Leinster vs Glasgow RDS Sunday 12:45

First topic message reminder :

Right lads,

Second weekend of HCup action is here, first home game in this years competition for Leinster.
Glasgow did well to beat Bath at home but conceeded a losing bonus point while Leinster managed to earn a draw in the south of France. Neither team performed amazingly by all accounts but there is a lot riding on this game all of a sudden, a loss for Leinster and they could find themselves in huge trouble considering as the competition goes on Montpellier may show less and less interest in winning games in Europe.

LEINSTER TEAM ANNOUNCED

15: Rob Kearney
14: Isa Nacewa
13: Eoin O'Malley
12: Gordon D'Arcy
11: Luke Fitzgerald
10: Jonathan Sexton
9: Eoin Reddan

1: Heinke van der Merwe
2: Sean Cronin
3: Mike Ross
4: Leo Cullen CAPTAIN
5: Devin Toner
6: Kevin McLaughlin
7: Sean O'Brien
8: Jamie Heaslip

REPLACEMENTS:

16: Richardt Strauss
17: Cian Healy
18: Nathan White
19: Rhys Ruddock
20: Shane Jennings
21: Isaac Boss
22: Ian Madigan
23: Fionn Carr


GLASGOW TEAM ANNOUNCED

15 Stuart Hogg
14 Tommy Seymour
13 Peter Murchie
12 Graeme Morrison
11 Colin Shaw
10 Duncan Weir
9 Chris Cusiter
1 Ryan Grant
2 Pat MacArthur
3 Mike Cusack
4 Richie Gray
5 Al Kellock (Captain)
6 Rob Harley
7 John Barclay
8 Ryan Wilson

SUBSTITUTES

16 Finlay Gillies
17 Jon Welsh
18 Ed Kalman
19 Tom Ryder
20 Henry Pyrgos
21 Chris Fusaro
22 Federico Aramburu
23 Troy Nathan

Who is gonna win this one?
Do Glasgow have the talent to beat the European Champions?
Are Leinster enough of an attacking threat without BOD and with nacewa on the wing?

Thoughts on the score, the teams, anything at all is very welcome.

Also please do vote!
Wasn't arsed doing draws with bonus points and LBP and 4try bonus point results! Sorry!

Leinster doing excellent. Eoin O'Malley and Darren Cave putting their hand up for the 13 spot this weekend. I would probably go for the Leinster man if we are going to overlook Earls. I can't see Kidney missing the opportunity to get him, Bowe and Trimble all on the pitch!

Also with the way Sean Cronin and Rory Best playing well, I have no worries about hooker without Flannery. Best has upped his lineout game and Cronin is playing at a higher level.

D'Arcy gets the BP try. Slaughter!

D'Arcy in with the BP try.

HT 31 - 6.

Great strength from Heaslip off back foot ball.

Starting to look easy now. Mon Leinster

Notch wrote:Leinster doing excellent. Eoin O'Malley and Darren Cave putting their hand up for the 13 spot this weekend. I would probably go for the Leinster man if we are going to overlook Earls. I can't see Kidney missing the opportunity to get him, Bowe and Trimble all on the pitch!

I think O'Malley is a more exciting prospect than McFadden is. However I would love to see O'Malley play at 12. I just think he could be really impressive there, and when BOD returns he may get more chances there also. Will have to watch the Leinster match on TG4 later, sounds like a good match!

Rory - do you need a link or are you elsewhere so you can't watch it?

Wow! Just saw Chilli's try. Superb!

holy cow a tbp before half time.

I don't get this match, Glasgow were looking really good until Toner got sin binned then Leinster just turned teh screw. Great performance by them. Glasgow will need to regroup fast at HT to have any chance of making a come back.

Such a ruthless outfit Leinster, not that we didn't know that already.

Cari wrote:Rory - do you need a link or are you elsewhere so you can't watch it?

No thanks Cari, I have a link but I actually forgot about it until about 10 minutes ago *facepalm*

I am just going to catch up the match on TG4 later! Thanks a bunch though

Wait is it just half time?

Ha yeah it is Rory. I missed most of the 1st half myself. It's still HT break if you want to catch it now...

anyone with a link please.

Gordy - check your inbox.

"Glasgow will take some heart from Edinburgh's comeback", says teh commentator. REALLY?

London They're just being optimistic! They could make a comeback....if Leinster just head to the showers....

Great punishing performance so far by Leinster. Clinical to the maximum.

Sexytoes down with an injury - looks like his neck or head. He's not taken off.

Healy on with a tidy mo on him.

oh Glasgow so close to scoring. Leinster concede the third penalty under the post. Glasgow going for the try I think.

Glasgow battling for a try, but the Leinster defence is very strong. Glasgow within a metre, and Heaslip saves the day with a crucial tackle.

Jennings on for SOB.

Leinster with the restart.

Frustration for Glasgow. Really close at scoring again, but slipped. At least they're playing some good rugby even if it's not reflected in the score.

Very pleased to see Heaslip have a really good game, hopefully this is him coming back into form again

Heaslip will be MOTM I think. He's having a very good game. Fitzy with a great grubber kick. Leinster back in the Glasgow 22 now.

Cronin down injured, and he's been replaced by Strauss. Don't think it was a serious injury thankfully.

Boss on for Reddan. Madigan on for Sexytoes.

Glasgow unlucky there, the TJ missed a forward pass and Leinster get a free, so Madigan kicks to the corner for Leinster.

Heaslip saves the day again by beating Seymour to the ball after a long chase into the Leinster 22.

Still 31 - 6 with 15 minutes to go.

Ruddock on.

You have to give credit to Glasgow this second half, it may have been a bit closer had Leinster's defence not been so tremendous.

Billy - yeah they've really been battling to be fair. It's a shame really that they haven't scored, they've been close a couple of times.

This really is a game of one half.

It would have been easy for Glasgow to come out with their heads down and get slaughtered Cari but they have really taken the fight to Leinster.

deserved try for Glasgow

Well Leinster haven't scored in the second half yet, and Glasgow have just got a try.

Well deserved for Glasgow

Converted try 31 - 13. Six minutes for them to get something else...

18,000 good crowd

Yep, and not surprising Heaslip is MOTM.

I always have a little chuckle at Chilli, he sometimes runs a bit like he's trying to put out a fire with his feet

Leinster have to be happy, a nice bp and a good win

Boss in with the 5th try in overtime!

FT 38 - 13. Well done Leinster. They're not champs for nothing!

Leinster were clinical - ruthless from the champions.

wales606 wrote:Leinster were clinical - ruthless from the champions.

Cari wrote:oh Glasgow so close to scoring. Leinster concede the third penalty under the post. Glasgow going for the try I think.

Sure, an excellent performance from the 'Boys in Blue', superbly clinical. However, any reason why Mr Small did not go to his pocket when Leinster conceded those 3 penalties in 2 minutes in the 'red zone' - very cynical

Great win showed some serious attacking class and our defence was pretty awesome too. Lineout was good and when Healy came on the scrum was dominant.

Quick version:

VDM:4.5
Not good in the scrums IMO again, did work in trenches but was kind of anonymous. Defence was solid but nothing more.
Cronin:6.5
Good lineout throwing, good support play in loose, very good defence and hut tucks hard also.
Ross:5
Scrummed well enough but appears very unfit and is finding himself in areas where Backs exploit him. Could hit tucks more aggressively
Cullen:5.5
Less time at first receiver this well. Good lineout and worked hard at te breakdown.
Toner:6
Continued improving. Good lineout and is more dynamic with the ball in hand this year, also passes before contact well and defende well too
McL: 5.5
Tackled an did very little else. His rucking was good as was his defence but didn't offer much with the ball in hand.
Sob: 6.5
Some hard carries and was more prominent at the breakdown and in defence than usual. Some nice hands also in passages
Heaslip:8.5
The man was immense in carries, lineout, defence, breakdown work. Appeared to lead the pack at times also.
Reddan: 7
Had a good game IMO and varied it really well. Was a live wire and defended well also.
Sexton: 7.5
Orchestrated things really well, took all the right options. Kicked well and fed the backs better than in previous games.
Fitz:7
Played well on the wing and was lively in everythin he did. Looked better at centre however IMO. Shock horror! Good hands, feet, defence and running.
Darcy: 6
Played well IMO defended hard and was good at taking the ball up and a the same time took some good options re:passes made.
O'Malley: 7
Would like to see him start next week aain. Great feet and great lines. Defence wasn't an issue. Showed serious energy.
Nacewa: 5.5
Odd game felt he was strangely detached. Did a lot of stuff well and other stuff not so well would like him to look infield more.
Kearney: 7
Continues to improve. Showing more elusiveness and spacial awareness as well as distribution. Very impressed with him and schmidt.

Subs: Healy was immense when he came in difference in scrum was evident. Strauss did well. Ruddock was ok while jenno was very effective I felt inhis link play. Boss did well for his try along with jenno. Carr looked very good with the ball and strong in defence. Madigan was solid and seems to be progressing nicely.

My team for next week
Healy-Cronin-hagan
Toner-McLaughlin
Sob-heaslip-jenno
Reddan-sexton
Fitz-o'malley
Carr-Kearney-nacewa.

Great result for Leinster. Sounds like O'Malley did well which is great news.

Are the hilights on TG4 tonight?

The full match is on TG4 right now Rodders..

Also I want to see O'Malley at 12 and Fitz at 13. Think it will suit both their skill-sets more.

very good Leinster win. Haven't had a chance to see the match yet, hope to catch up later. Champions sounded in ominously good form.

Rory_Gallagher wrote:
Also I want to see O'Malley at 12

Can't understand this. Every time I've seen O'Malley he has played at 13 and played well. Why would you move him to a place where there is more competition and he hasn't played.

I don't get peoples love of switching peoples positions around.