WOW! How intense was that? An epic encounter where both sides turned up and fronted up.
It almost looked like the gods were against Leinster when a David Skrela penalty after just three minutes came off the post and bounced over Brian O'Driscoll's head for Florian Fritz to come charging in and put the ball down. Leinster did nothing wrong, it was just desperately unfortunate.
Toulouse made Leinster work really hard all over the pitch and didn't give Leinster an inch without Leinster really earning it. Toulouse were tenacious at the breakdown and forced Leinster to commit bodies.
Leinster came back with the forwards hammering up around the edges. Eventually Jamie Heaslip stretched for the score and just about got it down on the line.
In the second half Toulouse got a try close to the Leinster line and put on the squeeze. They wheeled it for scrum half Jean-Marc Doussain to bolt forward and off load to Louis Picamoles to dot it down.
The intensity continued and Cian Healy went charging up field breaking a couple of tackles that got the Leinster crowd and players pumped. Enter Heinke Van Der Merwe from the bench to replace Healy. He was obviously pumped after watching Healy's rampage. He went straight into the scrum and annihilated Census Johnston. The players and crowd got even more pumped! Turning point?
Leinster's second try was almost a carbon copy of their first. With the forwards flexing their muscles in the fringes and phase after phase. The opportunity nearly got away when Isaac Boss's pass didn't go to hand, but Jonny Sexton showed great commitment by catching the ball in contact. The ball made it's way to O'Driscoll who ran in from 2 metres. Not the best try he's ever scored, but he will be delighted with it none the less.
There was still plenty of time for a team of the quality of Toulouse to steal it at the death but Leinster held out and now march on to Cardiff.
This game was massively intense and physical throughout. Neither side was willing to take a backwards step. Leinster's forwards got some payback for last years semi final when Toulouse absolutely smashed them up front. They can be very proud of themselves, as can the rest of the squad. Massive effort put in by all!
My Man of the Match is Jamie Heaslip. He was excellent all game. He ran great lines and was a constant thorn in the Toulousian side.
Honourable mentions for Richardt Strauss and Gordon D'Arcy.
Next stop Cardiff!
Saturday, 30 April 2011
Thursday, 28 April 2011
Leinster vs. Toulouse Preview
Toulouse. Just hearing the name makes you instantly think 'Kings of Europe'. It was a name that used to instill fear in me. Not anymore! I'm just getting more and more excited about the prospect of these two teams clashing in such a big game!
Anything Toulouse can do, Leinster can do and sometimes better!
Toulouse have always had big grunt up front and flair out wide and so do Leinster. But, Toulouse don't have the best ball carrier in Europe (if not the world) and the best player in the game for the past ten years! I'm sure you know who the two men are, if not, you can't seriously call yourself a rugby fan!
I really can not wait for this game! It has all the makings of a classic encounter. Two teams who play heads up rugby and who have the mindset to run/counter attack when the time is right.
Toulouse can sometimes be their own worst enemies. They seldom kick and sometimes they play the game with the attitude of that they don't mind the opposition scoring because they'll just score more. Leinster on the otherhand have a great kicker when it's needed and a wall like defence. I hope to see Toulouse turn up with their attitude and their chests pushed out and their chins held high, because if they do, this game will be epic in every sense of the word! And regardless of the winner, the game of rugby will gain even more fans!
The big dilemma for Leinster is who to play in the back row? Does Joe Schmidt go with the ultra physical combination of Jamie Heaslip, Sean O'Brien and Kevin McLaughlin or the ultra streetwise combination of Heaslip, O'Brien and Shane Jennings?
McLaughlin is hugely physical. He hits targets like a cannonball and hits rucks like a battering ram. His lineout work has developed hugely as was evident against Leicester when he had Tom Croft and others in his pocket for the day.
Jennings brings a totally different set of skills to the table. He is an out-and-out number seven. He is the ultimate link man in play and his work rate in and around the ruck is exceptional. You might lose a little in the lineout, but when have you ever heard of Toulouse having an intimidating lineout?
I would pick Jennings to start and when he tires I would bring in McLaughlin to up the physicality and smash a few tired Toulousian bodies!
Another thing Leinster need to do is get people running off O'Brien. Too often we see O'Brien breaking through defences and having no options but to go to ground and hope that his team mates can retain the ball. Luke Fitzgerald, Isa Nacewa and Shane Horgan need to be right on top of O'Brien whenever it looks like he's going to carry, if they do it will pay off with a lot of tries! I hate to say it, but if they watched some footage of Chris Ashton they could learn some things about the way to track the game breakers.
COME ON LEINSTER!!!!
ALLEZ LES BLEUS!!!!
Anything Toulouse can do, Leinster can do and sometimes better!
Toulouse have always had big grunt up front and flair out wide and so do Leinster. But, Toulouse don't have the best ball carrier in Europe (if not the world) and the best player in the game for the past ten years! I'm sure you know who the two men are, if not, you can't seriously call yourself a rugby fan!
I really can not wait for this game! It has all the makings of a classic encounter. Two teams who play heads up rugby and who have the mindset to run/counter attack when the time is right.
Toulouse can sometimes be their own worst enemies. They seldom kick and sometimes they play the game with the attitude of that they don't mind the opposition scoring because they'll just score more. Leinster on the otherhand have a great kicker when it's needed and a wall like defence. I hope to see Toulouse turn up with their attitude and their chests pushed out and their chins held high, because if they do, this game will be epic in every sense of the word! And regardless of the winner, the game of rugby will gain even more fans!
The big dilemma for Leinster is who to play in the back row? Does Joe Schmidt go with the ultra physical combination of Jamie Heaslip, Sean O'Brien and Kevin McLaughlin or the ultra streetwise combination of Heaslip, O'Brien and Shane Jennings?
McLaughlin is hugely physical. He hits targets like a cannonball and hits rucks like a battering ram. His lineout work has developed hugely as was evident against Leicester when he had Tom Croft and others in his pocket for the day.
Jennings brings a totally different set of skills to the table. He is an out-and-out number seven. He is the ultimate link man in play and his work rate in and around the ruck is exceptional. You might lose a little in the lineout, but when have you ever heard of Toulouse having an intimidating lineout?
I would pick Jennings to start and when he tires I would bring in McLaughlin to up the physicality and smash a few tired Toulousian bodies!
Another thing Leinster need to do is get people running off O'Brien. Too often we see O'Brien breaking through defences and having no options but to go to ground and hope that his team mates can retain the ball. Luke Fitzgerald, Isa Nacewa and Shane Horgan need to be right on top of O'Brien whenever it looks like he's going to carry, if they do it will pay off with a lot of tries! I hate to say it, but if they watched some footage of Chris Ashton they could learn some things about the way to track the game breakers.
COME ON LEINSTER!!!!
ALLEZ LES BLEUS!!!!
Saturday, 9 April 2011
Leinster 17-10 Leicester
Great game! Powerful performance!
It didn't start too fantastically for the men in blue with the Tigers bashing away at the gainline. But it would have been a big confidence builder for them with the Tigers barely making an inch. Richardt Strauss hit everything that moved that wasn't wearing blue!
Some great go forward from Mike Ross who rumbled forward with ball in hand (is there a more beautiful sight than that of a prop charging forward with the ball?). After that initial charge the team ran some great lines and offloaded well before Strauss offloaded to Luke Fitzgerald ,with the line at his mercy, who dropped the crucial pass. Frustrating and unlucky.
Leinster made a lot of line breaks and made a lot of ground but didn't convert some of it into points.
In the second half Leicester came out and put it up to Leinster again like at the start of the first half. This time though, they got the break, and Alessana Tuilagi smashed through Brian O'Driscoll to dive for the line. Sean O'Brien got across to force him into touch and save the day! Phew!
Cometh the hour, cometh the man. And I don't mean O'Driscoll. Isa Nacewa has been immense all season and he scored a magnificent individual try. He ran from just outside his own half ,after a Leicester clearance kick, and carrying the ball in both hands, he dummied and stepped his way to the Leicester try line. He turned half of the Tigers inside out in the process!
Leicester never know when they're beaten though, and kept attacking Leinster. Their persistence paid off when Rob Hawkins ran from deep and took the pass from Ben Youngs to get over the Leinster line.
That brought the gap to just 7 points and a few very uncomfortable minutes at the end.
Leinster held out, Leicester go out.
The Leinster pack were awesome today, especially the tight five. The scrum went well, the lineout went well and the ruck went well. Leinster were on top in every facet of play during this game and deserved the win in the end. Isa Nacewa was the standout player in the backline in a game that was decided by the big men up front.
Leinster have certainly banished the demons of Thomond from last week and can take an awful lot of positives from this performance.
My Man of the Match is Richardt Strauss. He defended superbly, carried supremly, offloaded expertly and did his donkey work brilliantly! Honourable mentions for the rest of the tight five and Isa Nacewa.
Now bring on the rest of them!
COME ON LEINSTER!!!!
It didn't start too fantastically for the men in blue with the Tigers bashing away at the gainline. But it would have been a big confidence builder for them with the Tigers barely making an inch. Richardt Strauss hit everything that moved that wasn't wearing blue!
Some great go forward from Mike Ross who rumbled forward with ball in hand (is there a more beautiful sight than that of a prop charging forward with the ball?). After that initial charge the team ran some great lines and offloaded well before Strauss offloaded to Luke Fitzgerald ,with the line at his mercy, who dropped the crucial pass. Frustrating and unlucky.
Leinster made a lot of line breaks and made a lot of ground but didn't convert some of it into points.
In the second half Leicester came out and put it up to Leinster again like at the start of the first half. This time though, they got the break, and Alessana Tuilagi smashed through Brian O'Driscoll to dive for the line. Sean O'Brien got across to force him into touch and save the day! Phew!
Cometh the hour, cometh the man. And I don't mean O'Driscoll. Isa Nacewa has been immense all season and he scored a magnificent individual try. He ran from just outside his own half ,after a Leicester clearance kick, and carrying the ball in both hands, he dummied and stepped his way to the Leicester try line. He turned half of the Tigers inside out in the process!
Leicester never know when they're beaten though, and kept attacking Leinster. Their persistence paid off when Rob Hawkins ran from deep and took the pass from Ben Youngs to get over the Leinster line.
That brought the gap to just 7 points and a few very uncomfortable minutes at the end.
Leinster held out, Leicester go out.
The Leinster pack were awesome today, especially the tight five. The scrum went well, the lineout went well and the ruck went well. Leinster were on top in every facet of play during this game and deserved the win in the end. Isa Nacewa was the standout player in the backline in a game that was decided by the big men up front.
Leinster have certainly banished the demons of Thomond from last week and can take an awful lot of positives from this performance.
My Man of the Match is Richardt Strauss. He defended superbly, carried supremly, offloaded expertly and did his donkey work brilliantly! Honourable mentions for the rest of the tight five and Isa Nacewa.
Now bring on the rest of them!
COME ON LEINSTER!!!!
Friday, 8 April 2011
Leinster vs. Leicester Preview
Here we are, the knockout stages of the Heineken Cup, and Leinster are set to play against the one team that I really wanted them to avoid. Leicester Tigers.
One reason that I wanted Leinster to avoid them is because Leicester travel well. They've had two games away from home in a row and won both. In one of the games they inflicted Bath's worst ever home defeat.
Another reason is that even if they play badly they're so big and powerful that they can just beat the crap out of you and hold on to the ball and squeeze out a victory. If this happens, Shane Jennings is a massive loss. As a supreme pilferer he could have had a go at stopping them. Let's hope that it doesn't come down to that.
Nathan Hines is going to have to be at his irritating best at ruck time to keep Leicester busy and hopfully suck in some of their big runners to the breakdown.
Leo Cullen's knowledge of the enemy camp could be priceless. He played under Richard Cockerill for a couple of years so he know's him quite well.
Manu Tuilagi is talked about in a big way with his big hits and powerful runs. But, he is also a bonus for Leinster. Tuilagi can get caught up in shooting up and trying to smash people and leaving a big gap in the defensive line behind him, and the best man to exploit that is the man directly opposite him. Brian O'Driscoll. I'm sure O'Driscoll has been watching videos and has thought about ways to take advantage of it.
For Leinster to come out on top they have to stop Leicester's big power runners from gaining ground and getting the team on the front foot. Also, Eoin Reddan has to keep Ben Youngs in his pocket and not let him get his strut going.
This will probably be a very tight one with the winning margin being only a couple of points. I know that Leinster are more than capable of pulling it off and I really hope that they do!
COME ON LEINSTER!!!!
One reason that I wanted Leinster to avoid them is because Leicester travel well. They've had two games away from home in a row and won both. In one of the games they inflicted Bath's worst ever home defeat.
Another reason is that even if they play badly they're so big and powerful that they can just beat the crap out of you and hold on to the ball and squeeze out a victory. If this happens, Shane Jennings is a massive loss. As a supreme pilferer he could have had a go at stopping them. Let's hope that it doesn't come down to that.
Nathan Hines is going to have to be at his irritating best at ruck time to keep Leicester busy and hopfully suck in some of their big runners to the breakdown.
Leo Cullen's knowledge of the enemy camp could be priceless. He played under Richard Cockerill for a couple of years so he know's him quite well.
Manu Tuilagi is talked about in a big way with his big hits and powerful runs. But, he is also a bonus for Leinster. Tuilagi can get caught up in shooting up and trying to smash people and leaving a big gap in the defensive line behind him, and the best man to exploit that is the man directly opposite him. Brian O'Driscoll. I'm sure O'Driscoll has been watching videos and has thought about ways to take advantage of it.
For Leinster to come out on top they have to stop Leicester's big power runners from gaining ground and getting the team on the front foot. Also, Eoin Reddan has to keep Ben Youngs in his pocket and not let him get his strut going.
This will probably be a very tight one with the winning margin being only a couple of points. I know that Leinster are more than capable of pulling it off and I really hope that they do!
COME ON LEINSTER!!!!
Saturday, 2 April 2011
Munster 24-23 Leinster
What a game! An epic clash between two of rugbys biggest rivals.
Leinster dominated the first half with Munster barely getting even a sniff of the Leinster half. It was a hectic 40 minutes with plenty of action. It probably would have been a better game if we didn't have a whistle happy referee that played very short advantages. The only try of the game came from a Ronan O'Gara mistake from a restart that went straight into touch. From the scrum Leinster sent the ball out to Gordon D'Arcy who passed it back inside to Isa Nacewa who came on to the ball like a freight train. It looked like he was out of options but he put the grubber through for Shane Horgan. He showed great commitment by falling and sliding on his face when touching the ball down.
Munster played like men posessed in the second half! They came out all guns blazing and really got stuck into Leinster. They got up in their faces and refused to take a backward step. Leinster looked lost and paniced. Munster didn't let up and got what they deserved when O'Gara stepped up to score the penalty from out wide when he missed a similar one just minutes earlier.
This was a hugely physical game and their will be plenty of sore bodies around tomorrow. I can see Munster kicking on from here and winning both the Magners and the Challenge Cup.
Leinster have to try to pick themselves up for a massive game next week against the Tigers. It will be tough for them to get over the physical and mental pain of this game. But, they've done it before and they won't need any more motivation than the knockout stages of the Heineken Cup against a team that will be out to avenge the pain of Edinburgh!
My Man of the Match is Ronan O'Gara. His nerveless kicking won the match and he didn't shirk away from the physical aspect of the game. Honourable mentions to Isa Nacewa and David Wallace who put in a huge amount of work for their teams.
P.S. My beloved Seapoint 3rd XV beat Newbridge to secure the league!
WELL DONE LADS!!!!
P.P.S. The Seapoint 1st XV beat Greystones to practically win the league!
A GREAT DAY FOR 'POINT!!!!
Leinster dominated the first half with Munster barely getting even a sniff of the Leinster half. It was a hectic 40 minutes with plenty of action. It probably would have been a better game if we didn't have a whistle happy referee that played very short advantages. The only try of the game came from a Ronan O'Gara mistake from a restart that went straight into touch. From the scrum Leinster sent the ball out to Gordon D'Arcy who passed it back inside to Isa Nacewa who came on to the ball like a freight train. It looked like he was out of options but he put the grubber through for Shane Horgan. He showed great commitment by falling and sliding on his face when touching the ball down.
Munster played like men posessed in the second half! They came out all guns blazing and really got stuck into Leinster. They got up in their faces and refused to take a backward step. Leinster looked lost and paniced. Munster didn't let up and got what they deserved when O'Gara stepped up to score the penalty from out wide when he missed a similar one just minutes earlier.
This was a hugely physical game and their will be plenty of sore bodies around tomorrow. I can see Munster kicking on from here and winning both the Magners and the Challenge Cup.
Leinster have to try to pick themselves up for a massive game next week against the Tigers. It will be tough for them to get over the physical and mental pain of this game. But, they've done it before and they won't need any more motivation than the knockout stages of the Heineken Cup against a team that will be out to avenge the pain of Edinburgh!
My Man of the Match is Ronan O'Gara. His nerveless kicking won the match and he didn't shirk away from the physical aspect of the game. Honourable mentions to Isa Nacewa and David Wallace who put in a huge amount of work for their teams.
P.S. My beloved Seapoint 3rd XV beat Newbridge to secure the league!
WELL DONE LADS!!!!
P.P.S. The Seapoint 1st XV beat Greystones to practically win the league!
A GREAT DAY FOR 'POINT!!!!
Munster vs. Leinster preview
Oh yes! It's the big one! South against East! The Rebels against The Capital!
I'm all set to watch what I hope will be yet another epic clash.
I don't see Munster winning this, I just think that Leinster's tempo and offloading is going to be too much for the Red Men to handle.
There's nowhere on the pitch where I can see Munster dominating enough to give them a chance.
We all know that form going into this match doesn't mean much, as was witnessed in the Aviva at the start of the season. If Leinster win this it will be a big step toward their preparation for the Leicester Tigers next week.
I think that Leinster need this game more than Munster, never mind the 5/6 in a row, they need it to build for the Heineken Cup and gain very precious momentum and confidence.
Leinster to win, but I hope not by much! I think a tight game that comes down to the wire would be the perfect preparation for the Tigers next week.
I can't get this thought out of my head, Isa Nacewa to score an intercept try. I wonder what the odds are on that? Mighty be worth a punt.
P.S. My beloved Seapoint 3rd XV are away to Newbridge today to secure the league!
GOOD LUCK LADS!!!!
P.P.S. The Seapoint 1st XV are playing Greystones in their league decider today too. Good luck to them!
GO ON THE 'POINT!!!!
I'm all set to watch what I hope will be yet another epic clash.
I don't see Munster winning this, I just think that Leinster's tempo and offloading is going to be too much for the Red Men to handle.
There's nowhere on the pitch where I can see Munster dominating enough to give them a chance.
We all know that form going into this match doesn't mean much, as was witnessed in the Aviva at the start of the season. If Leinster win this it will be a big step toward their preparation for the Leicester Tigers next week.
I think that Leinster need this game more than Munster, never mind the 5/6 in a row, they need it to build for the Heineken Cup and gain very precious momentum and confidence.
Leinster to win, but I hope not by much! I think a tight game that comes down to the wire would be the perfect preparation for the Tigers next week.
I can't get this thought out of my head, Isa Nacewa to score an intercept try. I wonder what the odds are on that? Mighty be worth a punt.
P.S. My beloved Seapoint 3rd XV are away to Newbridge today to secure the league!
GOOD LUCK LADS!!!!
P.P.S. The Seapoint 1st XV are playing Greystones in their league decider today too. Good luck to them!
GO ON THE 'POINT!!!!
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