In the stand, if you believe the boos, comments here, comments all over the Internet etc we can only blame one person but I blame the urc. How did they put that referee in the position that he can be blamed? It’s outrageous that he be put in that position. Any other ref could be chosen so that the “he played” nonsense wouldn’t be am issue.
Regardless, you play the decisions, and adapt.
Well done munster, good luck on the 27th.
Craig Grehan
As an out & out leinster fan. We disrespected munster in cup rugby by not selecting our best team.
A team that does that, does it at their peril. We took the gamble and lost to the MUCH better team on the day.
Andrew Potts
A disappointing day for Leinster fond the demands of a month of weekly knock out rugby a step to far today.
Could have won it but Munster could had a few tries.
Frank Murphy did nothing today but enhance his reputation as a very flawed Ref and biased against Leinster.
In the first minute a player leaves the field unconscious. The result of a high tackle.
I thought three questions had to be answered by the Ref
Was there contact with the head?
Was force applied?
Any mitigation ?
It’s a card but only what colour.
The sanctions must have changed.
The length of time Leinster were defending under advantage was ridiculous, certainly he was a factor.
John Hyland
Munster were the better side today. For right or for wrong, Leo has prioritised the fifth star. This was always going to be a tight game. Let’s hope Munster can do the biz in SA.
TWITTER
Munster deserve it. Leinster played badly. Frank Murphy should not ref these games. All of this is true, go on and win now Munster. #leivmun
Seeing a lot of this. Unsure it's anything like a big loss. I get that teams who haven't touched a trophy in seasons don't like other teams with more W, but every dog has its day. A gambled kick through on 72 mins turned out to be a pivotal error, a missed conversion likewise. 👍 https://t.co/e95VfHl4O1
6 May 2023; Michael Milne of Leinster celebrates after scoring his side’s second try during the United Rugby Championship Quarter-Final between Leinster and Cell C Sharks at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
Another very comfortable game, a slight scare at the start when Sharks got their try, but in the end it was too easy.
Don’t see Munster causing any trouble after watching their game against 14 man Glasgow. Still need to show Munster respect though. Don’t want to put out all the academy players again thinking we will walk it.
Andrew Byrne
Time to rethink the quarterfinals stage? That wasn’t a proper match, Sharks seemed to turn up with a one dimensional game plan, only wishing to front up at the scrum and then return home as quickly as possible. No fight in them to have a shot at Leinster with a proper game plan. Knockout rugby gives you a chance to take down the top teams, Sharks just didn’t look interested in anything other than taking scrums.
Hubert Gallagher
(Munster semifinal will be) a derby – passions will be high, physicality intense, we cannot afford to be as generous as Glasgow yesterday and spurn the chances they did. Otherwise Munster will grow into the game and it will become a dogfight and the outcome less certain!
— Marcas Mac Siacais 🇪🇺🇮🇪☘️ (@hoomanbear) May 6, 2023
Good solid performance by the boys against a stifled Sharks. The main thing a good win and few injury concerns Caelan a very worthy POTM On to the SF @leinsterrugby#COYBIB#LEIvSHA
— Richard Mifsud ( richardmifsud@mastodon.ie ) (@Once_in_the_job) May 6, 2023
Mixed bag for Milne. Tough day at scrum time. Sharks strong there but only line breaking from broken play & garryowens though. Porter & penalties then when he came on. Last one against him seemed harsh though. Doris is some man. Ngatai too. Larmour & high balls. 🤷 #LEIvSHA
Koochulainn I thought (the Sharks) would be more dangerous, particularly against an unorthodox centre partnership (which I thought didn’t gel early on) I thought McGrath was and has been fantastic over the last while
22 April 2023; Leinster players huddle during the United Rugby Championship match between Vodacom Bulls and Leinster at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria, South Africa. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
Gerald Williamson The Bulls getting the 5pts is immaterial in the last league match. What was important for Leinster was to be able to blood new young players and get the experience of playing against a fully loaded Bulls team. This will stand to the Leinster boys.
Andrew Potts My goodness it was still a masterclass of support play and off loading by Bulls. Hopefully Leinster learn from it, because sometimes you learn more from you failures than your victories
Christy O’Connor Wasn’t expecting us to win but also wasn’t expecting such a spanking. I thought Clarkson and Soroka put in a good shift. We definitely learned more in this game than the bulls did. Roll on Toulouse.
Greg Kelly Hardly good for the competition or if you are Connacht or Munster to see the Bulls get 5 points against Leinsters 4ths and leapfrog you in the playoffs when you had to play against the 1sts. I understand giving the young guns a run but there has to be integrity in both the competition and the jersey and that was lacking today.
TWITTER
The good news for the Leinster kids is that you can’t start passionately disliking the Blue Bulls at too young an age. #BULvLEI
Look, I know we could "afford" this and you can rationalise it away with squad picked etc. But it's still Leinster getting pumped. It's a L. I don't care about "unbeaten" but those lads deserve better caps than meat grinder material. A tough watch hopefully never repeated.
Greg Kelly From the first scrum the Lions looked uneasy. They looked like they expected the young guns to have a crack but to fall away. However they didn’t. Lions lived off Leinster errors and a lack of cohesion.
Up the ladders and age grades Leinster lose very few games and sometimes that shows. Players that are not used to losing generally don’t fall away.
Christy O’Connor Lot of pressure on Prendergast, I originally thought it was a mistake to start him but after a bit of a shaky first half he got more into the game and made the difference in the end.
Big statement to come from behind when down to 13 men and we were nowhere near full strength
Andrew Potts Any win in SA is to be respected, fantastic result for young players and praise also for Ruddock and Deegan for keeping the lads focused when it could have gone South
TWITTER
#LIOvLEI…simply epic…one of my fav games by Leinster.. EVER…the kids were immense…Prendergast…Cosgrave…Murphy when he came on..the scrum solid as a rock…take a bow lads that was simply sensational
— Marcas Mac Siacais 🇪🇺🇮🇪☘️ (@hoomanbear) April 15, 2023
Conor Cronin We’re still undefeated, but I feel we could’ve won that.
It’s easy to blame certain factors, the weather being one, but you have to play what’s out there. We tried an offloading game in the first half that wasn’t suitable to those conditions. That’s inexperience.
The other major inexperienced person it they’re was the ref imo. He needs to trócaire his interpretation of the ruck, in from the side and the offside line. I would also argue that leinster avoiding s try before half time wasn’t a reason nor to yellow the cynical behaviour within 5m leading up to that try.
We take 3 points from that game to their 2, and are guaranteed to spot in the league. We were given a challenge greater than any we’ve faced so far this season. We were pushed in a way that forced the players out there to show more and dig deep. It might be a draw on the score board but its a win for me.
Greg Kelly Winning is a habit but so is not losing. To be fair though we left that game out there. Byrnes missed kicks were the difference. 3rd string team against a much more experienced Stormers outfit and we draw with a 3-2 match point win. Perhaps an indication that the SA teams are not as strong relatively speaking as the competition needs them to be.
Alan Murphy Physical game. The wind and the rain probably balanced each half. 17-5 to each team in each half. A bonus point draw for us is probably more than we expected before the game against a fully loaded Stormers team. Well done Leinster.
TWITTER
#LEIvSTO WHAT A GAME…fair play to both teams for some endeavour and serious physicality in trying conditions #bestleague#BKTURC
— Marcas Mac Siacais 🇪🇺🇮🇪☘️ (@hoomanbear) March 24, 2023
#LEIvSTO Eating my complaints here with grace. A shame the SA teams weren't part of this competition years ago. What a great match. Jeez we are spoiled. 🏉
A draw for Leinster but considering they were missing their international players and were 0-17 down at one point against a strong Stormers side, gotta say that’s a great effort from a great side.#LEIvSTO | #BKTURC
Rich Mifsud Given the respective lineups, getting 3 match points from this match is nothing short of awesome. Well played both teams in seriously rubbish conditions. Haven’t been this happy about drawing at home..ever 🤣. Credit to our @leinsterrugby boys especially the young guns for that comeback against a very strong @thestormers team. Great match and a credit to the @urcofficial
Dominic Doyle really good game. Stormers will fancy coming back to RDS again in better weather later in the season and will have no fear. Shame our first team don’t get this test. Much needed for the serious battles ahead.
Brian Nisbet Spent the match surrounded by a very jolly French barristers rugby team. They were very much up for Leinster and we were all rewarded by a great match. The Stormers came to win and they went away with a 22-22 draw and lacked the try BP that Leinster got. Result.
HARPIN' ON RUGBY 