Saturday evening sees Leinster square up against Edinburgh at the RDS. There are obvious questions regarding team selection due to the upcoming internationals but the big question prior to the game is… Will you be attending in fancy dress?
With Joooooooe hosting a party after the game the POB team will be in full fancy dress!
Will Leo be in fancy dress this year?
That's Big Ben on the left!
Leinster have secured the signing of Nottingham prop Ben Prescott. ‘Big’ Ben will go straight into the squad to face his old team Glasgow on Friday.
“We are pleased to complete a deal for Ben and he will add further competition to the pack, especially in light of the unfortunate long-term injury to Stan Wright,” team manager Guy Easterby said this afternoon.
“Ben trained with the squad this week and we are confident that his experience and ability will be a welcome addition to the panel for the remainder of the season.”
I don’t know much about our new signing so we will just have to wait and see on Friday!
LEINSTER Squad (v Glasgow Warriors) – Backs (10): Isaac Boss, Luke Fitzgerald, Shane Horgan, Ian Madigan, Fergus McFadden, Niall Morris, Isa Nacewa, Paul O’Donohoe, Eoin O’Malley, Eamonn Sheridan.
Forwards (14): John Fogarty, Mariano Galarza, Jamie Heaslip, Nathan Hines, Stephen Keogh, Jack McGrath, Sean O’Brien, Ed O’Donoghue, Ben Prescott, Mike Ross, Dominic Ryan, Simon Shawe, Richardt Strauss, Heinke van der Merwe.
Bad news for Leinster with Stan Wright out for the season. find out more here http://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/wright-ruled-out-for-season-2307308.html
Who will come in to replace him?
It will give Mike Ross more game time but I feel we will need more strength up front.
Anyone got any options?
In a day of breaking stories, POB believe the Leinster v Saracens Heineken Cup Pool game will take place at Wembley Stadium. The match takes place on Saturday 16 October at 5.45pm. Looking forward to it already!
Que sera sera… We’re going to Wem-ber-ley…
POB believe that Leinster will soon announce that the Magners League fixture against Munster and the Heineken Cup Pool match against Clermont will both be held at the new Aviva Stadium.
I have mixed opinions on moving from the RDS. I can see the positive aspect that we will have increased revenue and fans who could previously not attend will now have the opportunity to see one of the most intense derbies in club rugby and a potentially scintillating game against the French Champions. There is also the chance to see some truly competitive rugby at the Aviva stadium. Although if Leinster put 68 points without response past Munster i would lose the run of myself!
On the negative side i will have to sit down for the game and i assume the Aviva stewards will not turn the same blind eye to spectators bringing in their own cans of beer. This is a ritual of those on the terrace and has a definite positive impact on the vocal support from the home fans. I have yet to attend a game at the new stadium so i can’t really comment on the atmosphere. I will let you know what i think following the Ireland v Argentina where i will get a chance to use my Vantage ticket for the first time (I understand the irony in purchasing a Vantage ticket for football and then complaining about sitting for Leinster games!).
Teams were announced today for the McCorry Cup Final. There is an unashamed bias from Points of Blue as my little bro will be captaining the Clontarf side!
The sides should be evenly matched with Blackrock coming out on top in a close game at the start of the season and Clontarf securing a bonus point win at home and subsequently finishing ahead in the final league standings. Look out for a strong Clontarf bench including Synnott, Cremin & Nolan and Blackrock’s Brian Kingston, the 6 Nations winning flyhalf.
The final takes place at 3pm in Donnybrook. C’mon ‘tarf.
McCorry Cup Final:
BLACKROCK COLLEGE: 15: Niall Kilcullen, 14: Richard Hoey, 13: Karl Curran, 12: Niall O’Keeffe, 11: Alan Philpott, 10: Brian Kingston, 9: Alan McGinty CAPTAIN; 1: David Lewis, 2: Stephen Lambe, 3: Shane Gould, 4: Richard Ivers, 5: Karl O’Riordan, 6: Ross Hartnett, 7: Richard Liddy, 8: Barry Kelly
REPLACEMENTS: 16: Paddy Costello, 17: Paul O’Shea, 18: Ed Tate, 19: Jack O’Beirne, 20: David Scott Lennon, 21: Arthur Lyons, 22: Robert Kennedy
CLONTARF: 15: Ben Woods, 14: Ciaran Donohoe, 13: Patrick Davis CAPTAIN, 12: Colm O’Shea, 11: Padraig Mahon, 10: Matthew Darcy, 9: Ronan O’Driscoll; 1: Joseph O’Leary Redmond, 2: Cathal O’Flynn, 3: Keith Donoghue, 4: Eoghan Browne, 5: Michael Kearney, 6: Karl Moran, 7: Adrian Darcy, 8: Chris O’Brien
REPLACEMENTS FROM: Alex Denby, Michael Moynihan, Peter Synnott, Eoin Cremin, Hugo Nolan, Rowan Considine, Ross Galvin, Shane McGrath, Michael McGrath
REFEREE: Peter Dennehy (ARLB)
The age old pub debate of who has the better sides, Northern or Southern hemisphere is usually settled by the assertion that the Southern hemisphere sides have the upper hand at international level. Countless hours and several pints have been spent wondering where the best club side would hail from. Finally we might have a way to find out rather than just guessing that Super 14’s is of a higher standard because of the impact Rocky Elsom made in the Heineken Cup versus his contribution this year in the Super 14’s. I won’t get into the arguments over ridulous scores in the Super 14’s versus defensive rugby in the Heineken Cup.
The battle of the hemispheres is now firmly on the IRB’s agenda. This would seem obvious when you consider how lucrative the match or mini tournament would be. There are of course some very obvious stumbling blocks. When and where would the tournament take place? The talk at present is for December, but this would heavily favour the Northern teams as it is right in the middle of their season.
What format would the tournament take? A once off match between the respective title winners is an obvious option but the more lucrative option for all involved would be a mini tournament involving the top Australian, South African, All Black, English, French, Magners League and Heineken Cup winners.
The Guardian newspaper has reported that “all the major unions” are behind the proposal and stepping up efforts to get the much-anticipated contest over the line. They say it will be staged somewhere in Europe, and possibly in early December, tagged on the end of the “autumn” international series.
Premier Rugby Limited (PRL), the group representing leading English clubs, are apparently taking a lead role in discussions, keen to establish the playoff as a valuable revenue boost, and also to head off independent interests.
PRL chief executive Mark McCafferty told The Guardian, “Our clubs, as well as those in Europe and the southern hemisphere, have had approaches from Monaco, Abu Dhabi and, most recently, from South Africa. If the stakeholders within rugby don’t create this, somebody else will and we’ll find an outsider coming in.
“It’s us who have been pushing it,” he added. “The only issue we’re trying to crack is the date. The sticking points at the moment are the dates of the new domestic competitions in the southern hemisphere, but we’re still working on it.”
McCafferty felt logistics were all that now stood in the way of the lucrative world playoff.
“Everyone has got an appetite to do it if we can just find a date. Further discussions are continuing with the southern hemisphere to see if we can find one.”
New South Wales Waratahs chief executive Jim L’Estrange told The Australian newspaper they had been approached “about six to eight months ago” about an inter-hemipshere clash of the champions. But they have a bigger concept in mind.
“Rather than having just a one-off match between the two champions, we had in mind a mini-tournament involving five or six teams,” said L’Estrange.
Finding a common ground among all the self-interest is going to be the toughest challenge for officials from both hemispheres.
Staging the match in December suits the north as all their clubs are back in the swing of their competitions, and on the tail of the “autumn” internationals there would be an appetite for a clash of such international standing. However, expecting sides like the Crusaders or Bulls to be able to perform at a level that would make them competitive months after the end of their season, when their players are all in test mode, would be a tall order.
And clearly the Australian unions, less than confident about their involvement as champions of the expanded Super 15, are seeking a guaranteed place as a conference winner.
Whether there is room, or appetite, to grow the concept into a two or three-match playoff must be heavily doubtful but it would at last take the argument as to who is the best in the world out of the pub and onto the pitch.
The biggest surprise from Saturday’s game against Connacht was not how badly Fionn Carr burnt Girv ‘The Swerve’ for pace nor how close an under strength Connacht side pushed the reigning European Champions. In fact, the surprise was actually off the pitch.
For the first time ever the stewards at the RDS confiscated cans from supporters on the terrace. The initial shock from the fans allowed the one brave steward to steal a march on the fans and quickly swipe away a mix of Tuborg, Heineken and Bavaria.
In fairness, he then saw the heartbreak he had caused and offered plastic cups to those lucky enough to hold on to a can or two. But, have this one steward set a worrying precedent? Will supporters be forced to pay exorbitant prices at the match day bars? Will fans need to come up with more ingenuitive ways to smuggle in alcohol?
The effect of this ‘can ban’ could lead to reduced vocal support as has been witnessed by early kick offs and Sunday night games.
It will be interesting to see what the reception to cans on the terrace in Thomond Park brings on Good Friday.
Also, mixed performances for the old Leinster boys on Saturday with Fionn Carr adding two more tries to his tally this year and Ian Keatley missing a relatively easy kick to seal the game for Connacht.
Director of Rugby. Interesting move for Cheika. He certainly has the pedigree to achieve great things with Stade Francais. Considering that we are already facing our new coach (Schmidt) in the next round of the Heineken Cup it now seems inevitable we will face Stade.
I think Cheika has got his timing spot on with his departure. He brought the team to the pinnacle of European club rugby and is now in with a shout of repeating that feat while also well controlling the Magners League this year. He can now pave the way for a new coach to put his stamp on what is becoming once again a youthful and entertaining Leinster side. The likes of Conway and Macken should prove their value in the coming years alonside the established stars.
Thanks and best of luck Cheiks.
Thursday night Magners League is almost upon us. Just the small matter of Paddy’s Day (and the Leinster Schools Senior Cup) first. I reckon St. Michael’s will edge this one. They have been very impressive so far and look to have the better individual players. It will be very close though.
It’s a real top of the table clash at the RDS on Thursday. Leinster will want a solid home victory to further secure their passage to the Semi Finals. Cheika has named a very strong side considering the game is sandwiched between the last two legs of Ireland’s Triple Crown quest.
With 13,500 tickets sold it should be a packed house and a great atmosphere. I would like to see more regular mid week games in the league similar to Champions League nights in football. Always a special atmosphere under floodlights even if we are only playing now because of a cancellation.
Below is the Leinster squadto face Glasgow.
FORWARDS: John Fogarty, Trevor Hogan, Bernard Jackman, Stephen Keogh, Ronan McCormack, Kevin McLaughlin, Malcolm O’Kelly, Mike Ross, Paul Ryan, Eoin Sheriff, Richardt Strauss, Devin Toner, CJ van der Linde, Stan Wright
BACKS: Shaun Berne, Girvan Dempsey, Shane Horgan, Chris Keane, David Kearney, Simon Keogh, Ian Madigan, Fergus McFadden, Isa Nacewa, Paul O’Donohoe, Eoin O’Malley
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joooooe
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Points of Blue 