Michael Alaalatoa signs for Leinster

[RoboProp]

Made the colossal error listening to Luke Fitz's podcast, I must be a masochist, anyway Luke is not very keen on the signing of Michael Alaalatoa at all at all or any foreign signings for that matter.

Also, James Lowe was massively at fault for the first try against Exeter on Saturday, that was Luke's spin and half. I loved Luke in blue, and his dad was my childhood sporting hero, but genie mac he's bordering on being the Gemma O'Doherty of rugby punditry

[OTT]

Made the colossal error listening to Luke Fitz's podcast, I must be a masochist, anyway Luke is not very keen on the signing of Michael Alaalatoa at all at all or any foreign signings for that matter.

Also, James Lowe was massively at fault for the first try against Exeter on Saturday, that was Luke's spin and half. I loved Luke in blue, and his dad was my childhood sporting hero, but genie mac he's bordering on being the Gemma O'Doherty of rugby punditry

Listened to it myself this morning. He loves to waffle on. Brendan Fanning comparing our comeback against Exeter to Munster doing something similar against Newport...Newport...Newport...Newport back in the early days of the Celtic League stole the show.

[RoboProp]

Made the colossal error listening to Luke Fitz's podcast, I must be a masochist, anyway Luke is not very keen on the signing of Michael Alaalatoa at all at all or any foreign signings for that matter.

Also, James Lowe was massively at fault for the first try against Exeter on Saturday, that was Luke's spin and half. I loved Luke in blue, and his dad was my childhood sporting hero, but genie mac he's bordering on being the Gemma O'Doherty of rugby punditry

Listened to it myself this morning. He loves to waffle on. Brendan Fanning comparing our comeback against Exeter to Munster doing something similar against Newport...Newport...Newport...Newport back in the early days of the Celtic League stole the show.

Yeah, they lost me after that. I felt like Bart's teacher in The Simpsons "thanks Nelson, I look forward to seeing the can of tomato paste again next week"

[Dave Cahill]

The game Fanning is talking about is one of the great games in HEC history - Munster were 10 points down at half time to a Newport team containing Gary Teichmann, Adrian Garvey, Shane Howarth and Simon Raiwalui before ROG started doing ROG things and dragged them back into it. I remember John Langford taking their lineout and maul apart in the second half

[blockhead]

Made the colossal error listening to Luke Fitz's podcast, I must be a masochist, anyway Luke is not very keen on the signing of Michael Alaalatoa at all at all or any foreign signings for that matter.

Also, James Lowe was massively at fault for the first try against Exeter on Saturday, that was Luke's spin and half. I loved Luke in blue, and his dad was my childhood sporting hero, but genie mac he's bordering on being the Gemma O'Doherty of rugby punditry

"Gemma O'Doherty of rugby punditry"
Extreme but not that far off. He just spews nonsense. And I doubt he'll ever be asked to co-comms again
I avoid that "podcast".

[riocard911]

Made the colossal error listening to Luke Fitz's podcast, I must be a masochist, anyway Luke is not very keen on the signing of Michael Alaalatoa at all at all or any foreign signings for that matter.

Also, James Lowe was massively at fault for the first try against Exeter on Saturday, that was Luke's spin and half. I loved Luke in blue, and his dad was my childhood sporting hero, but genie mac he's bordering on being the Gemma O'Doherty of rugby punditry

"Gemma O'Doherty of rugby punditry"
Extreme but not that far off. He just spews nonsense. And I doubt he'll ever be asked to co-comms again
I avoid that "podcast".

Me too. Luke Fitz loves the sound of his own voice and his attempts at "banter" are just painful. The guy has zero self-awareness. If he wasn't before, he's a RO'C-K parody at this stage.

[the spoofer]

How long do you think it would take a lad who played LH at U20 to get up to speed as an international LH? 1 year? 2? What a waste of a significant part of a players career.

Porter has covered loosehead at International level as recently as Feb 2020 against Scotland having to go up against Fagerson who had eeked a penalty out of Healy and Cian was lucky there wasn't a second....

And covered it to a impressive standard in the lead up to the RWC against Wales and played there against Russia in the RWC. Against Wales at Loosehead there were 4 scrum penalties and a PT while he packed down

So based on actual evidence I'd wager it would take a lad who covered LH at U20 to get up to speed of an international LH approximately 30 seconds (assuming there is no scrum before that time)

I covered centre at times when I played. Now I was a relatively immobile TH but needs must. Say we were playing England, France or SA in 6 weeks time. Would you feel comfortable starting Porter at LH? I know I'd be more comfortable with Healy, Byrne, Dooley or even Kilcoyne there ahead of him.

[bluemagic]

Made the colossal error listening to Luke Fitz's podcast, I must be a masochist, anyway Luke is not very keen on the signing of Michael Alaalatoa at all at all or any foreign signings for that matter.

Also, James Lowe was massively at fault for the first try against Exeter on Saturday, that was Luke's spin and half. I loved Luke in blue, and his dad was my childhood sporting hero, but genie mac he's bordering on being the Gemma O'Doherty of rugby punditry

I don’t mind the podcast because at least they spend time covering the actual game off rather than OTB and 42 weekly who seem desperate to talk about anything other than Leinster.

I did think his criticism of Lowe was harsh. I think Leinster tried a defensive set up which was a bit unusual on that play. Usually the fullback comes around the outside of the left wing and takes the last man in the attacking line. If you watch that try again Keenan actually comes up outside ROL and leaves lowe to take the last man (a comparably easier defensive position).

There were a number of interesting defensive sets Leinster tried in the game including having Luke McGrath defend in the Exeter attacking line to cut off out the back passes, assuming we thought the risk of a chip through by Exeter to be very low

[RoboProp]

The game Fanning is talking about is one of the great games in HEC history - Munster were 10 points down at half time to a Newport team containing Gary Teichmann, Adrian Garvey, Shane Howarth and Simon Raiwalui before ROG started doing ROG things and dragged them back into it. I remember John Langford taking their lineout and maul apart in the second half

The media's propensity to gravitate towards Munster's escapades of lore it so very tiresome at this point, we're "The King" Jack Kirby they're Steve Ditko.
For the record Ditko was amazing!

[wixfjord]

Watching him for the Saders this morning against Chiefs.

Scrum has been solid although Crusaders seem to just want it in and out. Did win a scrum penalty on the Chiefs 5m though.

He definitely looks like a powerful carrier. Not hugely quick on his feet but a physical specimen. He'll be a man for carrying dirty ball a la Benty. Seems to be able to make a yard or two after contact every time.

He has quite a long scrum stance (feet a good bit back) which might cause a bit of trouble against small squat LHs.

[FLIP]

Watching him for the Saders this morning against Chiefs.

Scrum has been solid and he definitely looks like a powerful carrier. Not hugely quick on his feet but a physical specimen. He'll be a man for carrying dirty ball a la Benty. Seems to be able to make a yard or two after contact every time.

He has quite a long scrum stance (feet a good bit back) which might cause a bit of trouble against small squat LHs.

McBryde should be able to sort that out no problem. It's an instinctive approach to get low in the scrum, but with the right coaching he'll be able to keep the low height while having his feet further forward.

[wixfjord]

He went off around 60 for Jager.

[sunshiner1]

by RoboProp

The media's propensity to gravitate towards Munster's escapades of lore it so very tiresome at this point, we're "The King" Jack Kirby they're Steve Ditko.
For the record Ditko was amazing!

Kudos on the comic book reference. I enjoyed it!

[mildlyinterested]

Leinster have announced the signing of a new tighthead ahead of next season, with current Crusaders prop Michael Alaalatoa due to arrive this summer.

The addition of the 29-year-old Samoa international has led to fresh talk that Ireland international Andrew Porter could move back to the loosehead side of the scrum, but Cullen indicated that the signing is more about Leinster losing stalwart Michael Bent this summer.

“Andrew Porter and Tadhg Furlong – regardless of where Andrew Porter plays – we’re missing those two guys for a massive chunk of the season,” said Cullen.

“There will be a development with a senior tighthead prop that has been in the group for a long time, so that will all play out in due course.

“It’s such an important position. There is a little bit of uncertainty with Vakh Abdaladze around his back, so it’s a position we value hugely.

“We have Tom Clarkson, who is out with injury at the moment and he’s still 21. We want him still playing for Leinster when he’s 35 years of age or even beyond, we want him playing for 12 or 15 seasons with the club.

“He’s someone we’ve invested a good bit of time in but I feel like we’ve almost had to push him a little bit too much at times this year. Over the course of the season, you want to strike that right balance because he is still a very, very young man. We want to bring these guys through so that they’re able to go on and play for Ireland. That’s a big part of the decision-making.”

Cullen also indicated that Leinster believe Alaalatoa, who has helped the Crusaders to three Super Rugby titles and a Super Rugby Aotearoa trophy, can be a good influence on younger Leinster players, particularly with Scott Fardy retiring this summer.

“Scott’s announcement last week, someone who brought a huge amount to the group in terms of bringing players on – we think Mike will be someone who can do something similar as well in terms of mentoring players, not just front rows but players in general,” said Cullen.

“I have had some very similar discussions with him. He’s coming from an environment that we respect greatly. I think there’s a lot of positive IP that we can get as a group here, so for that leadership piece in the group, it’s someone a little bit different in the environment.

“They’re all the bits we’re attracted to. I understand from the outside why people would question it. That’s positive that people are taking an interest in our group for the right reasons. I do think it’s important that we’re questioned like you are questioning but overall, I think it will be a positive addition to the group and someone who will add greatly to what we’re doing. Hopefully, there are enough positives in there.

“It’s a position we value strongly, as we saw ourselves the importance of the scrum when it comes to big days in particular [against Saracens last year]. We want to be involved in some of those big days.

“Mike understands the role he will play with the wider group and it’s something he’s used to with the Crusaders’ environment. There’s lots of positives for everyone.”

https://www.the42.ie/tadhg-furlong-irfu ... 2-Apr2021/

[fourthirtythree]

Wherever Andrew plays.... And most ominously of all
“There will be a development with a senior tighthead prop that has been in the group for a long time, so that will all play out in due course."
Ford yourselves.

[mildlyinterested]

Wherever Andrew plays.... And most ominously of all
“There will be a development with a senior tighthead prop that has been in the group for a long time, so that will all play out in due course."
Ford yourselves.

Bents retirement.

[blockhead]

Wherever Andrew plays.... And most ominously of all
“There will be a development with a senior tighthead prop that has been in the group for a long time, so that will all play out in due course."
Ford yourselves.

Bents retirement.

Yep, that's what he's talking about there, Benty.

[backrower8]

Wherever Andrew plays.... And most ominously of all
“There will be a development with a senior tighthead prop that has been in the group for a long time, so that will all play out in due course."
Ford yourselves.

Bents retirement.

Yep, that's what he's talking about there, Benty.

Most likely it is Bent moving on, but any news on Tadhg and Ports would also fit that envelope. Crypic-Cullen.

[Serb]

Ah he’s 100% referring to Bent there. Everyone knows Bent is gone but Leo doesn’t want to say it outright before the player says it himself. I assume Bent will be getting a similar farewell procession to Fardy.