Leicester V Leinster EPCR q/f 2022

[Dave Cahill]

In the second half, Leicester had a lot of ball and not many ideas. Their handling was much worse than I expected from what has looked season-long to be a very well-coached team. We put a lot of effort in in that 40 minute period, but made more mistakes than we would normally make.

I think that this Leicester team is at the start of their cycle - this is the first time that will have experienced this kind of pressure. They are a well coached team, but everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth, unless you're used to being punched in the mouth - and they aren't yet.

[blaker]

Win away at the team top of the Prem - unalloyed good thing.
But I don’t think we can ignore some increasingly frequent scrum Issues and a significant issue defending mauls - whether brute size or technique any team looking at that video will see a route to beating us

Leicester were limited but dumb;
- why not take the points in front of posts at 20-7, get a panic going
- throwing bad ball to the front

I’d say we deserved the win but we’re fortunate to get it

[tingman]

Is it me or are we struggling at scrum and defense maul.
As we have seen before unless fixed we will come a cropper
Against bigger units.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

In the second half, Leicester had a lot of ball and not many ideas. Their handling was much worse than I expected from what has looked season-long to be a very well-coached team. We put a lot of effort in in that 40 minute period, but made more mistakes than we would normally make.

I think that this Leicester team is at the start of their cycle - this is the first time that will have experienced this kind of pressure. They are a well coached team, but everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth, unless you're used to being punched in the mouth - and they aren't yet.

I wouldn’t be so sure about that. Genge is off which is a huge loss. I’m not sure if Cronin is the only replacement for him but that’s a huge drop off if he is. Ford is off and I don’t think Pollard is a good replacement because he’s always injured and has never been as good at club level as he is for SA. Watson rumoured to be signing and he’s a brilliant player but has a terrible injury record.

I think Borthwick has done a great job but now is the time to build and I think the rug is being pulled from under them just as they start to get going.

[tigerburnie]

Losing this one game is something we will have to take and learn from, but doesn't make us a bad side, lot of young players will have learnt from that experience. Genge we will miss, less so Ford, his game seems to have dropped off, maybe he's already moved to Manchester in his head. Whitcombe is a great young prop who will fill Genge's place in the scrum and the loose, he does not have the leadership skills Genge has though. We evolve and move on to next year in the Champions Cup, I was pleasantly surprised we got to the quarter finals, I am also surprised we are top of the league, I was hoping for getting out of the groups and into the top 6 in our league, we have exceeded those objectives. We now need to learn and move on, winning at Newcastle to secure top spot is our next objective.

[deco]

What a wonderful win, roll on next week

[the spoofer]

Can we forget this silence for the kickers shite at rugby and ask supporters of all teams to stop booing every decision that goes against their team? It’s getting pretty tedious.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Can we forget this silence for the kickers shite at rugby and ask supporters of all teams to stop booing every decision that goes against their team? It’s getting pretty tedious.

Munster fans booing when Ntamack knocked the ball back before his try was a particular highlight.

[the spoofer]

Can we forget this silence for the kickers shite at rugby and ask supporters of all teams to stop booing every decision that goes against their team? It’s getting pretty tedious.

Munster fans booing when Ntamack knocked the ball back before his try was a particular highlight.

It’s all teams including our own but some seem worse(looking at you, Ulster and all Welsh teams) than others.

[Twist]

I’ve always thought booing should be used sparingly for effect.

Glasgow fans in particular have a different take on it.

[MylesNaGapoleen]

Is it me or are we struggling at scrum and defense maul.
As we have seen before unless fixed we will come a cropper
Against bigger units.

toulouse pack are the real deal. they crushed munster in the first half today in the scrum. munster scrapped well at the breakdown and should have won in the end but I think the toulouse pack will cause us problems in the semis.

[jezzer]

The first half absolutely exposed Leicester and their deficiencies if they want to eat at the top table

The second half exposed Leinster. Not equally so, because we somehow hung in and Leicester aren't really built to chase a game. But the cracks in the walls are real and they need filling. Tactically we fell between two stools which allowed Tigers to stay to some degree in the game.

[alanair]

Is it me or are we struggling at scrum and defense maul.
As we have seen before unless fixed we will come a cropper
Against bigger units.

toulouse pack are the real deal. they crushed munster in the first half today in the scrum. munster scrapped well at the breakdown and should have won in the end but I think the toulouse pack will cause us problems in the semis.

I couldnt believe the commentary team from BT today when they were lauding the fact that Munster had turned the tables on Toulouse and were for a period dominant in the scrums …. What they failed to point out was at that time, Munster were scrummaging against a 7 man Toulouse scrum ( maybe they didnt notice ?)… and when the Arnold YC was over , Toulouse regained their dominance.

We really need to be concerned about the (8 man) Toulouse scrum , next week, and find some way to counteract.

[MylesNaGapoleen]

Is it me or are we struggling at scrum and defense maul.
As we have seen before unless fixed we will come a cropper
Against bigger units.

toulouse pack are the real deal. they crushed munster in the first half today in the scrum. munster scrapped well at the breakdown and should have won in the end but I think the toulouse pack will cause us problems in the semis.

I couldnt believe the commentary team from BT today when they were lauding the fact that Munster had turned the tables on Toulouse and were for a period dominant in the scrums …. What they failed to point out was at that time, Munster were scrummaging against a 7 man Toulouse scrum ( maybe they didnt notice ?)… and when the Arnold YC was over , Toulouse regained their dominance.

We really need to be concerned about the (8 man) Toulouse scrum , next week, and find some way to counteract.

agree 100% but admittedly I was sneaking a watch on my phone in a feckin nandos.
toulouse pack are quality.
as an aside, lots of the french star players like dupon and ntmack looked tired and made mistakes not usually associated with them

It's at "our gaff" and should be a brilliant game.

[tingman]

Is it me or are we struggling at scrum and defense maul.
As we have seen before unless fixed we will come a cropper
Against bigger units.

toulouse pack are the real deal. they crushed munster in the first half today in the scrum. munster scrapped well at the breakdown and should have won in the end but I think the toulouse pack will cause us problems in the semis.

Yes Sir-we may be sleepwalking into another "nearly star". For some time now we have struggled in the tight. Our maul D has been a real issue- even in the league. Not said here but our vaunted front row have struggled. Has the potential to kill us at the business end.

[ronk]

Is it me or are we struggling at scrum and defense maul.
As we have seen before unless fixed we will come a cropper
Against bigger units.

toulouse pack are the real deal. they crushed munster in the first half today in the scrum. munster scrapped well at the breakdown and should have won in the end but I think the toulouse pack will cause us problems in the semis.

I couldnt believe the commentary team from BT today when they were lauding the fact that Munster had turned the tables on Toulouse and were for a period dominant in the scrums …. What they failed to point out was at that time, Munster were scrummaging against a 7 man Toulouse scrum ( maybe they didnt notice ?)… and when the Arnold YC was over , Toulouse regained their dominance.

We really need to be concerned about the (8 man) Toulouse scrum , next week, and find some way to counteract.

Make sure we're playing 7 in the pack.

[ronk]

Who am I kidding, 3 French teams in the semis and a final in France. We'll be reffed off the park.

[D4surfer]

Does anyone have an educated guess of when the semifinal will be played?

[ronk]

Does anyone have an educated guess of when the semifinal will be played?

I imagine Toulouse will be pushing for Sunday after their extended game. But it's probably already been determined. (a Saturday).

[Hippo]

Plenty of salty stuff on the Tigers' forum, playing against a 'region/province', Leinster able to rest players, international team, French referee, best team for most of the match etc etc. There'd been some happiness when Reynal was announced as ref but that seems to have dissipated! In stark contrast, Borthwick gave a very classy interview after the match.

The fact is they were played off the park in the first half and then kept pretty much at arms' length in the second. They showed nothing in attack apart from the expected bosh and I thought it was overall an excellent Leinster performance, albeit still with room for some improvement. To go to Welford Road and win comfortably is no mean achievement, I had thought it would be much closer.