Dragons V Leinster

Well......

Dragons lose 1 player (Faletau) to the Wales Squad. (ok 2 then Coombs also)

Leinster lose EIGHTEEN. (Count 'em) If the Dragons can't win this one at home..........

Hard to make too much of a stab at a team but here goes.

O'Connell
Dundon
Bent
Roux
Denton
Ryan
Jennings
Ruddock

Cooney
Gopperth
Tuqiri
Goodman
Macken
Fitzgerald
Kirchner

Tracy
Dooley
Furlong
Marshall
Gilsenan
Mcgrath
Reid
Fanning

Lots of Academy players and a couple of NIQs returning from injury (Hopefully)

There's your 18 names if you don't believe me. There could be a couple released for the game, but as they will not train with Leinster all week they are only likely to bench.

Boss
Cronin
D'Arcy
Healy
Heaslip
D Kearney
R Kearney
Madigan
McCarthy
McFadden
McGrath
McLaughlin
Moore
O'Brien
O'Driscoll
Reddan
Ross
Toner

Think I'd prefer Marshall to Denton in the second row.

Will the players not in the Irish 23 not be released? So could we not be seeing the likes of Moore, Kearney jnr and possibly Madigan, Reddan/Boss or McLaughlin?

Dragons lose two players who usually are the only two who we can bank on to perform, but any Leinster team has been enough in the recent years.

You're still not that hard done by when you compare possible names like Kirchner, Tuqiri, Ruddock, Gopperth and Jennings to our squad.

Should we lose at home? Probably not, but I certainly am very nervous of this, regardless of what team gets put out.

Golden wrote:Think I'd prefer Marshall to Denton in the second row.

Will the players not in the Irish 23 not be released? So could we not be seeing the likes of Moore, Kearney jnr and possibly Madigan, Reddan/Boss or McLaughlin?

We would all prefer Ben Marshall, but O'Connor doesn't seem to.

Those players could possibly be released, but to the bench at best. Also Bod's dinner is on at the same time as the game.

Zane Kirchener won't be playing again for another month after this game...What a great signing.

LeinsterFan4life wrote:Zane Kirchener won't be playing again for another month after this game...What a great signing.

Missing a total of.... 1 more game (Treviso away)

Thought that Coombs was in the Wales squad.Great for us if he has been released!He has been outstanding.

Taffineastbourne wrote:Thought that Coombs was in the Wales squad.Great for us if he has been released!He has been outstanding.

OK 2 players then. A ninth of our total rather than an eighteenth. Fractionally a significant difference.

LeinsterFan4life wrote:Zane Kirchener won't be playing again for another month after this game...What a great signing.

Leinster only hired him as a fan. The look on his face during the Connacht game suggested he was fully and emotionally involved in it, which I found quite funny in a curious way.

Jenifer McLadyboy wrote:

Taffineastbourne wrote:Thought that Coombs was in the Wales squad.Great for us if he has been released!He has been outstanding.

OK 2 players then. A ninth of our total rather than an eighteenth. Fractionally a significant difference.

Can you show me players in the Dragons squad of this standard then?

"Kirchner, Tuqiri, Ruddock, Gopperth and Jennings."

Like I said, you're not that hard done by. That's the reason you spend money to cover for these eventualities anyway, plus develop players.

Jenifer McLadyboy wrote:

Taffineastbourne wrote:Thought that Coombs was in the Wales squad.Great for us if he has been released!He has been outstanding.

OK 2 players then. A ninth of our total rather than an eighteenth. Fractionally a significant difference.

Or could be seen as 100% difference between one and two players.

You almost sound nervous Jenifer McLadyboy....

Wah wah, poor Leinster, definately the under dogs  

Wonder how many International caps this depleted D4head squad has compared to our first teamers ?

Risca Rev wrote:

Jenifer McLadyboy wrote:

Taffineastbourne wrote:Thought that Coombs was in the Wales squad.Great for us if he has been released!He has been outstanding.

OK 2 players then. A ninth of our total rather than an eighteenth. Fractionally a significant difference.

Can you show me players in the Dragons squad of this standard then?

"Kirchner, Tuqiri, Ruddock, Gopperth and Jennings."

Like I said, you're not that hard done by. That's the reason you spend money to cover for these eventualities anyway, plus develop players.

Sadly I haven't seen much of the Dragons this year. They were going well at the start of the season though.

Tuqiri, Kirchner, Gopperth may never see the ball with the pack we will have out not withstanding Ruddock and Jennings. Tuqiri is/was a class act but he has only a few minutes of Rugby union played in the last 3 years.

We'll see on Friday I suppose. Our likely tight 5 played mainly in the B&I cup this season.

munkian wrote:You almost sound nervous Jenifer McLadyboy....

Wah wah, poor Leinster, definately the under dogs  

True on both counts.

Chuckle

munkian wrote:Wonder how many International caps this depleted D4head squad has compared to our first teamers ?

What good is an International cap when you're 8th in the ranking and came second last in last year's 6N.

Welsh wet-nosed kids would be better than our 'Internationals'.  

There, and that's all the compliments you'll be getting from me this year!

SecretFly wrote:

munkian wrote:Wonder how many International caps this depleted D4head squad has compared to our first teamers ?

What good is an International cap when you're 8th in the ranking and came second last in last year's 6N.

Welsh wet-nosed kids would be better than our 'Internationals'.    

There, and that's all the compliments you'll be getting from me this year!

I was talking about your foreign international caps - not your shower of shoite  

The good news is Tovey and Pat Leach are back for Dragons. Leach is our defensive leader and after some of the tries v Ospreys last week (well I guess maybe just Tipuric's first), he's probably straight in.

I fancy whatever front five Leinster put out, it'll be competitive at worst v ours.

According to the Rabodirect build up, Leinster were the last team to win at Dave (back in March).

Mickado wrote:

LeinsterFan4life wrote:Zane Kirchener won't be playing again for another month after this game...What a great signing.

Missing a total of.... 1 more game (Treviso away)

Will he not need to be rested after? He has been playing rugby and travelling all year.

Risca Rev wrote:The good news is Tovey and Pat Leach are back for Dragons. Leach is our defensive leader and after some of the tries v Ospreys last week (well I guess maybe just Tipuric's first), he's probably straight in.

I fancy whatever front five Leinster put out, it'll be competitive at worst v ours.

According to the Rabodirect build up, Leinster were the last team to win at Dave (back in March).

Who do you reckon will be 8 ? Faletau and Talei will both be on International duty no ?

Well Ieuan Jones will have had a rocket after his 'cameo' off the bench at the Liberty, so we should see a big performance from him. (I assume he'll start at 8, do we have any other genuine 8s?)

I don't think so. Coombes will be away too I guess. Evans maybe ?

Our backrow that are available are Groves, Talei, Evans and Jones. The latter have to be the starters. I guess Talei leaves us after this game.

Dragons squad (all players that are available): D Evans, W Harries, M Pewtner, H Amos, T Prydie, A Hughes, R Wardle, P Leach, L Robling, A Smith, J Tovey, K Burton, S Jones, R Rees, J Evans, W Evans, O Evans, P Price, A Coundley, N Williams, H Gustafson, S Parry, E Dee, D Way, N Buck, F Chaparro, A Jones, M Screech, R Sidoli, J Groves, N Talei, L Evans, I Jones.

So for all Leinster's alleged woes, we go into it without an out and out 7 as well. I thought Cudd would be back fit by now

Besides which, there's an Irish ref officiating, so I'm sure you guys will be ok

Evans has been great at 7. He should also be in the Wales squad, though this year I'm not sure who to drop for him. Last year though Pretorious, McCusker and Turnbull were selected ahead of him, that was a proper p!ss take.

Wasn't he called up but injured ?

Brilliant news if we do have Talei playing. Hope Chaparro starts.

Jenifer McLadyboy wrote:

Taffineastbourne wrote:Thought that Coombs was in the Wales squad.Great for us if he has been released!He has been outstanding.

OK 2 players then. A ninth of our total rather than an eighteenth. Fractionally a significant difference.

Fans are affording your team a compliment by realising the strength in depth that Leinster have, and it is both developed from within and bought from overseas. Gopperth has been a very good signing thus far, I'd say Goodman has too.

What is it with Schmidt anyway, is he planning on mirroring Gatland and selecting 15 Leinstermen to start for Ireland in November? And to think all the Irish whinged about Gatlandball .

munkian wrote:Wasn't he called up but injured ?

Brilliant news if we do have Talei playing. Hope Chaparro starts.

No, completely and unbelievably overlooked for said players. His form was on a high consistent level for a long time. I think he did get cropped after the Wales squad announcement but I don't remember him being out for long. I seen him in Caerleon not long after on the booze, I could also see the disapointment in his face.

Risca Rev wrote:Besides which, there's an Irish ref officiating, so I'm sure you guys will be ok

Don't worry, the Welsh regions get to bring over one of their own when they play in Ireland so it evens out.


TBH, I think that move of having the ref from the away teams Union for Irish/Welsh fixtures came from those games being mired by poor referee performances from Scots and Italians learning the rules, having no experience and being totally out of their depth when both teams on the field are, how can I put this nicely, demonstrating their knowledge of the dark arts.

The Saint wrote: What is it with Schmidt anyway, is he planning on mirroring Gatland and selecting 15 Leinstermen to start for Ireland in November? And to think all the Irish whinged about Gatlandball .

On the one hand you're right, on the other hand Schmidsterball is prettier than Gatlandball  

Fancy Dragons to take a scalp here. Mind you, Leinster still do have decent options 6-10.

Notch wrote:Fancy Dragons to take a scalp here. Mind you, Leinster still do have decent options 6-10.

If we are looking to progress, it shouldn't especially matter what side turn up to RP in a Leinster shirt, we should still be looking to turn them over. We are a pretty handy side at home and with the flea still in our players' ears after the Ospreys game, we should react accordingly and produce a performance.

The trouble is, Leinster B is normally good enough to take us. This is a good test of how far we've come. I'm sure they'll look to target our scrum etc, so it's important we do our best to stand up to that. No more messing about, we should start Chaparro and Sam Parry and make our set piece as solid as it possibly can be.

It sounds like (from Lyn's words) we have Tovey, Leach and Wardle to start. I hope they go well. I am more confident with Tovey at ten again for a start and I think Ross Wardle is probably keen to right his miss on Matthew Morgan too. As I said, Pat Leach is our defensive leader, so obviously key to us. I would love to see Adam Hughes in this week, but I guess he's on the bench at best (wings probably being Amos and Prydie by my guess).

Rev,

You're right it shouldn't matter what side turn up, we have to concentrate on our game and get that right across the board.

I would like to think we could get a scalp here given that we are or will be much less disrupted than Leinster but Leinster are a top side with a top class squad and will be no push over.

What do you make of Leach as an attacking player? Obviously his defence work is great but I'm not sure he gives us the attacking prowess that we need. Better than Ash Smith, but along the same lines of being a defender first and foremost.

Dixon is a big loss for me. Apart from future potential, he also has ability right now and a lot of the good stuff we've seen this season involved him.

Griff wrote:What do you make of Leach as an attacking player? Obviously his defence work is great but I'm not sure he gives us the attacking prowess that we need. Better than Ash Smith, but along the same lines of being a defender first and foremost.

Dixon is a big loss for me. Apart from future potential, he also has ability right now and a lot of the good stuff we've seen this season involved him.

My opinion is when Dixon and Leach play together, they're too similar. I guess he's solid, but I'd like to get a bit more I guess.

Anyway, more news. Hope they're fit, particularly Lewi Sevens. If he's out, we're pretty light in the backrow. I'd probably have named an academy player for cover like the boy who plays 7 at the Keys (Scott Matthews)

Dragons wrote:Injury update from head Physiotherapist Ben Searle, ‘Rhys Thomas is progressing from his ankle injury as is Darren Waters with his knee, they are looking to be back in training fully around December. Jack Dixon had surgery on his foot last week and is expected to be out between 4-6 months. Flanker Nic Cudd also is still out with his shoulder injury which he sustained in the clash against Mogliano.

Both Lewis Evans and Matthew Screech suffered knocks to their knees against Ospreys and are both in contention of being named in the team but they will continue to be assessed on a daily basis ahead of Thursday’s team announcement. Pat Leach has progressed very well through his injury and is also continuing to be assessed by the medical team.

Looks like Jevon Groves might start again then. He's an athletic and skilful player, but a bit clueless at times and not exactly an enforcer. Talei looks an even better signing now.

Luckless Pedestrian wrote:Looks like Jevon Groves might start again then. He's an athletic and skilful player, but a bit clueless at times and not exactly an enforcer. Talei looks an even better signing now.

Dragons have signed a housing estate in California?  

Is that like the Irish building firm that won a medal for GB in the Olympics?

Just out of interest to a less than avid Olympics watcher, who was that Irish Building Firm lad, Jenifer

Kelly Homes. (Kicking yerself now eh?)

Wow Jen...how many are Leinster missing again? Just in case everyone didn't hear it (the excuse I mean)

ME-109 wrote:Wow Jen...how many are Leinster missing again? Just in case everyone didn't hear it (the excuse I mean)

OK then. You are forcing me to include Richardt Strauss and Leo Cullen for Maximum effect.

That's TWENFECKENTY

Jenifer McLadyboy wrote:

ME-109 wrote:Wow Jen...how many are Leinster missing again? Just in case everyone didn't hear it (the excuse I mean)

OK then. You are forcing me to include Richardt Strauss and Leo Cullen for Maximum effect.

That's TWENFECKENTY

As a wise man once said.....f..king hell!

Half your squad is a good excuse....
C'maan Man.

If we just got MaGrath and Moore for the bench, and maybe a 2nd row. I'd be happy.

Half of the Leinster squad missing is a poor mark against Joe for his start as Ireland coach.  It will take time for the Irish team to get used to his type of play, attacking moves, and the variability that gets built into the gameplan.  I can see a slow start in the AIs with early grumblings that he is just picking what he knows (blue bias instead of the previous red bias).

Last minute trip home arranged this weekend so my first trip to Dave this season Friday then off to see the mighty Ebbw play on Saturday, could be a rather heavy n messy weekend.

Good work BW. Hopefully two wins then. I'm sure Ebbw won't let you down. Be quite poignant on Saturday, as somebody connected with the club had passed away.

Risca Rev wrote:Good work BW. Hopefully two wins then. I'm sure Ebbw won't let you down. Be quite poignant on Saturday, as somebody connected with the club had passed away.

Yeah Roy Evans an 'old' legend of club before my time but people of his generation have always spoken highly of him and with local bias as most sides have they insist he should have had a Welsh cap and would have under today system of tactical subs etc.

Yeah, also a supporter connected to the club has sadly passed away too.