Leinster A 2014-2015

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Considering we scored after 30 seconds and found it so easy to get the three points straight after it, that ended up being a really enjoyable game. Decent atmosphere as well due to the crowd being swelled by an English school tour!

Dardis - showed some nice touches in the first half and did well to put McGrath away for his first try, but went totally AWOL for Rotherham's first try and was bumped off a tackle very easily soon after. Did show some good cover defence at times but overall it was the usual criticism I have of him, just didn't get involved enough. Kelleher switched to full back late on and got involved more then.

Kelleher - looked pretty threatening in attack but didn't really see that much ball. His step is fantastic and he did well in tight spaces a couple of times. As I said, looked to get on the ball more when he moved to 15.

O'Loughlin - really didn't notice him until he got injured around the 38th minute or so. It looked like he made a good covering tackle but needed a HIA. After a while on the sideline with the Physio he ran on to the pitch and looked to be running over to the bench to be replaced...but he stopped halfway and then went back into the defensive line. Now perhaps he thought he was being replaced and then just went back into defence when he saw that nobody else was running on, but to me it looked like he hadnt a clue where he was and just ran back into defence because he got a shout from Brewer. Did well to steal a ball and make a half break a few seconds later and then was off before HT and didn't return.

Brewer- pretty good I thought. I counted two missed tackles but there may have been more. He seemed to make a lot of tackles though and worked very hard to cover breaks and slow down ball. Hard to know who actually got turnovers and penalties but he was definitely in there fighting hard at times when we needed. Threw one lovely skip pass to Kelleher early on but actually that sums up what I think is wrong with his game. He had space to run into and could have put the foot down but threw a risky pass that meant Kelleher would probably be isolated then. Looked nice but wasn't really the right decision and he just seems reluctant to use his power. He did use it more in the second half though and was pretty strong in a few carries with a few guys around him. I'm being a but harsh on him though because he did play well, I just didn't see a whole lot of progress tbh.

McGrath - sorry to be critical again but I just don't get it with him. He scored two tries and took the first one very well in fairness to him, but there was so much else wrong. His positioning is generally awful. He had one chance to counter attack with ball in hand but kicked out on the full. He had the chance to either let the ball go over the dead ball line and give us a scrum back upfield or to just dot the ball down for a 22 but decided to kick it instead...he missed touch and Rotherham scored a try a couple of phases later. He also ripped a ball back in the 22 which went loose and they scored from it. You could argue that was unlucky but I think he was going for a big play instead of the smart one and it backfired, and I think he does it a lot.

Crosbie - excellent. Went off injured after 50 mins but he was terrific before that. A real threat on the gainline, great feet, lovely passing both long and shirt, and even really good kicking from hand. He missed one kick to touch from a penalty but I was seriously impressed outside of that. His defence was quite aggressive too, really good linespeed. I'm the president of his fan club and hope he starts playing for the firsts soon, he's got the lot IMO.

McCarthy - excellent until he tired in the few mins before going off which included a blocked down kick. Really good service, put pace in the game, strong in defence, and very vocal too. We didn't really box kick but he had one excellent clearance kick from a tight angle in our 22 that went way past the halfway line.

Timmins - great workrate in attack and defence but didn't make much impact with ball in hand really. As I said before, he has a real talent for knowing where the ball is going to be and going after loose balls etc, great aggression in that regard.

Leavy - disappointing tbh. Thought he was weak on both sides of the ball and I didn't really notice when he went off. Instead of stopping players on the gainline or knocking them back he seemed to lose ground or just about hang on to them while someone else finished them off. Usually there'd be a couple of bright moments in attack but bar nice hands at one stage I really can't think of any others. I just don't see the all action powerful athlete that he was at schools and under 20 level right now. I wonder is he trying to bulk up and is losing his edge.

Murphy - didn't notice him that much tbh. Don't blame him for this but we threw him up to challenge a lineout which resulted in a try from a maul for them. Pretty stupid to do that considering we'd really struggled to defend a maul a few seconds earlier. Not saying he played badly at all, just didn't really notice him.

Ryan - brilliant. I watched him closely as much as I could and he had a positive impact in pretty much everything he did. Always showed good feet and strength in contact, took the first restart superbly (although misjudged the second one which went over his head and caused us a problem, don't think it was ever his ball) and was excellent in defence. He very rarely made soak tackles or didn't try to gain yards in contact. Thought his carrying even improved as the game went on and just before he went off he made a superb offload which resulted in a try one pass later. Really impressive and he's a serious unit already.

O'Connor - Worked his arse off on defence, was clearly knackered late on from all the tackles he'd made. Can't say I noticed him much outside of that though. Himself and Timmins seemed to work well together in defence.

Heffernan - scrums were a bit of a mess and without a close up angle it's hard to tell what happened so I won't try to. He was good in the loose though. Defence was excellent and he showed up well with ball in hand in midfield a couple of times and did well to support the ball carrier. If he becomes solid in the scrum (and again I'm not commenting in relation to tonight) then I definitely think he has the good to be decent back up at pro level. He reminds me a bit of Archer, which obviously isn't much cause for optimism, but his scrummaging could go either way at this point. I've seen it be inconsistent for Terenure too but again it's hard to know how much of that is down to him.

Byrne - Good in the loose and was unlucky not to score what would have been a brilliant try after a great run. Expected a bit more though considering he's a bit more experienced than those around him. Still played well though.

Loughman - again, hard to comment on scrums, but he was very good defensively and was working hard even when he was clearly injured. Came back on and showed serious wheels to nearly get away on the outside. Showed good hands in midfield a couple of times too and was very quick to steal a turnover when a ball was out of ruck and that led to McGrath's first try. At least I think it was him who stole it and passed to Crosbie who then put Dardis away.

Subs- just going to mention two that really stood out. Carberry was a real threat when he came on, made a few superb breaks and his passing was excellent. Kicked a couple of tough conversions from the touchline too. The other was Porter who was incredibly powerful in contact and worked really hard to get on the all, really impressed with him, he seemed to everywhere. Himself and Loughman won a penalty on a Rotherham put in close to our line near the end, one of the few scrums that looked clean and they seemed to do really well.

Didn't expect that to turn into an essay.

[goreyguy]

Loughman at TH and Porter at LH is the future.

Thanks for the comprehensiveness of the report. did Murphy move to lock when Ryan went off?

[Ruckedtobits]

Great report LRIP. Many thanks.

[riocard911]

Great report LRIP. Many thanks.

Hear! Hear!

[erskinechilders]

Very good report, although I would have to question your glowing praise for Crosbie, I thought he was very slow and that Carbery made a real difference when coming on.. He really attacked the mainline and made a break within 30 seconds of coming on. Personally I don't think that Crosby is quite there yet for the senior team. Especially in the 10/12 position where we have an abundance of players. Kelleher looked a lot more of a threat once moved to full back, always seems to make a break/ half-break when counterattacking. Brewer did some good things, the breakdown, as you mentioned, was pretty good. Seems to just have a lack of confidence in his own ability or something. Maybe 2 years out with injury doesn't help. Give him time, again only 20.

Up front agree LRIP James Ryan was very good. Took some massive hits from the Titans forwards but got up every time and looked very comfortable on the ball, especially in the second half when he played a number of balls out the back to Carbery. Loughman is a beast of a young lad, got through some amount of work also. Where was Ross Byrne?

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Crosbie made a break after less than 30 seconds...so there! Definitely wouldn't have said he was slow, always seemed to confuse the defence with his constant dummying and quick feet. Was quick to put Dardis away down the left and took his try really well, plus he was carrying an injury for a while, I was actually surprised he came back out after HT.

You mention Ryan taking some big hits and that reminds me of when he got smashed by two players and took a few seconds to get up, but one of the guys who hit him ended up going off. Reminded me a bit of when Scott Williams smashed BOD a few years ago.

Not that this really answers the question you were asking but Ross Byrne was in the stand!

[Donny B.]

Not that this really answers the question you were asking but Ross Byrne was in the stand!

Picked up an injury during the week

[cormac]

Crosbie made a break after less than 30 seconds...so there! Definitely wouldn't have said he was slow, always seemed to confuse the defence with his constant dummying and quick feet. Was quick to put Dardis away down the left and took his try really well, plus he was carrying an injury for a while, I was actually surprised he came back out after HT.

You mention Ryan taking some big hits and that reminds me of when he got smashed by two players and took a few seconds to get up, but one of the guys who hit him ended up going off. Reminded me a bit of when Scott Williams smashed BOD a few years ago.

Not that this really answers the question you were asking but Ross Byrne was in the stand!

That double-tackle on Ryan was right in front of me and the Rotherham player who got injured was the victim of his own cheap-shot no arms tackle on Ryan. Didn't have much sympathy for him.

[D4surfer]

Any idea who we have in the quarterfinals. To me it looks like Moseley or London Welsh.

[Armchair]

Not that this really answers the question you were asking but Ross Byrne was in the stand!

Picked up an injury during the week

Rumour floating he broke his ankle!

[wise7]

Ross Byrne ankle injury apparently not a break so hopefully shorter recovery time.

[LeinsterLeader]

Home to London Welsh in the B&I quarters. No date yet!

Edit: 11/12/13 March. The winners to play Cornish Pirates/Doncaster in the semi

[neiliog93]

They're useless, not a bad draw at all.

[Vamos los azules]

It appears that the Leinster A team have joined the Championship looking at the line up of the quarter finals:

Game 1: Leinster 'A' v London Welsh
Game 2: Yorkshire Carnegie v Moseley
Game 3: Bedford Blues v Jersey RFC
Game 4: Cornish Pirates v Doncaster Knights

They should have a decent shot at winning the thing I would have thought.

[simonokeeffe]

Home to London Welsh in the B&I quarters. No date yet!

Edit: 11/12/13 March. The winners to play Cornish Pirates/Doncaster in the semi

Doncaster a close second to bristol in the championship, thatd be an interesting one

[LeinsterLeader]

Match scheduled for the 12th. Good news is it's free for ST holders. Bad news is it's 7pm kick-off on same night as the Italy match

[Donny B.]

Match scheduled for the 12th. Good news is it's free for ST holders. Bad news is it's 7pm kick-off on same night as the Italy match

Mad Busy weekend for Donnybrook in fairness. Under-20s on the Friday, Leinster A on the Saturday and the Women on the Sunday.

[Pendragon]

Match scheduled for the 12th. Good news is it's free for ST holders. Bad news is it's 7pm kick-off on same night as the Italy match

Mad Busy weekend for Donnybrook in fairness. Under-20s on the Friday, Leinster A on the Saturday and the Women on the Sunday.

Good job it's hard wearing grass !

[Donny B.]

Match scheduled for the 12th. Good news is it's free for ST holders. Bad news is it's 7pm kick-off on same night as the Italy match

Mad Busy weekend for Donnybrook in fairness. Under-20s on the Friday, Leinster A on the Saturday and the Women on the Sunday.

Good job it's hard wearing grass !

Indeed, the old sandpit would not have faired well.

[johng]

Ah. I didn't realise as I've never worn grass.