Leinster v Ulster Fri 8th January 2021 19:35 EirSport

[Cianostays]

It's a bold strategy Cotton.

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[Laighin Break]

If Kelleher or Sheehan are fit I'd bring one of them into the squad and go with Cronin and Henshaw in the centre.

[Ruckedtobits]

Questions, questions, questions.

Why Warwick ahead of O'Sullivan, who's on the bench?
Why Jones ahead of Timoney, who's on the bench?
Why McIlroy ahead of Gilroy, and why Moxham on the bench?

Why Cronin instead of Kelleher?
Why Jack Conan on the bench instead of DL - or just giving him a reason not to answer a call from McFarland?
Why Molony on the bench ahead of Baird?

How do Leinster defend against McCluskey off set-pieces, particularly line-outs?
Can Ross Byrne or J10 defend against an out-side break from Hume if required?
Who wins the scrum contest between Marty & Cian?

What else would you want to do on a freezing night in January in the middle of a pandemic lockdown?

[carlow man]

Sounds like the kelleher lads are in isolation. Neither have been available for the last couple of weeks.

[Ruckedtobits]

Hopefully the pitch is being protected against Frost as yet another Weather Warnings drops into my in-box

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Questions, questions, questions.

Why Warwick ahead of O'Sullivan, who's on the bench?
Why Jones ahead of Timoney, who's on the bench?
Why McIlroy ahead of Gilroy, and why Moxham on the bench?

Why Cronin instead of Kelleher?
Why Jack Conan on the bench instead of DL - or just giving him a reason not to answer a call from McFarland?
Why Molony on the bench ahead of Baird?

How do Leinster defend against McCluskey off set-pieces, particularly line-outs?
Can Ross Byrne or J10 defend against an out-side break from Hume if required?
Who wins the scrum contest between Marty & Cian?

What else would you want to do on a freezing night in January in the middle of a pandemic lockdown?

Have you not seen Gilroy play recently? He’s a shadow of his former self unfortunately, injuries seem to have taken their toll.

[allezlesverres]

Questions, questions, questions.

Why Warwick ahead of O'Sullivan, who's on the bench?
Why Jones ahead of Timoney, who's on the bench?
Why McIlroy ahead of Gilroy, and why Moxham on the bench?

I'll have a go at these for the craic.

Warwick had a really good outing in his last game and is playing for a contract so he's a fair selection. He is usually pretty reliable in the scrum and I suspect that's why he has been picked.

Jones is not the player Timoney is but has shown pretty honest graft in the last few games he has played with some nice touches. I suspect Timoney benches because Timoney is the more versatile player and can make a decent attempt at any of the back row places whereas Jones could not, so I think there is wisdom in that choice.

McIlroy is ahead of Gilroy purely on merit. Gilroy has struggled for form recently and McIlroy has played well (MoTM against Munster). Moxham is a bit of an unknown quantity but he is well regarded so deserves his chance - how often are we crying out for the youngsters to get big game exposure earlier in their careers?.

Don't ask about why Ross Byrne is at 13. That one is anyone's guess. I thought it was a typo when I read it. It's either masterful or madness on Leo's part. I'm erring towards the latter but I'm usually wrong on these things so he probably end up MoTM and score a hattrick.

[joooooe]

Questions, questions, questions.

Why Warwick ahead of O'Sullivan, who's on the bench?
Why Jones ahead of Timoney, who's on the bench?
Why McIlroy ahead of Gilroy, and why Moxham on the bench?

Why Cronin instead of Kelleher?
Why Jack Conan on the bench instead of DL - or just giving him a reason not to answer a call from McFarland?
Why Molony on the bench ahead of Baird?

How do Leinster defend against McCluskey off set-pieces, particularly line-outs?
Can Ross Byrne or J10 defend against an out-side break from Hume if required?
Who wins the scrum contest between Marty & Cian?

What else would you want to do on a freezing night in January in the middle of a pandemic lockdown?

Have you not seen Gilroy play recently? He’s a shadow of his former self unfortunately, injuries seem to have taken their toll.

He'll always have Thomond Park 2012.

[limecat]

Match Preview

Leinster's winning run in the tournament came to a crashing end when Connacht beat them convincingly last Saturday. Leinster's injury jinx struck again before and during the match and the backline had a particularly callow look by the end of the game. However Leinster's starting and back-up forwards were more than good enough to be competitive but they were soundly beaten by a Connacht pack that played harder and smarter, especially at the breakdown. The lineout also fell apart quite badly.

Read more...

[carlow man]

It's at times like these when it would have been handy to have someone like tomane around. Between rol, cob and frawley, the 3 of them cant seem to play more than 2/3 games in a row without staying fit. If henshaw picks up an injury we are in deep s***. We are seriously low on cover in the centre and when the internationals are away then we cant really rely any of the first 3 I mentioned. The only option we have is job at 13 and he looks knackered. Resting dave k a non runner aswell. The wheels could come off if we pick up 1 more injury in the backs.

[Oldschool]

Has Dooley fallen off a cliff or have I just made an indelicate enquiry?

[Dundalk 1]

Has Dooley fallen off a cliff or have I just made an indelicate enquiry?

Healy and Byrne were Ireland’s first and second choice for the recent internationals
It can be no surprise that they are ahead of Dooley

[backrower8]

Michaels, Rock and Belvo have been around for 100 years the step change in the Academy production only happened in the last decade.

Your key point re Academy production in the last decade is correct, but there is a big variance between the ages of those 3 schools from the 100 years you assume.

Michael’s is 1944 (so 77 years old but just a primary school until 1970, with first SCT in 1976, so 45 years as a ‘supplier’ to adult rugby club & province; Rock 1860 (161 years) and Belvo 1832 (189 years).

[Oldschoolsocks]

can we start a list of who gives zero flyingfucks about how old certain educational institutions may or may not be?

[Blueberry]

can we start a list of who gives zero flyingfucks about how old certain educational institutions may or may not be?

[ronk]

Great to see Scott and Jordan back. Returning internationals make a big difference to our thin squad.

Excited to see this backrow playing together.

[wixfjord]

Interested to see how Fardy and Cronin go tonight.

Two guys nearing the end who haven't had much impact this season.

Cronin looked good last week coming on and lineout will be under less pressure hopefully.

Fardy has been pretty quiet for a while and looks to be showing his age, but has had a good break so hopefully should be raring to go.

[CiaranIrl]

can we start a list of who gives zero flyingfucks about how old certain educational institutions may or may not be?

Please do. Put me near the top.

[outcast eddie]

Interested to see how Fardy and Cronin go tonight.

Two guys nearing the end who haven't had much impact this season.

Cronin looked good last week coming on and lineout will be under less pressure hopefully.

Fardy has been pretty quiet for a while and looks to be showing his age, but has had a good break so hopefully should be raring to go.

It seems to me that Sean Cronin's performances, when we've seen them, have shown no sign of a drop in standard. I'll be watching closely to see if I'm mistaken.

Scott Fardy's performances, on the other hand, have dropped off a cliff this season. I'm always hoping for a glimpse of pre-HC final Scott F when I see his name on the team sheet.

[arsebiscuits1]

Has Dooley fallen off a cliff or have I just made an indelicate enquiry?

I'd say only Benty is more deserving of a break than Dooley at the moment. Dooley has racked up a huge amount of minutes and earned a rest.

Combine that with Healy and Byrne needing a few more minutes themselves and this was an easy decision to leave Dooley off this week