Stormers v Leinster Sat 30 Apr KO 5:15pm RTE 2

[cormac]

https://www.leinsterrugby.ie/injury-upd ... own-clash/

Ronan Kelleher has returned to Dublin with the "minor shoulder knock" which kept him out of Saturday's game in Durban.

Tracy and Deegan both with neck and shoulder injuries respectively. Will be assessed later in the week.

Ryan Baird has stepped up his rehabilitation from a back injury.

[cormac]

Explains why Tracy didn't feature on Saturday. Picked up that knock in training last week.

[ronk]

Do we fly Toner out with the hooker shortage?

[wixfjord]

Looking at a fairly callow side for this one again then.

I wonder will they try spread game time around and give as many starts as possible?

Byrne, McKee, Mike, Murphy, Dunne, Soroka, Penny, Rhys, McCarthy, Harry, ROL, TOB, Osborne, Byrne, MOR
Barron, Dooley, Vakh, Deeny, Molony, Foley, Frawley, Russell

I would bench Frawley so he's fresh for Leicester and probably take Rhys/Mike off at 60 too.

If last week was an uphill challenge, this one will definitely be a scrap for a LBP imo.

[wixfjord]

Ryan Baird has stepped up his rehabilitation from a back injury.

In Leinster PR speak this could be anything on a spectrum from 'he's probably not going to die from the back injury but it's still touch and go' to 'he's raring to go for Leicester'.

[Ruckedtobits]

Looking at a fairly callow side for this one again then.

I wonder will they try spread game time around and give as many starts as possible?

Byrne, McKee, Mike, Murphy, Dunne, Soroka, Penny, Rhys, McCarthy, Harry, ROL, TOB, Osborne, Byrne, MOR
Barron, Dooley, Vakh, Deeny, Molony, Foley, Frawley, Russell

I would bench Frawley so he's fresh for Leicester and probably take Rhys/Mike off at 60 too.

If last week was an uphill challenge, this one will definitely be a scrap for a LBP imo.

Play RO'L beside Frawley in the middle & Osbourne at FB.

[neill_m]

DHL Stormers v Leinster

DHL Stadium, Cape Town – KO 17.15 IRE & UK / 18.15 ITA & SA

Referee: Craig Evans (WRU, 32nd league game)

AR 1: Aimee Barrett-Theron (SARU) AR 2: Morné Ferreira (SARU)

TMO: Marius Jonker (SARU)

[cormac]

DHL Stormers v Leinster

DHL Stadium, Cape Town – KO 17.15 IRE & UK / 18.15 ITA & SA

Referee: Craig Evans (WRU, 32nd league game)

AR 1: Aimee Barrett-Theron (SARU) AR 2: Morné Ferreira (SARU)

TMO: Marius Jonker (SARU)

[Serb]

At least his son doesn’t play for this team I guess?

[cormac]

https://www.the42.ie/lee-barron-leinste ... 6-Apr2022/

Quote from the article, as suspected Porter won't feature either this week.

Kelleher won’t feature, having flown back to Dublin following that shoulder injury, which Cullen describes as “pretty minor.” Loosehead prop Andrew Porter will also be rested, as the province look to keep their key men fresh for the trip to take on Leicester Tigers in the quarter-finals of the Heineken Champions Cup on 7 May.

[ronk]

At least his son doesn’t play for this team I guess?

So he's under no pressure to appear even handed

[mildlyinterested]

https://www.the42.ie/lee-barron-leinste ... 6-Apr2022/

Quote from the article, as suspected Porter won't feature either this week.

Kelleher won’t feature, having flown back to Dublin following that shoulder injury, which Cullen describes as “pretty minor.” Loosehead prop Andrew Porter will also be rested, as the province look to keep their key men fresh for the trip to take on Leicester Tigers in the quarter-finals of the Heineken Champions Cup on 7 May.

Porter no longer in SA afaik

[Dave Cahill]

South African TV will be delighted

[ronk]

South African TV will be delighted

I hope they don't do long term damage in their disappointment. This is a bad year with injuries and an away trip to Tigers.

A different slot in the calendar would see a better tour. Also there'll be big games coming in the playoffs and the Heineken Cup next season. Lots to be excited about.

We'll give the Stormers a good game.

[jezzer]

South African TV will be delighted

I hope they don't do long term damage in their disappointment. This is a bad year with injuries and an away trip to Tigers.

A different slot in the calendar would see a better tour. Also there'll be big games coming in the playoffs and the Heineken Cup next season. Lots to be excited about.

We'll give the Stormers a good game.

It's a shame for the Saffers that the fixtures fell the way they did. But it's not Leinster's job to promote the URC and, in fairness, if you were going to point fingers at teams who were dragging down the reputation and quality of the league, you probably wouldn't start with Leinster.

The sooner the URC settles into post-covid normality, the better.

[riocard911]

Certainly, I think the strong performance the Leinster "kids" put up against a Bok-heavy Sharks team has put the accusation, that the reigning Pro**/URC champions were "disrespecting" the competition, by putting out a "weakened" side, to bed.

[Ruckedtobits]

https://www.the42.ie/lee-barron-leinste ... 6-Apr2022/

Delighted that Leo gave the SA media a strong response about Leinster fielding an under-strength Squad for these games. Most media commentators want it both ways. They highlight player safety with big headlines about Yellow and Red cards but when a coaching group like Leinster pay real attention to player safety by ensuring that top players get adequate recovery before and after big games, media squel that Leinster are devaluing the Tournament.

And yet the strength of Leinster's Squad is precisely because it gets rotated throughout the season, big games or merely League matches, home or away. That's how young players like Tommy O'Brien and Frawley, Penny, McKee & Dunne are able to demonstrate their skills & talent against a really strong Sharks team with numerous Springbok players, and even emerge with a chance of winning with the last play.

Not every one of our young guys came through unscathed. Some found the pace of the opposition beyond their defensive capacity on occasions. Some found the sheer physicality of their forwards impossible to contain, or restrain, in particular confrontations. Some players went "into their shells" when the pressure of the Sharks line-out maul and scrum exerted a 15-minute spell of power & drive.

But that's the value of a game like that. Leinster can't replicate in training the size, strength and momentum of a fully-fledged SA Provincial pack, previously capable of competing toe-to-toe with the B&I Lions. Now we have another bunch of Leinster forwards who have experienced at first hand just how tough that can be. Those same forwards have also experienced that's it's possible to get your scrum and line-out sorted sufficiently to play the game your way, if all are focused on doing things together.

Cosgrave, Osborne, Foley, Clarkson, McKee, Barron, Dunne, & Deeny will each have different memories of moments in that game when they realised they have never had to deal with such a strong or fast opponent before. It has no doubt been already pointed out to them in the match review, just how they, as part of a team, did cope with those giants and speedsters and how, if you hang in and stay fighting, your opportunity to win will come around.

Around that group of youngsters, the slightly more experienced Leinster players like O'Brien, Frawley, O'Loughlin, Byrne, McCarthy, worked hard to put themselves in positions to attack or defend like they had seen Leinster international teammates do alongside them in games past.

Throughout the game, at the top of the queue for Leinster, was captain Rhys Ruddock, striking from the front in attack and defence, with or without the ball, taking the game to his opponents with real leadership. In that role he was helped by Porter, 'Big Mike', Dooley, Murphy, Deegan and Penny, each of whom showed the benefit of prior experience of playing on big days against big physical teams by maintaining your teamwork and keeping to your patterns.

I've watched the game a couple of times and am really proud of the manner in which this Leinster team kept in the fight. I'm surprised at the number of errors made by the Sharks players but am prepared to give a fair amount of credit to our guys for pressurising many of those mistakes.

This was a worthwhile fast-track learning experience and next Saturday against the Stormers will be another one. When one follows "The Quickening 2022" closely, it's clear that we could easily meet one or two of these SA teams at any stage of the URC Play-offs. Should we beat Tigers in the Heineken Cup, there are also a few powerhouse teams remaining in that competition. The next six weeks could include a lot of big collisions

[mildlyinterested]

would like to see Milne, Vakh, Soroka, SOB, Russell, O'Reilly rotated into this weeks 23.

I believe Marcus Hanan has flown out to the squad too.

[chrismcc]

Jonker replaced by Ben Crouse apparently

[Ruckedtobits]

Having watched the Stormers tear Glasgow a new one last weekend in a bonus point 32-7 win, I have no doubt that Leinster face a bigger challenge this weekend than against the Sharks.

Coach John Dobson's outfit are fit and well coached. Their scrum is strong and effective. They use their highly competent maul tactically, rather than as a demonstration of power. Their line-out is international quality. Their half-backs, Janjites and Libbock, are quick, precise and clever whilst their mid-field of Nel & Pretorius paid little respect to the Warriors international opposition and provided a stream of possession to their electric back three, of whom Senatla was the most dangerous on view.

Anybody in the Leinster twenty-three who makes a good enough impression to force his way into our Leicester Squad will have earned his reward the hard way. It seems inevitable that Rhys, Big Mike, Josh Murphy, Peter Dooley and Max Deegan will all be required to double up to give us a credible chance in this one.

The Stormers front-row of Kitshoff, Ntubeni and Malherbe are Springboks of experience and reputation and whilst their back-five forwards don't carry the same credentials, they play exactly like you'd traditionally expect of SA forwards.

Another huge learning experience for our Squad and it will be fascinating to see whether we kick, as much, or as deep, as we did last weekend or whether we try to use broken-up lineours and the short-side in attack, in order to spread out their forwards and play a more fluid game. Lots to look forward to and another great challenge for our team.