Undercooked. A few performances to forget but they have credit in the bank. A lot of fair weather fans throwing out demands and ultimatums. This was our first loss in 19 games at the Aviva, and it was to an All Blacks team with a lot more recent game time than us.
Sean MacDonnchadha
Worrying lack of aggression first and then lack of leadership. They’ve gone on and on about unfinished business from the World Cup and getting revenge. Didn’t see that tonight.
Kevin Kelehan
The best team Ireland has ever produced were more error prone than I’ve seen them in many years. 3 more games to keep the direction of travel in the right direction
James Murphy
Our front men standing back??
Letting them bully use in lineouts and scrums,
Crowley very poor, frawley not much better
But frawley deserves start next week
Poorest Irish performance in a long time
Brian Corr
Too many errors and then too many players losing it or dropping the heads.
Decision making was terrible and lineout was very poor.
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26 October 2024; Josh van der Flier of Leinster is tackled by Edwill van der Merwe and Erich Cronje of Emirates Lions during the United Rugby Championship match between Leinster and Emirates Lions at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
Sad to see McGrath’s decline. He seemed quite hesitant last night and the time when the ball popped out of the ruck and went between his legs was a prime try scoring opportunity.
Our scrum is now a serious area for concern. “If in doubt, ping Porter”
Jackie McEachern
Tough match although I think we likely would have scored more/gone a bit easier if JGP had been playing. I thought Sam did well and Doris and JVF were excellent! Glad to see Robbie back.
Jamie Bermingham
A tough game and exactly what we needed, the young lads impressed and Doris was an absolute wrecking ball. Lions definitely came for a battle and the scoreboard does not reflect how well they played
Chris McDonnell
Jvdf is just a magnificent 7. I can’t understand why mcgrath was kept and 3 better 9s are playing for other clubs
Tom Clarke
Breakdown needs some attention. Robbie looked sharp and Cooney looks a good prospect. Dorris is a top top player, but we know that!!
Alan Jacob
#1Vs #2 ….. good outing for the boys…. Dori’s ridiculous as always!! Prendergast had a solid game especially considering Lions had the ruck under serious pressure…. Needed a proper pressure game & an 80 min performance which were both delivered in spades.
Kevin Kelehan
Way too much aimless kicking in the first half which gave the Lions great opportunities to run at a Leinster in the 13-14 channel, once that was tightened up Leinster improved. Crowd got going at times but needed to give better support
27 September 2024; Cian Healy of Leinster after the United Rugby Championship match between Leinster and Dragons at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
Whenever Ross Byrne wears 10 custard skins worldwide breath a sigh of relief.
Leinster looked disjointed in the first 40. Could be early season problems but to be fair I think the Dragons were better than they have been in recent years. They knew they were going to end up on the end of 30-50 before they travelled but they stuck in and really lived off their big moments in the opening half. I think they’ll beat a few teams this year and I wouldn’t fancy Newport on a wet and windy night in the winter.
Things looked a little cleaner when Joe and Josh came in.
Deegan had another good showing and really I have to wonder what he’s still doing here. He should have gone last year and quite frankly he is squandering his talent at Leinster.
Gavin Hegarty
2/6 for Byrne from the Tee simply isn’t good enough. He was nervy and it showed.
Jimmy OBrien looked electric every time he got the ball.
We now have 3 world class hookers in Sheehan, Kelliher and Gus, a great problem to have. Gus’ lineouts were excellent and he was everywhere. Lineout dropped when Barron came on, something he needs to work on if he wants any sort of a look in.
The way osbourne is going Hugo might have a huge challenge ahead of him when he comes back.
Larmour has bulked up but I think he’s sacrificed fitness as a result, he seemed tired after 30 minutes.
Can’t help but feel a bad dragons team brought us down to their level, we should have topped 60 tonight.
Dave Murray
Wasn’t even any near misses from the tee, they were all terrible kicks. Ross has given us good service over the years, but we won’t be winning many/any major trophies with himself at 10 imo. Need to be investing in Frawley/Prendergast at 10, they’ll make us play a lot better.
Dave Ryle
I thought Osborne was more deserving of POTM.
Turner had a good game as well.
Upside- I had 6 pints of stout on a Friday night Downside – performance was fairly meh Upside- a wins a win Downside its getting cold Upside – life could be worse#LEIVDRA
Leinster were average for stretches yesterday and Ross left his kicking boots at home but some of the negativity seems OTT to me (and does a disservice to Dragons who played pretty well). Ultimately it's a comfortable win, job done, 10 points from our opening 10.#LEIvDRA
One of the worst performances I’ve seen from South Africa in the first half and one of the worst performances I’ve seen from Ireland in the second. officials tried to screw us again but incredible finish
Dickson made quite a few 50-50 calls that always seemed to go in favour of the home team. From an Irish point of view, it felt almost endless.
But this happens in every game to every away team, so I don’t think it’s any particular conspiracy, it’s just the nature of sport!
Kevin Kelehan
Delighted Frawley got the chance to exorcise the ghost of Tottenham, ugly game but Farrell has built some team, 6 first choice players missing today, 5 of them in the back line and still got it done. Farrell is 80:20 win rate, Boks are 20:80 against the green machine in recent years!!
Sean MacDonnchadha
Very lucky I feel. Springboks only able to force penalties. We should’ve buried them in the first half with the energy, territory and possession we had. All the same, some balls from frawley
Paul Smith
Despite SA cheating and a horrendous performance by Dickinson, Ireland fully deserved the win and I’m absolutely delighted for Frawley who buried the memories of the Champions Cup last minute not once but twice with 2 superb drop goals.
John Willie Conroy
Osborne was unbelievable fair play to Andy Farrell for blooding. Questions need to be asked regarding Frawly not being picked at 10 at Leinster he’s a quality ball player and is head and shoulders above the Byrne brothers.
Brian Corr
So happy, what Irish team in the past could lose their starting scrum half, starting fullback, starting hooker and go to the world champions and get a result. 8 years since they’ve lost in Durban.
Delighted for Frawley to get the chance to make such a huge impact with two fantastic drop goals.
It’s said that tries win matches and that was the difference today
Take a bow Ciaran Frawley. Two outstanding kicks in the clutch. And we deserved it too. Again we were making mistakes, again SA were getting points but we stayed with them AND kept them tryless. What a way to end the season. Very happy out. #RSAvIRE
31 May 2024; Jimmy O’Brien of Leinster scores his side’s fifth try during the United Rugby Championship match between Leinster and Connacht at the RDS Arena in Dublin. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
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🏉 Early scores 🏉 Sam composure 🏉 TYVM RR,RM,EB,RDS 🏉 BP eventually 🏉 Tricky path ahead
Connacht seemed way off the pace, it was clear early on so much was going wrong for them.
Ruddock was immense he put everything into that game it was brilliant. Maloney and Byrne were also brilliant and gave excellent performances for their last games. I thought Ala’alatoa was unlucky for his card, yes he was high and he did hit Blades head, I’m not sure he hit it as hard as Blades reaction but that’s my bias(probably?). You could see though he wanted to out in a good shift.
Anyone doubting Leinster’s strength in depth can see in this game why it’s often quoted as being brilliant, no other club could make 14 changes and have a performance as strong as that. Keeping so many players involved and happy at the club is mind blowingly difficult, yet Leo does it year after year.
There was lots of things to like about that game even though 4 of the stalwarts are moving on & one of our backline was pretty jittery it was a pretty excellent performance from the other 19.
Chris McDonnell
Great performance from lots of the lads. Showed how awful last week’s selection was. Jenkins ahead of Molony, no Jimmy o brien , frawley just a lovely attacking player.foley I’d just miles better than mcgrath. Anyways hopefully ruddock and Molony gets to play again for us.
Cuan Mulligan
Felt Sam P had a great game, offered more options than other 10s in the squad. Was integral to a few of the tries; tried things, mixed it up. Should be where we invest and give him as much game time as possible. Might need some extra protein over the summer to bulk up
William Andrew
It was a good indicator of how valuable players like Ross, Max Ed and Ruddock are to Leinster. They provide the steel through a season.
Form was also on display, in some of the younger players
Leinster 33 Connacht 7
Overpowered & outplayed for long stretches Too many compound errors again Individual sparks in there but really not good enough The 2nd half showed improvement but lacked any kind of killer edge, any attack lost shape & defence was guts & fight#LEIvCON
20 April 2024; Charlie Ngatai of Leinster, supported by teammate Scott Penny, is tackled by PJ Botha of Emirates Lions during the United Rugby Championship match between Emirates Lions and Leinster at Emirates Airline Park in Johannesburg, South Africa. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
That was embarrassing. Performance was naive and inaccurate. Some of that is on the young lads not performing individually, but I think a major part is some of the older lads we’d hope to step up and lead in those circumstances failed to do so.
Greg Kelly
We were playing touch rugby in defence. If you are one of the teams fighting for 4th-8th you’d be excused for asking why Leinster don’t serve up 5 points away to you too?🤷♂️ We started dreadfully and then when we found a rythem we were woefully inaccurate.
Getting beaten like that is acceptable if we can walk away with silverware at the end. If not then questions need to be asked.
Éamonn Rogers
Honestly it was a game with little at stake played at 1700m (for context nearly 700m higher than Carrountoohil) I’d see it as nothing more than a blooding exercise/fixture we are obliged to fulfil. The stats show that there were a lot of positive elements. We (thankfully) don’t have the luxury of sending our primary team down like our southern cousins. Overall I’d say we could have done better but not the end of the world
Kevin Kelehan
A lot of players will be very disappointed with their performance, got the chance to shine and made unforced errors, hopefully a big improvement next week.
William Andrew
Looked like an unfocused Leinster. Distracted by the hype of this last week, etc etc. Everyone who has ever played knows you have to be dialed in 100% or you will struggle.
Lions were very sharp and handled the blitz defence with pace and good passing. Northampton are going to be all over this video.
A wake up call, last season we were great and not great for about the last three minutes in two games. 😢
A bad, bad day at the office for the boys in blue.
Lions were great value for the win after a flyer of a start. Making a great fist of the run to the final 8.
Congrats @Ringo26, see you at Lansdowne Road next season, or maybe even in the knockouts…👀#LIOvLEI
Just not good enough at all from #leinster – some fantastic talent on the park but sloppy, second at breakdowns and inaccurate overall. Congrats #lions but Leinster have some hard internal chats ahead after that. #LIOvLEI
No polishing that turd!!! Credit to Lions very clinical. We pinched a couple of tries but never looked like putting a real dent in that bad start. Retreat, regroup, and come back strong in Cape Town.#LIOvLEI
Well we got the win and that’s great, but it’s back to the drawing board not just for SA but for next year as well. Delighted with the win though 😂
Kevin Kelehan
Won the game and the championship, was happy to see Ireland come through yesterday with Keenan and Ringrose off the pitch from the start against a Scotland side a lot stronger out wide than in tight. What England has exposed is Ireland need a second row size 6 to compliment Van Der Fliers speed, Ireland are only pressured by teams with a weight advantage 4-8. Fix that weight deficit whilst retaining poachers like Doris and Van Der Flier and Ireland will reach the next level.
Craig Boyd
Job done, our expectations have all changed so today was a bit of an anticlimax. All the same what a great team they are.
John O Halloran
Great to get the wins and the championship but big tests and rejigging needed.
England and Scotland were well up to that Irish attack.
The Scottish 6 was excellent.
Alastair McDermott
I was hoping to see Andy Farrell bringing his kids out on the pitch to celebrate
17 February 2024; Liam Turner of Leinster evades the tackle of Ignacio Mendy of Benetton, right, on his way to scoring his side’s third try during the United Rugby Championship match between Leinster and Benetton at the RDS Arena in Dublin. Photo by Ben McShane/Sportsfile
Great result considering how well Benetton are doing this season and all the missing internationals.
Love Prendergast’s cool under pressure ability, he took a wrong option and was immediately swamped by the defence but had the ability to keep calm and place the ball back so well.
Lots of rusty performances and mistakes due to weather and no recent games.
Delighted to see Byrne get a chance to rinse the spiderwebs off his game and McErlean get a solid game behind him, again pity the weather was so naff for his first tog out.
Greg Kelly
Leinster sticking 47 points on the 2nd placed team tells you all you need to know about the URC
Craig Grehan
Good to see that mixture of players running well. Few fumbles here & there. But very good
Eamon Saunders
Good win nice to see a Wexford man get a try #Brian Deeny
Christy O’Connor
Very scrappy at times from both sides. Have to hand it to Benetton, they fought really well and I don’t think the scoreline does them justice
Dave Murray
Not a spectacular performance but good 5 points.
Benetton fell off after the break but we took our chances well, bench too good, handy 5 points, Jamie worth PotM, on to Cardiff, nuff said.#LEIvBEN
20 January 2024; Joe McCarthy of Leinster celebrates after scoring his side’s first try during the Investec Champions Cup Pool 4 Round 4 match between Leicester Tigers and Leinster at Mattioli Woods Welford Road in Leicester, England. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
At this rate, Caelan Doris will be getting World Rugby Player of the Year…… Unbelievable in all aspects of his game currently. ☘️💪🏉👏
Jamie Bermingham
Good win and great going getting the BP at the end. We really seem at times to be pushing the physical game this season, as a way to show we can deal with it
Eamon Phelan
Good win harry byrne struggled in forts 10 mins when Leicester were on top after that class . Very good team with loads of options from a jealous Munster fan
Andrew Byrne
I can’t be the only person who is this excited to see just how high the ceiling is for Joe McCarthy…still just 22 years old and he’s playing like an old master. I feel like we are witnessing the start of something special here.
Michaela Monaghan
Can’t believe we’re playing Leicester again In round 16!!
Brian Corr
I thought they showed great determination to chase the bonus point, in the past they’ve kicked out on 80 mins happy with what they got, fair play to Leicester for also trying to get the losing bonus and the ref for not blowing up straight after their knock on.
Leinsters big squad is showing its true value and they’ve shown players stepping in and out doesn’t make much difference
Kevin OCeallaigh
The first time in a long time that I’ve seen true grit, determination and old-school grind by a Leinster side to get that bonus point on 85 minutes. Lowe was imperious in the air. Henshaw looked to be back to where we know he can be, and McCarthy just gets better and better. What a great game!
Bernie Cunningham
Great performance 27 unanswered points after going behind by 10. Lads were brill
I had to head out the door the second Doris got his iconic BP try and couldn’t tweet at the FT whistle like I normally do but Whiff of Cordite pretty much said what I would have…
Great away day stuff from Leinster. Doris’ turnover on 5m line broke Leicester. Counter ruck the difference, it’s really working for Leinster this season especially in these sorts of dogfights. Joe Mc, Lowe, Doris all with huge performances. Hope Harry’s ok – played well.
10 December 2023; Ciarán Frawley of Leinster kicks a penalty during the Investec Champions Cup match between La Rochelle and Leinster at Stade Marcel Deflandre in La Rochelle, France. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
Away in France to the reigning champs and we finally get it right! I couldn’t be happier to see the team finally figure out how to get the better of them. Delighted to see the only try scored is Larmour, he’s had a tough couple of years.
No trick plays, no bounce off the ball stuff, and no situation where the ref was clearly biased towards us. We beat them fair and square.
The future is bright at 10, the squad will take a lot from this and fingers crossed no major injury concerns as we prepare for Saturday
Chris McDonnell
Fantastic result, can’t fault anything on the pitch. Onwards and upwards.
Greg Kelly
Really well fought win. I seem to remember LAR struggling in similar conditions last year against Ulster. Byrne was pretty solid in what he did and Frawley fronted up well on a difficult night. Certainly a big weekend in the post Johnny period in blue and green.
Bert McLoughlin
What was best about today’s performance was the hunger to make dominant tackles and be physical in poor conditions. That hunger will make us strong contenders this season. No signs of a wc hangover
Gavin Hegarty
To me Byrne stood up when asked and frawley did the same. We’re good @10 for a few years!
Hats off to connors, he delivered and then some. Epic performance.
We had some unleinster mistakes but we’ll learn as the game evolves. Porter was constantly talking to the ref, this I like.
I did not like the ref telling ringer he won’t talk to Ryan but fear this is a result of ‘co’ captains. We need to sort thst.
William Andrew
Appalling display by the Ref, looked like he was been coached by LR. Said it twice to them but still did nothing to shut them up.
Honestly Refs need to realise a big scrum can actually bring a scrum down and play the odds like they play the red zone odds.
Jamie Donohoe
Very proud of that very courageous performance in those conditions. And i thought the Ref handled the game well too
Not ready for analysis yet except for THAT. WAS. AWESOME!!!!#LARvLEI