Heineken Champions Cup Final 2023

[FtD]

At Half Time on Saturday Ross Byrne had thrown Zero(0) passes. Didn't think he played that poor of a game but the fact we didn't have a single backs move in the first half where our outhalf passed the ball is worrying.

That's clearly not true, since at a minimum he threw a very nice pass to Jimmy O'Brien for his try.

[Oldschool]

Phone rings.
Hello Leo, just want to congratulate you on your comprehensive win at the weekend.
Er who's speaking.
It's the Mirror, haven't touched base for a while I know, I was busy helping you out in one of the other universes.
I'm just back after what was a very tight squeeze, the winning drop goal in the last minutes of the game. That fella Ross Byrne has nerves of steel.
Eh Mirror I'm sorry to say we lost the final by a point.
Ah feck it Leo, I've been checking in with you all over the Multiverse and you're the only ones to lose so far.
What the hell happened, must have been a fluke.

[FtD]

Switzerland maybe ?
Alla your assumptions are juste trolling LR or ROG , because of the rivalry between ROG and Leinster I can understand , but saying BS about budget ... about French rugby fans who aren't behind LR . Just sad to read that if it's your real mindset because look like just sour thinking ...

In France unless the rivalry between PSG and Marseille in football , French fans are always for French clubs ... your words are just non sense . But the repetition of them is quite comical

yep. I am based in CH very close to the french border. french rugby fans I know genuinely cannot stand his gobby ways. ROG gets touchline bans constantly, gobbing off about refs, players, coaches all the time. that's his thing.

I remember having a great night with french rugby fans in bilbao a few years ago. Vividly remember how they pulled me aside before our group left (at 0500 on the sat morning) from the pinchos bar that they would be cheering for Leinster against racing metro. why? because leinster were mostly local lads. remember the conversation well and was gobsmacked. I would cheer for munster if they were there instead of us. they used Toulon as an example.

The sad thing about saturday is ROGs guff about function rooms, eye contact, respect and "small team" stuff was after the game was won....it was unnecessary. He simply loves the media attention. I'm open to be proven wrong but I would love to see how many trophies ROG would win with Munster, without the cheque-book.

TBF - I've a good friend who is a French rugby journalist, and he has said similar things in the past about ROG (prior to this weekend), that his tendency to make himself the story and to mouth at referees was unpopular in French rugby.

[The Doc]

As an aside, ROG has managed to alienate LAR from neutral rugby fans in france with his gobby behaviour. his guff at the weekend is his modus operandi, week in, week out in the TOP14. most rugby fans in france were cheering for leinster on sat.

It's not "an aside" any more... You've made your point in this multiple times and on multiple threads. We get it.

Can you please empty out the clipboard and stop the "ctrl c" of this bit on all your posts



Sent from my LE2123 using Tapatalk

[MylesNaGapoleen]

As an aside, ROG has managed to alienate LAR from neutral rugby fans in france with his gobby behaviour. his guff at the weekend is his modus operandi, week in, week out in the TOP14. most rugby fans in france were cheering for leinster on sat.

It's not "an aside" any more... You've made your point in this multiple times and on multiple threads. We get it.

Can you please empty out the clipboard and stop the "ctrl c" of this bit on all your posts

I live close to the french border and break bread regularly with french rugby fans. It's worth saying out loud often that ROG loves the media attention from his gobby ways. Especially when fans start talking about him as a candidate for the Irish job, which he has already interviewed himself for, it appears.

As an aside...how full of yourself do you have to be to demand other people on this forum do what you want?`

[The Doc]

As an aside...how full of yourself do you have to be to demand other people on this forum do what you want?`

I'm not demanding.... I'm asking politely. I'm pointing out the constant repetition is diluting your point.

But knock yourself out ... Keep going if you feel like it





Sent from my LE2123 using Tapatalk

[MylesNaGapoleen]

Switzerland maybe ?
Alla your assumptions are juste trolling LR or ROG , because of the rivalry between ROG and Leinster I can understand , but saying BS about budget ... about French rugby fans who aren't behind LR . Just sad to read that if it's your real mindset because look like just sour thinking ...

In France unless the rivalry between PSG and Marseille in football , French fans are always for French clubs ... your words are just non sense . But the repetition of them is quite comical

yep. I am based in CH very close to the french border. french rugby fans I know genuinely cannot stand his gobby ways. ROG gets touchline bans constantly, gobbing off about refs, players, coaches all the time. that's his thing.

I remember having a great night with french rugby fans in bilbao a few years ago. Vividly remember how they pulled me aside before our group left (at 0500 on the sat morning) from the pinchos bar that they would be cheering for Leinster against racing metro. why? because leinster were mostly local lads. remember the conversation well and was gobsmacked. I would cheer for munster if they were there instead of us. they used Toulon as an example.

The sad thing about saturday is ROGs guff about function rooms, eye contact, respect and "small team" stuff was after the game was won....it was unnecessary. He simply loves the media attention. I'm open to be proven wrong but I would love to see how many trophies ROG would win with Munster, without the cheque-book.

TBF - I've a good friend who is a French rugby journalist, and he has said similar things in the past about ROG (prior to this weekend), that his tendency to make himself the story and to mouth at referees was unpopular in French rugby.

thanks for pointing that out.

[Douze2706]

Yes great story , if you have more than just this one , I would pay you for a book because you look like a great story teller, even your dreams seems true like. You spoke about Alsacian rugby fans ... it's like Brazilian rugby fans , no rugby in Alsace man , they don't know nothing about rugby and even less about your full story with ROG and all the rivalry stuff .
Don't compare Racing and Toulon with La Rochelle is like comparing Connacht and Leinster, your assertion about ROG and doing same thing with Munster is true , but it's true for all the coaches man , give Brive to Stuart Lancaster and will see , give Pau to Eddie Jone will see . What's the point you would prove because they are French teams with big cheque book too no ?

You will see nest season and maybe more after (if the R92 president could wait) the Lancaster method in application in France . IMO In reading his interviews, he knows nothing about French rugby, its system and its way of working. He will know about the 'doublons' when the players selected for the national team have left the club and the top 14 continues, and the return trips between the training camps and the club for the unselected players. He will know about the endless logistical aspects of the championship with the management of the workforce where you cannot put your C team and win in the T14, so how to succeed in qualifying under these conditions?
I'm sure he'll be able to use the JIFF's to respect the rule... great coach, nothing to say, his CV and results speak for him, but I think he's got the wrong club in France and he doesn't seem to know anything about French rugby at all, not like a Cockerill or a Prendergast for example.

But all this it's another point .

[Lucky Number Slevin]

Thought I'd put this here for the Non ST's who might not have seen it.

From Leinster Rugby:

Good afternoon,

It is hard to put my thoughts into words as I look back on the season that was but I do feel it’s important that I reach out and put some words to my thoughts.

An abiding memory of the season just gone will forever be the sea of blue that greeted us as the bus turned the corner towards the Aviva Stadium and that then greeted the players as they ran onto the pitch before kick-off in the Champions Cup Final.

Playing for you and representing the 12 counties, over 70 clubs, the schools and colleges, the communities and people of Leinster, means the world to us. Playing in front of you in a Dublin final meant even more and is a day that we had been working very hard towards since Marseille in 2022.

It will take time to recover, but recover we will, and very soon we will start plotting and planning for next season and the road to London and everywhere in between.

Once again, on behalf of us all in Leinster Rugby, thank you.

We look forward to seeing you again very soon and to hearing that roar again.


Leo

Reading that it strikes me that Cullen just went to his cliche book and churned out the most generic, thoughtless letter that he could have written. The letter lacks substance, lacks any in depth engagement outside of rehashed platitudes, therefore lacks emotional impact. It also falls short on a vision for the future.The reference to the whole of Leinster the 12 counties and the number of schools and clubs provokes vomit inducing attempted fuzz to include everyone. Leinster is a meritocracy, the populism of embracing all of the province is condescending and patronising.

[CiaranIrl]

Yes great story , if you have more than just this one , I would pay you for a book because you look like a great story teller, even your dreams seems true like. You spoke about Alsacian rugby fans ... it's like Brazilian rugby fans , no rugby in Alsace man , they don't know nothing about rugby and even less about your full story with ROG and all the rivalry stuff .
Don't compare Racing and Toulon with La Rochelle is like comparing Connacht and Leinster, your assertion about ROG and doing same thing with Munster is true , but it's true for all the coaches man , give Brive to Stuart Lancaster and will see , give Pau to Eddie Jone will see . What's the point you would prove because they are French teams with big cheque book too no ?

You will see nest season and maybe more after (if the R92 president could wait) the Lancaster method in application in France . IMO In reading his interviews, he knows nothing about French rugby, its system and its way of working. He will know about the 'doublons' when the players selected for the national team have left the club and the top 14 continues, and the return trips between the training camps and the club for the unselected players. He will know about the endless logistical aspects of the championship with the management of the workforce where you cannot put your C team and win in the T14, so how to succeed in qualifying under these conditions?
I'm sure he'll be able to use the JIFF's to respect the rule... great coach, nothing to say, his CV and results speak for him, but I think he's got the wrong club in France and he doesn't seem to know anything about French rugby at all, not like a Cockerill or a Prendergast for example.

But all this it's another point .

I hope you can appreciate that our history with O'Gara is very, very, very old. Imagine a player that broke La Rochelle hearts 20 years ago that came back to haunt you as a coach all these years later. I bet there's someone from your history you can think of and maybe it'll make more sense how we feel.

[leinsterforever]

Yes great story , if you have more than just this one , I would pay you for a book because you look like a great story teller, even your dreams seems true like. You spoke about Alsacian rugby fans ... it's like Brazilian rugby fans , no rugby in Alsace man , they don't know nothing about rugby and even less about your full story with ROG and all the rivalry stuff .
Don't compare Racing and Toulon with La Rochelle is like comparing Connacht and Leinster, your assertion about ROG and doing same thing with Munster is true , but it's true for all the coaches man , give Brive to Stuart Lancaster and will see , give Pau to Eddie Jone will see . What's the point you would prove because they are French teams with big cheque book too no ?

You will see nest season and maybe more after (if the R92 president could wait) the Lancaster method in application in France . IMO In reading his interviews, he knows nothing about French rugby, its system and its way of working. He will know about the 'doublons' when the players selected for the national team have left the club and the top 14 continues, and the return trips between the training camps and the club for the unselected players. He will know about the endless logistical aspects of the championship with the management of the workforce where you cannot put your C team and win in the T14, so how to succeed in qualifying under these conditions?
I'm sure he'll be able to use the JIFF's to respect the rule... great coach, nothing to say, his CV and results speak for him, but I think he's got the wrong club in France and he doesn't seem to know anything about French rugby at all, not like a Cockerill or a Prendergast for example.

But all this it's another point .

I think Lancaster will be able to win when he fields his second side actually.

His training methods involve the whole squad of players in very high intensity training sessions, which means his second and third choice players are prepared to come into the matchday side and not look out of place.

For me Leinster being able to win matches when they field a second string team is because of Lancaster, not because the URC is weak. The second team did not win consistently before Lancaster was here.

Due to Lancaster going there I have Racing down as one of the teams to beat in Europe over the next few seasons.

[PeteIRL]

Thought I'd put this here for the Non ST's who might not have seen it.

From Leinster Rugby:

Good afternoon,

It is hard to put my thoughts into words as I look back on the season that was but I do feel it’s important that I reach out and put some words to my thoughts.

An abiding memory of the season just gone will forever be the sea of blue that greeted us as the bus turned the corner towards the Aviva Stadium and that then greeted the players as they ran onto the pitch before kick-off in the Champions Cup Final.

Playing for you and representing the 12 counties, over 70 clubs, the schools and colleges, the communities and people of Leinster, means the world to us. Playing in front of you in a Dublin final meant even more and is a day that we had been working very hard towards since Marseille in 2022.

It will take time to recover, but recover we will, and very soon we will start plotting and planning for next season and the road to London and everywhere in between.

Once again, on behalf of us all in Leinster Rugby, thank you.

We look forward to seeing you again very soon and to hearing that roar again.


Leo

Reading that it strikes me that Cullen just went to his cliche book and churned out the most generic, thoughtless letter that he could have written. The letter lacks substance, lacks any in depth engagement outside of rehashed platitudes, therefore lacks emotional impact. It also falls short on a vision for the future.The reference to the whole of Leinster the 12 counties and the number of schools and clubs provokes vomit inducing attempted fuzz to include everyone. Leinster is a meritocracy, the populism of embracing all of the province is condescending and patronising.

What's he supposed to do? Go into a forensic investigation into the tactical failures of the CC final? Lay out a detailed plan for the next season? It's a letter to the fans at the end of a season. Designed to reach all in a broad manner. It's an absurd thing to complain about.

[Oldschoolsocks]

Thought I'd put this here for the Non ST's who might not have seen it.

From Leinster Rugby:

Good afternoon,

It is hard to put my thoughts into words as I look back on the season that was but I do feel it’s important that I reach out and put some words to my thoughts.

An abiding memory of the season just gone will forever be the sea of blue that greeted us as the bus turned the corner towards the Aviva Stadium and that then greeted the players as they ran onto the pitch before kick-off in the Champions Cup Final.

Playing for you and representing the 12 counties, over 70 clubs, the schools and colleges, the communities and people of Leinster, means the world to us. Playing in front of you in a Dublin final meant even more and is a day that we had been working very hard towards since Marseille in 2022.

It will take time to recover, but recover we will, and very soon we will start plotting and planning for next season and the road to London and everywhere in between.

Once again, on behalf of us all in Leinster Rugby, thank you.

We look forward to seeing you again very soon and to hearing that roar again.


Leo

Reading that it strikes me that Cullen just went to his cliche book and churned out the most generic, thoughtless letter that he could have written. The letter lacks substance, lacks any in depth engagement outside of rehashed platitudes, therefore lacks emotional impact. It also falls short on a vision for the future.The reference to the whole of Leinster the 12 counties and the number of schools and clubs provokes vomit inducing attempted fuzz to include everyone. Leinster is a meritocracy, the populism of embracing all of the province is condescending and patronising.

Wow, so when you out for pints, what do you chat about?

[Observingprop123]

At Half Time on Saturday Ross Byrne had thrown Zero(0) passes. Didn't think he played that poor of a game but the fact we didn't have a single backs move in the first half where our outhalf passed the ball is worrying.

That's clearly not true, since at a minimum he threw a very nice pass to Jimmy O'Brien for his try.

Ah sorry L'equipe stated that, saw Brett Igoe on twitter corrected it, it was 1 in the first half. Henshaw threw zero, Ringrose threw zero, Keenan zero, Lowe Zero, Jimmy Zero. Our entire backline outside of 10 didn't complete a pass the ENTIRE GAME. Byrne had 8 passes in the second half.

Genuinely gobsmacked at those stats.

[Twist]

Are La Rochelle not a bigger club even without the budgets? They basically sell out every home game (approx 16k), whereas that would be considered a very good attendance for us for a regular URC game.

Surrounding region, Charente-Maritime, is about a 1/3 the size of leinster, population-wise, but, GAA & Soccer still trumps Rugby in Ireland (and Leinster) for players & supporters. Rugby is #1 in Rochelle.

Also I’m not sure if people living in Dublin realise how difficult the RDS is to get to. Especially for Friday night games. With the traffic I struggle hugely to get out of work and drive to within walking distance of the ground then get parking. And even at that, I’d prefer if I could use public transport so I could have a pint. And I’m not that far away as the crow flies. For people from Wexford, for example, it’s a major trek. Lack of public transport means that seeing Leinster at the RDS or Aviva takes a bit of planning. Like a lot of people I can only go a few times a year.

[Twist]

That’s 23 signings!

It is Twist, but it's a different system. Our system suits us, their system suits them.

There's nothing wrong with making a lot of signings in France, that's just the way it is. They have a big, fully professional rugby economy. 30 professional teams – 14 teams in the Top 14, 16 teams in ProD2. Players move between clubs, because there is a rugby economy that allows for it.

Apologies, I didn’t express myself clearly here.

I was trying to make a point about the different worlds we inhabit, but it’s been made already by others and the conversation has moved on so I’ll just leave it there

[Up Wexford]

Everyone here on the last 60 pages could do better than listen to Brian O'Driscoll today on Newstalk. Theres been reams and reams of blaming everyone, anything, else and that is becoming the Leinster way. Loosing from such a start, at home, in our situation is GUBU, Northamptonesque, if you will. RoG pointed at our jaw and said I will hit you there and knock you out two weeks ago (also 12 months ago) and here we are.

Going in on the players is harsh and it is never going to happen on our fans forum. Our back row and our half backs are not leaders and it kills me to say this. I really thought this was the game when Gary assumed Johnnys mantle, for me he has been incredible all season, but he did not. Being battered in the center will take that away from a man. I am the same sickened boat as everyone else but this was it, this was the fifth star. Leinsters internationals will be primed for Team Ireland next year, we have no solution at out half. I love Ross but he's not making test or european teams outside our bubble - and that leads to broader soul searching.

It may have been touched on but this is a psychological issue that maybe, possibly Neinebar can fix. These boys and men are among the most talented in Europe but when the pressure is on, the real pressure, we do not have what it takes to get it over the line without Johnny, and he's gone. I esteem Hugos opinion here most of all and I await the podcast, but the prevailing opinion that sure its only one point, we are okay guv, after consistent losses in crucial games since 2018, I would hope puts paid to that.

We go again. The players dont need to change but the grit, and the comfort, does. (and also the scrum and jackal/turnover threat but thats coachable)

[blaker]

Agree with above. Nothing has changed my perspective from final whistle.

A total and utter catastrophe of a loss entirely down to us. We led by 17 points after 12 minutes and by 16 points after 38 or so. We were at home.

I would imagine the number of times a game between quasi equivalent sides has been lost with an 18 point swing is very very very small.

This was a game on par with 06 in my view - something that should trigger major soul searching.

LAR are a very strong side but did nothing we didn’t see coming. We got no unlucky bounces that you wouldn’t expect in any other game. The ref was consistent for both sides. The loss of Ryan was significant but in no way should it have been that significant.

Our backs never once passed the ball. We made kicking errors that I’d expect of an U15s team.

The players froze so badly and had no answer. The coaches couldn’t turn it around. I dont doubt their effort application skill focus motivation etc - no attacks - but there is absolutely zero reason to think that a set of players who have done this now 4 times (Sarries at home the same for me) will learn.

Lancaster leaving is a good thing. He’s been BRILLIANT for us but there’s an ingredient missing from the mix. Maybe Niemaber brings it but ultimately I would lay good money that if we get to the final next year the starting team and bench would be identical and that’s what worries me. Ain’t got that dog in em for me.

Anyway - avoid the media, enjoy the summer, look fwd to a good RWC and enjoy it all for what it is.

[Twist]

Just on the idea that ROG would be a shoo-in for the Ireland job next time it’s available; what’s he done that Mark McCall hasn’t?

[Dave Cahill]

Just on the idea that ROG would be a shoo-in for the Ireland job next time it’s available; what’s he done that Mark McCall hasn’t?

Won competitions while staying within the budget permitted by the regulations of his League.


Ultimately, either fairly or unfairly, everything McCall has done is tainted by Saracens financial misdeeds