Connacht v Leinster Rainbow Cup Sat 8/5 19.35

[fourthirtythree]

Geography is politics. The term British Isles is only a valid term if you are a British imperialist. It sets out your stall for sure.

[hugonaut]

Can we get the Lions talk on the Lions thread?

It's interesting stuff but it's all over the place at the moment.

[ronk]

Interesting match. Lots of room for development but still a tough match against a fresh Connacht side that will smell blood and be ready to exploit any weakness.

[LeinsterLeader]

James Treacy doing the press so he's probably starting in which case anyone who was in quarantine could be playing I would have thought. Could be a strong team so.

[alanair]

I support Ireland and watch Ireland because I am from Ireland. Someone might ask me where I'm from and I'll say "Ireland".

I support Leinster and watch their matches because I am from Leinster. Someone might ask me where I'm from and I'll say "Dublin", which is part of Leinster.

I have never in my life said that I am from "Britain and Ireland" or that I am "British and Irish". It is a complete fabrication of a geographic entity in order to conceive a rugby team that can make money for Sky Sports. They are the kings of hype. And if you are a fan of the Lions you have bought into that hype.

Another interpretation is that the British Lions represented the 4 home unions of the United Kingdom before Ireland gained independendence in 1920/21. It has remained an entity representing what was the United Kingdom. On that basis, being a fan of the Lions is like being a fan of TeamGB at the Olympics.

Nobody here needed a history or geography lesson, but some might need a mirror.

Apologies for posting in the wrong thread.

You can support who you want but the rest of your post is ridiculous. Countries, provinces and teams are human constructs. The Lions have been around for over 100 years and players, coaches and many fans regard them as the pinnacle of rugby achievement. The Lions has a culture and an ethos built over history. I've heard Ronnie Dawson talk about it and the thing he's talking about it, it's very impactful. By the way, I'm old enough to have gone to Leinster games when 100 people were there in Lansdowne Road and to be perfectly honest players only saw Leinster as a way to get onto the Ireland team. The Club games would attract 1000's, even schools games would do similar. The relaunch of the provinces when professionalism came into being was really the creation of a new club. There was no Leinster culture, ethos, way of playing and most people didn't really care.

By the way, citing geography doesn't help your case. The geographical term for Britain and Ireland is the British Isles.

To describe one persons point of view as ridiculous, is not really helpful. This is a forum , and attracts many views that I personally don’t agree with, but each persons view in my opinion , is as valid as the next.

[heno]

This might be a minor point in the argument but I think every modern player would think a world Cup win to be a higher pinnacle than being selected on a lions tour, even being in the starting 15 on a winning tour.
Doubly so for the countries that haven't been in a final yet.

Sent from my SM-A520F using Tapatalk

[fourthirtythree]

Can we get the Lions talk on the Lions thread?

It's interesting stuff but it's all over the place at the moment.

Good point. The Grainbow cup does struggle to get any traction at the moment to be fair. It's missing its big draws and the season with these teams already ended. The other thing is bigger news but it is everywhere. Looking forward to the team announcement though. It's going to be actually interesting.

[LeinsterLeader]

Strong looking team

[Lock9541]

Strong looking team

R.I.P Connacht

[Twist]

That picture isn't showing up for me, which I know has been happening for a few people recently. In case you're in the same boat;

Leinster Rugby (caps in brackets):

15. Hugo Keenan (27)
14. Cian Kelleher (25)
13. Garry Ringrose (82)
12. Ciarán Frawley (34)
11. Dave Kearney (167)
10. Ross Byrne (100)
9. Luke McGrath (147) CAPTAIN
1. Peter Dooley (91)
2. James Tracy (127)
3. Andrew Porter (75)
4. Ross Molony (114)
5. Scott Fardy (78)
6. Josh Murphy (46)
7. Scott Penny (26)
8. Jack Conan (103)

16. Dan Sheehan (11)
17. Ed Byrne (68)
18. Tadhg Furlong (112)
19. Ryan Baird (23)
20. Josh van der Flier (94)
21. Rowan Osborne (10)
22. Rory O’Loughlin (83)
23. Jordan Larmour (58)

CONNACHT

15. John Porch (37)
14. Peter Sullivan (13)
13. Sean O’Brien (Acad) (8)
12. Tom Daly (45)
11. Matt Healy (149)
10. Conor Fitzgerald (33)
9. Caolin Blade (128)
1. Denis Buckley (197)
2. Dave Heffernan (141)
3. Finlay Bealham (156)
4. Niall Murray (14)
5. Gavin Thornbury (57)
6. Eoghan Masterson (108)
7. Conor Oliver (18)
8. Jarrad Butler (70) (C)

Replacements
16. Jonny Murphy (14)
17. Matthew Burke (21)
18. Dominic Robertson-McCoy (64)
19. Cian Prendergast (6)
20. Abraham Papali’I (11)
21. Kieran Marmion (183)
22. Sammy Arnold (12)
23. Oran McNulty (1)

[fourthirtythree]

No Frawley.... No JGP.

Explains a bit about last week

[wixfjord]

Lovely balance to that side, good bench impact too.

Lots of lads who will be hungry having not played last week too.

Looking at that Connacht side we should be good for a win here I think.

[Lock9541]

No Frawley.... No JGP.

Explains a bit about last week

Frawley is starting

[Dave Cahill]

No Frawley.... No JGP.

Explains a bit about last week

Frawley is starting

[Dave Cahill]

Jinx

[LeinsterLeader]

Lovely balance to that side, good bench impact too.

Lots of lads who will be hungry having not played last week too.

Looking at that Connacht side we should be good for a win here I think.

Not looking to make early excuses but it's hard to know where their heads will be at.

But you're right, on another day I'd fancy that team alright

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Really looking forward to seeing Frawley, hope he actually makes it this time.

I’d have started Larmour, think he needs games badly and IMO it’s games and not being moved around that he needs to get back to top form. I do think he’s good enough to play multiple positions but when someone needs to hit form I think they should stick to one position for a little while.

I wonder does James Ryan’s absence indicate that he’s carrying something? Can’t think why else he’d be rested.

[Twist]

Those two backrows each look properly balanced. Should be a great contest there.

[fourthirtythree]

Doh!

[limecat]

Match Preview

Well that was grimly familiar.

Once again this Leinster team failed to deliver when they came up against a bigger pack which bullied them off the park. They started brightly enough and wasted a couple of decent chances in the first half that could have had them further ahead. But while there was a lot of focus on the La Rochelle attack in the build-up, we should probably have focused on their defence which is the meanest in the Top14.

Read more...