Leinster V NG Dragons RDS Fri 2nd Oct 20:15

[backrower8]

Porter and Deegan injured too.

[Twist]

JGP, Rhys, Fardy and JvdF all looked good tonight I thought. As if they were proving a point about not starting/benching v. Saracens

Hugo Keenan looked like he belongs at fullback

[curates_egg]

I honestly think that side is at just as good as the side that played Saracens, and better in certain areas.
I also believe it is a side that would have been better equipped to beat Saracens.
The Keenan-Larmour switch should have happened before now.
JGP is the form scrum half.
Fardy would have given us what we were badly lacking in the pack: experience and scumbaggerry.
No way I would pick Frawley over Henshaw at present. But he gives us something different.

The scrum would have been mullered either way: Byrne and Kelleher give you something different outside of the scrum.
I have long believed Bent is a better scrummager than Porter. I have yet to see anything to convince me otherwise. Clearly, Porter is better in almost every other aspect of the game, apart from penalty count.

I reckon that NPHET told Leo that he had to throw the Saracens game because they didn't want a horde of supporters travelling abroad for the final
So better to nip things in the bud in case their SF got knocked out by COVID.
No mugs those NOPHET guys

Not gonna say I told you so, but check for that 5G mast all the same

[hugonaut]

Porter and Deegan injured too.

Max didn't look good. I fear the worst, unfortunately.

[hugonaut]

A lot of good performances tonight, enjoyed it a lot and I don't ask for much more than that these days, though opposition weren't up to much they had their moments and those were dealt with pretty comfortably in the main. Lacked clinical finishing in second half, left a lot of points out there but not really complaining. Injuries the main worries, any updates?

I'm the same - I really enjoyed it and thought that we put together some outstanding passages of play.

It was fascinating to see us try for so many offloads and to see Rhys taking up wide positions so consistently. To me it looks like the coaches and players have taken on board the way the breakdown is being reffed and are
a] trying to avoid relying on rucks so much, i.e. more offloads both out of the tackle and off the ground; and
b] giving themselves a forward in the outside channel to resource the breakdowns that happen a long way away from the rest of the pack.

That is a better Dragons side than any we have faced in a long time: multiple current Welsh internationals in Ross Moriarty, Aaron Wainwright, Nick Tompkins and Elliott Dee and a good few former ones in Roberts, Hibbard, Knoyle and Sam Davies. There were one or two times when they looked a little shapeless, but they also had some pretty clever play.

We pressured them extremely well on important lineouts, and they will be very disappointed with the number of throws they lost within 10m of our try-line; to my recollection it was three, but it could have been four. You know yourself that when that happens to Leinster we carp on it on this board for the whole week!

Lots of good performances from our side – I wouldn't argue at all with JGP's Man of the Match award though. Also very happy with the performance of Tommy O'Brien off the bench. Very Ferg-esque!

[LeinsterLeader]

Last nights match programme!

https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/ ... -v-dragons

[Blueberry]

Fun to watch and much to like. JVC super, high tempo and super scrum half work. Ruddock in beast mode, super to see and Ryan, Baird and Keenan all looked great too. Fullback seems to be sorting itself out.

Fardy had a good game too with suitable amounts of skullduggery....

For me Ruddock has to be on the pitch in our first xv....if they want to start VDF/Connors at 7 and Doris at 6 is Ruddock at 8 the solution to getting out best backrow on the pitch (not including Leavy atm)....

Hard to know how good /useless the Dragons side is but they did look relatively competent in some areas !!

Hope Deegan is okay but doesn't look good and hope Frawley hasn't fractured something in his face, some bump.....

[dropkick]

Keenan looks very comfortable at fullback. Reminds me of Ben Smith in running style. He's s good player for linking up with his fellow backs. It's something Larmour needs to work on.

[curates_egg]

Last nights match programme!

https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/ ... -v-dragons

How did you get it home dry?

Some publication. Thanks.

[Blueberry]

Tks for the match programme.

[Wanderers FC]

Great performance by JGP and Keenan outstanding at Fullback. Team still looking very rusty vs before lockdown, but that’s cause they set the bar so high. Good to see Rhys back. Looks like we will need the full 58 with the amount of injuries tonight. Hilarious that possibly we have lost Johnny (hammer), frawley (concussion) and Ross (wrist), that we are now down to one out half for game next week. Who says we have too many out halves!!

I wonder will Hawkshaw get a call up to the bench for next game if those outhalf injuries rule out the players you’ve listed. Probably a bit early in terms of his development but would like to see him start to breakthrough. I would also like to see Turner tried at some point this season.

[carlow man]

Fun to watch and much to like. JVC super, high tempo and super scrum half work. Ruddock in beast mode, super to see and Ryan, Baird and Keenan all looked great too. Fullback seems to be sorting itself out.

Fardy had a good game too with suitable amounts of skullduggery....

For me Ruddock has to be on the pitch in our first xv....if they want to start VDF/Connors at 7 and Doris at 6 is Ruddock at 8 the solution to getting out best backrow on the pitch (not including Leavy atm)....

Hard to know how good /useless the Dragons side is but they did look relatively competent in some areas !!

Hope Deegan is okay but doesn't look good and hope Frawley hasn't fractured something in his face, some bump.....

I think Rhys has always been our best 6. It's either josh or will at 7 and doris at 8. Doris, I feel had more strings to his bow than conan. They are probably very similar in size but for some reason doris looks more powerful especially against big teams. Harsh on conan but right now I think doris is our best 8. Fingers crossed leavy comes back fit and firing but it will take him a while to get back to his old self.

[LeinsterLeader]

Last nights match programme!

https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/ ... -v-dragons

How did you get it home dry?

Some publication. Thanks.

It wasn't the getting it home dry that was a problem it was having the kids up all night scanning the pages into the computer. They're a bit cranky today but I think it was worth it

[Logorrhea]

Conan @ 8 all day long. The others have a bit of a way to go yet to take that jersey, for Leinster and Ireland. Just an opinion.

[wixfjord]

Conan @ 8 all day long. The others have a bit of a way to go yet to take that jersey, for Leinster and Ireland. Just an opinion.

Well he is nowhere near having control of it for Ireland.

And for Leinster, I think the Sarries game might've shown again that he's just lacking a little bit to be a top end 8.

I would agree that for me our best backrow is Ruddock, VDF/Connors and Doris.

Doris just packs a little bit more punch.

[riocard911]

I thought Tommy O'Brien gave a seriously impressive performance. I also hope Frawley makes a full recovery; that was an awful knee to the head he managed due to poor tackle technique to incur from Jamie Roberts.

[OTT]

35-5 up in the 72minute, we defended our line for the next 5minutes like the world depended on it. I love the honesty of those boys.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Enjoyed that. I know a lot of pundits/fans have said that one of the problems about the Saracens game was that we coast through the Pro14 without testing ourselves and then come up short against the big guns. There’s obviously some merit in that but I think we generally try to push the envelope with our skills etc. We didn’t in the build up to the QF though, tried to pace ourselves to peak for that game and it didn’t work. I thought that last night was back to making sure every play was done at 100mph, the pace of the first quarter was great. We weren’t clinical enough initially but most of what we did was impressive.

JGP was great, I think the difference he makes is that his long passes allow us to get the ball wide more quickly so the outside backs get more ball and also have more time and space when they do. His catch in our 22 was an outstanding bit of skill too.

Keenan was always a solid all rounder but now he’s becoming excellent in most areas. I couldn’t get over his work rate last night, especially his kick chase. There was one where he came from the opposite side of the pitch to put pressure on the Dragons near the corner, made me tired just watching it.

Great to see Rhys back and playing so well too. Deegan and Fardy have done well in the wide channels too over the last couple of seasons so don’t think it’s entirely new but I agree that we’ll be seeing more of it and the likes of Baird and Doris could do serious damage out there too.

TOB very impressive as well, he always looks so comfortable.

This is irrelevant to the match but the ref in the Ulster game was excellent. Both teams wanted to play and he allowed them to do it, let them contest the breakdown and only penalised the most obvious offences. Chatted very well throughout. Although this is all with the caveat that I’ve only watched the first half so far.

[Twist]

Fingers crossed for Max Deegan. Thats a pretty severe injury toll to ship in a 30 point win.

Baird looks so impressive though. His conditioning work over the lockdown period is really paying off. I didn't think he'd have the power to play second row at the highest level but he's putting himself about like Itoje (who he's slightly taller than) recently

[wixfjord]

Baird looks like he has the acceleration and carrying style of Dillane but with more of the nuts and bolts of the game.

He's a supreme athlete.