Leinster v La Rochelle Heineken Cup Final Sat 28th May 4.45 Marseille

[jezzer]

Double post

[backrower8]

LAR team to play Stade at home this weekend is very much second string:

Le XV de départ : Reda WARDI, Facundo BOSCH, Joel SCLAVI, Romain SAZY (cap), Mathieu TANGUY, Rémi BOURDEAU, Matthias HADDAD, Victor VITO, Thomas BERJON, Jules PLISSON, Arthur RETIÈRE, Levani BOTIA, Jonathan DANTY, Pierre BOUDEHENT, Pierre POPELIN.

Le banc : Samuel LAGRANGE, Léo AOUF, Thomas PLOYET, Noé DELLA SCHIAVA, Eneriko BULIRUARUA, Malcom BERTSCHY, Martin ALONSO MUNOZ, Ramiro HERRERA.

First choice backrow player and two centres, plus 4 front 5 subs and 2 outside back subs. There's scope for injuries from those 9

[Ruckedtobits]

Pairing Botia & Danty together may be strategic and could be significant if it works. No sign of Brice Dulin which is promising and Vito isn't exactly a guy who will fancy playing three weekends on the trot coming back from injury.

[paddyor]

Interessting that they have Retiere on the wing. It's seems to be a trend with the French teams that they use an auxilliary 9 to generate quick ball.

[Barry]

Late change on the La Rochelle bench for today's game :- 20. Will Skelton

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[Ruckedtobits]

Fascinating to find out later today whether the decision of RO'G to name Will Skelton on the bench against Stade Francais in the key Top 14 fixture is 'smoke & mirrors' for next week.

A win is essential for LAR in their quest to make the Top 14 "barrage" so it's very unlikely to be a total blind by O'Gara. However, whether it is a further risk for Skelton to re-injure himself is a real question. The big man is a huge part of the LAR project and gives the rest of his pack real confidence.

This evening's game will decide a number of matters for LAR and a successful return for Skelton could extend it's impact right through to next weekend.

[neiliog93]

If he is back for the final, the one comfort is that he is such a huge man that he needs to play very regularly to stay fully match-fit. He becomes unfit more quickly than most others and probably wouldn't be firing on all cylinders in the final after just one sub appearance the week before.

[Dave Cahill]

I think we should all lose our sh!t because a guy who is shorter, lighter and older than a guy we ran into the ground last week is available

[neiliog93]

I think we should all lose our sh!t because a guy who is shorter, lighter and older than a guy we ran into the ground last week is available

Not shorter, but yes, slightly lighter. More powerful on a pound-for-pound basis than Meafou though, and a much better all-round rugby player.

[wixfjord]

Bring him on. If ROG wants to play mind games then let him.

We should be confident enough in our 23 that we want to take them on at as close to full strength as possible.

He came on for 12 minutes according to ESPN.

[Serb]

Looks like he played 12 minutes, had one carry for two meters and made no tackles according to the current stats. Not too worried about him either way.

[enby]

BBC have Della Schiava coming on but in any event 15 mins at the fag end of a match is not the best preparation for a European final.

[wixfjord]

Leo sounding positive on Tadhg/Kelleher/Lowe -
https://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/ ... 72852.html

Also said that Frawley passed his HIA but was getting stitched so timed out on the 10 minutes.
https://www.the42.ie/jordan-larmour-lei ... 9-May2022/

Hopefully we'll have a full deck to choose from and selection choices at #19 (McCarthy for me) and #23 (flip of a coin, possibly Larmour gives you more chance to turn a game around).

[leinsterforever]

I don't think Healy can possibly be selected to cover tighthead after yesterday. He was having to put his body and legs almost in a straight line to hold the scrum. That might be okay for a few seconds while they get the ball out, but it's a recipe for disaster on opposition put-in. Clarkson ahead of him is a bit of a no-brainer for me.

[FLIP]

I don't think Healy can possibly be selected to cover tighthead after yesterday. He was having to put his body and legs almost in a straight line to hold the scrum. That might be okay for a few seconds while they get the ball out, but it's a recipe for disaster on opposition put-in. Clarkson ahead of him is a bit of a no-brainer for me.

That's a technique to locking out the scrum, done right he can only be driven up or down which are both illegal.

[leinsterforever]

I don't think Healy can possibly be selected to cover tighthead after yesterday. He was having to put his body and legs almost in a straight line to hold the scrum. That might be okay for a few seconds while they get the ball out, but it's a recipe for disaster on opposition put-in. Clarkson ahead of him is a bit of a no-brainer for me.

That's a technique to locking out the scrum, done right he can only be driven up or down which are both illegal.

Well, I know that, but it's a kind of desperation move, isn't it? Lock it for just long enough to get the ball out. Any longer and he'll collapse and be penalised for having his feet too far back. Plus, it doesn't really give the second row something to push against.

[Ruckedtobits]

I don't think Healy can possibly be selected to cover tighthead after yesterday. He was having to put his body and legs almost in a straight line to hold the scrum. That might be okay for a few seconds while they get the ball out, but it's a recipe for disaster on opposition put-in. Clarkson ahead of him is a bit of a no-brainer for me.

Not on the basis of last night's performance. Clarkson was done at least twice by the younger brother.

[FLIP]

I don't think Healy can possibly be selected to cover tighthead after yesterday. He was having to put his body and legs almost in a straight line to hold the scrum. That might be okay for a few seconds while they get the ball out, but it's a recipe for disaster on opposition put-in. Clarkson ahead of him is a bit of a no-brainer for me.

That's a technique to locking out the scrum, done right he can only be driven up or down which are both illegal.

Well, I know that, but it's a kind of desperation move, isn't it? Lock it for just long enough to get the ball out. Any longer and he'll collapse and be penalised for having his feet too far back. Plus, it doesn't really give the second row something to push against.

Not really, if you're not attacking and you've won the ball, it makes you rock solid. You can do it without collapsing, and legs too far back isn't a reason for penalising a player. For him to go down would require a player driving at an incorrect angle.

[Theleinsterlad]

Vito got injured for LR last night. Interesting to see if he makes it back in time for the game next week. Apparently he had heavy strapping on his ankle

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Vito got injured for LR last night. Interesting to see if he makes it back in time for the game next week. Apparently he had heavy strapping on his ankle

That’d be a big loss, his offloading game is really important when they’re struggling to open teams up. Thought he was a strange selection considering his age and the work load he had recently.