Well fpdone the lads! You got a sense of how much intensity they brought to it when Ruddock skittled a few of their players in an early rampage, and Jordi picked up and drove McCloskey back.
Thought that Ulster played a bit into our hands by going the agricultural route. For all the talk of Payne he was used as a battering ram with McC and Marshall when they started getting the ball in the later part of the first half.
Our scrum improved when Cronin went on perhaps they were tiring out by that stage.
Temporary interruption in the pessimism flux here. Best wait until the final when it will be impossible to beat Glasgow/Connacht both of whom we rarely beat I think
jezzer wrote:He will never be the second coming of BOD, because the only thing their game shares is probably the appetite for work around the pitch. He'll hopefully be the first coming of Ringrose.
Our setpiece and Sexton won that for us. Scrum dominant in second half, while much of their lineout ball was messy, and we got a couple of big steals. Sexton's tactical kicking pinned them back at key moments and he nailed a few difficult placekicks. Luke was outstanding in first half, especially from restarts.
fourthirtythree wrote:Well fpdone the lads! You got a sense of how much intensity they brought to it when Ruddock skittled a few of their players in an early rampage, and Jordi picked up and drove McCloskey back.
Thought that Ulster played a bit into our hands by going the agricultural route. For all the talk of Payne he was used as a battering ram with McC and Marshall when they started getting the ball in the later part of the first half.
Our scrum improved when Cronin went on perhaps they were tiring out by that stage.
Tired just watching that.
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2 scrum penalties and a try, and you can't even give the guy a compliment
*** Edited by mod ***
Ruckedtobits wrote:If we can match Trimble's intensity (he epitomises Ulster) and live on top of Pienaar, we should come through by 7-9 points.
J10 and Mick Kearney are the key players in Leinster for this game and I believe both will dominate in their areas.
Ian Davies must be strong at breakdown time as Ulster will once again try to slow ball in any way possible.
In first 15 mins, Luke out-played Trimble on four kicks, a break up his wing from kick-off and two super tackles. RTB was a very happy bunny.
Performance all round of great intensity and desire and Jordi Murphy was right up there with 22 tackles (12 of them with his left shoulder). And to think I wanted Dan Leavy! Well done Jordi.
Really enjoyed that. Pretty good quality game as is the norm with these 2. Leinster did an impressive job of turning Trimble and keeping him occupied under kicks. They got success out of that and he had a tough old night dealing with it. Ulster ran some smart moves too. Gilroy's second try reminded me a lot of a try scored by Australia in lansdowne rd a few years ago. I think it was cooper who bamboozled madigan and Marshall. This time gilroy went through pretty much untouched. Both teams were exploiting weaknesses cleverly.
I know the defensive record is good, but I've had an issue with leinster all season where they've been looking for the big hit in defence and at times not just completing the simple tackle. I'm thinking ferg's cards, nacewa at times too and toner's timing has been off for a good while. Tonight they got the balance between aggressive tackling and accurate, completed tackles pretty right I thought. Henderson (how good was he?!) and mccloskey maybe half broke a few, but they were felled one way or another.
Ulster are close, but the tight 5 are just too far behind leinster and leinster stil have big impact off the bench-furlong, Cronin, molony all did well. It's a bit surprising to me Ireland aren't trying to get Michael bent off to either ulster or munster and that either of them don't seem to be particularly pushing to get him. Plays both sides and seems rated by feek. Not stirring sh!t there, just a genuine observation.
Struck me after hearing about harinordiquay's retirement today, Christ heaslip will be missed when he isn't there anymore. Sexton prob picked up MOM, I didn't see, but heaslip was quietly excellent I thought.
Was there a bit if a bak(arat)lash too? The folly of those sky mid-game interviews!
fourthirtythree wrote:Well done the lads! You got a sense of how much intensity they brought to it when Ruddock skittled a few of their players in an early rampage, and Jordi picked up and drove McCloskey back.
Thought that Ulster played a bit into our hands by going the agricultural route. For all the talk of Payne he was used as a battering ram with McC and Marshall when they started getting the ball in the later part of the first half.
Our scrum improved when Cronin went on perhaps they were tiring out by that stage.
Tired just watching that.
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2 scrum penalties and a try, and you can't even give the guy a compliment
*** Edited by mod ***
Goodness! Can I offer the guy a compliment so? (Edit, I forgot to) he was fantastic tonight, pulverised them in the scrum, eliverd in the line out and scored a Cronin carry try.
Personally, I think, and have thought for quite a while that the conventional wisdom about Cronin doesn't always match what happens on the pitch. Certainly in the scrum where unit impact is an issue. The scrum improved with Furlong on for example. And he wasn't the best in Ravenhill.
I meant no lack of respect for his performance today. Though it must be pointed out I had a great view for one scrum in particular and the ball went to the back of the scrum from Reddan. Might help.
curates_egg wrote:
That is, without doubt, the most one-eyed review of the game in Ravenhill I have read.
Fair play to Ferris: he is an utterly useless pundit and a bit dim, but he is as passionate a fan as he was a player.
Yeah he has an interview in the Indo too which seemed kind of similar. Possibly he's entertaining for some people but he doesn't actually impart any knowledge or insight.
Still better than old Victor Costello
Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
Jackie and your Nexus 6P, come back; you and your gracious, humble and magnanimous contributions are missed.
While you're at it, could you please ask Stevie how and where that smoke is?
Ruckedtobits wrote:If we can match Trimble's intensity (he epitomises Ulster) and live on top of Pienaar, we should come through by 7-9 points.
J10 and Mick Kearney are the key players in Leinster for this game and I believe both will dominate in their areas.
Ian Davies must be strong at breakdown time as Ulster will once again try to slow ball in any way possible.
In first 15 mins, Luke out-played Trimble on four kicks, a break up his wing from kick-off and two super tackles. RTB was a very happy bunny.
Performance all round of great intensity and desire and Jordi Murphy was right up there with 22 tackles (12 of them with his left shoulder). And to think I wanted Dan Leavy! Well done Jordi.
Imagine how good Fitz would have been if he wasn't injured every 2nd week. The guy is one of the most naturally gifted rugby players Ireland has ever produced. Pure class.
What a performance. That was a performance that was two years in coming. We pulled some decent performances out of nowhere in MOC's first year in the play-offs but I can't remember something of similar competence and intensity other than that since Joe left. The vile jelly has been purged.
Lots of players needing big games had them, and in spades.
After all the bulls!t down-talking from media and fans, this feels even better.
I think most real fans knew we had this performance in us but it is great to see it finally confirmed on the pitch.
We now need to back it up next weekend. Still plenty of tickets left for the final but it is unfortunately too expensive for me to get to from here.
That and whatever reason Isa went off for are the only downsides...any info on Isa.?
curates_egg wrote:What a performance. That was a performance that was two years in coming. We pulled some decent performances out of nowhere in MOC's first year in the play-offs but I can't remember something of similar competence and intensity other than that since Joe left. The vile jelly has been purged.
Lots of players needing big games had them, and in spades.
After all the bulls!t down-talking from media and fans, this feels even better.
I think most real fans knew we had this performance in us but it is great to see it finally confirmed on the pitch.
We now need to back it up next weekend. Still plenty of tickets left for the final but it is unfortunately too expensive for me to get to from here.
That and whatever reason Isa went off for are the only downsides...any info on Isa.?
Not only Isa we should be worried about
Ben Teo who was excellent again today had his calf in a large ice bag after the match and looked very uncomfortable
curates_egg wrote:
That is, without doubt, the most one-eyed review of the game in Ravenhill I have read.
Fair play to Ferris: he is an utterly useless pundit and a bit dim, but he is as passionate a fan as he was a player.
Yeah he has an interview in the Indo too which seemed kind of similar. Possibly he's entertaining for some people but he doesn't actually impart any knowledge or insight.
Still better than old Victor Costello
Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
curates_egg wrote:
Jackie and your Nexus 6P, come back; you and your gracious, humble and magnanimous contributions are missed.
While you're at it, could you please ask Stevie how and where that smoke is?
Apparently, according to the man himself, the smoke is blowing him back up the road with his tail between his legs.
#LiveLifeLoveLeinster
#BeSeenBeHeardBeBlueBELIEVE
I'm a Book Mark and damn proud of it. Storm 1:08 forever
curates_egg wrote:What a performance. That was a performance that was two years in coming. We pulled some decent performances out of nowhere in MOC's first year in the play-offs but I can't remember something of similar competence and intensity other than that since Joe left. The vile jelly has been purged.
Lots of players needing big games had them, and in spades.
After all the bulls!t down-talking from media and fans, this feels even better.
I think most real fans knew we had this performance in us but it is great to see it finally confirmed on the pitch.
We now need to back it up next weekend. Still plenty of tickets left for the final but it is unfortunately too expensive for me to get to from here.
That and whatever reason Isa went off for are the only downsides...any info on Isa.?
Isa having an x ray on his arm
Spoke to him after the game and he said he'd be grand for the final....
perhaps they were tiring out by that stage.
