Dragons V Leinster

First topic message reminder :

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)

Yo!

Big win for most of those lads.

Well done. Well played Dragons.

Well done lads. A lot of young lads out there.

Also Leinster have two top young TH's now. Furlong is already looking a seasoned pro

Ah, poor form from the Dragons fans here with the booing and chanting. Really letting their side down.

Probably to do with the last tap and go. He just needed to take it from the mark and the game was won. Sometimes the right decision isn't the popular decision.

I guess it's just a case of not thinking clearly under pressure from Evans. Understandably so. But yes a quick shuffle over a few yards to the mark could have won it.

Well.....

I thought Fitzgibbon actually had the best game I've seen him have possibly ever.  I thought he officiated the breakdown really efficiently.  Leinster nearly threw it away.  If Gopperth kick hadn't hit the post it wouldn't have been so tense.  As for Jack O'Connell - what an absolute clampet - as Conor O'Shea said; regardless of how young he is it was just such a stupid stupid thing to do.

Think Sean Holley is summing up quite well.. basic mistakes by Dragons.... still coulda won it... sigh...

Notch wrote:Ah, poor form from the Dragons fans here with the booing and chanting. Really letting their side down.

Probably to do with the last tap and go. He just needed to take it from the mark and the game was won. Sometimes the right decision isn't the popular decision.

I guess it's just a case of not thinking clearly under pressure from Evans. Understandably so. But yes a quick shuffle over a few yards to the mark could have won it.

It started long before the tight finish as well.  With Gopperth's penalty at the end of the first half they were really getting stuck in.  Pretty nasty.

Notch wrote:Ah, disgraceful stuff from the Dragons fans here with the booing and chanting. Really letting their side down.

eh, have you watched many PRO12 games in the last decade? Every Welsh home crowd is like that.

I used to find it really irritating, but I'm well used to it now.

Good result for the Blues, good game, must have neutral refs he was consistent! Dan Evans made a big difference as he can catch and made some good breaks. Well done both teams.

I was urging on the Dregs at the end there. Exciting stuff.
Hope Leinster play that rubbish against us and not win.

Artful_Dodger wrote:

Notch wrote:Ah, poor form from the Dragons fans here with the booing and chanting. Really letting their side down.

Probably to do with the last tap and go. He just needed to take it from the mark and the game was won. Sometimes the right decision isn't the popular decision.

I guess it's just a case of not thinking clearly under pressure from Evans. Understandably so. But yes a quick shuffle over a few yards to the mark could have won it.

It started long before the tight finish as well.  With Gopperth's penalty at the end of the first half they were really getting stuck in.  Pretty nasty.

I wouldn't go overboard on the Dragons fans. You don't have the benefit of camera angles and replays to see whats going on on the deck. But really it was a very good, very accurate refereeing performance from Fitzgibbon. When you look at it, he didn't get a lot wrong so in a league where we often complain about the standard of reffing it's disappointing to see a ref who's done well get abuse like that.

Feckless Rogue wrote:

Notch wrote:Ah, disgraceful stuff from the Dragons fans here with the booing and chanting. Really letting their side down.

eh, have you watched many PRO12 games in the last decade? Every Welsh home crowd is like that.

I used to find it really irritating, but I'm well used to it now.

I wonder if either of you condemn that sort of behaviour when it happens in Ireland? Funny thing is I don't ever remember either of you doing that. However I do remember that on some of the occassions its happened, the Irish pretend it didn't happen and deny it. That's pathetic behaviour.

A thoroughly enjoyable game.... could have gone either way

And what does 606v2 make of it... feck all, just ref, welsh and irish bashing....

The Saint wrote:

Feckless Rogue wrote:

Notch wrote:Ah, disgraceful stuff from the Dragons fans here with the booing and chanting. Really letting their side down.

eh, have you watched many PRO12 games in the last decade? Every Welsh home crowd is like that.

I used to find it really irritating, but I'm well used to it now.

I wonder if either of you condemn that sort of behaviour when it happens in Ireland? Funny thing is I don't ever remember either of you doing that. However I do remember that on some of the occassions its happened, the Irish pretend it didn't happen and deny it. That's pathetic behaviour.

If I heard at Ravenhill I would be p!ssed off.

RDSguru wrote:A thoroughly enjoyable game.... could have gone either way

And what does 606v2 make of it... feck all, just ref, welsh and irish bashing....

Given that the ref usually gets so much negative attention (particularly when a Welsh team loses) I thought it was important to point out that Fitzgibbon put in a great performance.  From what I can surmise thus far most people agree with me.

Notch wrote:Ah, poor form from the Dragons fans here with the booing and chanting. Really letting their side down.

Probably to do with the last tap and go. He just needed to take it from the mark and the game was won. Sometimes the right decision isn't the popular decision.

I guess it's just a case of not thinking clearly under pressure from Evans. Understandably so. But yes a quick shuffle over a few yards to the mark could have won it.

Booing and chanting? Is that all?
Dave is not the same now the Argus is no more.

Tuquir is either still injured or just doesn't give a damn.

ZK and Fitz on the other hand are looking good.

Sometimes you do get people at Ravenhill who give out to the ref, because they are stupid and possibly drunk. I despise them in a way I don't really feel about other fans regardless of how they act.

The Saint wrote:

Feckless Rogue wrote:

Notch wrote:Ah, disgraceful stuff from the Dragons fans here with the booing and chanting. Really letting their side down.

eh, have you watched many PRO12 games in the last decade? Every Welsh home crowd is like that.

I used to find it really irritating, but I'm well used to it now.

I wonder if either of you condemn that sort of behaviour when it happens in Ireland? Funny thing is I don't ever remember either of you doing that. However I do remember that on some of the occassions its happened, the Irish pretend it didn't happen and deny it. That's pathetic behaviour.

Ah come on Saint. We all know that sledging the ref is the Welsh national pastime. I was just stating my surprise that Notch seemed offended by it. It's common. We should all be used to it.

And I've heard plenty of squeals and howls of indignation from Irish crowds. Munster complained about the hand of Back for about 5 years. It's just that Welsh crowds tend to be the least "polite" in general. Possibly because the ratio of barrister to bricklayer in the stadium is different in Wales than in the rest of Britain or Ireland.

LeinsterFan4life wrote:Tuquir is either still injured or just doesn't give a damn.

I said earlier in the thread that on the occasions I've seen him thus far Tuqiri looks thoroughly disinterested.  I suppose it is the danger with such a short term contract, the player might just think I'll make the money in a few months and be on my way.  Then again you could end up with something like Terblanche at Ulster which worked out wonderfully. 

I agree on Kirchner, he looks very good.

Feckless Rogue wrote:

The Saint wrote:

Feckless Rogue wrote:

Notch wrote:Ah, disgraceful stuff from the Dragons fans here with the booing and chanting. Really letting their side down.

eh, have you watched many PRO12 games in the last decade? Every Welsh home crowd is like that.

I used to find it really irritating, but I'm well used to it now.

I wonder if either of you condemn that sort of behaviour when it happens in Ireland? Funny thing is I don't ever remember either of you doing that. However I do remember that on some of the occassions its happened, the Irish pretend it didn't happen and deny it. That's pathetic behaviour.

Ah come on Saint. We all know that sledging the ref is the Welsh national pastime. I was just stating my surprise that Notch seemed offended by it. It's common. We should all be used to it.

And I've heard plenty of squeals and howls of indignation from Irish crowds. Munster complained about the hand of Back for about 5 years. It's just that Welsh crowds tend to be the least "polite" in general. Possibly because the ratio of barrister to bricklayer in the stadium is different in Wales than in the rest of Britain or Ireland.

What a load of BS. I don't condone that behaviour from my home crowd over the result of the game but as always people act like it only happens in Wales. Whenever Leinster lose to the Ospreys or Ireland lose to Wales there is absolute uproar about the ref from the Irish on here. Get off your high horses for once, it's so tedious.

Feckless Rogue wrote:

The Saint wrote:

Feckless Rogue wrote:

Notch wrote:Ah, disgraceful stuff from the Dragons fans here with the booing and chanting. Really letting their side down.

eh, have you watched many PRO12 games in the last decade? Every Welsh home crowd is like that.

I used to find it really irritating, but I'm well used to it now.

I wonder if either of you condemn that sort of behaviour when it happens in Ireland? Funny thing is I don't ever remember either of you doing that. However I do remember that on some of the occassions its happened, the Irish pretend it didn't happen and deny it. That's pathetic behaviour.

Ah come on Saint. We all know that sledging the ref is the Welsh national pastime. I was just stating my surprise that Notch seemed offended by it. It's common. We should all be used to it.

And I've heard plenty of squeals and howls of indignation from Irish crowds. Munster complained about the hand of Back for about 5 years. It's just that Welsh crowds tend to be the least "polite" in general. Possibly because the ratio of barrister to bricklayer in the stadium is different in Wales than in the rest of Britain or Ireland.

Eh?

really unlicku for the Dragons. They actually has a go at the scrum for once in the last phase.
Ref slowed down the game a bit. I would have given that try at the end, how far was he really from the mark; a foot maybe.
I mean come on he was a bit to fussy with some decisions.
I can understand the Dragons fans being a bit pi$$ed off. Dragons were by far the more exciting team to watch.

He was well away from the mark and the ref made the right call.

The Dragons made the wrong the decision at the end. The Leinster scrum was ontop all game. They should have gone to the lineout

LeinsterFan4life wrote:He was well away from the mark and the ref made the right call.

The Dragons made the wrong the decision at the end. The Leinster scrum was ontop all game. They should have gone to the lineout

Yes the Leinster scrum was on top all game (god my clubs under 12's scrum is stronger then the Dragons, no offence guys) and yes they should have gone for the lineout (or even tap and go).
But he was close to the mark and was quite harsh i believe. And they did get the upper hand on the last two scrums (somehow)

Jhamer25 wrote: And they did get the upper hand on the last two scrums (somehow)

Probably on account of Leinster having a 7 man scrum.  Amazingly the Dragons scrum still couldn't really do anything.

glamorganalun wrote:Good result for the Blues, good game, must have neutral refs he was consistent! Dan Evans made a big difference as he can catch and made some good breaks. Well done both teams.

Dan Evans was superb when he came on. He's a class act.

I'm not happy that we lost - no one's happy when their team loses - but we really played some great rugby at times tonight and that's such a difference from some of our home performances last season. We're on the right track. And if nothing else, we picked up an LBP.

On the booing, there was a fair bit of that behind me in the Bisley stand. I don't like that kind of thing,  but people get worked up sometimes when they care so much. I don't think there's any need to get precious about it. It could be a hell of a lot worse.

Congrats to Leinster.  You bustards.

The Dragons's scrum is so bad i'm pretty sure there are better scrums in the Welsh premiership or even in the Scottish premiership.

Shame as they are decent enough elsewhere.

Artful_Dodger wrote:

Jhamer25 wrote: And they did get the upper hand on the last two scrums (somehow)

Probably on account of Leinster having a 7 man scrum.  Amazingly the Dragons scrum still couldn't really do anything.

There props are a waist of time and space. I mean the onle one that offer anything at all is the Argentinian who is good in open play. I mean you have players like Adam Jones who stand out so much because he is the best at scrummaging, then players like Gethin and Healey who stand out because of their work in the loose.
No Dragons prop have either of those abilities, there anonymous in the loose and can't even give their team a stable scrum. If they wan tot enhance as a team , they really need to sign better props.

LeinsterFan4life wrote:He was well away from the mark and the ref made the right call.

The Dragons made the wrong the decision at the end. The Leinster scrum was ontop all game. They should have gone to the lineout

Yep. Surprised the score was so close in the end. For me the best team won and they had an off day to boot.

VinceWLB wrote:The Dragons's scrum is so bad i'm pretty sure there are better scrums in the Welsh premiership or even in the Scottish premiership.

Shame as they are decent enough elsewhere.

Scrums eh? See Cardiff Blues v Toulon.
The southern Frenchies could have picked up ours and placed it in row Z if they'd bothered to think about it.

I expect Treviso to destroy the Blues' scrum tomorrrow, this isn't going to be pretty indeed.

But i think if the Blues could field Filise at LH instead of Hobbs and Bourrust at TH, they could be decent enough.

Cardiff Dave wrote:

VinceWLB wrote:The Dragons's scrum is so bad i'm pretty sure there are better scrums in the Welsh premiership or even in the Scottish premiership.

Shame as they are decent enough elsewhere.

Scrums eh? See Cardiff Blues v Toulon.
The southern Frenchies could have picked up ours and placed it in row Z if they'd bothered to think about it.

Scott Andrews really is gash come scrum time.  Callum Black give him a pasting last weekend as well in the Ulster vs Blues game.

VinceWLB wrote:I expect Treviso to destroy the Blues' scrum tomorrrow, this isn't going to be pretty indeed.

But i think if the Blues could field Filise at LH instead of Hobbs and Bourrust at TH, they could be decent enough.

Agreed, but maybe the powers that be requested that Hobbs should start coz he's Welsh? Wouldn't surprise me.

Why would they though, he's nowhere near Wales honours. Having said that, one would assume the exact same of Scott Andrews....

Artful_Dodger wrote:

Cardiff Dave wrote:

VinceWLB wrote:The Dragons's scrum is so bad i'm pretty sure there are better scrums in the Welsh premiership or even in the Scottish premiership.

Shame as they are decent enough elsewhere.

Scrums eh? See Cardiff Blues v Toulon.
The southern Frenchies could have picked up ours and placed it in row Z if they'd bothered to think about it.

Scott Andrews really is gash come scrum time.  Callum Black give him a pasting last weekend as well in the Ulster vs Blues game.

It's Cardiff Blues though. We're well used to having a rubbish scrum.

There was only ever going to be one winner of the game,that was clear from the first 15minutes, it was never going to be the Dragons.

Who is going to take over from Adam Jones in a couple of seasons time?

Samson Lee the most likely?

Artful_Dodger wrote:Who is going to take over from Adam Jones in a couple of seasons time?

Samson Lee the most likely?

Will Lee be playing as no1 at the WC then?

The Saint wrote:Why would they though, he's nowhere near Wales honours. Having said that, one would assume the exact same of Scott Andrews....

Dunno. Why not release Patchell since we have no cover at fly half against Treviso? If you want to dig really really deep, why CCS?

This is Dragons v Leinster thread

dragon999 wrote:This is Dragons v Leinster thread

Well said.
Went off on a tangent somewhere along the line. I'll shut my cake hole.

Thank you CD - best of luck this weekend!

I don't care what the Irish guys say about barracking the ref. I don't go in for that, but you guys lost your high horse on things like that when you booed Parks etc. The big thing is, you're all sat in front of your tv and you can't see things we can in a stand. There's nothing I dislike more than those who act so we are such exemplary supporters, as it's a lie. From the terrace, Fitzgibbon only seemed interested in pinging one side at the breakdown and the scrums he didn't have a clue. How can you ping the Dragons for allegedly walking a scrum, then on ours and the same thing happens?

I don't blame the ref though, nor do I buy into the BS about poor Leinster with their players missing. It goes to show what the difference between money to sign players and a culture set up from within your whole squad is (sadly both Leinster's)

dragon999 wrote:Thank you CD - best of luck this weekend!

Shewerly you would want Cardiff Blues to lose though.

Risca Rev wrote:I don't care what the Irish guys say about barracking the ref. I don't go in for that, but you guys lost your high horse on things like that when you booed Parks etc. The big thing is, you're all sat in front of your tv and you can't see things we can in a stand. There's nothing I dislike more than those who act so we are such exemplary supporters, as it's a lie. From the terrace, Fitzgibbon only seemed interested in pinging one side at the breakdown and the scrums he didn't have a clue. How can you ping the Dragons for allegedly walking a scrum, then on ours and the same thing happens?

I don't blame the ref though, nor do I buy into the BS about poor Leinster with their players missing. It goes to show what the difference between money to sign players and a culture set up from within your whole squad.

Great kick that. Noisy crowd apparently trying to put him off.

Cardiff Dave wrote:

Risca Rev wrote:I don't care what the Irish guys say about barracking the ref. I don't go in for that, but you guys lost your high horse on things like that when you booed Parks etc. The big thing is, you're all sat in front of your tv and you can't see things we can in a stand. There's nothing I dislike more than those who act so we are such exemplary supporters, as it's a lie. From the terrace, Fitzgibbon only seemed interested in pinging one side at the breakdown and the scrums he didn't have a clue. How can you ping the Dragons for allegedly walking a scrum, then on ours and the same thing happens?

I don't blame the ref though, nor do I buy into the BS about poor Leinster with their players missing. It goes to show what the difference between money to sign players and a culture set up from within your whole squad.

Great kick that. Noisy crowd apparently trying to put him off.

I was at that game- I've never been more ashamed to be an Ireland supporter. Ever since then, I've not bothered as much with trying to get tickets for international matches because to sit and be surrounded by 'rugby fans' who think that is appropriate behavior is not enjoyable. It's shameful to be part of a crowd that can't offer any positive support, just negatives. The kind of crowd you get at Irish test matches now...

There's a certain way you should act at rugby games, and thats not it. Now if I can point it out when it's my own team I'm not going to be restrained about pointing it out about other places.

Cardiff Dave wrote:

dragon999 wrote:Thank you CD - best of luck this weekend!

Shewerly you would want Cardiff Blues to lose though.

Would be helpful but i'm a bit old school so hope all the Welsh boys go well!

Back to the game. From a neutral perspective I would be worried if i was a leinster supporter about the lack of ambition and adventure the side is displaying under O'connor. I know there were a lot of kids out there tonight and you were away from home but it doesn't look like the leinster of recent seasons is going to return any time soon. On a positive note though seems like at last there's some decent young props being developed, Kirchner looks a good investment and both dunden and ruddock had excellent games. Back to the bad, ,lote should go now, ponderous and uninterested, cooney was slow in his decision making and slow to get the ball away and with the possession stats especially in the first half again it was pretty uninspiring stuff. Newport have at last got a great positive defence in place but the scrum is going to kill any ambition they have this season unless they can get it sorted soon. Well played both sides and though fitzgibbon got a few things wrong he was not the reason the dragons lost and thought jiffy was way over the top in that respect.

Well first trip of the season to Dave didn't go as I had hoped, good night, good few beers but wrong result. Lets hope the mighty Ebbw can make it at least 1 from 2 later today.

Last nights game, well too many mistakes, handling errors under the high ball especially - Evans should have come on earlier.

Our old problems at scrum time really need addressing and quickly, I am sure Kingsley could find a couple of gnarly old Russian props who could do the job for us.

Lineout functioned well and the breakdown was again a pretty good area for us, Rees had another good game but I thought Tovey was not at his best today.