Leinster v Toulouse HC SF Sat 14th May 3:00pm

[wixfjord]

Looks like Larmour will be available anyway:

[glenageary]

Delibes (ankle), germain (knees), Medard (concussion + Thigh) uncertain, according to Toulouse fans forum

[wixfjord]

Medard looked like he was definitely out anyway.

[alanair]

Delibes (ankle), germain (knees), Medard (concussion + Thigh) uncertain, according to Toulouse fans forum

Damn… I was hoping Medford would be playing

[alanair]

Delibes (ankle), germain (knees), Medard (concussion + Thigh) uncertain, according to Toulouse fans forum

Damn… I was hoping Medford would be playing

***Medard

[Blue Man]

Delibes (ankle), germain (knees), Medard (concussion + Thigh) uncertain, according to Toulouse fans forum

They’re down quite a few players in the 3/4s. I expect we’ll look to go wide early and move their enormous pack around so there might be weaknesses in the 3/4s to go after

[riocard911]

33,000 tickets sold on Monday, according to the Leinster Rugby Fans Forum on FB. Here's hoping for a full house.

[tingman]

33,000 tickets sold on Monday, according to the Leinster Rugby Fans Forum on FB. Here's hoping for a full house.

Thats an impressive number.

[bluemagic]

A big chunk of the conversation over on boards.ie at the moment is about whether or not Doris is a top class player. I would have him as the second best back row in the country behind VDF but apparently boards thinks otherwise

[curates_egg]

A big chunk of the conversation over on boards.ie at the moment is about whether or not Doris is a top class player. I would have him as the second best back row in the country behind VDF but apparently boards thinks otherwise

I think it’s fair to say neither he nor Conan are currently hitting their previous heights. I’m not fully sure why Doris is on the player of the year shortlist. I can think of other backrows in Ireland (and even in Leinster) who are in better and more consistent form.

That said, Stuart Barnes thinks JGP is the best 9 in the northern hemisphere and, despite being one of his longest serving fans, I don’t think even I would claim that. People have different opinions and social media promotes the more extreme.

[OTT]

I think Doris is absolute class, I always think the negative chat about him is people trying to get one of their favourites in ahead of him. We had it on here in the past when certain posters wanted Deegan in ahead of him now we have it with Ireland where certain teams fans want POM/Coombes/JOD/Hodnett/Kendellan in no particular order getting into the Irish back row.

Infairness it’s not a unique discussion to him, the same happens with Josh, Jack, Rhys and whoever else gets in like Connors. All great players fighting for 3 positions I suppose it’s human nature. If Leavy was still around at his best you might have a situation where Josh wouldn’t be in the team and that idea seems far fetched now. Good complaints.

[curates_egg]

I think Doris is absolute class, I always think the negative chat about him is people trying to get one of their favourites in ahead of him. We had it on here in the past when certain posters wanted Deegan in ahead of him now we have it with Ireland where certain teams fans want POM/Coombes/JOD/Hodnett/Kendellan in no particular order getting into the Irish back row.

Infairness it’s not a unique discussion to him, the same happens with Josh, Jack, Rhys and whoever else gets in like Connors. All great players fighting for 3 positions I suppose it’s human nature. If Leavy was still around at his best you might have a situation where Josh wouldn’t be in the team and that idea seems far fetched now. Good complaints.

I think there is no doubt that Doris is a "top class player", so that discussion is silly. He should have been on the Lions tour and may have been a test player.
I also think that form should not be ignored: it's good for neither the underperforming player, the players in form, the wider squad and the general public perception.

[mildlyinterested]

Doris is a quality player, but he does he have a bad habit of losing the ball in contact a bit too often.

[blockhead]

I think Doris is absolute class, I always think the negative chat about him is people trying to get one of their favourites in ahead of him. We had it on here in the past when certain posters wanted Deegan in ahead of him now we have it with Ireland where certain teams fans want POM/Coombes/JOD/Hodnett/Kendellan in no particular order getting into the Irish back row.

Infairness it’s not a unique discussion to him, the same happens with Josh, Jack, Rhys and whoever else gets in like Connors. All great players fighting for 3 positions I suppose it’s human nature. If Leavy was still around at his best you might have a situation where Josh wouldn’t be in the team and that idea seems far fetched now. Good complaints.

The backrow in Ireland is hotly contested, ye didn't even mention Beirne in that post and up north ye have whats his face, ex Leinster arggh.
One thing is consistent though, some players a regularly not picked for the national team and some are almost always picked when available. I think the Faz and his predecessor and indeed Plumber know what they are doing.
Re Doris he is still young and I expect he will iron out those little issues he has, he'll have to, or hes out.

[molloyjh]

Just for the record, boards isn’t a place where there is some sort of singular group think on every matter. A few people are calling Doris poor, even more are calling that out as nonsense and a couple are calling out that while he’s very good he has developed a tendency for losing the ball in contact and in offload attempts. The latter is a fair point. You can pretty much guarantee at least one ball lost in contact per game. So his ball protection in that area needs to be a bit better.

Those saying he’s a poor player are a few of those mountain out of molehill types so I wouldn’t be paying any heed there.

[OTT]

I think Doris is absolute class, I always think the negative chat about him is people trying to get one of their favourites in ahead of him. We had it on here in the past when certain posters wanted Deegan in ahead of him now we have it with Ireland where certain teams fans want POM/Coombes/JOD/Hodnett/Kendellan in no particular order getting into the Irish back row.

Infairness it’s not a unique discussion to him, the same happens with Josh, Jack, Rhys and whoever else gets in like Connors. All great players fighting for 3 positions I suppose it’s human nature. If Leavy was still around at his best you might have a situation where Josh wouldn’t be in the team and that idea seems far fetched now. Good complaints.

I think there is no doubt that Doris is a "top class player", so that discussion is silly. He should have been on the Lions tour and may have been a test player.
I also think that form should not be ignored: it's good for neither the underperforming player, the players in form, the wider squad and the general public perception.

Is it cakeism?

[wixfjord]

Doris is not in bad form.

That's total hyperbole.

Watch the first 20 minutes last weekend and have a look at his efforts.

He was our top carrier, our top forward metre maker and 7 tackles.

Jack meanwhile is down for 18 metres from 6 carries and 1 tackle across 71 minutes. We really need him to step up his game or to give Rhys the blindside role.

[curates_egg]

Does anyone have a spare ticket in BLK 122 (in or near row AA 26-28)?
Got one ticket too few and my dad would like to join.

[Flash Gordon]

Does anyone have a spare ticket in BLK 122 (in or near row AA 26-28)?
Got one ticket too few and my dad would like to join.

Call the branch ticket office, they are generally very helpful about these things.

[mildlyinterested]

30k tickets sold as of this morning.