Cardiff v Leinster URC Sat 29th 19.35 TG4

[elephantman]

Max Deegan will be very disappointed to not be starting.

Tommy O’Brien should be starting, even on the wing. It seems Osborne has jumped ahead of him in the centre pecking order. Frawley moving to 12 hasn’t done Tommy any favours either.

Tommy’s contract is up this summer. I wonder is he moving on. Hopefully not.

[ronk]

Max Deegan will be very disappointed to not be starting.

Tommy O’Brien should be starting, even on the wing. It seems Osborne has jumped ahead of him in the centre pecking order. Frawley moving to 12 hasn’t done Tommy any favours either.

Tommy’s contract is up this summer. I wonder is he moving on. Hopefully not.

Players are under a lot of pressure to impress in limited gametime. I don't think it's helpful to go too deep into a single match selection. There are more games coming up.

Leinster rotate a lot, there could be multiple reasons for why a team is picked one way.

[limecat]

Match Preview

After a break of just the eight weeks since they hammered Connacht at the RDS, Leinster are finally back in URC action!

They take on a Cardiff team in eleventh place in the table on the Cardiff Arms 4G pitch. Of course like Munster, Cardiff were one of the unfortunate teams to be stranded in South Africa when the Omicron strain of Covid announced itself upon the world.

Read more...

[arsebiscuits1]

Max Deegan will be very disappointed to not be starting.

Tommy O’Brien should be starting, even on the wing. It seems Osborne has jumped ahead of him in the centre pecking order. Frawley moving to 12 hasn’t done Tommy any favours either.

Tommy’s contract is up this summer. I wonder is he moving on. Hopefully not.

I think Tommy is rated pretty highly by those at Leinster. He get's minutes in bigger games when he's fit (which admittedly has not been that often)

But he offers the same as ROL does in a 12/13/14 combo to a high standard and comes cheaper than ROL does (and arguably a better player)

I think it's a straight shootout between them and I know who I'd be backing

[Atlas]

Happy to see Connors back and glad to see Penny getting some much needed game time. Hopefully they can get an injury free run over the next 6 weeks.

[Ruckedtobits]

Really disappointed not to see Max get a start as No 8. Indicates to me, he might be considering a move.

[CiaranIrl]

Not sure I buy the issues about Deegan at all. He got meaningful game time off the bench in the two recent HEC games while Ruddock, Penny and Connors were left at home. Absolutely reasonable for the three of them to geta start when they haven't had minutes in absolutely ages.

[ronk]

Really disappointed not to see Max get a start as No 8. Indicates to me, he might be considering a move.

Molony is on the bench too. Do you think he's leaving?

[Ruckedtobits]

Really disappointed not to see Max get a start as No 8. Indicates to me, he might be considering a move.

Molony is on the bench too. Do you think he's leaving?

Ross has had European starts in successive weeks. Max currently appears to be behind Conan, Doris & Penny in our No 8 depth

[ronk]

Really disappointed not to see Max get a start as No 8. Indicates to me, he might be considering a move.

Molony is on the bench too. Do you think he's leaving?

Ross has had European starts in successive weeks. Max currently appears to be behind Conan, Doris & Penny in our No 8 depth

And now Molony is on the bench. Behind a 20 year old! Last week Deegan was playing Heineken Cup rugby this week he's behind Penny. Same thing isn't it.

Penny is playing his 3rd game of the season. Connors his 2nd. Leinster have always rotated. This week they have experienced players who had a long unintended break so they are mostly getting them match sharp. And because internationals like Cronin, Connors, Toner and Ruddock need time, someone else misses out

[CiaranIrl]

We have rarely had so many of the cohort of 8 top level backrowers fit at the same time. If Dan Leavy comes back from his wrist injury without anyone breaking down, that would be all of them. Having them all fit does bring into focus how hard it will be to keep them all at Leinster.

[Lock9541]

Molony is on the bench too. Do you think he's leaving?

Ross has had European starts in successive weeks. Max currently appears to be behind Conan, Doris & Penny in our No 8 depth

And now Molony is on the bench. Behind a 20 year old! Last week Deegan was playing Heineken Cup rugby this week he's behind Penny. Same thing isn't it.

Penny is playing his 3rd game of the season. Connors his 2nd. Leinster have always rotated. This week they have experienced players who had a long unintended break so they are mostly getting them match sharp. And because internationals like Cronin, Connors, Toner and Ruddock need time, someone else misses out

It’s not the same thing because Deegan was sub last week too

[Blue Man]

Deegan was a massive prospect and a really athletic ball playing 8. Since the injury he hasn’t had enough game time but what little of him we have seen he appears to be way off his previous form. I really hope he gets a good run to prove himself and can realise his potential.
I don’t like Penny at 7. I always feel that we get destroyed at the breakdown (both defence and attack) when he plays there.
Good to see Rhys in; I think he’s the most underrated and unluckiest player in the country in terms of international recognition.
Delighted to see Connors, he looked really sharp and aggressive in his cameo off the bench earlier in the season, before shipping another knock. He could be an important player for us if VdF takes a knock in the 6 nations

[Peg Leg]

James Botham is the grandson of Ian "Beefcake" Botham. Christ I'm getting old.

He's also a very fine player. Real hard grafter. Son of Liam who got capped I think? Nope, got called up for a tour, played some games but wasn't capped.

One of yours? Does he fall into any of the typical enforcer/rangey/piano shifter buckets?

[Peg Leg]

Interesting that Penny starts at 8 and Deegan is on the bench.

Yeah, not mad on this. But perhaps testament to whom they wish to keep.

[Ruckedtobits]

The longer I've pondered on this selection, the more I'm driven to the conclusion that this may have been one of the hardest selections 'Leocaster' has had to make in recent Seasons.

It appears that, rather than merely select the "best of the rest", following the departure of 16 to International Camp, they have also had to take account of the potential movement of players at the end of the season, largely due to lack of game time opportunities.

Nobody could have anticipated just how significant would be the combined impacts of the new UPC fixture list, the total absence of A game competition and the cancellation of games because of Covid, even though only the Covid element was unpredictable. However, the consequences could be profound as young players see their careers being "dissipated' because of selection for a mere 5 or 6 games in a season, in which they expected the opportunity to challenge their peers and enhance their own reputation as others had done before.

Of course another factor has been the progressive emergence of Connacht as a possible destination where excellent recruitment and coaching has created an environment where ambition for international recognition may now be realised.

At the start of this Season, I hoped for the emergence of at least some of the following players to particular levels:
● Peter Dooley as a seasoned senior LHP in European Squad & pushing for international honours;
● Jack Dunne as a likely replacement for Dev and claiming a Squad place in important games;
● Josh Murphy, improved in line-outs, becoming the Squad back-row enforcer during Irish Camps
● Max Deegan returning to the pathway he was ascending prior to his injury;
● Conor O'Brien developing as the strong, left-footed, mid-fielder who would pressure Henshaw;
● Tommy O'Brien becoming the automatic 'Ringer-replacement' when required.

I also hoped that all of the above and one or two others would be signed on three-year contracts as evidence of their future planned roles in the Leinster environment. Whilst I recognise that such progression is dependent on many factors, not least injury, I certainly hoped that development would not be stalled for lack of opportunity.

However, those hopes appear dashed and I now wonder just how many of those six will have a role in our senior team in three years time.

[Degz]

could be very tight this weekend, Toner/Cronin are way past their best.

Good! We need 'tight'.

There's been a lot of people saying how easy it's been for Leinster lately.

A good test will be just what the doctor ordered methinks!

Not really sure what a good test for this selection does for us. We want the full team to be tested in prep for the big end of season games. Can't see many from this selection featuring in those games.

[ronk]

Not really sure what a good test for this selection does for us. We want the full team to be tested in prep for the big end of season games. Can't see many from this selection featuring in those games.

Well we can't pick players who are injured or with the Irish squad.

Other than that we've picked a pretty strong and experienced team in most positions.

We may also have been constrained somewhat in giving gametime to players who are potentially on standby if there are injuries. e.g. if Ireland lose a hooker or two who gets called up as cover? Or a loosehead? Or a 12? Or a 10. Or a 6?

[ronk]

Ulster's struggles at home against Scarlets are a warning. Cardiff are a good side and they have Mike Adamson.

[Leinsterimp]

15 point handicap with the bookies seems quite generous to me, think this will be a tight one