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

[wixfjord]

A nice chance for some revenge. Should be some occasion.

Big question for us is the fitness of Tadhg.

I'd back us to have learned from last year and having JGP/J10 available is a big difference, as well as it being a neutral venue.

Skelton is a huge loss for them too, both literally and figuratively.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Based on how the heat seemed to impact the game today, should we perhaps send yesterday’s 23, plus a few others, to the Algarve or somewhere similar for the week instead of being in UCD?

[riocard911]

I think that's a great idea. Similar temperature to today in Lens - 26 degrees - forecast for Marseille on final day.

[alanair]

I think that's a great idea. Similar temperature to today in Lens - 26 degrees - forecast for Marseille on final day.

Only 21 Degrees in Algarve today

[alanair]

I think that's a great idea. Similar temperature to today in Lens - 26 degrees - forecast for Marseille on final day.

Only 21 Degrees in Algarve today

But hey .. by all means send them down - ill look after them here !!

[Caliphi]

Has Mr Power lost his marbles?
He is quoting us at 1/6 against LR. They are 10/3.
Crazy odds!

[wixfjord]

"Kerr Barlow will have a CT scan tomorrow, we hope nothing serious"

according to ROG.

He would be a huge loss to them.

Retiere is a fine utility player but not a top class 9. Likely that Berjon would start.

[Twist]

Has Mr Power lost his marbles?
He is quoting us at 1/6 against LR. They are 10/3.
Crazy odds!

I agree with you there. The little bit of coverage I’ve heard so far has been far too confident of us winning. They beat us last year & have home country advantage. Theyre used to the weather, and our scrum looks suspect. To compound that Furlong must be a doubt.

I’m not saying we’ve no chance or anything but it’s a very close call

[robhall.i]

Matt Williams seemed to think Skelton will be back in 2 weeks. Previous reports had him out for the season. Anyone know what the status is?

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[Ruckedtobits]

Midi Olympique tomorrow will have the word on Skelton. Kerr Barlow 'may have' (according to tweet from MO journo this evening), a fractured knuckle

[Theleinsterlad]

Midi Olympique tomorrow will have the word on Skelton. Kerr Barlow 'may have' (according to tweet from MO journo this evening), a fractured knuckle

ROG said Friday Skelton was out for season

[Morf]

Matt Williams seemed to think Skelton will be back in 2 weeks. Previous reports had him out for the season. Anyone know what the status is?

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Matt Williams says a lot of things.

He's just a doll that you pull the string of and rugby talking points come out of his mouth.

I'm sure he's a smashing guy to have a beer and a snag with but he's empty rugby rhetoric in the media.

[curates_egg]

"Kerr Barlow will have a CT scan tomorrow, we hope nothing serious"

according to ROG.

He would be a huge loss to them.

Retiere is a fine utility player but not a top class 9. Likely that Berjon would start.

Looked like he broke his hand. That's the signal the team doc was making.
He was very good and his replacement was really poor.

That game yesterday was muck. So many mistakes from both sides. West had the mega-yips...but so did that young Racing 9.

The La Rochelle scrum was under pressure at times, but they still have some units, so I would guess we will want to not let it be a factor.
Their maul looked pretty good, so I would be wary of that, given our maul defence.

We approached the game totally wrong last year. I hope we avoid that mistake this year.
Putting in an opening 20 minutes like the last two weeks would certainly help.

[riocard911]

As I recall, we got off to a pretty good start in the semi last year, didn't get the points on the board in the first quarter we might have expected and seemed then to lose our way. I don't think it's a coincidence, that J10 after the Toulouse match commended our sticking with the game plan and not getting disheartened, after having made all the initial play, only to find ourselves 3-7 down after a quarter of hour. In that context, I also think how strongly we finished Saturday's match is noteworthy. We played the full eighty minutes and put Toulouse to the sword. The TV comms were saying that was the heaviest defeat we've given them (whether this is true or not, I don't know). Ar aon nós, it's gonna take another 80 minute game to defeat LAR in the heat of Marseille.

[OTT]

Prematurely looking at the TH’s if Furlong doesn’t make it who would be on the bench?


Vakh is 26 and has only managed 17 Leinster caps over 5 seasons, his total game time comes to only 365 minutes and he’s never started a game for us.


Clarkson is 22 and also has 17 Leinster caps over 3 seasons but significantly has started 5 games and played 528 minutes.


They both have had their injury issues in the past but there’s not much top level rugby played there by either of them, I know Vakh has become a bit of a fan favourite because of his loose play but we’ve no real gauge of his engine at the highest level as his cameos usually come at the end of big wins (the recent game in South Africa being one of the exceptions), think Clarkson is probably the more rounded player who’s been earmarked from a young age to make the breakthrough.

The way our scrum is at the best of times you’d worry about these lads having to come in early or alternatively Mike getting flogged because you can’t risk bringing either of them on. Would we move Porter back over if something happened Mike?

What a signing Ala’alatoa has been for us over 1000minutes played this season.

Anyway, I’m clearly in for a long two weeks with the nerves .

[cormac]

As I recall, we got off to a pretty good start in the semi last year, didn't get the points on the board in the first quarter we might have expected and seemed then to lose our way. I don't think it's a coincidence, that J10 after the Toulouse match commended our sticking with the game plan and not getting disheartened, after having made all the initial play, only to find ourselves 3-7 down after a quarter of hour. In that context, I also think how strongly we finished Saturday's match is noteworthy. We played the full eighty minutes and put Toulouse to the sword. The TV comms were saying that was the heaviest defeat we've given them (whether this is true or not, I don't know). Ar aon nós, it's gonna take another 80 minute game to defeat LAR in the heat of Marseille.

We beat them 40-10 in Donnybrook in 2001.

[wixfjord]

I'd say Vakh has to be the next option. He's older, looks more physically mature and more likely to be able to hold a scrum up compared to Clarkson at this stage.

Other option could be move Porter back to TH but that would be a regressive step imo.

[cormac]

Resurrect the Healy to TH experiment. Ed Byrne as loosehead sub?

[wixfjord]

Resurrect the Healy to TH experiment. Ed Byrne as loosehead sub?

That would make more sense alright.

Would be some kick in the nads for Vakh though.

[fourthirtythree]

Resurrect the Healy to TH experiment. Ed Byrne as loosehead sub?

That would make more sense alright.

Would be some kick in the nads for Vakh though.

Maybe, but Healy has shown more at tighthead this year than Vakh has. Mad as that sounds.