lots of threads flying about but lets address the issue of the game.
My view is yes they are very good but we are the Champions and they have to fear us and they do. I feel we have the same air of invincibility that Toulouse once had.
They are not playing in Clermont but Bordeaux and while yes it is in France it is not their bearpit. We will have a huge support in the stadium 3 - 5k and a belief that we will win.
Another huge factor is Brad Thorne, he will keep Nathan busy all afternoon thus reducing his effectiveness.
Lets not be afraid but take it to them from the start and make them wilt when they realise they cannot beat us.
The only change I'd personally make is Jennings at 7 and O'Brien at 6. Kev had an excellent game in the QF around the park, and I can't fault him in any way, but a main reason we start him is for the 4th lineout option. There is simply no evidence that our lineout is better with him on. We haven't had a great lineout lately, and it is no better with or without him.
“As you all know first prize is a Cadillac El Dorado. Anyone wanna see second prize? Second prize is a set of steak knives. Third prize is you're fired.”
There's no reason to be confident. I really think Clermont are the favourites. Record counts for nothing, hunger for everything. They're going to come at us harder than they've ever come at anyone before. This going to one of the hardest matches against one of the best teams we've ever faced.
Why shouldnt we be confident. We are playing a great brand of rugby, have proven we can win dogfights and have a really good record away from home. Gone are the days where we implode away.
Take Toulouse 2 years ago, .the game was in Toulouse, our scrum was destroyed and missing Jonny yet we still came back to 16 all. Then shipped a poor try. It was a game we could have won.
I firmly believe we are a much stronger team now with an awesome bench and very astute coach who knows the mindset of the opposition. Yes it will be very, very tough but if we play to our best we will win.
The key to this game in my view will be the extent to which we can get to Brock James. I remain of the view that he is one of the most over-rated players in world rugby. He has shown time and again that he doesn't have the bottle in the big away matches, but he generally acquits himself fine in the Stade Marcel Michelin. The question for present purposes is which of these two characters will turn up in Bordeaux. For the first 10-15 minutes of the semi, I think we should be sending Healy, Thorn, SOB etc. down his channel at every available opportunity. If we can get to him, there's a good chance that he'll do us a few favours during the course of the game.
"Hickie, scorching down the wing... God, I've missed saying that!" - Ryle Nugent
Blue not red blood wrote:I feel we have the same air of invincibility that Toulouse once had.
Fair enough believing in your team is one thing, but comments like this tend to come back and bite you.
I for one hope there is NO air whatsoever in the camp. I feel Leinster have been doing so well not due to confidence but due to a decent work ethos. They have a job to do, and will go about it in the best, most efficient way possible - drills, training and more handling skills training since Joe has come onboard has helped turn that work ethos into a winning ethos, the moment the team start thinking anything other than that we'll start going backwards. I trust Joe and the coaching staff are aware of this and are doing their best to keep them level headed and be aware of the threat that are Clermont and their amazing fans.
Clermont are favourites for me to win this game. We'll need some seriously big guns up front to win this. With that in mind I'd start Locky, as he's more abrasive and will add to the engine room in the scrum. Jennings to come on and aid in leadership in what will no doubt be a tight match right till the end.
If we can match them upfront that's half the battle won. The rest of the game will be decided by the half backs, and if Reddan/Boss/Sexton can turn up the tempo there's a chance they won't live with us. Only a chance.
I watched the Clermont v SF match today, and Clermont's second string pack bullied them around the pitch. Conters had a horrible old day. If they get the front foot on us like that we'll see a knackered Sexton and Reddan after 50, and I'd be worried about bringing Madigan on in a tight match. I think we'll need to keep it tight but fast for the first quarter - commit our big units to the ruck to clear out for clean ball, but keeping it tight for the first while. If they start to tire those clear outs will be delivered to second receiver and we could start to open the game. But that all hinges on us winning the breakdown battle and stopping Hines and Cudmore causing havoc in the breakdown.
As a Leinster fan I'll be shouting my lungs out in Stade Chabans, I'll (hopefully) be marching on the venue with 5k+ Leinster supporters, and I'll be believing in the lads to play their hearts out, but I'm under no illusion how tight this match is. In terms of difficulty this is possibly the hardest matchup we've had in the past 4 seasons of ERC rugby. (Hard route last year, but home semi and home quarter, Saints were on form but hardly world beaters, Toulouse semi year before but we lost, Leicester were on the decline the year before that and the Munster game was 50/50)
If we win this it'll go down in the history books no doubt...
Invincible my arse, we were well beaten by ospreys a few weeks ago.both teams are coming into form for a titanic battle. They have home advantage, we have the experience. Tough one to call.
johng wrote:I think we will try and get in behind their 3/4 line. Sivivatu, Fofana, Rougerie, and Malzieu are 4 incredible players going forward.........
Fofana is a little suspect in defence and the other 3 are big big men who don't like it in behind them (ooer)
which was then followed with a post of:
"Ils sont en forme ca va etre chaud", (they are in form and are hot)
which was then followed by:
"La match ce soir, Il etait trés fou. Il était Leinster 2'ieme equipe mais pour Heaslip, D'Arcy et Nacewa. L'equipe était trés forte ce soir. C'est trés bien pour mon coeur et mes yeux", (which is something along the lines of - the game was mad, this was their second team apart from Heaslip, Darce and Isa. The team was very strong this evening).
[Jackass] wrote:You missed "C'est trés bien pour mon coeur et mes yeux" : It's very good for my heart and eyes....whatever that means...
I know I couldn't figure that out. I knew it was "it is very good" and something to do with "eyes", "Heart" was beyond me however.
There was a winking face after it, so really not sure what his point was!!!!!!!!!!!!
With Clermont having gotten the Bouclier monkey off their backs and finally closed out a cup match for silverware, I'm not so sure we can expect them to be a little overawed by the experience like they were two of the last three times we met (both away too).
They didn't even play that great the day they beat us on their patch. They had other gears they just didn't tap into on the day.
This is the only team in the competition who I fear could beat us even if we're playing our A game. Now they've won a Bouclier, the belief will be even stronger than in previous meetings. It's the relentless power they bring to a game that teams find it very hard to live with for 80 minutes. Our breakdown work will have to be faultless, our defence fearless, our set piece rock solid.
They worry me. Which is great - our players want to test themselves against the best and they got their wish in Bordeaux.
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