🏉 Expectations for 24/25
🏉 Players to look out for
🏉 MUN, ULS & CON
🏉 Other top URC contenders
🏉 Possible team v Edinburgh
Our guests :
367: Leinster 24/25 URC preview
Category: Leinster
353 : Leinster v Ulster Preview
LEINSTER : 15. Jimmy O’Brien 14. Jordan Larmour 13. Robbie Henshaw 12. Jamie Osborne 11. James Lowe 10. Ross Byrne 9. Jamison Gibson-Park
1. Andrew Porter 2. Dan Sheehan 3. Tadhg Furlong 4. Joe McCarthy 5. James Ryan (c) 6. Ryan Baird 7. Josh van der Flier 8. Caelan Doris
16. Rónan Kelleher 17. Cian Healy 18. Michael Ala’alatoa 19. Ross Molony 20. Max Deegan 21. Luke McGrath 22. Sam Prendergast 23. Ciarán Frawley
ULSTER : 15 Stewart Moore, 14 Mike Lowry, 13 Will Addison, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Billy Burns, 9 John Cooney;
1 Eric O’Sullivan, 2 Rob Herring (C), 3 Tom O’Toole, 4 Harry Sheridan, 5 Cormac Izuchukwu, 6 Matty Rea, 7 David McCann, 8 Nick Timoney.
16 Tom Stewart, 17 Andy Warwick, 18 Scott Wilson, 19 Greg Jones, 20 Dave Ewers, 21 Nathan Doak, 22 Ethan McIlroy, 23 Jude Postlethwaite.
BKT United Rugby Championship 2023/24 Quarterfinal
Saturday, June 8, 2024
KO 5pm Aviva Stadium
Live on: TG4, Premier Sports, URC.tv
Referee: Andrew Brace (IRFU)
AR1: Craig Evans (WRU)
AR2: Eoghan Cross (IRFU)
TMO: Brain MacNeice (IRFU)
352 : Leinster v Connacht wrap
🏉 Early scores
🏉 Sam composure
🏉 TYVM RR,RM,EB,RDS
🏉 BP eventually
🏉 Tricky path ahead
THIS WEEK’S GUESTS
FULL TIME TAKES
Brian Corr
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
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URC WRAP
ROUND 18 [final round]
LEINSTER 33-7 CONNACHT
GLASGOW 38-26 ZEBRE
STORMERS 29-24 LIONS
BENETTON 31-6 EDINBURGH
SCARLETS 32-15 DRAGONS
SHARKS 14-26 BULLS
MUNSTER 29-24 ULSTER
CARDIFF 29-33 OSPREYS
QUARTERFINALS
FRI JUNE 7
MUNSTER V OSPREYS
SAT JUNE 8
BULLS V BENETTON
LEINSTER V ULSTER
GLASGOW WARRIORS V STORMERS
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348 : Ulster v Leinster wrap
🏉 Disjointed
🏉 Somehow ahead
🏉 Much butchering
🏉 Take the three
🏉 Cool Cooney
THIS WEEK’S GUESTS
FULL TIME TAKES
Paul Smith
Whoever made the call to kick to the line when we are 1 point ahead with 10 minutes to go and straight in front of the posts probably cost us the chance to top the table. A win and we were top and had it totally in our own hands but for sone reason I still can’t fathom we decided to completely f**k it up. Totally sickened right now. Not to take anything away from Ulster who completely deserved the victory tonight but its very rarely you can be so outplayed and still have the chance to come away with a win. We need to see a completely different mindset from Leinster next weekend if we are finally going to get our hands on star number 5.
William Andrew
A dreadful lack of nous to lose that game. Continually kicking the ball away with 5 mins on the clock hoping to make ten meters is not great. A 30 meter through kick to force a Ulster line out in their 22 would have burned a min at least. Plus they are now in danger of conceding a penalty.
Several generations of former Leinster 10s and 9s must be shaking their heads.
Berchmans Gannon
From the sideline the box kicking is not the way to go.
Chasing a bonus point ahead of a win is questionable.
Shit happens! I will still support Leinster without the need for a slaughter of Managment.
Kevin Kelehan
Decent game that could have gone either way, the losing bonus point will get Leinster at least a home QF, the win will guarantee Ulster top tier cup rugby next season.
Colin Mehigan
Another uninspiring performance if I’m honest….our high profile coaching ticket need to rethink strategy
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URC WRAP
ROUND 17
ZEBRE 18-32 SCARLETS
EDINBURGH 26-29 MUNSTER
BULLS 56-35 BENETTON
OSPREYS 26-13 DRAGONS
LIONS 44-21 GLASGOW
CONNACHT 12-16 STORMERS
SHARKS 14-36 CARDIFF
ULSTER 23-21 LEINSTER
ROUND 18 [final round]
FRI MAY 31
LEINSTER V CONNACHT
GLASGOW V ZEBRE
SAT JUNE 1
STORMERS V LIONS
BENETTON V EDINBURGH
SCARLETS V DRAGONS
SHARKS V BULLS
MUNSTER V ULSTER
CARDIFF V OSPREYS
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347 : Ulster v Leinster preview
LEINSTER : 15. Hugo Keenan 14. Tommy O’Brien 13. Jimmy O’Brien 12. Charlie Ngatai 11. Rob Russell 10. Harry Byrne 9. Cormac Foley
1. Cian Healy 2. Rónan Kelleher 3. Michael Ala’alatoa 4. James Ryan (c) 5. Brian Deeny 6. Max Deegan 7. Will Connors 8. Jack Conan
16. John McKee 17. Michael Milne 18. Thomas Clarkson 19. Ross Molony 20. Scott Penny 21. Luke McGrath 22. Sam Prendergast 23. Ben Brownlee
ULSTER : 15 Ethan McIlroy, 14 Mike Lowry, 13 Will Addison, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Billy Burns, 9 John Cooney;
1 Eric O’Sullivan, 2 Rob Herring, 3 Tom O’Toole, 4 Kieran Treadwell, 5 Alan O’Connor (C), 6 Cormac Izuchukwu, 7 David McCann, 8 Nick Timoney.
16 Tom Stewart, 17 Andy Warwick, 18 Scott Wilson, 19 Harry Sheridan, 20 Matty Rea, 21 Nathan Doak, 22 Stewart Moore, 23 Jude Postlethwaite.
BKT United Rugby Championship 2023/24 Round 17
Saturday, May 18, 2024
KO 7:35pm Kingspan Stadium
Live on: TG4, Premier Sports 1, URC.tv
Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)
AR1: Robbie Jenkinson (Ireland)
AR2: Keane Davison (Ireland)
TMO: Leo Colgan (Ireland)
346 : Leinster v Ospreys wrap
🏉 3 up 2 down
🏉 Just the JOB
🏉 Another JL hat-trick
🏉 🍔
🏉 A perfect 10?
THIS WEEK’S GUESTS
FULL TIME TAKES
Hubert Gallagher
Frawley looked very comfortable when he went to 10. Another very accomplished game for him. Just wished he got more game time there! Lots still to work on.
Peter Tracey
O’Brien looked sharp and has some serious pace. JGP and Frawley really sped the game up when they played together.
Frankie Taylor
Buzzing. Jimmy was incredible
David White
The spies from Toulouse in the stands leant nothing coz Ospreys were so poor
Tony Doyle
Good win and a great second half by Leinster
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URC WRAP
ROUND 16
DRAGONS 21-44 STORMERS
EDINBURGH 40-14 ZEBRE
BULLS 40-34 GLASGOW
SCARLETS 20-31 ULSTER
SHARKS 24-25 BENETTON
MUNSTER 47-12 CONNACHT
LIONS 34-13 CARDIFF
LEINSTER 61-14 OSPREYS
ROUND 17
FRI MAY 17
ZEBRE V SCARLETS
EDINBURGH V MUNSTER
SAT MAY 18
BULLS V BENETTON
OSPREYS V DRAGONS
LIONS V GLASGOW
CONNACHT V STORMERS
SHARKS V CARDIFF
ULSTER V LEINSTER
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345 : Leinster v Ospreys preview
LEINSTER : 15. Ciarán Frawley 14. Jordan Larmour 13. Jamie Osborne 12. Robbie Henshaw 11. Jimmy O’Brien 10. Ross Byrne 9. Luke McGrath
1. Andrew Porter 2. Rónan Kelleher 3. Tadhg Furlong 4. Ross Molony 5. Jason Jenkins 6. Ryan Baird 7. Will Connors 8. Caelan Doris (c)
16. Dan Sheehan 17. Michael Milne 18. Thomas Clarkson 19. Jack Conan 20. Josh van der Flier 21. Jamison Gibson-Park 22. Charlie Ngatai 23. Tommy O’Brien
OSPREYS : 15. Max Nagy 14. Luke Morgan 13. Owen Watkin 12. Keiran Williams 11. Keelan Giles 10. Dan Edwards 9. Reuben Morgan-Williams
1. Nicky Smith 2. Dewi Lake 3. Rhys Henry 4. James Ratti 5. Huw Sutton 6. Harri Deaves 7. Justin Tipuric (c) 8. Morgan Morris
16. Sam Parry 17. Gareth Thomas 18. Tom Botha 19. Victor Sekekete 20. Jac Morgan 21. Luke Davies 22. Jack Walsh 23. Evardi Boshoff
BKT United Rugby Championship 2023/24 Round 16
Saturday, May 11, 2024
KO 7:35pm RDS Arena
Live on: TG4, Premier Sports 1, URC.tv
Referee: Sam Grove-White (Scotland)
AR1: Keane Davison (Ireland)
AR2: Oisin Quinn (Ireland)
TMO: Andrew McMenemy (Ireland)
344 : Leinster v Northampton wrap
🏉 Jamie & James
🏉 Chronic knockonitis
🏉 First score after break
🏉 Saints go marching
🏉 Captain Caelan
THIS WEEK’S GUESTS
FULL TIME TAKES
Ronan McManus
After the high of La Rochelle, there was always the risk of a down day.
That being said, we were great in bursts, and were in control for most of the game. The third try had as many “moments” in the buildup phases as any I can remember (I haven’t rewatched it, so I may be misremembering). Furlong’s reverse offload out of the tackle Bairds gallop, Henshaw somehow staying in field to keep the ball alive.
John Hyland
They did well kicking behind us, and using their wingers’ speed in the chase. Our back three look short of pace. Keenan is needed and I reckon Rob Russell might come in for Larmour.
Kevin Kelehan
Great stadium, great crowd, never say die opponents who were an absolute credit to themselves when down and out but dragged themselves back into make it very tight game. Leinster played well for 50 minutes but some very aimless kicking will doubtless be lacerated in the debrief, the pack who gave better than they got must have been super frustrated at times. Doris as always a terrier on the gainline
Gavin Hegarty
A great place to be in to say that we weren’t good but we still won a semi. If we play against Toulouse like that they will take us apart. At halftime we should have been further ahead but my god in the second half we fell asleep. The most unleinsterlike performance in a longtime.
Byrne left a few points out there from the tee but other than that was epic first half.
I was at it and feel as a club we let ourselves down. Atmosphere was lacking anything. Was dead quiet at times. Yes the stadium was blue but we failed to create the cauldron we needed.
I’ll watch it again but from the davin lower it looked like reynal was a bit indecisive. Not checking Frawley being taken out in the air again? I think peno and yellow
Pat Curran
Leinster will have to include Gary Ringrose, Hugo Keenan and James Ryan for the final. It could be what’s required for a European final.
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343 : Leinster v Northampton Saints preview
Our guest :
LEINSTER : 15 C Frawley 14 J Larmour 13 R Henshaw 12 J Osborne 11 J Lowe 10 R Byrne 9 J Gibson-Park
1 A Porter 2 D Sheehan 3 T Furlong 4 R Molony 5 J McCarthy 6 R Baird 7 J van der Flier 8 C Doris (c)
16 R Kelleher 17 C Healy 18 M Ala’alatoa 19 J Jenkins 20 J Conan 21 L McGrath 22 H Byrne 23 J O’Brien
NORTHAMPTON : 15 George Furbank 14 James Ramm 13 Tommy Freeman 12 Fraser Dingwall 11 George Hendy 10 Fin Smith 9 Alex Mitchell
1 Alex Waller 2 Curtis Langdon 3 Trevor Davison 4 Alex Moon 5 Alex Coles 6 Courtney Lawes (c) 7 Sam Graham 8 Juarno Augustus
16 Sam Matavesi 17 Emmanuel Iyogun 18 Elliot Millar Mills 19 Temo Mayanavanua 20 Angus Scott-Young 21 Tom James 22 Tom Litchfield 23 Tom Seabrook
Investec Champions Cup 2023/24 Semifinal
Saturday, May 4, 2024
KO 5:30pm Croke Park
Live on: RTÉ2, TNT Sports 2
Referee: Mathieu Raynal (Fra)
AR1: Pierre Brousset (Fra)
AR2: Luc Ramos (Fra)
TMO: Thomas Charabas (Fra)
342 : Stormers v Leinster/Ireland v Scotland wrap
🏉 Fastest wrap ever
🏉 Four provinces in top 8
🏉 Women’s heroics
🏉 Northampton’s threat
🏉 Roll on Croker
THIS WEEK’S GUESTS
FULL TIME TAKES
William Andrew
We know why, but it still hurts.
Kevin Kelehan
Great to see Gus McCarthy step up, a steep learning curve for the emerging squad members, far from ideal to have back to back away games in South Africa when squad rotation is at its peak. The lads showed decent fight in the third quarter but the errors in the first half were mostly preventable.
Greg Kelly
*Copy and Paste last week’s comments*
On the bright side our young lads dominated the 3rd quarter but the inexperience and inaccuracies were evident. They’ll get better and they’ll learn from this. However if we end up trophyless again this season I’m not sure these “kids school trips” to SA will not cut the mustard.
In a wider sense I don’t like where the URC is going. Some of the fixure scheduling is…suspicious. I think the SA franchises are gaining more than they add to it and teams being forced by pragmatism, timing or necessity to give up 2 games and 10 points undermines true competition.
Richard Kennedy
A big rethink needed on sending our 2nd/3rd string down to get pummelled in by hardened pros in SA. Some of those young players simply aren’t ready for that level yet
Warren Doyle
Much as expected. Training ground stuff didn’t work in the heat of battle. Very little inivotive thinking once that failed. Experience – yes. Knowledge – ?. Could be critical but players don’t need that.
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URC WRAP
ROUND 15
SCARLETS 27-32 SHARKS
ULSTER 38-34 BENETTON
ZEBRE 9-40 GLASGOW
BULLS 61-24 OSPREYS
CARDIFF 7-24 EDINBURGH
LIONS 13-33 MUNSTER
STORMERS 42-12 LEINSTER
DRAGONS 27-34 CONNACHT
ROUND 15
FRI MAY 10
DRAGONS V STORMERS
EDINBURGH V ZEBRE
SAT MAY 11
BULLS V GLASGOW
SCARLETS V ULSTER
SHARKS V BENETTON
MUNSTER V CONNACHT
LIONS V CARDIFF
LEINSTER V OSPREYS
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