To be fair, they got quite a lot of trophy’s from them.
In 2018 they beat Munster in the semis before winning the Pro 12 (or whatever it was called then)
In 2019 they …… beat Munster in the semis before lifting the trophy again.
In 2020 they …… once again beat Munster in the semis before locking down the three in a row.
Bit of a change in 2021. That year they beat Munster in the final for their fourth successive league title.
I pointed this out above but we were talking about last year’s game.
I might have mentioned it before but a very good friend of mine did a 2 year Sports Management masters in UCD a few years back.
Anyway they used get Stuey Lancaster in a couple of times a year to guest lecture on #leadership and # culture. Stuey spoke glowingly about Leo as a fella. He went out of his way totally to look after Stuey when he moved over first and was staying in a flat in Rathmines or somewhere. When Lancaster’s father died, the funeral was in the middle of nowhere in Cumbria miles and miles from an Airport and public transport. Leo still made it his business to be there in person.
However, Lancaster said they used be at each others throats over team selection, with Lancaster keen to play the same team every week while Leo was mad to keep everyone happy and rotate and rotate and rotate. They could use 40 or 50 players a season.
Trying to keep everyone happy can be a fatal flaw in top level management.
Nucifora KOed a Munster deal for Pieter Steph Du Toit
Jeez this video is glorious
https://x.com/bernardjackman/status/1795000371527434280?t=lboZOCQiNTnvHjjYrkFeoQ&s=19
They have signed some saffer winger now…we neither need a back row or a winger
Ah they do need a winger.
Not as much as a front row forward.
Munster have six Irish qualified pros as their options and three Irish qualified hookers.
Jäger and Loughman could be subs for Ireland. Healy is surely finished.
None of those props or hookers are really good enough. Jager maybe.
Long way down my list of priorities anyway
Off the ball swerving the question on what went wrong and why for Leinster
The back three minus zebo is very pedestrian. Front rows are hard enough to come by. And they’d most likely be looking at signing sub props to back up Loughman and jager.
Zebo hasn’t played that much this season really…and yes front rows are hard to come by but they win you competitions
I’d say Ben O’Connor might see plenty of games, think he has the physical side of it.
They’re a grand enough team for the regular season of the URC already. They have plenty of players good enough for that. They need the likes of zebo and Snyman to provide something extra if they’re going to threaten knockout stages.
Looks good and hopefully he does. Primarily fullback though is he?
Fullback I’d say rather than wing, he is what I’d class as a very strong runner rather than exceptionally quick but he seems to make ground and go past fellas easily. He is also strong as a bull and fellas seem to bounce off him at 20s. I think he’ll go all the way.
I’d ideally like a hooker and a loose head, and a big ball carrier in the backrow or centre and then you’d be hoping maybe the likes of Wycherly will train on the other side. Kilcoyne being fit would help a lot but he can’t be as good as he was.
The two Edogbo brothers and Ahern will hopefully be really good.
Edit, they probably do need a wing; but I just don’t want us relying on certain players in the front row, its an unfair question being put to them against certain opposition. I wonder will Paddy Patterson push the two nines this year with a clear run.
The cheerleaders in the Irish Times were also doing a massive cover up job for them this morning. For the player ratings every player got a 7 or an 8.
In the Indo they said that Frawleys drop goal attempt was the first time Leinster attempted a drop goal all season.
The boys reckoned he hit it too well
They just don’t seem to be in the market for a big signing either. They’re poaching two players off Connacht this year (which is a damning indictment on the Irish system). Not even off Leinster.
The winger from Connacht looks like he might have something but I’ve hardly seen much of him, I think some good judges on here fancied him a player; the lad in the centre was a fine player (Ireland capped) a few years ago but I’d worry about keeping him right and whether his window might slightly have passed. I’m sorry to lose Frisch and the more I think of it after Saturday, he might be a loss to Ireland too as he is the most like Ringrose who is injury prone. Frisch with Aki or Henshaw would’ve been interesting to see. It’s funny, with Bundee’s age, Henshaw will be guaranteed starting 12 again in the next couple of seasons.
Connacht shouldn’t be getting their players poached by other provinces, it’s reflects very badly on the whole system I think.