Leinster v Dragons Sat 18th Feb 7.35 RTE

[cormac]

Last night’s win means we’ve already guaranteed home advantage for the quarter finals.

[Oldschool]

The best we can do is take the positives and let Leocaster dish out the pain on Monday with some mitigation no doubt.
Positives.
JOB
Turner
HB in terms of getting badly needed game time.
Rhys
Penny
Jenkins in terms of he's back.
Deeny developing.
Boyle first cap.
McKee decent backup.

What Cormac said.

Negatives

[LeinsterLeader]

A bit sloppy alright. We did a lot of things right, but then followed up with mistakes. For example our D in the third quarter was top notch. The Dragons found it impossible to break through our line. But three times, one after another, after we'd driven them into touch or their pass went over the side line we made a hames of our own line-out and handed them easy possession in or around our 22.

I thought Harry had a fine game, all things considered, but that kick in the second half where he missed touch completely was terrible. He took little or no account of the wind and went to put the ball over as close to the corner flag as possible, despite having seen, like the rest of us, only a couple of minutes before Jimmy O'Brien's attempted 50-22 into the same corner being blown by the strong wind into the goal area and out the other end. Talk about an unforced error!!!

My son turned to me and said "what in the name of Billy Burns, was that"

[Dexter]

We also added a point to our lead over Stormers, up 12, effectively 13 with the points difference.

[Hippo]

A bit sloppy alright. We did a lot of things right, but then followed up with mistakes. For example our D in the third quarter was top notch. The Dragons found it impossible to break through our line. But three times, one after another, after we'd driven them into touch or their pass went over the side line we made a hames of our own line-out and handed them easy possession in or around our 22.

I thought Harry had a fine game, all things considered, but that kick in the second half where he missed touch completely was terrible. He took little or no account of the wind and went to put the ball over as close to the corner flag as possible, despite having seen, like the rest of us, only a couple of minutes before Jimmy O'Brien's attempted 50-22 into the same corner being blown by the strong wind into the goal area and out the other end. Talk about an unforced error!!!

My son turned to me and said "what in the name of Billy Burns, was that"

He had taken a knock previously and didn't look right. Hooked immediately after that (very uncharacteristic) kick. In fairness.

[riocard911]

A bit sloppy alright. We did a lot of things right, but then followed up with mistakes. For example our D in the third quarter was top notch. The Dragons found it impossible to break through our line. But three times, one after another, after we'd driven them into touch or their pass went over the side line we made a hames of our own line-out and handed them easy possession in or around our 22.

I thought Harry had a fine game, all things considered, but that kick in the second half where he missed touch completely was terrible. He took little or no account of the wind and went to put the ball over as close to the corner flag as possible, despite having seen, like the rest of us, only a couple of minutes before Jimmy O'Brien's attempted 50-22 into the same corner being blown by the strong wind into the goal area and out the other end. Talk about an unforced error!!!

My son turned to me and said "what in the name of Billy Burns, was that"

Yes, the name of a certain Ulster outhalf came to my mind too at that moment...

[hugonaut]

A bit sloppy alright. We did a lot of things right, but then followed up with mistakes. For example our D in the third quarter was top notch. The Dragons found it impossible to break through our line. But three times, one after another, after we'd driven them into touch or their pass went over the side line we made a hames of our own line-out and handed them easy possession in or around our 22.

I thought Harry had a fine game, all things considered, but that kick in the second half where he missed touch completely was terrible. He took little or no account of the wind and went to put the ball over as close to the corner flag as possible, despite having seen, like the rest of us, only a couple of minutes before Jimmy O'Brien's attempted 50-22 into the same corner being blown by the strong wind into the goal area and out the other end. Talk about an unforced error!!!

My son turned to me and said "what in the name of Billy Burns, was that"

He had taken a knock previously and didn't look right. Hooked immediately after that (very uncharacteristic) kick. In fairness.

I would call that a characteristic error. Harry kicks from hand with little margin for error, it's how he plays. His ambition is 100%, his execution is 90%.

The wind was very strong behind him and he had just seen Jimmy's run long. It was a bad decision to try for the corner flag. If he had tried for the 22, he would have got us 10m difference. It looked like a two club wind out there.

[riocard911]

My son turned to me and said "what in the name of Billy Burns, was that"

He had taken a knock previously and didn't look right. Hooked immediately after that (very uncharacteristic) kick. In fairness.

I would call that a characteristic error. Harry kicks from hand with little margin for error, it's how he plays. His ambition is 100%, his execution is 90%.

The wind was very strong behind him and he had just seen Jimmy's run long. It was a bad decision to try for the corner flag. If he had tried for the 22, he would have got us 10m difference. It looked like a two club wind out there.

What's that in yachting terms? Beaufort 5-6?

[LeinsterLeader]

A couple of standout moments from last night:
1. Someone (I didn't catch who) made a tackle on their 9 on their line just before the first try. If they didn't he was gone. Possibly all the way. He certainly wasn't gonna be caught anytime soon. 30 seconds later we had turned the ball over and scored. Small margins indeed.

2. Ross Moloneys steal and offload from their maul on our 5 meter line was a thing of beauty. The fact that Ireland don't want him is the gift that keeps on giving for us.

3. Jimmy's carry into their 8 that knocked him on his ass was amazing . I didn't think he had anything like that in his repertoire. In fact I thought his carrying into tackles last night (second half especially) had a new aggression I hadn't seen before. You could certainly make an argument that this is proof positive that running away from a challenge is not the way to go. He's obviously seen what Hugo is doing and thought I need to bring new dimensions to my game if I'm gonna dislodge this guy. If the guy you need to move is sitting across from you in the dressing room why run away to another Provence?
Or maybe I'm over thinking it

[Hippo]

I would call that a characteristic error. Harry kicks from hand with little margin for error, it's how he plays. His ambition is 100%, his execution is 90%.

Fair enough. I maintain that the knock he sustained affected his performance - he didn't even set himself properly for the kick, he really rushed it.

[wixfjord]

I think the wind had a big impact on our ability to get the backline into play. JOB barely touched the ball for the first half, neither did Osborne.

Overall there were actually a few good performances which is strange considering the overall showing was mixed.

Penny was MOTM for me.
McKee is turning into a real find. Great darts and lively around the pitch.
Milne scrummaged well against a tricky customer.

Boyle & Jenkins had two really good cameos. The difference Jenkins makes to our scrum is ridiculous.

Rhys & McGrath their usual selves. McGrath almost set up a try in first half due to an awful pass that fractured their defence. Maybe that's something he should look at doing more!

JOB and Larmour showed glimpses of why they're well above this level, the former in particular.

Turner to me looks a real find. Love his style of play and energy.

I reckon DK is on his last legs. He hasn't played much and is rusty, but looked at sea at times last night imo.

[Schumi]

I would call that a characteristic error. Harry kicks from hand with little margin for error, it's how he plays. His ambition is 100%, his execution is 90%.

Fair enough. I maintain that the knock he sustained affected his performance - he didn't even set himself properly for the kick, he really rushed it.

Yeah. I didn't see him taking a knock at the game but I definitely noticed that he seemed to be in an awful hurry to take that kick.

[wixfjord]

Thought Nick McCarthy had a very poor showing off the bench. These are the type of games he needs to show he can be a viable option.

Both he and Foley have failed to kick on this year.

[paddyor]

Thought Nick McCarthy had a very poor showing off the bench. These are the type of games he needs to show he can be a viable option.

Both he and Foley have failed to kick on this year.

Been a bit disappointed in foley. Especially the Connacht away game. Had a big windup on his kick and was targeted successfully. That was a big chance for him to make a case for himself and it passed him by.

[LeinsterLeader]

BTW, as I hadn't seen it mentioned anywhere, I seen Joe McCarthy in the Fan Zone yesterday and he was wearing a large support boot. Don't think we'll see him involved with Ireland so and might put him in doubt for Euro game contention.

[Blue Man]

It’s difficult at this time of the year when so many players are in camp and the supporters focus is on the 6 Nations. That said, I was disappointed with the Leinster performance. Important to acknowledge the Dragons because they were really committed and brought the Leinster kryptonite of being really aggressive at the breakdown and closing down space, fast with a rush defense.
Leinster had lots of unnecessary errors, a lack of physicality from the front five and I don’t think we competed sufficiently on the deck (either side of the ball). Penny is a live wire and a great ball carrier but for me, as an open side, he doesn’t do enough at the breakdown.
We were unable to play with width or continuity. I thought the backs were really poor, everything was laboured and predictable. There was no variation or decoy lines, whilst the passing was often slow and I precise, meaning the Dragons executed a number of man and ball tackles.

With the exception of McKee I thought the front five was poor. I was disappointed with Deegan and Osborne, both of who I relate really highly. But for me, Harry was the biggest disappointment. He forced a lot of passes, didn’t draw the opposition and failed to control the game, even when we were generating good ball.

On a more positive noteTurner looks really good at 13, Larmour took his try very well, Penny carried very well and Jimmy O’B is in top form (I’d like to see him get game time in Rome). I’m delighted that Rhys got MOTM, he’s the quintessential pro and has been a great Leinster player. I really hope that he follows his dad’s path into coaching.
Great to see Jack Boyle get his debut, I hope he avoided injuries and realizes his potential across a long Leinster career.
Lots to build on for the Edinburgh match in 2 weeks but no doubt Leo and the coaches will have the team focused to deliver an improved performance.

[Flash Gordon]

Won that fairly comfortably against a pretty average team who were definitely up for it. We didn't quite click on Saturday but the conditions were pretty poor. I was watching Harry launch the ball in the warm up and kicks were ending up behind him.

Also, I really don't like criticising officials but Adamson was really poor. On JJ's try the offload was right in front of us and the offload clearly went forward. Really enjoyed Larmour's try, great rugby intelligence to identify the opportunity and he probably saved a try at the other end of the pitch with a brilliant tackle into touch. Continue to be impressed by Turner, wasn't sure he'd make it given his size but he's proving that thought wrong.

[wixfjord]

Adamson is a ref who make games worse. Incredibly nit picky and he just seems to have no feel for the game at all.

[Theleinsterlad]

I think the wind had a big impact on our ability to get the backline into play. JOB barely touched the ball for the first half, neither did Osborne.

Overall there were actually a few good performances which is strange considering the overall showing was mixed.

Penny was MOTM for me.
McKee is turning into a real find. Great darts and lively around the pitch.
Milne scrummaged well against a tricky customer.

Boyle & Jenkins had two really good cameos. The difference Jenkins makes to our scrum is ridiculous.

Rhys & McGrath their usual selves. McGrath almost set up a try in first half due to an awful pass that fractured their defence. Maybe that's something he should look at doing more!

JOB and Larmour showed glimpses of why they're well above this level, the former in particular.

Turner to me looks a real find. Love his style of play and energy.

I reckon DK is on his last legs. He hasn't played much and is rusty, but looked at sea at times last night imo.

I think McGrath has been watching a lot of tapes on dupoint, that steak he did for his try is right out of watching the lines dupoint takes - FairPlay to Luke for continuing to improve his game.

Think that’s a bit harsh on Kearney thought he had a good enough game but stand to be corrected.

[wixfjord]

I think the wind had a big impact on our ability to get the backline into play. JOB barely touched the ball for the first half, neither did Osborne.

Overall there were actually a few good performances which is strange considering the overall showing was mixed.

Penny was MOTM for me.
McKee is turning into a real find. Great darts and lively around the pitch.
Milne scrummaged well against a tricky customer.

Boyle & Jenkins had two really good cameos. The difference Jenkins makes to our scrum is ridiculous.

Rhys & McGrath their usual selves. McGrath almost set up a try in first half due to an awful pass that fractured their defence. Maybe that's something he should look at doing more!

JOB and Larmour showed glimpses of why they're well above this level, the former in particular.

Turner to me looks a real find. Love his style of play and energy.

I reckon DK is on his last legs. He hasn't played much and is rusty, but looked at sea at times last night imo.

I think McGrath has been watching a lot of tapes on dupoint, that steak he did for his try is right out of watching the lines dupoint takes - FairPlay to Luke for continuing to improve his game.

Think that’s a bit harsh on Kearney thought he had a good enough game but stand to be corrected.

I think Dupont has been watching Luke McGrath tapes! McGrath has used that 3 times now that I can remember. First time against Connacht last year in the Sportsground and did it against Racing also.