites in Ireland.

Ah well I mean with that level of robust scientific data that's QED then innit?

But I thought there was no flu though??

[Oldschool]

FDI is a TLA for Foreign Direct Investment.
Does it have another meaning.
CDC date 5th May 2020, how out of date do you want to be?
Flu epidemic or season.
COVID isn't the flu but for some strange reason there was virtually no flu season in the winter just past.
Nobody is claiming that masks are a panacea but useless and/or dangerous is well wide of the mask.

No flu except for the fact that me and my whole family had the flu in November... again I work on the biggest FDI sites in Ireland.

FDI, I'm still waiting.
This is starting to feel like Peter and his three denials of any association with JON.

[wixfjord]

But I thought there was no flu though??

No I'm talking about the fact your family got flu means masks have zero impact on viral spread.

I mean your individual example there just proves that point right? And the fact you're working in an FDI site just makes it even more impactful.

For some reason.

[CiaranIrl]

This nonsense of wearing masks after games needs to stop, Sweltering heat and lads coming off the pitch gasping for air having their breathing restricted, rebreathing their own C02, blood crying out for oxygen they're not getting.

Of course masks are absolute madness in every day life in general, having absolutely ZERO impact on preventing viral spread (that's peer-reviewed science), but putting them on professional athletes that have just had their heads up each others holes for 60 minutes makes me seriously despair for the species.

Absolute utter bloody madness, and a serious health and safety/workplace abuse issue.

Masks are a dangerous nonsense, even the CDC made that clear via a meta analysis. For some reason... fearmongering RTE or any other Irish mainstream media have never given any air (no pun intended) to the other side (the correct side) of the debate. This is cast iron peer reviewed science. Not luke o neill or an RTE clown.
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/5/19-0994_article

Glad we agree on one thing anyway. The players wearing masks and everything else associated with masks will be looked back on with incredulity in coming years.

For about a minute there, I considered replying with some of the hundreds of studies that show the opposite, but then I realized that there was no point whatsoever.

[Keith]

FDI is a TLA for Foreign Direct Investment.
Does it have another meaning.
CDC date 5th May 2020, how out of date do you want to be?
Flu epidemic or season.
COVID isn't the flu but for some strange reason there was virtually no flu season in the winter just past.
Nobody is claiming that masks are a panacea but useless and/or dangerous is well wide of the mask.

No flu except for the fact that me and my whole family had the flu in November... again I work on the biggest FDI sites in Ireland.

FDI, I'm still waiting.
This is starting to feel like Peter and his three denials of any association with JON.

FDI is foreign direct investment like you said earlier. For some reason sites like Intel and Facebook were allowed stay open with thousands of construction workers plus direct employees were allowed work during the entire lockdown as essential workers, while other business' were closed.... anyway back to the game...

Congrats la Rochelle brilliant performance.