Some great individual performances, a few players who might feel they can improve on individual aspects, particularly Porter for me, who was responsible for almost half our penalties, can’t be that sloppy against the French. (though I’m discounting the one conceded as they scored a try)
Expectation will be high going onto next week, and rightly so, I want to see the same high intensity against France
Ian Frizzell
Out of the traps so quickly. We were so powerful in the first 30 minutes they didn’t have any answers.
Thought we coped pretty well in the third quarter when they threw everything they had at us and then a few fresh legs gave us the momentum to finish pretty strongly.
Gavin Hegarty
Job done. Rough second half but we shouldered it well.
Can’t help but think the ref played a part in their comeback but cest la vie.
I still can’t see the logic in bringing gatland back.
TWITTER
Why are the BBC focusing solely on Ireland’s second half? They were 24 points up and absolutely cruising. Wales were always going to throw everything at it. This happens in every team sport, you do as much as you have to do to win. Not many teams win easily in Cardiff. #WALvIRE
Andrew ByrneThat first half was ruthless, we were too comfortable in the 2nd half. That won’t be good enough next week, but you can only play one match at a time.For Wales they can fix a lot very quickly and will take scalps later in the tournament.
Brian Nisbet 10-34, with the Welsh playing much better in the second half. But that’s a clear statement of intent from Ireland with a BP win in the first match. Good stuff!
Rob Atkinson A much better performance from Wales, but need to be a lot better in the opposition 22, they need to be better. I’m sure it will come together later in the tournament
28 January 2023; A general view of a scrum during the United Rugby Championship match between Leinster and Cardiff at RDS Arena in Dublin. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
We beat a Cardiff team with our thirds. We had the bp quick enough and took the foot off the gas in the second half to allow them two tries back.
Delight to have chopper Connors back and to see him doing what he does best.
Great to see the debutants, Leinster are going to be a force for years to come.
Brian Corr
Feel Cardiff came thinking they were going to have an easy game with so many Leinster players on Ireland duty, they realised their mistake too late.
It’s great to see Deegan playing so well and even better to see Connors back.
It’s a great testament to Cullen and his coaches that they have the back up squad so tuned in and able to step up when needed, even if Cardiff were not really at the races.
Tector getting his first points, Turner with another great try.
Great outcome for Leinster, especially racking up the points for home games in the knockouts.
Karen Brennan
Well done to new young players getting their first cap,a great occasion for them,especially Balbriggan rugby clubs Aitzol King👍🏻
TWITTER
Old adage of Leinster not being tested, for once I'll begrudgingly agree. Cardiff have been awful. #LEIvCAR
Very pleasant piece of humble pie being consumed about now #LEIvCAR
— Rhys Ruddock All Stars Fan (@GifsRugbyNStuff) January 28, 2023
Over in Ireland to see my girlfriend for the first time in a month, lasted about 7 seconds during sex and still wasn't the worst performing Welshman in Ireland tonight #LEIvCAR
RichardMifsud I always love watching @leinsterrugby play but I particularly love it when the young guns get a run out. TBH I was expecting a tougher game but Cardiff disappointed Deegs very worthy POTM Good outings from Milne Brownlee Turner as well as our starting back row and halfbacks Disappointing 10 minutes in the final quarter but that’s great learning for the kids
Andrew Byrne Harry Byrne’s kicking out of hand was very good, amazing the difference a bit of game time makes. We got a bit sloppy in the final quarter but to be expected with so many changes. Cardiff’s coaches must be pulling their hair out, their team was outclassed by an inexperienced Leinster team.
21 January 2023; Garry Ringrose of Leinster scores his side’s sixth try despite the attentions of Christian Wade and Kitione Kamikamica of Racing 92 during the Heineken Champions Cup Pool A Round 4 match between Leinster and Racing 92 at Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
Conor Cronin The number of penalties is a concern. A strong win, and some great individual performances weren’t. We’d a strong first and last 20, needed to be more conscious of the ruck in the middle 40, that’s where we lost our most to Racing. I found a group of Racing fans after the game and brought them to the pub, great group, great fans who really love the game and are very passionate about good rugby, I’m really glad we could meet up expectation, particular the O’Brien try
Gavin Hegarty I actually enjoyed how they challenged us. They clearly did their homework. But still, the good will out. Yes we were not at the level we were last week, but class is permanent. Highlight was ringer flick, sublime.
Richard Collumb Racing slowing the game right down caused us problems. Scrum, some sloppy passing & silly penalties will be punished in later rounds, but last 20 minutes was great. Ringrose just gets better & better.
John Hyland (reply to Richard Collumb) don’t agree re scrum. Other teams are cheating and getting away with it. Our scrum is collapsing on the loosehead side because opposition tightheads are boring in, leaving Porter / Milne nothing to push against. Refs have been clueless.
TWITTER
Good @leinsterrugby team mentality that Garry Ringrose just shared there "Preparing so it's the best version of ourselves, preparing for the best version of the opposition"! #LEIvR92
Richard Mifsud We weren’t at our best for long periods and credit R92 for parts of that but it’s an 80 minute game and when we clicked it was sublime. We need these tests to keep us honest and sharp it’s about finding a way and thus far this season we’ve been pretty good at that this season. Very satisfying BPW
Koochulainn The numbers do not lie LEINSTER 4 games 20 points (and did not concede a single losing BP) 28 tries +150 points difference #PerfectRecord
RugbyNerd Too good again! But good game for around 60 minutes and good refereeing. Very clear communication.
14 January 2023; Michael Ala’alatoa of Leinster makes a break during the Heineken Champions Cup Pool A Round 3 match between Gloucester and Leinster at Kingsholm Stadium in Gloucester, England. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
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🏉 Cian Healy’s career
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FRONT FIVE ARTICLES
RFU intervenes to let Borthwick pick Farrell in England Six Nations squad | Owen Farrell | The Guardian [Gerard Meagher]
Women’s interprovincials: Munster claim bonus-point win over Leinster to move closer to title – The Irish Times
Fourteen-man Munster hold off Northampton in Champions Cup thriller | Rugby365
‘Heartbroken’ Dan McFarland bemoans decision not to award Ulster penalty try in late La Rochelle defeat – BelfastTelegraph.co.uk [Jonathan Bradley]
Clinical Connacht put 61 points on Brive to progress to Challenge Cup knockouts (the42.ie) [Daragh Small]
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Andrew Potts The scrum is a concern, probably just needs a little collective focus. Nice to see them using short penalty moves in the red zone, it’s a good variation then going to a line out, plus suits Leinster tempo. Some of the Leinster play was excellent and Ross has developed into quite the facilitator
Richard Collumb Says it all about current European competition when URC is providing more challenges. Great to see Osborne step up & some game time to replacements.
Chris McDonnell Too good just too good.
TWITTER
Pretty fun. Lots of positives. Scrum in bit of bother, 2 PTs also not ideal. Still way more good than bad. Enjoyed it a lot! #GLOvLEI
Brian Nisbet @natural20 14-49 A match with a couple of lessons for Leinster (discipline, line-outs), but ultimately another emphatic victory in Europe and the match goes on.
Colin Mehigan @colinmehigan@mas.to @vnvobit @HarpinOnRugby @rugby Lots of impressive performances in Kingsholm today – Jamie Osborne really standing out
Adam Ashby (Gloucester fan) @adamashby@mas.to Well. That was worse than I expected.
7 January 2023; Jimmy O’Brien of Leinster celebrates after scoring his side’s third try during the United Rugby Championship between Ospreys and Leinster at the Swansea.com Stadium in Swansea, Wales. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
Conor Cronin A few key things from this game that concern me.
The pack were bullied in the first half, and let themselves be.
Harry Byrne struggled behind the pack, but they’re not entirely to blame for his struggles. He needs a lot more time and needs to build confidence behind a dominant pack.
The scrum was awful. We have suffered as a province since Fogarty went to the Ireland set up, that needs to be dealt with.
Grinding out the win is great, and you learn much more from a game like that. But we need to learn fast, especially if the injury Ross Byrne picked up last night is bad.
Paul Smith Probably the poorest we’ve played in a good while, but the sign of a good team is to still manage to win while playing poorly so we’ll the gladly take the points and move on.
TWITTER
Shows how good we are atm. Not played well, great effort by Ospreys and still win. Bench won us the game, Ross Byrne is a seriously good player. Amount of times we’ve won through his calmness. Farrell has to seriously consider him. He can step in and more than do a job #OSPvLEI
Leinster were very very lucky to win that tonight. The bench made the difference for Leinster tonight. Leinster going to need a huge turnaround for next weeks game. Ospreys played such a good game tonight so unlucky. #OSPvLEI#URC
Disappointing for Ospreys to be on the losing side tonight, but it was a cracking game. Recent performances have been a marked improvement on the past couple of seasons and they’re going in the right direction Doesn’t feel like they are far away from clicking. #OSPvLEI#BKTURC
Brian Nisbet @natural20 19-24 in Swansea. Come back was quite late, but a win is a win and well done to the lads for doing what needed to be done.
Jay Long @Jay_Long_626 Seriously good win on the road and Ospreys were proper up for it. Turned it on when it counted, I think Nick McCarthy won us that game imo. Just slipped us into a flow. Never in doubt
1 January 2023; Ryan Baird of Leinster on his way to scoring his side’s sixth try during the United Rugby Championship between Leinster and Connacht at RDS Arena in Dublin. Photo by Ben McShane/Sportsfile
Gavin Hegarty Boring. It’s tiresome how even after they get ahead we don’t fear the result. Yes I know it’s a good position to be in but we’ve suffered as a result before, Saracens, la Rochelle etc. We need to be challenged more.
Chris McDonnell Another shocking day at the lineout. Its been a while since we had one if them but that was not acceptable. Kelleher will not get his starting jersey back from sheahan until he learns how to throw the ball
TWITTER
Well that's that Leinster 41 Connacht 12 Never expected to come up & get a win especially with the disruption with illness during the week Some elements were good lineout the star both side of the ball Looked to be attacking better but the ruck protection is off#LEIvCON#URC
Hard to know how to feel after that. Connacht played better than the score line would suggest. Was always going to be tough to live with Leinsters depth and pressure.
Scrum, line out and maul were great and attack looked sharper. Just beaten by a far better team. #LEIvCON
rhubarbsticks Ryan Baird in full flight is a sight to behold. A scrappy enough performance but plenty of positives to go forward with.
RugbyKino A tale of 3 parts to that match. A tight, well-matched fast-paced game gave way to more of a broken-up tussle in midfield in the second half. But come the final quarter Leinster flexed their handling muscle and put Connacht to the sword.
A shame Connacht don’t come away with something as the scoreline doesn’t do them justice.
However, Johnny coming off with a big dent in his face is a worry, possibly for the next 2-6 weeks.
RichardMifsud Really entertaining match at the RDS Connacht competitive deep into it but a couple of late tries put a gloss on the score line Good performance from the much changed side with a fair crop of youngsters Lineout issues need to be resolved but that apart a good enough performance Top of the pile in January 2023 let’s see how it pans out 🤷🏻♂️ Good performances from JL and Ryan B Deeny looked good and the Foley cameo was exciting
james @gortoshay putting 40 pts on Connacht while still having plenty of work ons is a nice place to be. Leinster being made to work for their victories this season. I’m hoping it stands to them at the business end. Sexton definitely a worry.
26 December 2022; Leinster players celebrate with teammate Dan Sheehan, hidden, after he scored their side’s second try during the United Rugby Championship match between Munster and Leinster at Thomond Park in Limerick. Photo by Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile
Conor Cronin On the road, taking a win home with us without a lot of players who might have wanted the opportunity to play and might sometimes be considered higher up the pecking order, and having missed out on the chance to get a BP, there’s a lot to be positive about here.
Yes there were some things that we’ll use the video for to tidy up, and yes the referee was not at the top of his game, but you play the ref, you play what’s in front of you, and you take your chances.
I’m happy with that, munster threw their best available team at us, it wasn’t enough tonight
Andrew Potts A collection of random penalties until 50, then a game broke out
Martin Loughrey Scrappy to say the least. Great to get the win and our response to Deegan’s yellow was incredible, but the game didn’t really kick into gear until the 2nd half. I felt Munster had a slight edge on us for long periods but couldn’t capitalise. And of course Busby was poor. It seemed like he heeded the crowd’s reaction after Deegan flipped POM over, and made some strange calls after that. Very quick to ping Leinster after that, and of course there was his own obstruction of Leinster at the ruck that lead to a penalty for Munster. Still though, a win in Thomond is always great to get, so happy to take it!
TWITTER
That’s how you close out a game, keep the ball and don’t give the opposition a sniff of getting it back. That’s a top second half for me away at what Thomond should be, a bloody hard away game that should be tough to get a win from and gutting if you loose #MUNvLEI
Really top class game. Score fair for me. Leinster just upped it when they needed to. Munster will feel they should have done better in the first half when they bossed the game. #URCBestLeague
A win away at Thomond with a rotated side and not playing particularly well is not to be sniffed at. Great runouts from Dan (again) and Big Joe Mac. Luke McG and Ross M made a big impact from the bench. Happy with that and isn’t it brilliant to see a return of the St Stephen’s Day fixture? #MUNvLEI
Bernard McKeever @dregin
#MUNvLEI Would not want to be on the receiving end of Graham Rowntree’s anger after conceding those tries with us a man down.
16 December 2022; Caelan Doris of Leinster makes a break in the build-up to his side’s first try during the Heineken Champions Cup Pool A Round 2 match between Leinster and Gloucester at the RDS Arena in Dublin. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
Earlier this year, Gloucester Rugby lock, Ed Slater, announced his retirement from the game with immediate effect after his diagnosis with Motor Neurone Disease (MND).
To help support Ed and his family, Gloucester Rugby opened a JustGiving page and to date over £220,000 has been raised to help support Ed, his wife Jo and their three children.
With Gloucester Rugby playing Leinster Rugby last weekend in the Heineken Champions Cup, both clubs wanted to mark the occasion and also use the opportunity to highlight Ed’s illness and to try and raise even more funds for him and his family.
As a result, two unique Leinster Rugby and Gloucester Rugby jerseys were signed by the match day squads, with both jerseys bearing his name and the number four.
Captains Garry Ringrose and Ben Meehan presented the jerseys to each other before the game and the jerseys will now be used as a raffle item on the Leinster Rugby Instagram account.
To enter, you only need to reply to the post on Instagram and then donate a minimum of £20/€20 to the JustGiving page set up for the Slater family.
The winners will need to show proof of donation before their prize will be allocated to them.
Conor Cronin There are a lot of things to be said about playing the team in front of you, and let’s be honest, the team in front of us were less than brilliant.
But! Let’s acknowledge that they were good for the last 20 mins in a way that they weren’t for the first 60 and kept us relatively quiet. Lots of fans expected 70+ points over the 80 mins and a second string Gloucester kept us very far from that, and that stems from a lack of cohesion, and a few players misfiring at a couple of moments. 50 22 kicks that missed, territorial kicks going dead, passes going loose… There are some things that could be worked on. And there’s no harm in that. Let’s work on simple passes, on making sure that that first receiver’s takes the ball cleanly, that the first receiver is ready for the pass… Let’s make sure that the simple stuff goes right so that against stronger opposition we aren’t losing territory or points
Chris McDonnell Mcgrath is so slow and his pass is awful, he rarely moves the ball to the backs either. It was like watching matt o’connor rugby. How we let patterson go and kept mcgrath baffles me
Kevin Joyce There’s been a lot of talk about what the Gloucester team selection means for the competition. First of all, I’d like to say that I agree that the current format is bad, but it’s absolutely not to blame for what we witnessed tonight. The idea behind the change was to eliminate dead rubbers, but what hope have we of doing that when a team that had a perfect start to the tournament decides to raise the white flag in their second game? As long as the English and French clubs continue to be arrogant enough to believe their domestic leagues are more important than a European competition, no amount of format changes can prevent Gloucester from doing what they did tonight. The only way to completely eliminate dead rubbers would be to add 8 teams and turn the tournament into a straight knockout, but even then, if Gloucester were drawn against Leinster in the first round, they would absolutely surrender and pick a B team like they did tonight, because that’s exactly the kind of club they are and the loser mentality they have. So good luck in the premiership Gloucester, but you’ve about as much chance of winning it as you have of winning the Heineken.
TWITTER
9 Doris darting, 8 Larmour leaping, 7 Lowe a laughing 6 McGrath marauding, 5 Kelleher conquering , 4 Ryan reaching, 3 Kelleher crossing, 2 van der Flier flying, 1 Lowe a leading, and a Pa-artridge in a pear tree!! 🎄😄 #LEIvGLOhttps://t.co/igiHqH6ywA
I loved that Leinster didn’t kick the ball out when they were 50 points up at the 82min. They showed they were hungry for the game, despite Gloucester fielding that team#LeinsterRugby#LEIvGLO
Absolute humperdinking as expected, but positives: Polledri looks big and strong and gets 80 mins on the clock Gotostev steadied the scrum and looked really powerful carrying. Billy, Atkinson and Clement all had great games. It was all a bit men against boys though#LEIvGLO 🍒⚪️
Brian Nisbet 57-0 at the RDS. Gloucester disrespected the competition and their opposition with their team selection and paid the price. Not going to complain about a BP win for Leinster, but I do feel sorry for the slaughtered lambs
RichardMifsud Venerunt vidimus vicimus. The 57 was obviously pleasing, the 0 infinitely more so. Gloucester brought an under strength team and got what they deserved (not having a go). You have to feel for their players TBH. We weren’t at our best yet that was more than enough to beat Gloucester. Greater tests await For now Merry Xmas
10 December 2022; Josh van der Flier of Leinster makes a break on his way to scoring his side’s sixth try during the Heineken Champions Cup Pool A Round 1 match between Racing 92 and Leinster at Stade Océane in Le Havre, France. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
(also a report from France on the match conditions by Tom Coleman)
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Andrew Potts Very good performance by Leinster and adapting well to Racing flooding the ruck. As always Leinster very focused as 15 on the park, impressive by JVdF nuisance all day which is a compliment for a 7 and still gas at 79 for a solo!
Gerald Williamson Will not complain. A convincing win in the end. Even missing one or two key players, Leinster did the job for the bonus pt win. Stuart has a idea what awaits him next season.
Gavin Hegarty Job done, BP done. Racing should be embarrassed to lose by 32 at ‘home’. We need to do better but you can only play what’s in front of you.
Chris McDonnell Without Sexton Henshaw and Furlong and still almost flawless. A little too much kicking for my liking but hey
TWITTER
Utterly savage performance from Leinster in Le Havre. Bullying a Racing side who simply weren't at the races, they bested them in the scrum, lineout, breakdown and outplayed them defensively.
Taking 5-0 away against a SF team from last year is some marker to lay down. #R92vLEI
Leinster really laid down a marker today with an absolutely superb display, a total performance of excellence individually, as units, and as a team.#R92vLEI
RichardMifsud You don’t win anything in December, especially in the #championscup but you can lay down markers and #leinster did just that in Le Havre That was easily their best 80 of the season thus far Caelan Doris worthy POTM but big performances across the park Let’s see where we are in May in #dublin #R92vLEI
Jay Long You can only play what’s there but was really happy to see how hungry we were throughout. The lads chased everything. Sensational start. We’re on the road again!
Ross Carrick I wasn’t expecting this from Racing. Lack of sustained possession and phase building. Leinster aren’t at their best but are deserved three score leaders.
Robin Cafolla I remember when you feared going to France no matter who you were playing. Safe to say those days are over. Very dominant display from Leinster.
Brian Nisbet 10-42, what a wonderful victory in France! Perfect start to this year’s European campaign from a team that are playing very well together!
26 November 2022; Charlie Ngatai of Leinster offloads to teammate Rob Russell in the build up to his side’s second try during the United Rugby Championship match between Leinster and Glasgow Warriors at RDS Arena in Dublin. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
Martin Loughrey Good result today with some good performances, but we’d have struggled against a better team. Far too many penalties, 15 in total really held us back. Russell obviously had a great game, I thought the back row were solid, and Osbourne impressed also. Ngatai’s offload for the 2nd try was some kind of witchcraft! Good to see Kelleher come through unscathed. All in all, not a vintage performance, but a solid result.
Andrew Potts Leinster played well and a number of solid performances by the next generation . Not sure about the penalty count, its unlike Leinster to be so spendthrift.
Chris McDonnell Harry made a big difference when he came on as did foley and Cosgrave.
TWITTER
Well Leinster for me are the benchmark in this league. And on the basis of today, we’re a long way behind them.
Brian Nisbet 40-5 in the RDS. Glasgow had so much possession but just couldn’t turn it into points. Leinster did, over and over
RichardMifsud Dominant display by #LeinsterRugby against Glasgow Warriors Great to see returns from key players after injury Poor discipline and inaccuracies will keep the coaches busy but overall a very welcome return to #URC action for the boys
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