Heineken Champions Cup - Round of 16 (2nd Leg)

[Groundhog]

@TRF_Olyy should add after rewatching game for us Saturday and well watch Mike Haley since he has been here we have been blessed.
A brilliant underrated operator who showed he is just as good at 9 as he is at 15.
Not saying he should be a starter for Ireland as I do rate Keenan but definitely Mike wouldn't be out of place in an international scene.

He had no right to be that good at 9!

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Sale are going to miss Fak massively Quirke is very good but you are never going to find a 9 as tenacious as FdK.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Quirke worryingly injury prone as well
Looks like a youth spent doing endurance sports has done a number on his hamstring/knee - none of his injuries have been impact related (i.e. not cleared out a ruck or anything) all just from running (i.e. pulling his hamstring changing direction after the linebreak last week)

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

April/Early May is usually the time to get us. We peak around November and Christmas looking to do so again for playoffs.

Can't see many of our top guys playing too many minutes in SA. A ten point buffer at the top with, more or less, a guaranteed BP win in the last round of the URC means we can treat it as a bit of a warm weather preparation camp.

Leicester won't be easy but we shouldn't lose playing to our standards.

James Ryan has been cleared to play so I'm going to stop being humble like in this post.

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Tigers v Leinster on Saturday 5:30PM good draw that

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Go to Munster v Toulouse, call Zebo fat as much as possible, leave early to get a good spot in the pub for Leinster, wear Toulouse jersey the entire time.

Sounds like a good Saturday.

 

[Groundhog]

@Le Frére Alpha win or lose, at least there will be something for everyone in the day. Namely you getting beaten up when people realise you're Irish.

Will probably go to this. Atmosphere should be decent as they're pricing tickets reasonably as you'd expect. Also a good time for people who want to go up and back in the day

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Why the **** does La Rochelle clash with the tigers game?
How dumb is that.

Why not just push back the other 2 games by 30 minutes?

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Yeah wtf is that all about?

 

[UlsterRugby2012]

Why the **** does La Rochelle clash with the tigers game?
How dumb is that.

Why not just push back the other 2 games by 30 minutes?

I don't even think they can do that because those times are local times, so the kick off is actually at the exact same time. So dumb.

 

[munstermuffin]

Go to Munster v Toulouse, call Zebo fat as much as possible, leave early to get a good spot in the pub for Leinster, wear Toulouse jersey the entire time.

Sounds like a good Saturday.

The return of the great fans of Lunster. Refuse to follow their own team

At least Zebo still very fresh in some peoples minds

 

[Jakedood]

I do genuinely believe that playing in Thomond is worth a tangible 10 or so points for us.

That said we should do a decent job at filling the Aviva and have played there so much over the last couple seasons. Our record there is..... Bad though. I don't blame anyone for Thomond not being available, for all Munster knew the knockouts would be the same time as last year when they booked the concerts. It's unfortunate, but is what it is. I also accept it had to be the Aviva over any other ground. Everyone needs the revenue.

Any reason why Musgrave park isn't being used?

 

[Groundhog]

Any reason why Musgrave park isn't being used?

8k capacity, the minimum requirement is 15K for a QF. Even if we were allowed under the rules, it would be a financial own goal from us and ultimately it would take away the opportunity for a bunch of our fans to go.

I think we will do a good job at getting a crowd into the Aviva even if attendances everywhere have been difficult to gage recently.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Reed banned for 6 (down to 3, down to 2) weeks - not surprising, but puts us in an awkward position as we only had/have two fit wingers atm!

Options are:
19yr old centre on the wing (to be fair Metcalf did look decent there in the first leg vs Bristol, arguably our best back - not saying much, though)
Hammersley (vs Teddy Thomas? Hmmm....)
Rohan or Manu - very EJ!

Or maybe McGuigan will be fit by then? Who knows

 

[FrenchFan]

Nolann le Garrec is the 9 Galthié needs for next season (behind Dupont). At 19 he's the one.
Teddy Thomas is a showman. Too much of a liability defensively to start at test level. Summer tour for him though alongside Ibrahim Diallo and Yohan Tanga Mangene who are potential first-starters in the making IMO...can't believe I'm rating Racing's players I must be coming down with something.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Nolann le Garrec is the 9 Galthié needs for next season (behind Dupont).

He was incredible today, and a goalkicker too
France are ridiculously stacked at 9

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Mad that they're so stacked and going to lose to Gibson Park in the world cup next year.