RD Pro12: Leinster - Aironi (01-10-2011, 18:00)

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Royal Dublin Society, Dublin (01-10-2011, 18:00)

Referee: Marius Mitrea (FIR, 2nd competition game)
Assistant Referees: Leo Colgan, Barrie O'Connell both IRFU)
Citing Commissioner: Tom McCormack (IRFU)
​

Aironi Rugby gained their first win in the RaboDirect PRO12 with a 25-19 score at home to Edinburgh on Saturday. The Italian side are yet to win on the road since they were formed in the summer of 2010.

Leinster won both encounters with Aironi last season.



[TABLE="class: grid"]
[TR][TD] Leinster [/TD][TD] [/TD][TD] Aironi [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] [/TD][TD] 15 [/TD][TD] [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] [/TD][TD] 14 [/TD][TD] [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] [/TD][TD] 13 [/TD][TD] [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] [/TD][TD] 12 [/TD][TD] [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] [/TD][TD] 11 [/TD][TD] [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] [/TD][TD] 10 [/TD][TD] [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] [/TD][TD] 9 [/TD][TD] [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] [/TD][TD] 8 [/TD][TD] [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] [/TD][TD] 7 [/TD][TD] [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] [/TD][TD] 6 [/TD][TD] [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] [/TD][TD] 5 [/TD][TD] [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] [/TD][TD] 4 [/TD][TD] [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] [/TD][TD] 3 [/TD][TD] [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] [/TD][TD] 2 [/TD][TD] [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] [/TD][TD] 1 [/TD][TD] [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] [/TD][TD] [/TD][TD] [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] [/TD][TD] 16 [/TD][TD] [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] [/TD][TD] 17 [/TD][TD] [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] [/TD][TD] 18 [/TD][TD] [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] [/TD][TD] 19 [/TD][TD] [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] [/TD][TD] 20 [/TD][TD] [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] [/TD][TD] 21 [/TD][TD] [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD] [/TD][TD] 22 [/TD][TD] [/TD][/TR]
[/TABLE]

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

Debuts for Steven Sykes and Noel Reid.

LEINSTER:

15: Isa Nacewa
14: Fionn Carr
13: Eoin O'Malley
12: Luke Fitzgerald
11: Dave Kearney
10: Noel Reid
9: Cillian Willis

1: Heinke van der Merwe
2: Richardt Strauss
3: Jamie Hagan
4: Steven Sykes
5: Devin Toner
6: Ciaran Ruddock
7: Rhys Ruddock CAPTAIN
8: Leo Auva'a

REPLACEMENTS:

16: Jason Harris-Wright
17: Jack McGrath
18: Jack O'Connell
19: Damian Browne
20: Jordi Murphy
21: John Cooney
22: Ian Madigan
23: Brendan Macken

 

[Peat]

Reid's the chap who spent mosto f his U20 year being deemed inferior to a 19 year old James McKinney right?

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

Yep, Reid fell foul of the unofficial Ulster quota. He's an exciting player to watch in that he's not afraid to try things for better or worse. He's quite pacy having played a lot of underage rugby in the back three.

 

[munstermuffin]

Peat I think all squads have to use this as a chance to see every youngster in action and it might not work but at least Schmidt can know for sure

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

Yeah, I'm happy to see this level of squad rotation. With Sexton at the world cup, Berquist injured and McKinley retired, the coach needs to gauge his depth at flyhalf. Madigan has done pretty well so trying Reid and finding out if he's up to it or not will mean he may not be forced into playing Nacewa there in future.

 

[munstermuffin]

Munster are the same here and well alot of lads will be chomping at the bit because with squad rotation it also gives the mindset of there is a realistic chance of breaking in to matchday squad for big games.

 

[Jockstap]

Schmidt's fairly set on making Luke a 12, could be doing Ireland a huge favour, how's he getting on in the centre snoop?

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

He's improving game by game and looked fairly decent against the Scarlets. I don't think he and O'Malley are meshing well though and wouldn't mind seeing Macken brought in at 13.

 

[Jockstap]

Ya from what I've seen of O'Malley he hasn't really impressed, bar that game against Clermont where he was a bit of an unknown quantity, Macken was hailed as the second coming a while back how's he doing? Sorry I'm in Engerland and can't catch all the Pro12 games any more.

 

[Peat]

Jockstap, its easy to see most of the Pro12 games here - the BBC website is your friend.

I'm not judging Reid (more having a cheap shot for the hell of it), obviously Leinster's resources are being stretched and its a great opportunity to have a peek at everyone. Has potential as a running out-half from what I remember for sure - has things to learn about game management, but so do most youngsters. Aironi at home, couldn't ask for a better game to start in.

Also, is EOD injured, or has he really, really, really nosedived since leaving Ulster?

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

O'Donoghue is no longer even listed as being in the Leinster squad. Don't know if he's just seeing out his contract expecting a payoff. The name Ed Bogarde has been bandied about.

Macken is a very good attacker who always breaks the gainline. His hands seem to be improving. My issue with him whenever I've seen him play for the As primarily) is that the gap between him and his winger was frequently exposed by other teams. I think he's a better long term bet to replace O'Driscoll than O'Malley is.

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

Leinster won 26-7 and secured the bonus point to carry them up to third in the table. Madigan, Nacewa, Fitzgerald and Rhys Ruddock with the tries.

http://www.leinsterrugby.ie/mdtv/play/media/id/9421

I didn't get to the game so can't comment on who I thought played well but reports on other sites and also from the text messages I got say that Strauss, Hagan (again), Toner, Madigan (who came on at half time) and Fitzgerald all looked good.

Connacht next up. Any sort of victory against them and it will have been a great start to the season considering injuries and World Cup call ups have decimated Joe Schmidt's squad.

 

[munstermuffin]

Snoop was hearing Madigan was the man that really kicked them in to gear and is turning in to a very realistic option for the bench in European games etc.

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

Snoop was hearing Madigan was the man that really kicked them in to gear and is turning in to a very realistic option for the bench in European games etc.

In the games I have seen him this season, he's certainly appeared a lot better than last year. He's now scored 3 tries in 5 games this season which is a brilliant strike rate for a fly half. Maybe everything just "clicked" over the summer because he does look like a very decent prospect now.