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?
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.
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
As soon as Leinster announced that a deal had been agreed to bring Josef Schmidt in as Head Coach next year there was an impending inevitability that his first match at the RDS would not be seen from the Leinster dugout. As fate would have it he will be part of the Clermont think tank trying to plot Leinster’s demise in this year’s Heineken Cup.
Speculation that the highly anticipated match would take place at Croke Park has been quashed by Leinster who have sensibly decided to stick with Fortress RDS. The game will take place on Friday 8th April at 8pm. A perfect time for the home support to lubricate their singing voices before kick off. Clermont Head Coach, Vern Cotter, certainly expects this to be the case, “The atmosphere will probably be unbelievable and will be a great, special occasion. Few players get the opportunity to experience such occasions. It will be a real honour for the club and something to look forward. It will be a match of huge intensity, very difficult.”
There was talk this weekend in the Sunday Independent that Leinster will look to sign Isaac Boss from Ulster. Personally i believe Leinster have adequate cover at scrum half and this will only serve to stunt the career growth of Paul O’Donohue. It will be interesting to see if Leinster add to their panel before the Quarter Final. All eight quarter-finalists may register three additional players for the knock-out stages, one of whom has to be a frontrow player. They cannot have played in this season’s Heineken or Amlin Challenge Cups, nor can they be contracted to Super 15 franchises.
London Irish may have missed out on a Quarter Final place and subsequently another trip to Dublin. This is not the case for their Number 8, Chris Hala’ufia, who has been called to an independent disciplinary session in Dublin to defend his citing for the punch he threw at Leo Cullen in the final Pool 6 game on Saturday.
Enjoy the weekend off from rugby, the serious business starts soon!
sexton
The Irish back line to face Fiji on Saturday will have a very familiar feel with all bar Keith Earls playing for Leinster. It also sees a much anticipated (and predicted) debut for Jonny Sexton. Let’s hope home comforts lead to a great Test debut for the Leinster 10.
I am happy that Kidney has picked a strong side as it would have been disrespectful to Fiji but also it is very difficult for a debutant to come into a side that has been riddled with changes. Fluidity tends to be low and therefore we do not see how the player would realistically cope in Test match circumstances.
Prior to this season it would have been difficult for anyone to oust ROG from the Irish 10 jersey but a combination of loss of form from the Munsterman and the sensational past 6 months from Sexton has really narrowed the gap.
According to Sexton, “It was nice to hear my name (called out). I feel I’m probably a bit old to be making my debut when you look at the likes of Luke, Rob, Keith Earls and Cian…but it’s a very proud moment for my family and me. We’ve played five or six games together (with Eoin) and there will be a lot of other Leinster backs outside me.
“It ranks right up there. The Heineken Cup is a team thing, but getting picked for Ireland is such a proud personal moment since you were a young child. Ireland have had some great success over the last few years and it has made the younger lads hungry to be involved with Triple Crown and Grand Slam winning sides.
“At the beginning of last year there was a lot of talk about me being back up (with Ireland) but it didn’t happen for me. So I just concentrated on playing well for Leinster and if something were to happen from there, then all the better. I know the ground quite well and it’s probably going to be windy, which is not unusual there, so it will be nice to play in the RDS.”
Congrats also to Sean O’Brien who will potentially make his debut.
15: Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster)
14: Shane Horgan (Boyne/Leinster)
13: Brian O’Driscoll (UCD/Leinster) CAPTAIN
12: Gordon D’Arcy (Lansdowne/Leinster)
11: Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster)
10: Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary’s College/Leinster)*
9: Eoin Reddan (Lansdowne/Leinster)
1: Tom Court (Malone/Ulster)
2: Jerry Flannery (Shannon/Munster)
3: John Hayes (Bruff/Munster)
4: Leo Cullen (Blackrock College/Leinster)
5: Paul O’Connell (Young Munster/Munster)
6: Stephen Ferris (Dungannon/Ulster)
7: Denis Leamy (Cork Constitution/Munster)
8: Jamie Heaslip (Naas/Leinster)
REPLACEMENTS:
16: Sean Cronin (Buccaneers/Connacht)*
17: Tony Buckley (Shannon/Munster)
18: Donncha O’Callaghan (Cork Constitution/Munster)
19: Sean O’Brien (Clontarf/Leinster)*
20: Tomas O’Leary (Dolphin/Munster)
21: Paddy Wallace (Ballymena/Ulster)
22: Andrew Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster)
*Denotes Uncapped Player
Michael Cheika
It appears Michael Cheika is favourite to take charge of the new Super 15 side from Melbourne following this, his final season, as coach at Leinster.
The new club will have a big annual budget of AUS$4million and will be looking for a successful coach to lead what could become the Galacticos of the Southern Hemisphere with the likes of Dan Carter and Berrick Barnes being mooted as recruits.
It is becoming increasingly inevitable that this will be Cheika’s last year at the RDS. Let’s hope the Leinster top brass have put together a good strategic plan for his successor if, or more likely, when he departs.
There were no real scares for Leinster during a relatively easy victory over Cardiff at the RDS on Halloween night. This was inevitable following Cardiff’s announcement of a weakened team on Friday. The poor weather meant that most of the swashbuckling was left to the contingent of fans dressed as the Pirates of the Caribbean. The 200 free pints of Bulmers obviously encouraged a small handful of people to get into the spirit of the day and throw on a costume. Our costumes were a mulleted homage to Shane Byrne.
Fans were slow to enter the ground early on and subsequently most of them missed a fine warm up catching display from Mal as Sexton practiced his restarts. O’Kelly followed up a nice catching display with some fantastic spirals straight back to the Leinster no.10. The prematch entertainment was provided by a young band that i didn’t catch the name of but once again they managed to perform at almost CD quality despite having no wires whatsoever linking them to the PA system!
Leinster started the game brightly and followed up an early Sexton penalty with a fantastic try that started within their own 22. Luke made a strong break down the blind side. He slipped the ball inside to O’Brien who kept it moving by popping to D’Arcy. Quick ball from the ensuing ruck allowed Sexton to caress a grubber into the corner where Shaggy duly converted. Sexton converted then added a further penalty.
Ben Blair, who was having a horrible day with the boot, finally slotted over to get Cardiff off the mark. They then doubled their score with another penalty following a harsh yellow card for Heaslip. Blair could have closed the gap to 4 points but again missed a kickable penalty. Sexton had no such trouble as he extended the Leinster lead with the help of the post.
Leinster would have liked to secure a bonus point victory from the game but had to settle with only one further try which came from a strong break by Sean O’Brien. It must be said that the Cardiff defence treated the Leinster substitute to an easy run in. O’Driscoll nearly intercepted a telegraphed Cardiff pass which brought most of the 16,000 fans’ minds briefly back to that great day at Croke Park last May.
The only concern for Leinster will be the sight of Gordon D’Arcy limping off at half time but he should be ok to play some part in the Autumn Internationals.
Leinster go into the international break at the summit of the Magners League. So far so good. Let’s just hope there are no injuries to key players over the next few weeks and we have a full strength squad available for the trip to Rodney Parade in early December.
Welcome to the new Points of Blue blog. We hope you enjoy our musings on all things Leinster.
The team has been announced for Saturday’s match. Biggest shock is that Rob Kearney has been omitted from the 22. Not sure if he has picked up a knock. Says a lot about the squad that the Irish and Lions full back cannot force his way into the Magners match squad.
Should be a good atmosphere at the game. Plenty of fancy dress costumes on show i would imagine. Another sell out will mean the RDS will be rocking once again. The 6.30pm kick allowing fans to loosen up their vocal chords with a few pre game drinks.
According to the official site ‘there will be plenty of fun on the night including live pre match music from the River Valley Band, a Live Half Time Show, Fancy Dress for adults and children, Jugglers and Magicians, fun Halloween Games, and a Dark Rider on horseback. There will also be a House of Horrors with where you might get a fright from scary surprises at the Judges and Stewards Pavilion (behind the Anglesea Stand, next to gate E).’
LEINSTER:
15: Isa Nacewa
14: Shane Horgan
13: Brian O’Driscoll
12: Gordon D’Arcy
11: Luke Fitzgerald
10: Jonathan Sexton
9: Eoin Reddan
1: Cian Healy
2: John Fogarty
3: CJ van der Linde
4: Leo Cullen CAPTAIN
5: Malcolm O’Kelly
6: Kevin McLaughlin
7: Sean O’Brien
8: Jamie Heaslip
REPLACEMENTS:
16: Bernard Jackman
17: Mike Ross
18: Nathan Hines
19: Stephen Keogh
20: Simon Keogh
21: Shaun Berne
22: Girvan Dempsey
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joooooe
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