Leinster v Treviso Fri 23rd 7.35 TG4

[naraic]

Very exciting team.

Has Frawley been given dispensation to join Emerging Ireland camp later?

Baird at 6, Healy back to TH cover and Foley benching are very interesting selections.

I want to say that the flight to South Africa is on Saturday so by having a Friday match we have access to our emerging Ireland players while others don't.

[paddyor]

Very exciting team.

Has Frawley been given dispensation to join Emerging Ireland camp later?

Baird at 6, Healy back to TH cover and Foley benching are very interesting selections.

I want to say that the flight to South Africa is on Saturday so by having a Friday match we have access to our emerging Ireland players while others don't.

Yeah Munster game is Sunday in Wales. Ulster tomorrow in Wales too.

[hugonaut]

Really good team – Frawley at No10 and Baird at No6 are a couple of selections that I'm happy to see. I expect that I'm not alone there.

That's two 125kg players in our front five and three 198cm+ players in the back five of the pack. Obviously you can add size anywhere in a pack by choosing to play a bigger player over a smaller player, but certainly blindside is a key position for making a pack bigger. A number of teams use three locks these days – PSDT [200cm/120kg] or Franco Mostert [198cm/112kg] for the Boks, Courtney Lawes for England [201cm/115kg], Michael Rhodes [197cm/114kg] for Saracens are the ones who spring to mind immediately – and it's not something that we look at very often.

A long time ago we picked Nathan Hines at No6 for a trip down to Thomond and in the more recent past we used Fardy there with great success in 2018. The Hines selection was essentially a one-off, and Fardy was a blindside before coming to Leinster.

I think Baird is a very, very good fit for the job. Signing Jenkins and McCarthy's very quick progress means that we have much less need for Baird to play at second row for us, and this might be a better fit for his unique athletic talents. He has a phenomenal leap as a lineout player, and obviously he is very, very fast in the open field. If he can find his way in the gameplan and get confident in the role, he could be a hell of a player for us there.

Pleasantly surprised to see Foley back in the mix, I thought he was going to be out a lot longer.

[cormac]

it wouldn't be a Leinster match without a late change.

Ryan out, Molony starts, McCarthy on bench.

[wixfjord]

it wouldn't be a Leinster match without a late change.

Ryan out, Molony starts, McCarthy on bench.

This never fails to amuse me.

Would love to know the reason for it.

[Laighin Break]

Should surely have been a penalty try for the early tackled on Kearney

[Mookie]

Jenkins having a great game.

[Ray Donovan]

Jenkins having a great game.

Was just about to post it.

[wixfjord]

Ross Byrne still ahead of Frawley as a 10 on this performance.

[RoboProp]

Jury still out for me regarding Baird. Ball retention in contact is still a major work upon for him

[CiaranIrl]

Jury still out for me regarding Baird. Ball retention in contact is still a major work upon for him

Sumptuous pass from him to McGrath there towards the end. For some reason I'm reminded of a line a record label exec said to Leonard Cohen early in his career. He said, '“Leonard, we know you're great, we just don't know if you're any good."

Baird is an incredible rugby player and an incredible athlete, but we don't know if he's any good in a particular position yet.

[wixfjord]

Pretty mixed performance despite the score line. A few common issues from last week like backline play. Our attacking ruck was poor too.

Thought Jenkins was really good. Sheehan obviously MOTM. JOB/JVDF good also.

Maul is a real weapon now.

Cormac Foley's pass looked good when he came on, he was lively.

Hopefully Frawley is ok.

[mildlyinterested]

Ross Byrne still ahead of Frawley as a 10 on this performance.

Bonkers

[wixfjord]

Ross Byrne still ahead of Frawley as a 10 on this performance.

Bonkers

It is isn't it? You'd hope Frawley would jump ahead, but not on those respective showings.

[Ruckedtobits]

Ross Byrne still ahead of Frawley as a 10 on this performance.

Bonkers

+1. Frawley did everything needed of him and his details were excellent.

[Ruckedtobits]

Treviso will play worse and win games this year. That was a European Pool-level Leinster team playing at very high pace throughout with relatively few mistakes. Jenkins is certainly a good addition and Baird is becoming a work-horse. McCarthy mixed good and sloppy in his cameo. Larmour and Kearney were a little disappointing. Jimmy O'B was excellent and could be even more dangerous coming through the inside lane z late.

Very satisfied with the performance and pace of game in which the Treviso defence was excellent.

[wixfjord]

Ross Byrne still ahead of Frawley as a 10 on this performance.

Bonkers

+1. Frawley did everything needed of him and his details were excellent.

What exactly does that mean? Specifically like…

[hugonaut]

Jury still out for me regarding Baird. Ball retention in contact is still a major work upon for him

Sumptuous pass from him to McGrath there towards the end. For some reason I'm reminded of a line a record label exec said to Leonard Cohen early in his career. He said, '“Leonard, we know you're great, we just don't know if you're any good."

Baird is an incredible rugby player and an incredible athlete, but we don't know if he's any good in a particular position yet.

I would be very inclined to give him time at the position, I think it's a good fit for his particular talents.

Great to see Will Connors back and flying around. What a rugby player. Really enjoyed that game, great to be back in the RDS.

[Logorrhea]

I thought Frawley was good. Defensively solid, threatening with ball in hand at moments, kicked well from both tee and hand. It was a shame to see him go off.

I thought losing Doris was pretty huge, but aside from that, it was a pretty good performance. Decent crowd for a Friday night too.

[blockhead]

Frawley did look good. So did Ross whe he came on.
Jenkins looked lively and very determined to put in a good performance.
Sheehan now has 20 tries in his first 30 games, thats some goin.
The ref was very quick to give a pen at the breakdown against the attacking team, and 10 metres too.