Leinster A thread 2012-13

[simonokeeffe]

Am I right in saying the two props/Jacks have swapped sides from what were their designated positions last year?

Unless Moore is officially injured he could be on 24th man duty for 1st XV?

[cormac]

Am I right in saying the two props/Jacks have swapped sides from what were their designated positions last year?

Unless Moore is officially injured he could be on 24th man duty for 1st XV?

I think O'Connell has been played at loose-head for Leinster whenever I've seen him, although he did play both sides for Ireland U-20's. Bit surprised McGrath is playing tighthead, thought that experiment might have been knocked on the head after that Ospreys game last March. If Moore was 24th man for the senior squad tomorrow I'd imagine he'd still be down to play some part of the A match.

It should be interesting to see how Daly gets on in the next season or two. Do you think he'll make the Irish U20s? If he is a good kicker then its likely he has decent handling ability too.

Saw Daly play for the U-20's against Munster and wasn't overly impressed with either himself or Tom Farrell who played 13 and was of a similar build. Both were a bit too eager to try too much on their own when some sharp passing would have been more appropriate. His goal-kicking was solid on a windy evening.

[johng]

Am I right in saying the two props/Jacks have swapped sides from what were their designated positions last year?

Unless Moore is officially injured he could be on 24th man duty for 1st XV?

They were both THs season before last. Now they are both LHs. so yes and no, or no and yes if you prefer.

[simonokeeffe]

Am I right in saying the two props/Jacks have swapped sides from what were their designated positions last year?

Unless Moore is officially injured he could be on 24th man duty for 1st XV?

They were both THs season before last. Now they are both LHs. so yes and no, or no and yes if you prefer.

I thought McGrath was always loosehead for us but had to fill in at TH for part of Ospreys and O'Connell was tighthead but converted to loosehead some point this calender year?
Maybe logic is Moore is out one way or the other and this would be Furlong's first game at this level

[johng]

Am I right in saying the two props/Jacks have swapped sides from what were their designated positions last year?

Unless Moore is officially injured he could be on 24th man duty for 1st XV?

They were both THs season before last. Now they are both LHs. so yes and no, or no and yes if you prefer.

I thought McGrath was always loosehead for us but had to fill in at TH for part of Ospreys and O'Connell was tighthead but converted to loosehead some point this calender year?
Maybe logic is Moore is out one way or the other and this would be Furlong's first game at this level

I thought O'Connell converted at the beginning of last season?

McGrath perhaps a bit earlier....Or was he always both sides?

We'll have to get Cormac on the case.

[SCG]

Any updates from Donnybrook?

[Scott]

Any updates from Donnybrook?

47 -11 with ten to go

https://twitter.com/leinsterrugby

[Scott]

I see Schmidt gave a run out to the unused subs from the senior game, well judging by that tweeter feed to all bar Hagan. Can anyone confirm if if Hagan got any game time in the A game??

[SCG]

Any updates from Donnybrook?

47 -11 with ten to go

https://twitter.com/leinsterrugby

Many thanks

[Hornet]

Final score 47-18. Really enjoyed the 'A' game. Perfect antidote for what happened earlier.

[cormac]

I see Schmidt gave a run out to the unused subs from the senior game, well judging by that tweeter feed to all bar Hagan. Can anyone confirm if if Hagan got any game time in the A game??

Nope. A Team was: Hudson, Boyle, Macken, O'Shea, Coghlan-Murray, Reid, Cooney; O'Connell, Sexton, McGrath, Denton, Marshall, Conan, Coghlan, Auva'a. Bench: Tracy, Furlong, Beirne, Murphy, Boss, Marsh, Carr.

[hugonaut]

Final score 47-18. Really enjoyed the 'A' game. Perfect antidote for what happened earlier.

Me too. That was a young [and for the most part inexperienced] team we had out there, and they played with good focus and aggression. A good match report already up on the Leinster website: http://www.leinsterrugby.ie/newsroom/10485.php

Couple of points to add to that:

1] James Tracy came off the bench for Tom Sexton at hooker. David Doyle seems to have been struggling with significant injury problems over the last year, and with Cian Healy, Jack McGrath [normally a loosehead, but playing on the tighthead side last night], Jack O'Connell and Ed Byrne [the latter two both in the academy] lined up on the loosehead side of the scrum, we're pretty well set up at No1 for the forseeable future; this might be a more permanent move for Tracy, and quite a good one for both player and team. It'd be great to have a big, hard-scrummaging hooker in the squad, and at 185cm/6'1" and 109kg/17st2lbs, Tracy is considerably bigger than any of Strauss, Cronin, Dundon or Sexton.

2] Tadhg Furlong made his Leinster 'A' debut a month before his 20th birthday, replacing captain Jack McGrath on the tighthead side of the scrum. He looks strong and fit and scrummaged well – really satisfying debut for the Wexford man. He is going to be a long-term international, doesn't take a genius to see it.

3] Brendan Macken has a serious set of wheels on attack but still tackles with his hands in defense. You look at this lad when he has the ball at full pace and you think he's a Heineken Cup standard player ... then you see him defending, and you wouldn't have him on the J2s. He made an absolutely outstanding midfield break to set up Sam Coghlan Murray's try in the second half, and showed a winger's speed for his own in the first, but watching him defend is hands over the eyes stuff. He obviously just doesn't like tackling.

4] Darren Hudson played very well at fullback, lighting the place up with some great counters, but looks to have seriously damaged his right shoulder/collar bone towards the end of the match when he attempted a tackle [with the wrong shoulder, unfortunately] near the stand-side touchline. Sam Coghlan Murray looked sharp, Andrew Boyle still a little hesitant.

5] Jordan Coghlan is an outstanding athlete. He was playing on the openside of the scrum last night, and he's got great pace, hands, jump ... huge potential. He's physical as well, seems to like getting his hands dirty and making tackles. Jack Conan played at No6 with Leo Auva'a at No8, and as always at this level, Leo was very impressive. He gets on the ball an awful lot and really puts himself about both close in and in the wider channels. Conan looked a little bit lost as a blindside, but showed good power to blast over under the sticks from a short penalty in the first half. Himself and Leo are both specialist No8s, so it's more or less impossible to adequately balance a backrow that contains both of 'em.

7] John Cooney went well, but always great to see Isaac Boss on the pitch. Bossy looked fit and sharp, almost like he had never been away. Noel Reid started at No10 and then played No12 when Cathal Marsh came on – excellent selection from the coaching team, good exposure for both players. Marsh passes better than Reid, but both players have real gas, and both made nice breaks right through the 10/12 channel.

[Donny B.]

Was Hugo sixth point censored by the mods? THIS IS AN OUTRAGE!!!!!

[Donny B.]

Yeah really enjoyable game. Expected more from Leeds tbh but Leinster dealt with them comfortably. Nice to see Coghlan and Conan thriving at this level.

[wwed]

Very enjoyable game to watch, but Leeds defence out wide was very very poor. They were completely unable to cope with the injection of basic pace from Coughlan Murray, Hudson and Macken.

McGrath, Leo and Cooney looked like what they are - players now used to operating at a higher level than this.

Marshall and Denton didn't do anything wrong, but neither did they really take the opportunity to shine.

Reid and Marsh are both creative running\passing outhalves, but have a way to go in terms of game management and kicking.

Coughlan is a tremendous athlete and showed quite well as a 7 - but they need to decide on which position best suits him best and let him learn his trade properly.

[hugonaut]

Was Hugo sixth point censored by the mods? THIS IS AN OUTRAGE!!!!!

Isn't that how it goes? 1-2-3-4-5-7? Did they change the curriculum?

[FourMasters]

I'm guessing Hugonaut's 6th point was about Macken's defence, he hadn't mentioned it in about 3 sentences. I didn't actually see the boy fail to make a tackle. He also showed great hands to get his wingers away, on more than one occasion.

The number 5, Ben Marshall, stood out for me. Not just through some athletic takes from their kick-off, but he put himself about at rucks, the leinster clear out was very good which made for a fast game despite the wet conditions. He may be a bit short for a lock, but looks like he could fill out a bit. I was hoping Mark Flanagan would kick on this year, I suppose he's injured?

[cormac]

Yeah really enjoyable game. Expected more from Leeds tbh but Leinster dealt with them comfortably. Nice to see Coghlan and Conan thriving at this level.

Think it was Leeds' second string. Enjoyable game all the same, nice antidote to the earlier game. Superb one-handed catch from Coghlan for the first try. Was impressed with Coghlan-Muray too, looked threatening every time he got it.

[Peg Leg]

Was Hugo sixth point censored by the mods? THIS IS AN OUTRAGE!!!!!

Isn't that how it goes? 1-2-3-4-5-7? Did they change the curriculum?

Kidney prefers 1-2-3-4-5-6-6-6

[cormac]

Front-row: Always comfortable in the scrum, thought O'Connell showed up well around the park, put in some big hits in defence. Sexton solid at set-piece, McGrath was untroubled at scrum and showed up well in general play.

Locks: Thought Marshall was the pick of the two here.

Back-row: Scored a try each, Conan a little quiet at 6 although showed good initiative with a quick tap for his try. Coghlan excellent all round and exceptional one-handed take for his try. As usual Leo Auva'a looked far too good for this level.

Half-backs: Solid enough performances, Reid showed some good hands and made some good breaks. Tricky conditions for kicking but he should have got more than three out of seven conversions. Cooney was solid.

Centres: O'Shea a little quiet, Macken just way too good for this level, looked like he'd manufacture something every time he got the ball.

Back 3: Thought Hudson and Coghlan-Murray showed well, taking on and beating men, both deserving their well-taken tries. Boyle is an industrious player and never lets anyone down but doesn't quite have the same ability to beat a man that the other two have. Wonder if a move infield to 13 might be of some benefit.