Leinster v Ulster: HC Last 16; April 1st

[the spoofer]

I agree and would like Leinster to follow through on their plan to build centres of excellence across the province, not just in Donnybrook. In fact, I think we should have IRFU funded centres based on geography rather than province. 6/8 centres across the country with similar funding and expert coaching, s&c , nutritionists etc. Limerick, Cork, Galway, midlands, north west, ulster central, and south east would provide a good spread.

I do think they're on that pathway. A young lad I know, he's a lounge-boy in my local, plays for a club in Meath and is in the North East Development squad and travels for regular, centralised to the region, coaching, S&C and nutritional sessions. It seems to be a lot of hard work for him and his parents but he loves it - I think there's an element behind it, not unlike the sub academy, of deliberately stressing the players and their commitment

THere are the 5 'areas' for the Clubs players in Leinster - South-East, North-East, MIdlands, North Midlands and Metro which start at U16 (trialling as U15's) and the Shane Horgan matches between the areas. THese provide a path for clubs players to come through to the Leinster U18 Clubs team. The setup there is very professional, with superb coaching and both gym-work and pitch work addressed. Obviously, in comparison to those on the schools pathway, there is a lower amount of time available as these squads are only able to meet once a week (in addition to their club training) rather than the more intensive schools programmes

There are certain flaws with the system in that, in my experience, if a player is unavailable for screening or develops that bit later then the chance of getting picked up is extremely small. I also think that there can be a certain bias towards kids that the selecting coaches are familiar with from their own clubs but that is a relatively small issue. The biggest challenge for country lads is still the lure of county GAA development panels. It's at the stage now where every kid who can kick a ball is either brought in to a county development panel or soccer ''Academy''

[FtD]

Out of curiosity I went and looked at the alumni of both Rock and Michaels who are still playing, and you could pick two excellent XVs (I couldn't quite fill out the 23s):

Blackrock: (15-9,1-8): Hugo Keenan, Tommy O'Brien, Garry Ringrose, Liam Turner, Andrew Conway, Joey Carbery, Paddy Patterson, Jeremy Loughman, Dave Heffernan, Oli Jager, Gavin Thornbury, Joe McCarthy, Nick Timoney, Conor Oliver, Caelan Doris.

Rock reps: [hooker - blank], Denis Buckley, Tom Clarkson, James Culhane, Jordi Murphy, Ian Madigan, Ben Brownlee, Sean O'Brien. (6-2 split, Madigan covering s/h).

Michaels: (15-9,1-8): Chris Cosgrave, Andrew Smith, Rory O'Loughlin, Noel Reid, Rob Russell, Ross Byrne, Luke McGrath, Jack Boyle, Ronan Kelleher, Denis Coulson, Ross Molony, James Ryan, Ryan Baird, Scott Penny, Max Deegan.

Reps: Lee Barron, [LHP- blank], [THP - blank], Oisin Dowling, Josh Murphy, Nick McCarthy, Harry Byrne, Henry McErlean.

I'm not including in those squads a lot of other good players too including Jack Dunne, Fintan Gunne, Conor O'Tighearnaigh, Sam Berman, Will Hickey (all Michaels) and Peter Robb, Hugh Cooney, Rory McGuire, Paddy McCarthy, (all Rock), plus a lot of 7s guys like Jack Kelly, Mark Roche, Niall Comerford, Bryan Mollen etc.

[ronk]

I don't see how that model isn't replicable elsewhere with the right resources.

Success is a limited resource. The model is fueled by success and can't be replicated by everyone else but can be by anyone else.

But competition is also important at driving improvement.

[Theleinsterlad]

I don't see how that model isn't replicable elsewhere with the right resources.

Success is a limited resource. The model is fueled by success and can't be replicated by everyone else but can be by anyone else.

But competition is also important at driving improvement.

I think Leo gets very little credit for the culture that is now at Leinster. Before he came in this system was not working like it is now, we had an amazing coach in Smyth who got the best out of the player group he had but didn’t necessarily put in the youth structures and Leo in his first year blooded the first of our now yearly young stars coming out of the academy. I might be corrected here but he was already having the senior academy players training with the senior squad before Lancaster came in. I agree with what Stuart has said, coaches can have a massive impact on performance of their squad

[backrower8]

I agree with those who have said that McFarland's defeatist comments allow their entire club to adopt a failing mentality. I actually think it is a hanging offence and that he should move on/be moved on for saying it on top of how they have plateaud in the last 4 years or so.

Ulster have the rugby tradition and clubs and resources and population to be at the top table.

Possibly a factor in Ulster's failure is that a lot of young people choose to leave and go to University in the UK once school is over. That tradition may be hemorrhaging a stream of potential players.

[wixfjord]

Brilliant analysis from Murray K of our kicking game at the weekend.

https://www.the42.ie/leinster-kicking-a ... =shortlink

When you see some of them back to back you realise how good it was and how often we found grass behind Ulster defenders, gaining loads of territory that our imperious lineout made hay from.

[hugonaut]

Brilliant analysis from Murray K of our kicking game at the weekend.

https://www.the42.ie/leinster-kicking-a ... =shortlink

When you see some of them back to back you realise how good it was and how often we found grass behind Ulster defenders, gaining loads of territory that our imperious lineout made hay from.

Yes, an excellent article.

This game was very difficult for Lowry because a] we targeted him as a kick-to-compete recipient; b] the ball was incredibly slippy due to the rain; and c] the grass was short from the soccer game and the pitch was saturated, which made it hard to change direction quickly without slipping.

Lowry is 5'7", so it's a really obvious tactic to bomb him. Everyone else on the pitch is taller than him and has longer arms than him.

With a slippy ball, the benefit is definitely with the attacking team – you only have to bat the ball backwards with one arm, not catch it, because [in theory] your entire team is running on to it. If you bat the ball backwards as the defender, the entire opposition team is still running on to it, and now there is nobody between them and the line. So catching the ball clean is at a premium for the defender and the slippy ball makes that significantly harder.

Lowry's best thing is his open field running, and he basically couldn't trust his footing. He couldn't trust that he'd be able to change direction. So a really tough day for him. It is a scenario he will see again.

[Flash Gordon]

Brilliant analysis from Murray K of our kicking game at the weekend.

https://www.the42.ie/leinster-kicking-a ... =shortlink

When you see some of them back to back you realise how good it was and how often we found grass behind Ulster defenders, gaining loads of territory that our imperious lineout made hay from.

Yes, an excellent article.

This game was very difficult for Lowry because a] we targeted him as a kick-to-compete recipient; b] the ball was incredibly slippy due to the rain; and c] the grass was short from the soccer game and the pitch was saturated, which made it hard to change direction quickly without slipping.

Lowry is 5'7", so it's a really obvious tactic to bomb him. Everyone else on the pitch is taller than him and has longer arms than him.

With a slippy ball, the benefit is definitely with the attacking team – you only have to bat the ball backwards with one arm, not catch it, because [in theory] your entire team is running on to it. If you bat the ball backwards as the defender, the entire opposition team is still running on to it, and now there is nobody between them and the line. So catching the ball clean is at a premium for the defender and the slippy ball makes that significantly harder.

Lowry's best thing is his open field running, and he basically couldn't trust his footing. He couldn't trust that he'd be able to change direction. So a really tough day for him. It is a scenario he will see again.

He also couldn't count on the fact that Ryan Baird wasn't going to nail him from 20 meters away!

[the spoofer]

Brilliant analysis from Murray K of our kicking game at the weekend.

https://www.the42.ie/leinster-kicking-a ... =shortlink

When you see some of them back to back you realise how good it was and how often we found grass behind Ulster defenders, gaining loads of territory that our imperious lineout made hay from.

Yes, an excellent article.

This game was very difficult for Lowry because a] we targeted him as a kick-to-compete recipient; b] the ball was incredibly slippy due to the rain; and c] the grass was short from the soccer game and the pitch was saturated, which made it hard to change direction quickly without slipping.

Lowry is 5'7", so it's a really obvious tactic to bomb him. Everyone else on the pitch is taller than him and has longer arms than him.

With a slippy ball, the benefit is definitely with the attacking team – you only have to bat the ball backwards with one arm, not catch it, because [in theory] your entire team is running on to it. If you bat the ball backwards as the defender, the entire opposition team is still running on to it, and now there is nobody between them and the line. So catching the ball clean is at a premium for the defender and the slippy ball makes that significantly harder.

Lowry's best thing is his open field running, and he basically couldn't trust his footing. He couldn't trust that he'd be able to change direction. So a really tough day for him. It is a scenario he will see again.

I know that it would risk front line defence but I'm surprised that Ulster didn't try and give Lowry more support in the back field. He was left very exposed. Leinster went after him relentlessly.

[Ruckedtobits]

Brilliant analysis from Murray K of our kicking game at the weekend.

https://www.the42.ie/leinster-kicking-a ... =shortlink

When you see some of them back to back you realise how good it was and how often we found grass behind Ulster defenders, gaining loads of territory that our imperious lineout made hay from.

Yes, an excellent article.

This game was very difficult for Lowry because a] we targeted him as a kick-to-compete recipient; b] the ball was incredibly slippy due to the rain; and c] the grass was short from the soccer game and the pitch was saturated, which made it hard to change direction quickly without slipping.

Lowry is 5'7", so it's a really obvious tactic to bomb him. Everyone else on the pitch is taller than him and has longer arms than him.

With a slippy ball, the benefit is definitely with the attacking team – you only have to bat the ball backwards with one arm, not catch it, because [in theory] your entire team is running on to it. If you bat the ball backwards as the defender, the entire opposition team is still running on to it, and now there is nobody between them and the line. So catching the ball clean is at a premium for the defender and the slippy ball makes that significantly harder.

Lowry's best thing is his open field running, and he basically couldn't trust his footing. He couldn't trust that he'd be able to change direction. So a really tough day for him. It is a scenario he will see again.

I know that it would risk front line defence but I'm surprised that Ulster didn't try and give Lowry more support in the back field. He was left very exposed. Leinster went after him relentlessly.

Your point is the very reason Murray Kinsella was able to fill his article with examples. Ross Byrne's kicking was superb on the day. His line kicking was sensational and is part of the reasons his forwards work so hard for him.

[the spoofer]

Yes, an excellent article.

This game was very difficult for Lowry because a] we targeted him as a kick-to-compete recipient; b] the ball was incredibly slippy due to the rain; and c] the grass was short from the soccer game and the pitch was saturated, which made it hard to change direction quickly without slipping.

Lowry is 5'7", so it's a really obvious tactic to bomb him. Everyone else on the pitch is taller than him and has longer arms than him.

With a slippy ball, the benefit is definitely with the attacking team – you only have to bat the ball backwards with one arm, not catch it, because [in theory] your entire team is running on to it. If you bat the ball backwards as the defender, the entire opposition team is still running on to it, and now there is nobody between them and the line. So catching the ball clean is at a premium for the defender and the slippy ball makes that significantly harder.

Lowry's best thing is his open field running, and he basically couldn't trust his footing. He couldn't trust that he'd be able to change direction. So a really tough day for him. It is a scenario he will see again.

I know that it would risk front line defence but I'm surprised that Ulster didn't try and give Lowry more support in the back field. He was left very exposed. Leinster went after him relentlessly.

Your point is the very reason Murray Kinsella was able to fill his article with examples. Ross Byrne's kicking was superb on the day. His line kicking was sensational and is part of the reasons his forwards work so hard for him.

Apologies but I haven't had a chance to read MK's article yet.