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Heineken Cup P5: Scarlets vs Leinster - 20/10/2012

TRF_Olyy

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Parc y Scarlets, Wales - 20/10/2012 (13:35 Local Time)

TV: Sky Sports​
 
Important game this considering our performance last week and the fact we lost to them at the begging of the season. We really need to win this and win well to get our season back on track.
 
Turks have injury concerns with Shingler, Davies, and Williams last I heard.
Leinster should target this for a BP win to make up for last week.
 
The Scarlets should win this. Unlike against Clermont, the Leinster forwards won't be able to bully the Scarlets meaning the Scarlets backs should be in the game. Nothing silly this week though!

Either way, should be a cracking game with both sides usually looking to play a fast open game.

Wonder if Stoddart will be picked again, or if Easterby will punish him for his stupidity last week and select Fenby.

I still feel that the Scarlets have missed a trick by not giving gametime to young Daniel Thomas at openside at the beginning of the season. Turnbull isn't consistent enough, and nor is he a genuine 7, and this hurts the Scarlets far too often imo. With a genuine fetcher in the team their backs could be even more dangerous countering off turnover ball.
 
The Scarlets should win this. Unlike against Clermont, the Leinster forwards won't be able to bully the Scarlets meaning the Scarlets backs should be in the game. Nothing silly this week though!

Either way, should be a cracking game with both sides usually looking to play a fast open game.

Wonder if Stoddart will be picked again, or if Easterby will punish him for his stupidity last week and select Fenby.

I still feel that the Scarlets have missed a trick by not giving gametime to young Daniel Thomas at openside at the beginning of the season. Turnbull isn't consistent enough, and nor is he a genuine 7, and this hurts the Scarlets far too often imo. With a genuine fetcher in the team their backs could be even more dangerous countering off turnover ball.


Hmm, debatable that. While normally I'd passionately disagree, our pack isn't at it's best at the moment. That said, we still have 3 international back rows, two very physical second rows (I expect Cullen and Browne to start) and a very mobile front row, especially if Healy manages to make it through. Our pack was able to go toe to toe with Clermont's last year, so it's by no means a weak unit. I expect us to be on top there, if not to dominate out right.

That said, I think we should have the wide game to match Scarlets. We have a better half back combo and our centres are probably as good. If Rob can make it through then we have as good a back three too.

It's a game we need to win. I can't see us getting a bonus point, but I do feel we should get a result. I'd be a lot happier if Boss was fully match fit however.
 
Apparently D'arcy is back and Kearney's out much rather it the other way round. Hope they keep McFadden at 12 as I think he's been pretty good.

I'd also like to echo Feic's sentiments about the pack.
 
Apparently D'arcy is back and Kearney's out much rather it the other way round. Hope they keep McFadden at 12 as I think he's been pretty good.

I'd also like to echo Feic's sentiments about the pack.


If D'arcy is back I'd put him at 12. McFadden has played well, but I think we'd be far stronger with Nacewa at 15, which moving McFadden to the wing could accommodate. Ideally we'd be looking at:

11) McFadden
12) D'arcy
13) O'Driscoll
14) Conway
15) Nacewa
 
Hmm, debatable that. While normally I'd passionately disagree, our pack isn't at it's best at the moment. That said, we still have 3 international back rows, two very physical second rows (I expect Cullen and Browne to start) and a very mobile front row, especially if Healy manages to make it through. Our pack was able to go toe to toe with Clermont's last year, so it's by no means a weak unit. I expect us to be on top there, if not to dominate out right.

That said, I think we should have the wide game to match Scarlets. We have a better half back combo and our centres are probably as good. If Rob can make it through then we have as good a back three too.

It's a game we need to win. I can't see us getting a bonus point, but I do feel we should get a result. I'd be a lot happier if Boss was fully match fit however.

I agree that the Leinster pack is better than the Scarlets, but I question whether it is good enough in the tight to dominate the Scarlets pack. Nothing I've seen from the Leinster pack this season suggests that they'll give the Scarlets a battering up front like Clermont did in the last game. I also question whether the Lesinter pack really stood toe to toe for the 80 against Clermont last year, if my memory serves me right, the Clermont pack were on top in that game and probably should have wom them the game had Fofana not knocked the ball on over the line.

Anyway, Scarlets at home really should be confident of a win if they want to show genuine progression.
 
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If D'arcy is back I'd put him at 12. McFadden has played well, but I think we'd be far stronger with Nacewa at 15, which moving McFadden to the wing could accommodate. Ideally we'd be looking at:

11) McFadden
12) D'arcy
13) O'Driscoll
14) Conway
15) Nacewa

I'd agree just annoyed McFadden can't get a good run at 12 with Sexton and B'OD either side of him.
 
I'd agree just annoyed McFadden can't get a good run at 12 with Sexton and B'OD either side of him.


Needs must mate, were we playing with a full deck I'd give him a shot, but he's a more effective winger than Madigan is a full back. Also, considering we're going to have North and Davies running down the midfield all day it's no harm to have a bit of experience in there.
 
Needs must mate, were we playing with a full deck I'd give him a shot, but he's a more effective winger than Madigan is a full back. Also, considering we're going to have North and Davies running down the midfield all day it's no harm to have a bit of experience in there.

You probably won't. Heard he might not make the match. Scott Williams might not play either. Expect Adam Warren and Gareth Maule if this happens.
 
Still North, not that I don't rate McFadden's defense D'arcy and Bod are very strong as a partnership. Also while I like the idea of Madagin and Sexton on the part I don't think that he's the safest option at 15, so on that bases I wouldn't mind McFadden at 11 and Nacewa at 15.
 
Still North, not that I don't rate McFadden's defense D'arcy and Bod are very strong as a partnership. Also while I like the idea of Madagin and Sexton on the part I don't think that he's the safest option at 15, so on that bases I wouldn't mind McFadden at 11 and Nacewa at 15.

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Teams named very interesting in that while McFadden does move to wing Madigan stays at 15 and Conway drops to the bench. Also all the ways in which it can be viewed. For the Scarlets no Davies but S. Williams makes it.

UK & Ireland - Live on Sky Sports 1 from 1.35pm
USA - Delayed coverage from 10pm Saturday EST on Fox Soccer Plus
New Zealand - Live coverage from 1.30am Sunday on the Rugby Channel
Australia - Delayed coverage from 5.15am Sunday on Setanta Australia
Asia - Delayed coverage from 2.45am Sunday HKT on Eurosport Asia
South Africa - Delayed coverage from 11pm Saturday GMT on Supersport 1
Canada - Live coverage from Noon Saturday on Sportsnet World

SCARLETS:
15: Liam Williams
14: George North
13: Gareth Maule
12: Scott Williams
11: Andy Fenby
10: Rhys Priestland
9: Tavis Knoyle

1: Phil John
2: Matthew Rees
3: Samson Lee
4: George Earle
5: Johan Snyman
6: Aaron Shingler
7: Josh Turnbull
8: Rob McCusker CAPTAIN

REPLACEMENTS:
16: Ken Owens
17: Shaun Hopkins
18: Deacon Manu
19: Tomás Vallejos
20: Johnathan Edwards
21: Gareth Davies
22: Aled Thomas
23: Morgan Stoddart

LEINSTER:
15: Ian Madigan
14: Fergus McFadden
13: Brian O'Driscoll
12: Gordon D'Arcy
11: Isa Nacewa
10: Jonathan Sexton
9: Eoin Reddan

1: Cian Healy
2: Sean Cronin
3: Mike Ross
4: Leo Cullen CAPTAIN
5: Damian Browne
6: Kevin McLaughlin
7: Shane Jennings
8: Jamie Heaslip

REPLACEMENTS:
16: Richardt Strauss
17: Heinke van der Merwe
18: Jamie Hagan
19: Devin Toner
20: Jordi Murphy
21: Isaac Boss
22: Andrew Conway
23: Fionn Carr
 
I'd rather see Adam Warren than Gareth Maule, but I seem to be alone in that. Warren has more of a turn of pace and a good step on him, whereas Maule is more experienced and a solid tackler, but the edge comes in the fact that Warren is of a similar quality, but is only 20, whereas Maule's (at a guess, I'm not Googling this) 27. All the same, the Scarlets are going to lose. They're missing their real stand-out, go-to player in Foxy, and as such will struggle even more than they would otherwise. (Were he playing I'd give them a fair chance, but still put my money behind Leinster)
 
Did nobody watch this one then? Rhys Priestland surely can't start internationals after that.
 
Superb scrum, very good win, average performance. Clermont next with Sean O'Brien, Rob Kearney, Rhys Ruddock, Eoin O'Malley and perhaps Luke Fitzgerald back in tow. Leinster will really need to buck up for the back to back fixtures. Scarlets have an excellent backline but their pack is still their Achilles heel.

Exeter could be a team to watch. I think they can scrape a win against Clermont today if they play like they did last week. With Scarlets pretty much out of it, winning back to back against them is possible. They could easily go into the last round of fixtures against Leinster looking for a win to make a Heineken or Amlin Cup quarter final.
 
Scarlets were awful, Leinster not much better. And the Scarlets still could have won if Priestland wasn't utterly useless at everything he did. Missed place kicks, re-starts out on the full, knock ons......... I'll cry if he starts for Wales in the Autumn. It was also disappointing to see North have such a poor game.

On top of that the Scarlets backrow were poor. Not sure I saw Shinger do anything, while Turnbull and McCusker just gave away needless penalties all game. Leinster dominated the breakdown. The scrum was still an issue, especially when Rees, Lee and [FONT=arial, sans-serif]Snyman went off.[/FONT]

[FONT=arial, sans-serif]On the showings so far this season, Clermont are going to stroll this group unless Leinster seriously ups their game, which is always doable. Still think that Leinster are nowhere near the level of previous seasons at the moment.[/FONT]
 
On the showings so far this season, Clermont are going to stroll this group unless Leinster seriously ups their game, which is always doable. Still think that Leinster are nowhere near the level of previous seasons at the moment.
Agree with this. Leinster peaked last season. Clermont seem to be reaching their peak. I can see ASM edging the back to back games 5-4 on points and topping the pool.

Apparently Rob Kearney and Sean O'Brien aren't far off full fitness. Having them back in tow for the December fixtures would be massive for Leinster. Others coming back soon like Rhys Ruddock, Eoin O'Malley and Dave Kearney should improve their squad depth considerably and allow for more balanced squad rotation. That will stand to the team as the season wears on.

In short, I see Leinster qualifying for the last 8 as a best runner up. Clermont and Ulster are the two teams I tip for the final as things stand.
 
Did nobody watch this one then? Rhys Priestland surely can't start internationals after that.

To be honest, with Jeremy 'clueless about rugby' Guscott cheerleading for him at every opportunity people will probably keep believing he's a great in the making. He may even start a lions test... god help us.
 


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