Treviso v Leinster - Sat 18/1; 1pm your time

[wixfjord]

McGrath's box kicking was way too short.

Box kicking was bang on. Was one of our best weapons.

[wixfjord]

Hard to know what Max's performance yesterday shows.

You could look at it that he's a bit light on grunt in games like this on sticky pitches in bad conditions against big packs.

Or that we got our selection wrong and he shouldn't have been chosen at 6.

I'd say the truth is a mix of both. Made one lovely break up the sideline but missed a tackle on their 8 and looked a wee bit quiet over all.

I think Rhys clearly made a difference but with the caveat that Treviso were tiring.

Doris was quiet in first half too, but really came into it in the second. He seems much more comfortable than Max in a tighter game.

Dooley and Tracy both were good when they came on. Offered a lot of grunt. Tracy in particular is having a great season.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

I think Deegan's problem is that he's actually a poor defender out wide. For a guy who's so athletic and agile (remember his jump a couple of years ago?) he often gets his feet caught under him and over commits to a tackle. When that player steps away from him at all then he ends up having to dive and not able to put any weight behind the hit. He makes a lot of stretched arm tackles as opposed to wrapping players and driving with his shoulder. So you often see him flailing with his arms out and the ball carrier just about able to slip out of his grasp. It's not just out wide but it's more noticeable there because ball carriers are tempted to take the long way around. At one stage in midfield he tried to rush up and cut off the player going left, but the player just stepped him and made yards on his inside shoulder. One simple fix is to run straight up the pitch as opposed to looking to bite inside.

I think it was worth trying him at 6 though. I agree with everyone who says Doris is more suited to it, but they're both so young and it would be so good to get them working as a combination that I think experimenting is a good idea even if all it does is find out what doesn't work.

On Luke's kicking, I thought DK's chase was excellent as well. One frustration yesterday was that our chasers over committed on long kicks. We must have been stepped about three times instead of keeping the pressure on.

[Gearzbox2]

Travelled over for the game yesterday and watched it back today and I must say the conditions weren’t reflected on the Tv
The pitch was a complete bog and so heavy and added in a greasy ball it really was attritional for those first 40 anyway

We defended for the opening 20 mins which was lunacy as we then looked gas especially after we lost deegan
Our scrum did very well to hold on as we only put 7 in for every scrum even when they were on our 5m so huge credit to front 5 there....
Thought JVDF was poor, hasn’t been said really on here but didn’t see much of him at all for a game like this
Cronin had a good opening 40 but then seemed to take a nasty knock on HT and I think he should’ve been taken off as his throwing went a bit astray in the second Half, looked a bit out of it

Thought our backs needed to help the forwards out more with some direct carrying and better tactical kicking if I’m honest
Ross B wasn’t great and lacked that composure we see so often

All in all, I think we got the job done and from speaking to a few of the players after they were saying it was the most physical pool game they’ve had so I suppose that shows you the intensity of it

[Twist]

I find that a bit worrying. There’s bigger physical tests than Benetton ahead in this competition

[artaneboy]

He's done the opposite of Ross, Luke is having one of his best games of the season the week he gets into the Irish squad

McGrath's passing throughout the the game was poor AGAIN.
Given the conditions that kind of service is going to put your ball receiver under pressure.
Byrne is a tall OH and even at that the ball was coming at head height to him.
McGrath's box kicking was way too short.
He probably just about deserved his MOM but mainly because of his defensive excellence and the breaking.
Unless and until McGrath sorts out his passing he shouldn't be getting byes from anyone.
Passing properly is his primary duty and it's the poorest facet of his game. His box kicking also leaves a lot to be desired.

Thought his box kicking was great tbh. Great hang time and distance, not retaining/retrieving some of them was disappointing but nearly all of them provided good gains and put pressure on Benetton to retain possession.
His breaks around the ruck were very well taken too, only space for a mouse to pass through the way he did.
But yeah his passing was a bit erratic at times. Although most on the team were guilty of that. Disagree that passing is his primary function though, it's one of the methods available to him to fulfill his primary function.

Nah- passing is his primary function. Said this before- a 9 either passes, breaks/ runs or kicks. All the rest is variation, and passing is the most frequent action. So it is the most important.

Luke’s passing is much better than it was a couple of years ago. Accuracy, pace and speed- they are the elements of consistency needed. So it will never be true that poor passing can be sufficiently compensated by a great all-round game. But he’s getting there- just needs to be more consistent.


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[leinsterforever]

Hopefully Deegan at 6 is just to keep both him and Doris involved and they're not actually thinking of it long term. There's an adage in judo that you should attempt to win by 'yielding to strength'. I don't think that applies to playing blindside in rugby union. You want someone who's a bit of an immovable object, not a mercurial footballer who can be a bit loose.

[curates_egg]

Lots of people have name checked Luke, Ryan and Doris, who had great games.

I thought Dave Kearney had another excellent performance. On one of the defensive sequences in the second half, he put in two great tackles in succession that drove them back ten yards. His draw and pass back in to Henshaw, off THAT Ringrose pass, was very clever too. A similar logic to Lowe’s assist last week but much more technical.
He’s in some form, but that back three for Ireland is very competitive.

Worst I have seen Byrne play. He’s usually so reliable. Distracted by the 6 nations?

Murray Kinsella has kindly posted a video of that Dave K double-tackle I referred to.
One of a number of top class interventions by a player who is bang on form.
https://twitter.com/Murray_Kinsella/sta ... 6296001536

[LeRouxIsPHat]

The Indo says that Luke made 14 tackles on Saturday. Quite ridiculous for a scrumhalf in general, but he was also only on until the 62nd minute.