Leinster vs Ospreys match thread

[pete (buachaill on eirne)]

First topic message reminder :

Hey all,

Thanks god club rugby is back (from an Irish perspective!) needed this.

Seems to be a lot happening Leinster's side of things, with BOD looking like he will come back into the team and the same being said for Cullen. Huge experience re-entering the team after youth has been keeping us more than just a float for a number of months. Very healthy to see. It will interesting to see where they slot in and (if they are on the bench as I imagine they will) who they will be paired with.

Thorn also looks set to make his Leinster debut giving the 3 players mentioned a run up of this game and the Munster derby in Thomond to the HCup 1/4 final.

From an Ospreys side of things, munster losing to Aironi a week back has given them a huge lifeline and they now have a chance to fight for 2nd place and a home semifinal which would prove invaluable I am sure. Bowe has decided he is leaving and there does seem to be an exodus of sorts coming from the Wlesh clubs who together have created a fantastic Grand slam winning team? Will anyone come back from that squad and play a part on Friday.

What are your score perdictions?
What team would you like to see?
If Ospreys were to win how big an impact could it have on the top 3?
Where can either team win it?

LEINSTER:

15: Isa Nacewa
14: David Kearney
13: Brian O'Driscoll
12: Fergus McFadden
11: Luke Fitzgerald
10: Ian Madigan
9: Isaac Boss

1: Heinke van der Merwe
2: Richardt Strauss
3: Nathan White
4: Leo Cullen CAPTAIN
5: Brad Thorn
6: Rhys Ruddock
7: Dominic Ryan
8: Leo Auva'a

REPLACEMENTS:

16: Sean Cronin
17: Jack McGrath
18: Jamie Hagan
19: Damian Browne
20: Kevin McLaughlin
21: John Cooney
22: Eoin O'Malley
23: Fionn Carr

OSPREYS:

15: Richard Fussell
14: Hanno Dirksen
13: Andrew Bishop
12: Ashley Beck
11: Eli Walker
10: Dan Biggar
9: Kahn Fotuali'i

1: Paul James
2: Richard Hibbard
3: Aaron Jarvis
4: Ryan Jones
5: Alun Wyn Jones CAPTAIN
6: Tom Smith
7: Justin Tipuric
8: George Stowers

REPLACEMENTS:

16: Scott Baldwin
17: Ryan Bevington
18: Adam Jones
19: Ian Evans
20: James King
21: Rhys Webb
22: Matthew Morgan
23: Tom Isaacs

As an aside: I have 1 southstand ticket to the game for sale. €22. PM if you're interested.

[rodders]

A game plan with your 3/4s involved in 50% of the rucks and your backrow doing 60% of the ball carrying is doomed to fail.

Discuss.

[Rory_Gallagher]

The pack as a whole should do the majority of the dirty work, with the most mobile (generally the back row) leading the charge, especially from the set-piece. Knowing where to be at the right time, and rucking in small but effective numbers, recycling quick ball for the scrum half to use, is the way to go. However the backs have to be good at this too, as often they can be the first ones there. Even look at Spence for Ulster, he gets stuck in the rucks all the time, probably more than he should.

[debaters1]

inspite of missing the first match, I'd say Earls' stats in terms of yards gained compare well across the tournie, especiailly those gained in contact, as opposed to getting 30 metres because the ball was kicked down his throat. DArcy is by no means the only problem in that team but he stymied much of any attempts at good play (bar the Itay game, where, for the 2nd time in two years his best game was against the Italian midfield. Need I say more?) POM at 7 and SOB at 6 or 8, would allow both players to maximise their natural strengths, while obviously not limiting them to only those roles, POM can carry, SOB can win turnovers, hold guys up, slow opposition ball down etc.

Now before anyone goes off, I think Ferris is the first name on the teamsheet these days (maybe Mike Ross runs him close) so it is Heaslip's position that is under threat, imho.

We shall see what happens and who is available come June.

[ME-109]

Earls was third in yards carried for the centres..behind fofana and davies I think.

Reading back a bit - now its DKs fault regarding the balance in the backrow (I agree that the balance is incorrect) but before POM came along this year (a year late in my opinion) there was no one else (even Jennings Gibson)....feic it after the Aus game werent they the best backrow in the world....

[Rory_Gallagher]

Give Kidney the New Zealand team and the balance would probably be wrong. His tactics would not suit the New Zealand team, and it doesn't suit this irish team either. Outdated and useless. Once again being a biased Munster fan, your posts are hard to take seriously.

[rodders]

I think the balance of the backrow was fine, the problems are that Heaslip is not performing and SOB is not getting to showcase his carrying ability.

Regarding the latter point I think that is in part down to the tactics we have employed (i.e. slow ball, lack of decoy runners etc.) and in part down to the fact that he is a marked man and is not being allowed to get up a head of steam the way he was last season. Sean Edwards showed the way to stop him and other teams have taken note.

Up until the England game our breakdown work was excellent but against England we didn't shown anywhere near the hunger and commitment required across the board.

I'm all for dropping Heaslip and starting POM but I don't think that is a silver bullet for improving the teams performance.

[geoff998rugby]

I'm all for dropping Heaslip and starting POM but I don't think that is a silver bullet for improving the teams performance.

I would agree with that but it is a ratchet of improvement.
There are other areas where we need a ratchet of improvment as well - 2nd row, half back

and there are other areas where the wheels have fallen off or are in danger of doing so - midfield and TH.

The fact that there are bigger problems elsewhere doesn't alter the fact that changes in the backrow would help

[BlueMuff]

Second row will be fine if we can get POC and DR on the pitch. Fingers crossed we will see this for the HC qf.

[rodders]

Second row will be fine if we can get POC and DR on the pitch. Fingers crossed we will see this for the HC qf.

Fingers crossed we don't......

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