munster#1 wrote: ↑April 15th, 2022, 4:56 pm
Can’t see how any of you are nervous about this one.
This is not a great Connacht outfit and Leinster are stacked with Internationals from 1-23.
The only way Leinster lose this one is if they pick up an early red.
I predict an Italian like performance from Connacht.
They will stay with Leinster for the first 30 mins and then run out of puff.
Leinster by 35.
Hah shows what you know .... it was 36 !!!
Mortified after that prediction.
You have to feel for Connacht today.
That was an awful kick up the backside for them.
Friend gets a very easy ride from everyone, but imo he is not getting the best out of the group of players at his disposal.
Massive credit to Leinster.
They will be annoyed to have conceded 20, but that happens when you secure a result so early in a match.
Just because a post upsets you, that doesn’t mean that it is wrong. People have different views in all aspects of life, this is a key ingredient to an interesting conversation.
Connacht have 2 elite players and they needed them to step up. They played well but were massively overshadowed by their opposite numbers: Lowe and Henshaw. Leinster had a lot more of the ball, which made it easier, but they cut up the Connacht defence when they had chances.
Hugo was steeped not to get a yellow early on but he then proceeded to play sublimely. Some bewildering running from our backs all thanks to some prime ball from the red hot pack. All in all a very encouraging team performance
munster#1 wrote: ↑April 15th, 2022, 4:56 pm
Can’t see how any of you are nervous about this one.
This is not a great Connacht outfit and Leinster are stacked with Internationals from 1-23.
The only way Leinster lose this one is if they pick up an early red.
I predict an Italian like performance from Connacht.
They will stay with Leinster for the first 30 mins and then run out of puff.
Leinster by 35.
Hah shows what you know .... it was 36 !!!
Mortified after that prediction.
You have to feel for Connacht today.
That was an awful kick up the backside for them.
Friend gets a very easy ride from everyone, but imo he is not getting the best out of the group of players at his disposal.
Massive credit to Leinster.
They will be annoyed to have conceded 20, but that happens when you secure a result so early in a match.
The new URC format is brutal for Connacht. 6 matches against other provinces and a trip to SA. That's almost half their season you'd expect them to lose. Add in some bad results against the Scots and also losing in Wales and it doesn't take much to drop them down the table.
They haven't been consistent but they've played some good rugby. Hard to show it in the table. But they've certainly done alright for supplying players for the Irish team.
It is all but impossible to over emphasise how good are the Leinster skill sets right across the Squad. Given a dry sunny day, without wind on the national turf, with a supportive crowd, how could I have worried that they might not deliver a top rate performance in these circumstances?
This was magnificent and very enjoyable. Ross Moloney looked like an international second-row in waiting. Apart from his customary line-out excellence, his scrum and maul work was of the highest standard.
However it was his link passing that set him apart. He joins Furlong in looking like the Leinster forward who has the most skillful hands and an unerring radar to deliver that no-look pass that confounds opposition defences time and again. Accuracy, judgement of pace and placement are the hallmarks of those passes and they are a thing of beauty to behold.
Porter, Kelleher and Furlong were power personified, whether in possession or in aggressive defence. Their presence, when all three are on song, must actually scare opposition forwards and coaches. How do you deal with three brutally powerful mauraders who have those levels of subtlety? Unsuccessfully, is the invariable conclusion.
And then there's Van der Flyer and Doris. Metres after contact statistics for these two are beyond comparison. Josh appears to get better opportunities carrying in attack whereas Caelin is more often used in relatively static circumstances when his powerful surges turn unpromising possession into front-front ball, invariably produced with perfect presentation and rapid availability.
Leinster backs collected almost all of the tries last evening and how they must appreciate their forwards. Certainly JGP and J10 continually utilise the supply of ball to best effect and very rarely do forwards raise their heads from the latest scrum / maul or breakdown, to find their team have lost ground or lost possession.
Equally, when the ball is put long over their heads, Leinster forwards can expect Keenan O'Brien and Lowe to bring it back to close proximity making the next surge easier, if not lethal, against opponents.
A super start to a rugby-packed weekend with many interesting questions still to be answered. However, our team has firmly put its highest standards on display and they're well worthy of close review and comparison with what will follow.
curates_egg wrote: ↑April 15th, 2022, 8:58 pm
My first match attendance since 2019, after a few failed attempts. Damp squib and terrible atmosphere but great to see the side humming so well in the flesh.
Agree with you Riocard that it was great to see Henshaw back to his best and to see Ross have a perfect 10 cameo vs Carty.
Lowe had to get MOTM but I was most impressed with Molony. What a revelation he is this season. Beyond doing all the standard second row and grunt stuff, he was great around the park. Excellent handling and link passing. Murphy also good.
Just watched it back. As slick as our backline was, and as good as the platform was, the Connacht defending is really poor. So many missed tackles and positional/decision-making errors.
On the incidents:
- Hugo should have had yellow.
- I genuinely believe the Aki one was a cracking tackle. I thought so at the game (was just in front of me). It’s a torso hit, with a wrap.
- Aungier’s was unnecessary, high, reckless and dangerous; no arm shoulder barge that hits his face: red all day.
wixfjord wrote: ↑April 15th, 2022, 7:27 pm
Good performance overall. Connacht didn't test us much bar first 10.
Pack was just way better and Connacht discipline was poor.
Henshaw MOTM for me despite Lowe's scoring. Both second rows were really good too.
Connacht are ranked last in the URC in terms of discipline – most penalties conceded, second most reds, third most yellows, fourth most scrum penalties
[source: https://www.unitedrugby.com/statistics ].
A lot of Connacht fans give out about how referees give them a hard time in favour of big teams, but the Dragons and Zebre are substantially worse teams and they're mid-table in terms of discipline [eighth and ninth respectively]. Discipline is coachable. You have to recognise that it's an issue, train it, and then sanction players who don't respond.
I know it’s a bit pointless when you rack up a big win but did anyone else think Pearce got their first 3 pointer penalty completely wrong? My view was that Prendergast was 2nd man in..
the spoofer wrote: ↑April 16th, 2022, 8:40 am
I know it’s a bit pointless when you rack up a big win but did anyone else think Pearce got their first 3 pointer penalty completely wrong? My view was that Prendergast was 2nd man in..
Seemed like he went off his feet and pushed himself back up off the ground too.
wixfjord wrote: ↑April 15th, 2022, 9:14 pm
One area that we really need to improve is kick offs. Has been a recurring theme this season that we either mess up the lift and catch, knock on or get turned over.
Against better sides, that's a major source of possession which we need to improve on.
Getting JR back (he was running in the warmup according to Cian Tracey) would be a big help here imo.
Its an area we should have plenty of practice at, as we score bag loads of tries.
Interestingly receipt of kick offs improved dramatically when Dev came on. I know he is a giant, but he calls early takes control and commits 100% to collecting the ball cleanly. He also seems to instil confidence in the lifters and support players around him !
Just watched it back. As slick as our backline was, and as good as the platform was, the Connacht defending is really poor. So many missed tackles and positional/decision-making errors.
On the incidents:
- Hugo should have had yellow. - I genuinely believe the Aki one was a cracking tackle. I thought so at the game (was just in front of me). It’s a torso hit, with a wrap.
- Aungier’s was unnecessary, high, reckless and dangerous; no arm shoulder barge that hits his face: red all day.
Watch it again.
It's a late hit and his head makes contact with Sexton's jaw first.
Clear yellow and could've been a red. Wrap and Sexton's slight post pass dip is probably the thing that brings it down.
Interesting side note, but we were at the players tunnel and JS and Mack H were having a right go at each other coming off the pitch at half time. One thing I heard, clear as a bell was JS shouted at him " Yeah....well, put it on Instagram".
Wonder were Leinster upset about some of his comments from the previous week?
In the first half, we clearly made a point of lying on wrong side for just a second or two to try slow their ball down. Kelleher and Murphy in particular seemed to just roll around in front of Blade and block the ball.
curates_egg wrote: ↑April 15th, 2022, 8:58 pm
My first match attendance since 2019, after a few failed attempts. Damp squib and terrible atmosphere but great to see the side humming so well in the flesh.
Agree with you Riocard that it was great to see Henshaw back to his best and to see Ross have a perfect 10 cameo vs Carty.
Lowe had to get MOTM but I was most impressed with Molony. What a revelation he is this season. Beyond doing all the standard second row and grunt stuff, he was great around the park. Excellent handling and link passing. Murphy also good.
Just watched it back. As slick as our backline was, and as good as the platform was, the Connacht defending is really poor. So many missed tackles and positional/decision-making errors.
On the incidents:
- Hugo should have had yellow.
- I genuinely believe the Aki one was a cracking tackle. I thought so at the game (was just in front of me). It’s a torso hit, with a wrap.
- Aungier’s was unnecessary, high, reckless and dangerous; no arm shoulder barge that hits his face: red all day.
Agree Hugo should have got yellow. Both Connacht cards should have been reds. Ali head clattered johnnys jaw - it’s the one thing that annoys me about Aki he just doesn’t learn from his mistakes and previous cards with those on the line hits that when wrong gets a card all day long
