The Zebras v Leinster

First topic message reminder :

There were several injury concerns arising from Saturday night's derby victory over Munster in Limerick, with Dave Kearney set for a spell on the sidelines after being knocked unconscious midway through the second half. Kearney was released from hospital on Sunday morning and will follow the return to play guidelines for head injury.

Gordon D'Arcy suffered a mild calf strain in the opening minutes of the game but it is hoped that the Ireland centre will be available for the trip to Italy next weekend, while second row Quinn Roux (dead leg) should also be back in the frame.

Try-scorer Brian O'Driscoll suffered cramp on his comeback game, but he was fit to finish the game, while Sean O'Brien received treatment to a cut above his left eye which required stitches. Neither knock is expected to prevent either international from missing out on selection ahead of Friday's midday team announcement.

The province expect to have Fergus McFadden and Jonathan Sexton available, although this weekend's game is set to come a week too soon for back-row forward Jordi Murphy as he recovers from a broken hand.

Heinke van der Merwe (knee) continues to receive treatment, while Eoin O'Malley is doubtful but making progress after his long term knee injury.

LEINSTER:

15; Isa Nacewa
14: Fergus McFadden
13: Brian O'Driscoll CAPTAIN
12: Andrew Goodman
11: Fionn Carr
10: Jonathan Sexton
9: John Cooney

1: Jack McGrath
2: Richardt Strauss
3: Michael Bent
4: Tom Denton
5: Devin Toner
6: Kevin McLaughlin
7: Dominic Ryan
8: Rhys Ruddock

REPLACEMENTS:

16: Aaron Dundon
17: Jack O'Connell
18: Jamie Hagan
19: Quinn Roux
20: Leo Auva'a
21: Isaac Boss
22: Cathal Marsh
23: Andrew Conway

Quinn Roux gets the ball stripped by the ref.
No arms in the tackle though

McFadden looks outstanding at 12

Full time 22-41 Leinster
Leinster get TBP

FT: 22-41

So as long as we beat Ospreys were guaranteed second are we?

yeah golden that's what I understand

5 wins to glory

All of them at the RDS as well.

Ryan scores a good amount of tries doesnt he? Could have had 2 today if he just ran straight

So apart from the 5 tries (I know that makes me sound like Cleese)...but apart from the five tries, is everyone (Leinster guys) happy with that performance?

Dont think they ever got out of second gear to be honest. Also there has been something off with the defence this year. Not as effective as years gone by

McGrath- Looked really good to me. He held up his side of the scrum well and was very aggressive in the loose.

Strauss- Impressive throwing and some excellent support lines.

Bent- Looked poor in the scrum until the beginning of the 2nd half, his defence seemed suspect too. Aggressive when he has the ball though.

Denton- I was surprised how well he did, didn't look good at the start of the season. He had a good game.

Toner- I was really impressed with him in the lineout, the defensive maul and in his ball carrying. I thought it was a great performance from him.

McLaughlin- For the second game in a row he got burned off scrums. His lineout work and carrying were positives though.

Ryan- Excellent handling and line running. Really positive workrate at the breakdown and in defence.

Ruddock- Good control at the base and excellent carries. He also was powerful in the tackle.

Cooney- Excellent performance he got the ball away really quickly and took the right option on the majority of occassions.

Sexton- Some rustiness in some offloads not going to hand but excellent goal kicking, challenged the line brilliantly and his defence was good.

Carr- Looked pretty poor in all facets of play except in broken field running.

Goodman- Excellent handling, good defence and really believable dummy runs. Good decision making also.

BOD- Got banged off a few tackles mainly by Sinotti but excellent handling, line running, offloading and vision. Good work at the breakdown too.

McFadden- Excellent performance and when he moved to 12 it improved further. Really good work in contact and line running.

Nacewa- Really good at entering the line, good movement and decision making.

SecretFly wrote:So apart from the 5 tries (I know that makes me sound like Cleese)...but apart from the five tries, is everyone (Leinster guys) happy with that performance?

Thought the defence was pretty poor at times.

That being said we could have scored about 9 tries if we'd been a bit more patient or some passes had stuck. Overall the attacking structure's were excellent. I am worried about our starter play repetoire I have started noticing us using the same moves over and over, hopefully in the big games we will have some new things up our sleeves that our opponents won't have seen

McGrath looks capable of stepping up next season anyway. Is VDM injured or are we just giving McGrath as much time as possible?

Golden wrote:McGrath looks capable of stepping up next season anyway. Is VDM injured or are we just giving McGrath as much time as possible?

I think he is injured but if I was the next Leinster coach I'd be pretty happy with where jack is at. He is not perfect and is probably still not as good as VDM but he is a baba really and has some more learning to go. Hopefully he is learning from this and will come out a better player next year and so on.

I don't have complete faith in him but he is a good player and I have faith he will develop in a very good one. I can see him possibly taking Kilcoyne's Irish sub spot for the RWC.

pete (buachaill on eirne) wrote:McFadden looks outstanding at 12

Its where he belongs. For Leinster and Ireland. Great footballer.

Golden wrote:So as long as we beat Ospreys by 30 pts were guaranteed second are we?

Ja. For sure. We will rip them a new one. Just for auld times sake.

We just need to beat them, but we need to beat them well. Just for the sake of it.

The Ospreys will undergo a Glasgow style Damascene conversion this week. Trevino hold the key to all of this.

If we lose to the O's again I'll be gutted

Yes because they don't look like the team that beat you last year.

We owe these lads a hiding. I want blood.

Golden wrote:

LeinsterFan4life wrote:This game is being played in a different stadium. Its in the Stadia Citta Tricolore.

20,000 tickets have been sold!!! According to Leinster rugby.

Nowhere near that amount in the stadium at the moment.

Attendance was 4,700. Someone was having a laugh.

Lowest attendance in the league this year was 400. Irish schools rugby gets bigger crowds than that.

16000 must have been dressed up as empty seats.

a good win and an entertaing open game. Zebre can play a bit at home but care not for putting their body on the line in defence at club level.

It is amazing the way their internationals make the step up to international quite easily

GunsGerms wrote:

Golden wrote:

LeinsterFan4life wrote:This game is being played in a different stadium. Its in the Stadia Citta Tricolore.

20,000 tickets have been sold!!! According to Leinster rugby.

Nowhere near that amount in the stadium at the moment.

Attendance was 4,700. Someone was having a laugh.

Lowest attendance in the league this year was 400. Irish schools rugby gets bigger crowds than that.

That's still their highest attendance to date. The 20,000 tickets was something to do with a charity event for the victims of the earthquake last year, so they might well have sold a lot but that obviously didn't translate into arses on seats.

Mickado wrote:We owe these lads a hiding. I want blood.

Who says the Rabo is not a grown up league? Well me, but until we get a decent league 2-3 games per annum will have to do

pete (buachaill on eirne) wrote:5 wins to glory

Golden wrote:All of them at the RDS as well.

I just love it when a plan comes together.