Pro 14 Semi-final vs Munster, Friday Sept 4th, 7.35pm

[mildlyinterested]

If we get sucked into a dogfight, and allow Munster to drag the game into a kick fest and messy ruck show, then all bets are off.

almost certain thats what will happen.

[Peg Leg]

i'm sure if they win POM et al. will be described as such.

and 20 years from now half of Munster will be claiming to have been at that empty stadium!

[LeRouxIsPHat]

i'm sure if they win POM et al. will be described as such.

and 20 years from now half of Munster will be claiming to have been at that empty stadium!

[wixfjord]

It's funny how the narrative on here has quickly changed from the usual bombastic 'we are all conquering, Munster are not at the races' one to a far more worried, anxious one on the day of the game.

[mildlyinterested]

It's funny how the narrative on here has quickly changed from the usual bombastic 'we are all conquering, Munster are not at the races' one to a far more worried, anxious one on the day of the game.

isn't that fairly natural?

Leinster should win.. but it's hardly a sure thing given the injuries and lack of games..

[wixfjord]

It's funny how the narrative on here has quickly changed from the usual bombastic 'we are all conquering, Munster are not at the races' one to a far more worried, anxious one on the day of the game.

isn't that fairly natural?

Leinster should win.. but it's hardly a sure thing given the injuries and lack of games..

It's natural, but judging by some of the talk on here over the last few months we could be beating them by 20+! Particularly with their own injuries.

The reality is Munster are nowhere near as far off as many would believe.

[mildlyinterested]

It's funny how the narrative on here has quickly changed from the usual bombastic 'we are all conquering, Munster are not at the races' one to a far more worried, anxious one on the day of the game.

isn't that fairly natural?

Leinster should win.. but it's hardly a sure thing given the injuries and lack of games..

Judging by some of the talk on here over the last few months we could be beating them by 20+! Particularly with their own injuries.

we certainly could.. stranger things have happened.

[Blueberry]

Suspect Stander will be carefully marshalled tonight - he has never carried particularly well against Leinster (we have always kept tabs on him) but his turnover work in the last game was impressive so we need to counter that.

Conan is a better carrier than Stander I have no doubt but Stander does offer a turnover threat that is superior.

[hugonaut]

It's funny how the narrative on here has quickly changed from the usual bombastic 'we are all conquering, Munster are not at the races' one to a far more worried, anxious one on the day of the game.

isn't that fairly natural?

Leinster should win.. but it's hardly a sure thing given the injuries and lack of games..

It's natural, but judging by some of the talk on here over the last few months we could be beating them by 20+! Particularly with their own injuries.

The reality is Munster are nowhere near as far off as many would believe.

Yes, they're certainly making enough noise about their injuries. It's worth mentioning for the sake of balance that we are missing James Ryan, Tadhg Furlong and Dan Leavy.

[OTT]

Reading munsterfans and the hate for Leo is f%~king beautiful, 20+ years and he still brings it out of them, what a hero.

Very excited for this match, very nervous. C'mon Leinster!!

[mildlyinterested]

isn't that fairly natural?

Leinster should win.. but it's hardly a sure thing given the injuries and lack of games..

It's natural, but judging by some of the talk on here over the last few months we could be beating them by 20+! Particularly with their own injuries.

The reality is Munster are nowhere near as far off as many would believe.

Yes, they're certainly making enough noise about their injuries. It's worth mentioning for the sake of balance that we are missing James Ryan, Tadhg Furlong and Dan Leavy.

and Dave Kearney.

[fourthirtythree]

Despite missing the genuinely world class Ryan, Furlong, and Leavy we should revel in being favourites. I think that accepting the mantel of favourite as a challenge and a source of confidence is one of Schmidt's biggest legacies to Leinster rugby.

As people are saying Stander was unusually effective in multiple facets two weeks ago. Unsurprisingly Conan was uncharacteristically subdued, he normally puts in a Stormer against them. Expect Stander to be hit by Connors any and every time he gets the ball. He was auditioning for a role last week and it continues this. Let's see imight he be Vunipola ready. Looking for a Lydiate v Sean O'Brien performance.

Hope Ringrose is as good this week as a fortnight ago and we sort out our kick reception and do better in the lineout.

We've been very poor at dealing with breakdown and I don't think there was much improvement in the second game.

[Logorrhea]

Two weeks ago the line-out was a lottery, the penalty count was massively against us, our management of the high ball was poor, the 6-2 spit didn't work out very well, and it was our first game back..... and we still won. There is a lot of room for us to improve today.

[paddyor]

It's funny how the narrative on here has quickly changed from the usual bombastic 'we are all conquering, Munster are not at the races' one to a far more worried, anxious one on the day of the game.

isn't that fairly natural?

Leinster should win.. but it's hardly a sure thing given the injuries and lack of games..

It's natural, but judging by some of the talk on here over the last few months we could be beating them by 20+! Particularly with their own injuries.

The reality is Munster are nowhere near as far off as many would believe.

It would be an upset if they won but at the same time I'd imagine there's very short odds on it. It's a bit odd though alright. THey gained less than Saracens lost and we're probably still generally more scared of Saracens.

[wixfjord]

Things we should be looking for tonight:

- Far, far greater ruck accuracy. We need to stop giving away pens for diving off feet in attacking positions.
- Scrum dominance. This seemed really good in the first game, and I think our front 5 should be looking for a few pens here.
- Connors to make 18-20 tackles and make Stander/DDA a target. This is absolutely critical and is what he's there for.
- Lineout to be tidied up a bit. I think we need to simplify, use Dev at the front and just make it easier for Kelleher.
- Opportunities close in to the ruck. Would expect Luke M sniping, Doris picking from the base and Ringrose bouncing back inside a lot. Munster defence is a little weaker here and have slower forwards than we do.
- A big impact from our bench, upping the speed of the game with 20 to go. Cronin, Byrne, Baird, VDF, JGP in particular are critical here.
- Better shielding for our back three. Not expecting JL to claim every ball, but we need to protect him more in particular.

If we do 4/5 of these we'll win imo.

[mildlyinterested]

Munster make what looks like a planned late change to their bench. Back-row Gavin Coombes replaces full-back Mike Haley to make it a six/two split. Coombes hasn't played yet this season, but gets the nod ahead of Tommy O'Donnell and Jack O'Sullivan

[Theleinsterlad]

Interesting! One the couch watching the build up, god I’m buzzing with excitement can’t wait for this to start

[alanair]

Not getting match on Eir Facebook as promised... any good links ??

[wixfjord]

Awful start. That's a shocker from Fardy.

[D2 Blue]

Not getting match on Eir Facebook as promised... any good links ??

I don't bother with social media but checked eir sport FB page and there seems to be a hashtag #LEIvMUN but I think you need to logon to FB.
Following it the old fashioned way on rte radio. Sounds like we're coming into the game a bit and the gears are slowly moving.