Leinster v Toulouse HC SF Sat 14th May 3:00pm

[mildlyinterested]

The scrum this weekend could be ugly for Leinster.

It’s a big concern. There’s a strong argument (and certainly one that Tigers fans are making) that we got some lucky calls against Leicester at the scrum (possibly due to a post Twickers pay back). We looked under pressure throughout the quarterfinal and the Irish pack struggled against England and France.
Toulouse have a monstrous front five and French internationals on the bench. It’s the area I’m most concerned about. Lack of a tight head lock remains a challenge. I don’t think Dev is the answer but he may come into the selection discussion.

If you play the collapse lottery you accept the price. Genge did it for England, got caught after the fact and it made it harder for him to get away with later. The Leinster scrum is pretty strong.

Toulouse were all over Munster when it was Archer but switching to Ryan (& Loughman) fixed that mostly.

I dunno if it did.. they were under huge pressure at the end.. lucky pearce didnt ping them

[blockhead]

It’s a big concern. There’s a strong argument (and certainly one that Tigers fans are making) that we got some lucky calls against Leicester at the scrum (possibly due to a post Twickers pay back). We looked under pressure throughout the quarterfinal and the Irish pack struggled against England and France.
Toulouse have a monstrous front five and French internationals on the bench. It’s the area I’m most concerned about. Lack of a tight head lock remains a challenge. I don’t think Dev is the answer but he may come into the selection discussion.

If you play the collapse lottery you accept the price. Genge did it for England, got caught after the fact and it made it harder for him to get away with later. The Leinster scrum is pretty strong.

Toulouse were all over Munster when it was Archer but switching to Ryan (& Loughman) fixed that mostly.

I dunno if it did.. they were under huge pressure at the end.. lucky pearce didnt ping them

Mildly, you are in your "there's no way we can win phase" atm.
But this is a team that lost at home to Ulster.
Then failed to beat a team in a stadium where that team always loses.
They are not pulling up any trees this season.
We really should win.

[mildlyinterested]

If you play the collapse lottery you accept the price. Genge did it for England, got caught after the fact and it made it harder for him to get away with later. The Leinster scrum is pretty strong.

Toulouse were all over Munster when it was Archer but switching to Ryan (& Loughman) fixed that mostly.

I dunno if it did.. they were under huge pressure at the end.. lucky pearce didnt ping them

Mildly, you are in your "there's no way we can win phase" atm.
But this is a team that lost at home to Ulster.
Then failed to beat a team in a stadium where that team always loses.
They are not pulling up any trees this season.
We really should win.

No i think we should win. But its going to be close and we could easily lose if the scrum doesnt hold up.

[TMC]

[/quote]

No i think we should win. But its going to be close and we could easily lose if the scrum doesnt hold up.
[/quote]

Would agree with this, handling accuracy, retaining possession and keeping the ball in play for sustained periods are key to running the arse off their pack. Like the majority here wouldn’t fancy our chances in a straight up arm wrestle. Looks like a dry day is in store so it really is a case of the top three inches being switched on 110% and concentration levels not dropping at all like they did in the second half last weekend, retaining possession and minimising knock ons. You drop your concentration against Toulouse or any team at this level and they slice you open. Maul defence will need to improve on last weekend in a big way. Toulouse managed the yellow card last week really well in fairness to them and being down a man against Ulster too. If the game plan is to keep the ball alive the back row have to be on top of their game, VDF and Doris are in great form, Conan maybe not so much, personally thought the kick through last weekend one where maybe he should have tried go down on the ball take the contact and try to offload to the supporting VDF I think it was, or consolidate the attacking position deep in the Leicester 22 and go through the phases. Would go with Ruddock to start for this weekend personally, with Conan coming on against a tiring Toulouse with a point to prove.
A lot of talk of Ryan being doubtful, if Ryan not fit changes the calculus quite a bit.
Toulouse have ridden their luck in a couple of games for sure but they are where they want to be and will be coming with their own plan, which one suspects will be based on forward dominance. Reading the French papers their media at least seem quite confident. If Leinster’s handling not on the money can see it being a long afternoon getting minced in the scrums. Semi finals can be funny and nervy games, just hope it stays as 15 on 15 and we’re not talking about a referee decision ruining the game come Saturday evening.
A lot of the meeja talking heads here are ex Munster players who seem to have spent this week talking Leinster up. Find that a little bit dubious tbh. Also laughable that programmes like OTB can't find one ex Leinster player to come on air in the week of a HEC semi final? The same Munster heads will be all over the airwaves on Monday pontificating about Leinster’s Achilles heel if the team doesn’t do its job on Saturday. Certainly if it’s a win for Leinster personally don’t see it being by more than one score.
Best of luck to the lads. Really looking forward to this one.

[D4surfer]

It’s a big concern. There’s a strong argument (and certainly one that Tigers fans are making) that we got some lucky calls against Leicester at the scrum (possibly due to a post Twickers pay back). We looked under pressure throughout the quarterfinal and the Irish pack struggled against England and France.
Toulouse have a monstrous front five and French internationals on the bench. It’s the area I’m most concerned about. Lack of a tight head lock remains a challenge. I don’t think Dev is the answer but he may come into the selection discussion.

If you play the collapse lottery you accept the price. Genge did it for England, got caught after the fact and it made it harder for him to get away with later. The Leinster scrum is pretty strong.

Toulouse were all over Munster when it was Archer but switching to Ryan (& Loughman) fixed that mostly.

I dunno if it did.. they were under huge pressure at the end.. lucky pearce didnt ping them

Munster only fixed it for 10 minutes. Not surprisingly, it was the 10 minutes that Toulouse were a man down in the pack.

[BlueStreak]

Jack Dunne and Ryan Baird both in the squad for Leinster 'A' tomorrow night. Would seem to suggest James Ryan is good to go for Saturday.

[fourthirtythree]

The scrum this weekend could be ugly for Leinster.

It’s a big concern. There’s a strong argument (and certainly one that Tigers fans are making) that we got some lucky calls against Leicester at the scrum (possibly due to a post Twickers pay back). We looked under pressure throughout the quarterfinal and the Irish pack struggled against England and France.
Toulouse have a monstrous front five and French internationals on the bench. It’s the area I’m most concerned about. Lack of a tight head lock remains a challenge. I don’t think Dev is the answer but he may come into the selection discussion.

The commentators were making a big deal about the TJ signalling a penalty to Leicester and Raynal motioned play on as the ball was at the back.

Genge very clearly lost his footing and faceplanted. As the ball was out no point in resetting or a penalty. Looked a good call to me but the TV chose not to replay it.

[wixfjord]

Jack Dunne and Ryan Baird both in the squad for Leinster 'A' tomorrow night. Would seem to suggest James Ryan is good to go for Saturday.

And that the bench spot is between McCarthy, Murphy and Toner.

[carlow man]

Anyone know how many tickets have been sold thus far??

[Theleinsterlad]

Anyone know how many tickets have been sold thus far??

They were bigging up the 32k sales and then Toulouse allocation came back which suggests it went backwards. Toulouse only had 500 fans travel last week, it could be hard doing the trip again and I presume they allocated at least 2,000 tickets to the away team?

[Blue Man]

Still a lot of tickets in the South lower. Hopefully we can hit 40k. Fingers crossed they have tickets available around the ground on match day to generate some walk in business as the weather forecast is good so it might inspire a late surge

[carlow man]

Strange that there was a running total all the way up to the munster match but since Tues evening we haven't heard anything. Yet we are being told that leinster need that 16th man on Saturday!! Why don't they just tell us how many are sold so far and it might encourage a few more to buy a ticket????

[carlow man]

Maybe drop the price for a couple of hours!! Have a "happy hour" 2 for 1 or 10 euro per ticket incentive for a limited time!!

[Ray Donovan]

Maybe drop the price for a couple of hours!! Have a "happy hour" 2 for 1 or 10 euro per ticket incentive for a limited time!!

Not exactly rewarding the fans who bought early to show their support!!

[Schumi]

Still a lot of tickets in the South lower. Hopefully we can hit 40k. Fingers crossed they have tickets available around the ground on match day to generate some walk in business as the weather forecast is good so it might inspire a late surge

A lot less available in the South stand than there was yesterday at least. Hopefully the rest of them sell.

[carlow man]

Maybe drop the price for a couple of hours!! Have a "happy hour" 2 for 1 or 10 euro per ticket incentive for a limited time!!

Not exactly rewarding the fans who bought early to show their support!!

I know but if it gets a full house and people spend money in the area and at the stadium then it makes a lot of sense. Half of the fans going on Sat are only there cos its a big match at the aviva. I'd rather see a few more blue jerseys in seats than a load of green!

[the spoofer]

Maybe drop the price for a couple of hours!! Have a "happy hour" 2 for 1 or 10 euro per ticket incentive for a limited time!!

Not exactly rewarding the fans who bought early to show their support!!

I know but if it gets a full house and people spend money in the area and at the stadium then it makes a lot of sense. Half of the fans going on Sat are only there cos its a big match at the aviva. I'd rather see a few more blue jerseys in seats than a load of green!

It makes no sense for Leinster to p1$$ off their core fans to generate additional income that they don’t receive.

[carlow man]

How is it pissing off core fans? Ita about trying to get as many people into the ground on Sat. Core fans will be there every time as we all know. For Sat its about trying to generate as much noise and getting a full house gives the team that extra push when it's needed. Away fixtures in France has shown us that.

[johng]

If you paid 66 bucks for an upper east stand ticket and now someone is getting tickets for a 10er. That could pi$$ some people off.

Yes. I know there were some available to STHs for a 10er in the presale

[mildlyinterested]

37k the latest according to the indo