Northampton Saints v Leinster BT Friday 7.45

[riocard911]

Delighted with that. There was really only one team in it. Essentially N'hampton were feeding off our scraps. Scrums - amazing. Brilliant performance by Ross Byrne in his first ever European match. The RO'L try was sublime and practically identical to Dave K's one last season vs the Ospreys away off a J10 crossfield kick. What Hartley did wasn't reckless, it was a premeditated attempt to take an opposing player our of the game via injury. Whether or which, his blotting his copybook - again - means there will be no rerun next week of valiant N'Hamps showing up the Ladyboys in front of 40.000 fans in Lansdowne Road, buíochas le Dia. We can go out and mash them this time and get the five points. Chuffed also for Lancaster, who has really brought our academy lads through. The result was testament to his coaching. The red card a vindication of his judge of character!!!! We should do all we can to hold on to him, IMO.

[TerenureJim]

Some serious questions about certain players at Northampton and discipline.

[IanD]

And despite its monumental stupidity, I'm not sure that what Hartley did was actually the stupidest thing Northampton did. Taking Wood off so the hooker could come back on ran it damn close.

Was discussing this after the match. My take is Saints Management knew game was over and decided to rest their Captain. This could be for next weekend or for other matches to come in the AP.

We might get more of an insight when they name the team for Saturday - will they rest other players too.

[dropkick]

Even before the red card you sensed Leinster were starting to pull away but performance wise it was mixed. The Saints are really lacking confidence but were level at the start of the second half.


Leinster team started well and most of the players had good games but a few players made far too many mistakes. Luke McGrath being the main culprit. He was playing well but those errors kill teams. Adam Byrne was also one of the main culprits for making mistakes and Robbie Henshaw made a few errors. In contrast Garry Ringrose you can count on one hand the number of knock ons Garry Ringrose makes in a season, likewise Nacewa is a safe pair of hands.
Luke McGrath might have been trying to protect Ross Byrne but he should just concentrate on his own game.


The pack were very good especially the scrum. Furlong continues his rise. Only selection I'd question is Triggs but he hasn't played much this season at that level.


The red card ment game over and I think Mallinder's decision to take off Wood was basically a surrender.


ALthough Carbery was missed, Ross Byrne played well when he came on. His kicking was very good especially the cross field kick for the try. Great catch from ROL. It was good to see JJ Hanrahan back for the Saints and give a reminder of what he is capable of. Pity about the injury which looks like it'll rule him out for next weeks match.

[Pendragon]

Delighted with everything but have to say I would not be happy if I was a Saints fan. They were shocking and it was the kind of performance that could get a coach sacked.

[artaneboy]

Even before the red card you sensed Leinster were starting to pull away but performance wise it was mixed. The Saints are really lacking confidence but were level at the start of the second half.


Leinster team started well and most of the players had good games but a few players made far too many mistakes. Luke McGrath being the main culprit. He was playing well but those errors kill teams. Adam Byrne was also one of the main culprits for making mistakes and Robbie Henshaw made a few errors. In contrast Garry Ringrose you can count on one hand the number of knock ons Garry Ringrose makes in a season, likewise Nacewa is a safe pair of hands.
Luke McGrath might have been trying to protect Ross Byrne but he should just concentrate on his own game.


The pack were very good especially the scrum. Furlong continues his rise. Only selection I'd question is Triggs but he hasn't played much this season at that level.


The red card ment game over and I think Mallinder's decision to take off Wood was basically a surrender.


ALthough Carbery was missed, Ross Byrne played well when he came on. His kicking was very good especially the cross field kick for the try. Great catch from ROL. It was good to see JJ Hanrahan back for the Saints and give a reminder of what he is capable of. Pity about the injury which looks like it'll rule him out for next weeks match.

Good analysis of the good and poor of McGrath, Byrne and Henshaw- but Ringrose made his share of mistakes too. A couple of tackles in the third quarter were missed and could have been seriously punished if "The Saints" backs were more composed.

I was really impressed by Carberry got the short period he was there. Byrne did not much wrong but (as you intimated) the other backs seemed to be trying to protect him at the start and this caused disruption to the general play.

But overall, the most satisfying match since we bet them over there last time. Hopefully there's no backlash this time.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Laighin Break]

For all we know the management's orders to L McGrath could have been to look after Byrne and manage the game a bit more. Just like when Murray has Jackson or Carbery outside him.

I am in Team JGP but I think it's unfair to suggest JGP is much better after his 15 minute cameo against 14 players. It really does remind me of the Reddan / Boss setup. Both very different scrumhalves, so can impress from the bench when the other is playing a bit off. But the exact opposite could happen next week.

When BT commentator said that Hartley's offence is usually 6 weeks ban, BOD replied "yeah that's looking at previous good behaviour..". The fact that SOB didn't pass his HIA should be taken into consideration for the ban as concussion is such a hot topic.

[Keith]

Yes Adam Byrne made a few mistakes last night but his power and pace is exactly what we have been crying out for, for years in the back 3. The last thing we need is to resort back to a save option on the wing or heaven forbid start ZK ahead of him. He has certainly earmed a ahot at a run of games.

[Gearzbox2]

Had the joy of being in franklins garden last night...probably not as good as a performance as a few years ago but some huge positives to take from a hugely challenging game with plenty of curve balls thrown at us
Front row immense, can we get giddy with that scrum!!!
Pack in general pretty impressive with the level of work it got thru
Ringer/Henshaw partnership had some nice moments

Negatives
Half back play very mixed
Back 3 positioning was shocking at times, crazy the amount of times it bounced in open field
Our play in their 22 needs to be more varied as forward were a bit headless

Next weeks game obviously huge but again I think 5 points is achievable

[domhnallj]

Delighted with everything but have to say I would not be happy if I was a Saints fan. They were shocking and it was the kind of performance that could get a coach sacked.

They weren't and they were calling for Mallinder's head in the section I was in.

[curates_egg]

Back 3 positioning was shocking at times, crazy the amount of times it bounced in open field

This was so true. Apart from the three ridiculous times they let the ball bounce (even once is unforgivable at this level), they were literally always out of position. When Ross Byrne was covering, he hadn't a clue. That needs to be worked on quickly.

Great 5 points but that act of thuggery ruined the contest and the atmosphere.

Carbery did not look happy after so I would guess we are now without two out halves; we really should look at a joker.

[Gearzbox2]

Back 3 positioning was shocking at times, crazy the amount of times it bounced in open field

This was so true. Apart from the three ridiculous times they let the ball bounce (even once is unforgivable at this level), they were literally always out of position. When Ross Byrne was covering, he hadn't a clue. That needs to be worked on quickly.

Great 5 points but that act of thuggery ruined the contest and the atmosphere.

Carbery did not look happy after so I would guess we are now without two out halves; we really should look at a joker.

Whatever about Rory O'Loughlin, we'll cut him some slack considering the guy is a centre, Adam Byrne needs to improve hugely here if he wants to go forward...it was comical at one particular moment, the ball bounced 4 times before he picked up, he'll get punished badly if this continues
Just seemed like there was no communication between them...a case of "is it mine or yours!!!!"

Joey looks serious enough we could do with emergency cover
Give Cruden the Aviva purse next week to lure him over!!!

[OTT]

Great to get the 5 points, get young guys European exposure and still be in a place where we know there is a much higher ceiling for this squad.

The pack won us that match they were phenomenal. Special mention to Sean Cronin who I though was probably my mom. He carried like he carries, he hooked them off the park in the scrums and his line outs were on the money, the 2 or 3 we lost looked like we just never got the guys in the air properly. He is like a general at the back of that maul which did not get us a try but it got us lots of yards and penalties and definitely drained Northampton reserves. He has it all it is just sometimes it all does not come together but last night it did. Credit where it is due.

I think people are being hard on Luke McGrath I thought he stepped up well and it seemed clear to me that the instructions were to take the pressure off Ross Byrne. I thought he kept the saints very honest at the break down and had a few nice snipes. He is still a young guy himself and I thought he lead the half back partnership pretty well he obviously made errors like the kick out on the full and some awkward passing but I thought his decison making was actually quite good if the execution was not always on the money. I find the comments about our number one scrumhalf debate being over based on JGP cameo absolutely ridiculous. We do not currently have a guy like Conor Murray in our squad but we do have two decent scrumhalf's who have not yet reached their full potential they will chop and change as the management see fit and that is correct in my opinion. Glad to have them both with us.

Garry Ringrose a pleasure to see this young man play. Every game he becomes more influential. His skills are matched by his appetite for work.

We are a long way from the finished article but the future is bright in Leinster.

Dylan Hartley the gift that keeps giving, I thought he had genuinely turned his career around how foolish of me? I hope SOB comes through okay.

[Hippo]

There was a kick through to the corner in the first half by Meyler following which BOD highlighted the huge space he could and should have kicked into in front of the posts. Immediately after the ball found touch RK was losing his reason with someone (couldn't see who) for presumably not covering that space. It was a major problem more than once, and won't go unpunished against better teams.

Northampton look a real mess. It's a shame to see a proper club like this in such a state.

[Hippo]

Re McGrath - he's a young player with loads of promise and obviously I want him to become the 9 the team needs, but he took far too much on himself last night and at the moment doesn't have the ability to match his ambition. That completely unnecessary offload that went straight into touch was a prime example. As was pointed out above, that kind of error kills a team's momentum and it happened way too often last night.

[carlow man]

Had a quick look.on saints forum and while most agreed that hartley is a scumbag who never delivers for his club team, one poster tried to defend his red card. Think this guy needs an eye test rapid!!

Read below:-

Having rewatched the Dylan incident this morning I feel that he has been slightly unlucky. He has been sitting on the bench all evening watching 20 minutes of complete chaff to be followed by a monumental effort to hold Leinster out, which seems to have been made possible by some big hits. The second half starts well and it feels like Saints are in with a chance. At which point Dylan is sent on with a massive cheer from the crowd. I can't pretend to think for Dylan but I would guess he was pumped up by this and the fact that he needs to pay back Saints for a lack of game time this season. To me the incident looks like he is lining up a big hit of his own, but at the same time O'Brien is tackled and so falls down and forward towards Dylan, meaning he is hit about a foot lower and 3 feet nearer than he would have. If you look at his arm he appears to be bending it ready to tackle O'Brien, which would have been a hard hit but legal. Again with these incidents, showing in slow motion always makes it look bad.

Not saying that Dylan should be totally absolved of blame as if he aimed his tackle lower this could never have been an issue,but maybe there was more to it than meets the eye.

[carlow man]

Hartley knew exactly wot he was doing in my opinion and should be hit with a long ban. I'm sure Eddie Jones will still defend him thou.

[Peg Leg]

Re McGrath - he's a young player with loads of promise and obviously I want him to become the 9 the team needs, but he took far too much on himself last night and at the moment doesn't have the ability to match his ambition. That completely unnecessary offload that went straight into touch was a prime example. As was pointed out above, that kind of error kills a team's momentum and it happened way too often last night.

Away with the bullschmidt, this the Cullen offloadpallooza era

[Ruckedtobits]

Re McGrath - he's a young player with loads of promise and obviously I want him to become the 9 the team needs, but he took far too much on himself last night and at the moment doesn't have the ability to match his ambition. That completely unnecessary offload that went straight into touch was a prime example. As was pointed out above, that kind of error kills a team's momentum and it happened way too often last night.

+1
Agree 100% with this analysis. I believe that young players must have confidence to graduate upwards. I totally accept that McGrath has an excellent rugby brain and many of the attributes that will see him move to regular international exposure but he's not there yet and his mistakes are too often because current ability doesn't match ambition.

He was unfortunate with missed tackle on Hanrahan but most other mistakes were self-created. Box-kick out on full; missed pass to supporting runner after clean line-break; pass directly to touch; knock-on at maul whilst looking elsewhere. Each of these is a function of a momentary lapse in concentration, which he is prone to.

He is improving. His pass may never be perfect but he has excellent rugby instincts. He should lose the flapping hands and bite his tongue more often in communicating with referees. Apart from that, just keep focussing on his work-ons.

[Hippo]

Away with the bullschmidt, this the Cullen offloadpallooza era