Leinster vs Bath - 4th April 15:15BST

Leinster Rugby:

15Rob Kearney 14Fergus McFadden 13Ben Te'o 12Ian Madigan 11Luke Fitzgerald 10Jimmy Gopperth 9Isaac Boss
1Cian Healy 2Sean Cronin 3Mike Ross 4Devin Toner 5Mike McCarthy 6Jordi Murphy 7Sean O'Brien 8Jamie Heaslip (capt)

16Richardt Strauss 17Jack McGrath 18Martin Moore 19Tom Denton 20Dominic Ryan 21Eoin Reddan 22Gordon D'Arcy 23Zane Kirchner



Bath Rugby:

15Anthony Watson 14Horacio Agulla 13Jonathan Joseph 12Kyle Eastmond 11Matt Banahan 10George Ford 9Micky Young
1Paul James 2Rob Webber 3Kane Palma Newpor t4Stuart Hooper (capt) 5David Attwood 6Carl Fearns 7Francois Louw 8Leroy Houston
16Ross Batty 17Nick Auterac 18Max Lahiff 19Matt Garvey 20Alafoti Fa'osiliva 21Peter Stringer 22Sam Burgess 23Tom Homer


Match Officials
Referee Jerome Garces (France)
Touch Judge 1 Christophe Berdos (France)
Touch Judge 2 Patrick Pechambert (France)
Fourth Official Eric Gauzins (France)
TMO Eric Gauzins (France)
Citing Commissioner Yves Thieffine (France)

Leinster in poor form, but have their Ireland contingent back. Bath have a problem at TH Prop and making some interesting calls, including no obvious replacement should Ford be injured.

Leinster playing very poorly this season. Won 9 from 18 in the league so far. Matt O'Connor is starting to feel the heat.

I would guess if Ford got injured they might move Eastmond to 10 and bring on Homer for the kicks

That back row battle is going to be something

Difficult timing of the game so soon after the Six Nations. Aa lot depends on how quickly the Ireland players can integrate back into this Leinster team- O'Briens first start for Leinster since Day 1 of the season, Murphy in at blindside to accommodate him- sure, if they gel quickly it's a great team on paper but it's not a combination we've seen all that often.

Should be close...

Leinster were always going to have the bulk of the National squad.  So there is a case that some of the 'way off form' Leinster season was due in some part to players pacing themselves for the long year ahead - part of which was that 6N, but by no means the biggest part.

This game tomorrow will tell a lot about where Leinster truly are.  Yes, they might continue their bad form, and it'll probably prove that they need a new coach sooner than later.  

But if they hit the ground running with a much more aggressive and accurate game, and win, then they'll feel they have enough time to change the entire grim mood that has existed for most of the season and have a real go at both Trophies.

I could be wrong but I have felt through most of the season that there has been a degree of 'holding back'/'holding off'.  We'll see tomorrow if they can 'find' form.  Bath are a bloody tough team to go trying to find it with though!!!!

Jonathan Joseph will gain more admirers as he gets in one or two tries.

George Ford will knock the kicks over and add to his growing reputation as the rightful England 10.

Leinster will win the match.

Almost choke time for Bath.

McCarthy to be an idiot (40% chance of random falling over, 50% chance of foul play, 99% chance of poor performance).
Boss to spend 4 to 5 seconds staring at a ball at the base of a breakdown before giving poor ball to Gopperth.
Gopperth to do his obligatory giant side step back into 4 defensive players.
McFadden to be one of the lone bright points of the Leinster team, but forcing plays, killing momentum.
Depending on how the all French officiating crew ref the game, that Leinster backrow will either win the game on their own or concede 15 penalties in kickable positions.

I wish the commentators would realize that this is Leinster v Bath and not Ireland v England...

Great pass from Murphy, he really is an exceptional player with a huge future for both Leinster and Ireland.

What a try from Ford, quality step, dummy and run

What a try scored by George Ford. He made it look very easy.

Garces is a magnet for these decisions

Great consistency, Garces..

No red this year, Jerome?

Watson very lucky to escape with a yellow card considering the amount of red cards for similar incidents.

For the record, I believe it was yellow. Correct decision.

Nachos Jones_1 wrote:Watson very lucky to escape with a yellow card considering the amount of red cards for similar incidents.

For the record, I believe it was yellow. Correct decision.

100% agreed

I think yellow is fine too. But it just highlights that Payne should not have gotten that red card that cost Ulster so dearly.

FecklessRogue wrote:I think yellow is fine too. But it just highlights that Payne should not have gotten that red card that cost Ulster so dearly.

Exactly.

The difference in the card was that both players were in the air when they collided. If Watson had still been grounded it would have been a red.

If only if the rest of his game was as consistent as his goal kicking, Madigan would be a great player.

Great tackle by McFadden. MOC will be happy with that half

Golden wrote:Great tackle by McFadden. MOC will be happy with that half

Efficient rugby, MOC'll love it...

nth wrote:The difference in the card was that both players were in the air when they collided.  If Watson had still been grounded it would have been a red.

Not sure I agree with you. Garces only gave a yellow for an Ashley Johnson hit on Dave Kearney earlier this year. Johnson was on the ground and Kearney landed on his head and went out injured. I think the powers that be have issued a quiet directive advising yellows as opposed to reds for these types of incidents.

I should say that I also agree that a yellow is the correct call.

Really good half of rugby from Leinster, very much enjoyed that. Both Fitz and McFadden having decent games (great hit by McFadden at the end of the half).

Very tough now already for Bath to get back into this. Leinster making ground far too easily and other than Ford's piece of brilliance, Bath have looked very short in attack (granted they have not had very good ball for attacking).

I would like to say that I have also been very impressed with BOD in commentary, calls it absolutely right and show zero bias towards Leinster. Many commentators could do the same.

Props to Matt Banahan there, great sportsmanship, immediately calling for the game to be stopped when he saw McFadden wasn't moving.

Engine#4 wrote:

nth wrote:The difference in the card was that both players were in the air when they collided.  If Watson had still been grounded it would have been a red.

Not sure I agree with you. Garces only gave a yellow for an Ashley Johnson hit on Dave Kearney earlier this year. Johnson was on the ground and Kearney landed on his head and went out injured. I think the powers that be have issued a quiet directive advising yellows as opposed to reds for these types of incidents.

I should say that I also agree that a yellow is the correct call.

That decision was effectively judged to be inadequate because Johnson was cited after the match and received a 3 week ban.

McFadden looked clearly knocked out there, hope is ok.

Ford is lethal.

Superb play again from George Ford

Magic from Ford. Expect better from the Leinster defence.

Yep - losing 2 THs has been critical for Bath.

12 scrum pen points so far is the difference.

Nachos Jones_1 wrote:I would like to say that I have also been very impressed with BOD in commentary, calls it absolutely right and show zero bias towards Leinster. Many commentators could do the same.

Very much agreed. Would love to hear him more frequently, fresh style.

Good to see Strings back in Lansdowne Rd

What a reception for Stringer, quality Leinster fans. Quality

Golden wrote:Good to see Strings back in Lansdowne Rd

Got a great reception, lovely to see.

Reddan need to stop kicking to Watson and ceding the initiative aswell

Stop kicking the F***ing ball away

Louw has a crucial turnover there.

Trying to hold on to a six point lead from 60mins is criminal from Leinster. There can be no complaints if Bath snatch this.

Leinster are so lucky to get the win. Cant see them winning away

I honestly thought that the last penalty should have been awarded to Bath and not Leinster... Anyways, well done Leinster on the win and well done Bath for a fine fightback and some very nervous moments.

Well Bath clearly looked like the better team, scrum aside.

Yeah that last penalty was a bit strange.

Quite a good game for a neutral, I think Bath were extremely unlucky at the end. I have a real problem with how Garces refs the breakdown. He has no interest in ensuring players roll away. Just makes it impossible for the attacking team.

In the end, the scrum won it for Leinster. Paul James has been a penalty magnet all season.

Nachos Jones_1 wrote:I honestly thought that the last penalty should have been awarded to Bath and not Leinster... Anyways, well done Leinster on the win and well done Bath for a fine fightback and some very nervous moments.

Me too. I never, ever expect Garces to make the right decision at times like that.

Cracking game. Leinster dodged a bullet. I couldn't make up my mind who I wanted to win ( the pro 12 team or the team who beat Glasgow)

I would always prefer the team who scored the most tries to go thru. A bit of a role reversal here really with the English team the only one who looked like scoring tries. Bath can count themselves as very unlucky I think - they had the best player on the pitch - Ford who seems to get better each game.

Leinster sat off them too much in the second half - lost the agressive defense and line speed a Reddon made too many aimless kicks. Almost let Bath in for the win.

Bath can feel somewhat hard done by. 2 tries to nil, the best player on the pitch and still lost. Hard lines Bath. I can't see leinster getting much further.

thanks for the entertainment.

Quick mention for the ref.; clear - consistent and not too fussy.

Hood83 wrote:

Nachos Jones_1 wrote:I honestly thought that the last penalty should have been awarded to Bath and not Leinster... Anyways, well done Leinster on the win and well done Bath for a fine fightback and some very nervous moments.

Me too. I never, ever expect Garces to make the right decision at times like that.

would not have begrudged Bath extra time in that match, they did very well to get back so close. Stringer made a hell of a difference when he came on for them.