The Leinster thread

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highlights of Leinster u18 clubs:

 

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"highlights" of leinster coventry:

 

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Leinster Rugby U19 team to face Connacht Rugby:
15. Jamie Osborne (Naas RFC)
14. Ed Kelly (St Michael's College)
13. Chris Cosgrave (St Michael's College)
12. Karl Martin (Boyne RFC)
11. Marcus Kiely (Newbridge College)
10. Tim Corkery (Kilkenny RFC)
9. Matthew Cullen (Blackrock College)
1. Hugo O'Malley (Blackrock College)
2. Ronan Loughnane (CC Roscrea)
3. Shane Connolly (CC Roscrea)
4. Alex Soroka (Belvedere College)
5. Joe McCarthy (Blackrock College)
6. Jack Guinane (St Michael's College)
7. Aaron Coleman (Belvedere College)
8. Will Hickey (St Michael's College)

Replacements:
16. Levi Vaughan (Terenure College)
17. Temi Adewunmi-Lasisi (Enniscorthy RFC)
18. Sam Illo (Wesley College)
19. Jack Coolican (Gonzaga College)
20. Steven Walsh (The King's Hospital)
21. Harry Colbert (Gonzaga College)
22. Justin Leonard (Belvedere College)
23. Simon O'Kelly (St Michael's College)

 

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Leinster U18 Schools v IQ Rugby

15. Dylan O'Grady (Belvedere College)
14. Tom Henderson (Blackrock College)
13. Lucas Berti Newman (Newbridge College)
12. Daniel Hawkshaw (Belvedere College)
11. Zach Harrison (St Michael's College)
10. Hugo McWade (St Michael's College)
9. Fintan Gunne (St Michael's College)
1. Jonathan Sargent (Belvedere College)
2. Scott Barron (Blackrock College)
3. Rory McGuire (Blackrock College)
4. Mark Morrissey (Blackrock College)
5. Diarmuid Mangan (Newbridge College)
6. Stephen Woods (St Michael's College)
7. Eoghan Rutledge (Belvedere College)
8. David Walsh (Blackrock College)

Replacements:
16. Freddy Happonen (St Gerard's College)
17. Jack Boyle (St Michael's College)
18. Luke McMahon (Clongowes Wood College)
19. Donough Lawlor (Newbridge College)
20. Conor Booth (St Michael's College)
21. Michael Moloney (Blackrock College)
22. Charlie Tector (Kilkenny College)
23. Shane Mallon (Cistercian College, Roscrea)
24. Cameron Baird (St Michael's College)
25. Calum O'Reilly (St Michael's College)
26. Fionn Gibbons (Castleknock College)

 

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Leinster squad for canada game:

Forwards

Peter Dooley (61)
Ed Byrne (45)
Michael Bent (124)
Vakh Abdaladze (7 Leinster Rugby caps)

James Tracy (92)
Bryan Byrne (42)
Rónan Kelleher (2)

Ross Molony (82)
Scott Fardy (44)
Josh Murphy (21)
Ryan Baird (1)*

Max Deegan (46)
Caelan Doris (16)
Will Connors (5)
Martin Moloney (0)*

Backs

Hugh O'Sullivan (14)
Patrick Patterson (3)*

Ciarán Frawley (14)
Harry Byrne (0)*

Conor O'Brien (17)
Jimmy O'Brien (7)
Rory O'Loughlin (61)
Joe Tomane (13)
Adam Byrne (52)
Barry Daly (36)
Hugo Keenan (5)
Cian Kelleher (7)

 

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stats updated for leinster academy players:

Jack Aungier - 6'2, 114kg
Tom Clarkson - 6'1, 110kg
Michael Milne - 5'11, 114kg
Roman Salanoa - 5'11, 125kg

Dan Sheehan - 6'3, 110kg

Jack Dunne - 6'8, 111kg
Charlie Ryan - 6'7, 108kg
Ryan Baird - 6'6, 103kg
Brian Deeny - 6'6, 106kg
Oisin Dowling - 6'5, 105kg

Martin Moloney - 6'2, 99kg

Paddy Patterson - 5'8, 75kg

Harry Byrne - 6'2, 90kg
David Hawkshaw - 5'10, 85kg

Aaron O'Sullivan - 6'2, 92kg
Jack Kelly - 6'1, 85kg
Tommy O'Brien - 6'0, 91kg
Gavin Mullin - 6'0, 90kg
Michael Silvester - 6'0, 85kg
Liam Turner - 5'8, 89kg

 

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Leinster U18 Clubs v Connacht Rugby

15. Andrew Osborne (Naas RFC) - u17, brother of leinster u19 Jamie Osborne.
14. Aitzol King (Balbriggan RFC)
13. Dylan McDermott (Tullamore RFC)
12. David Dooley (Tullamore RFC) - u17
11. Jack Hanlon (Tullow RFC)
10. Fionn O'Hara (Mullingar)
9. Culann Carbery (Athy RFC) - u17, brother of Joey.
1. Oisin Michel (Cill Dara RFC)
2. Barry Gray (Carlow RFC)
3. George Hadden (Gorey RFC) - u17
4. Ruairi Clarke (Cill Dara RFC)
5. Sean Walsh (Seapoint RFC)
6. Paul Deeny (Wexford Wanderers RFC) - brother of leinster academy player Brian Deeny
7. Abdul Olaskaban (Balbriggan RFC)
8. Conor Duffy (Tullow RFC)

Replacements:
16. Stephen Carroll (Tullow RFC)
17. Ben Popplewell (Wexford Wanderers RFC) - son of Lion Nick Popplewell
18. Daniel Adekunle (North Meath RFC)
19. Josh O'Hare (Dundalk RFC)
20. Dylan Lynch (Boyne RFC)
24. Oscar King (Boyne RFC)
25. Josh Ascough (Seapoint RFC)
21. Adam Treanor (Mullingar RFC)
22. Conor Gibney (Mullingar RFC)
23. Jamie Cooper (Tullow RFC)
26. Stefan Bors (Boyne RFC) - u17

 

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U18 Schools Interpro: Leinster 39 IQ Rugby 24

Tries from Scott Barron, Daniel Hawkshaw, Rory McGuire(2) and Jack Boyle.

U18 Clubs Interpro: Leinster Clubs 19 Connacht Clubs 12

Tries from Jack Hanlon, Aitzol King and Conor Duffy.

Leinster 19s win 17-14 against Connacht

Tries by Alex Soroka and Jamie Osborne for Leinster.

 

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so Leinster u18 teams and u19 team are undefeated so far through two rounds of the interpros, final games to be played on Sunday:

Leinster u19 V Munster u19, Maynooth University, KO 3.30pm
Leinster u18 schools V Munster u18 schools, UL, KO 5pm
Leinster u18 clubs V Ulster u18 clubs; UL, KO 1pm

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

Results aren't too important at age grade level because realistically, out of the 90 or so players who'll feature in those games, if 10 to15 go on to have pro careers with Leinster, it'll be great throughput of talent.

I'm not overly fond of naming players who are still in school as top prospects but as said before, there are 12 or so of them who look like live academy prospects. Of those who've left school (I think), Alex Soroka is getting a lot of good coverage.

 

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highlights of Leinster schools win:

 

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highlights of Leinster clubs win:

 

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Results aren't too important at age grade level because realistically, out of the 90 or so players who'll feature in those games, if 10 to15 go on to have pro careers with Leinster, it'll be great throughput of talent.

I'm not overly fond of naming players who are still in school as top prospects but as said before, there are 12 or so of them who look like live academy prospects. Of those who've left school (I think), Alex Soroka is getting a lot of good coverage.

Soroka is finished, has been a standout alright since last season. Gonna be tough to break through at lock at Leinster though.

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

Leinster have certainly come a long way since the Route 6'6" talent search.
https://www.leinsterrugby.ie/leinster-launch-route-66-initiative/

 

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Good idea as it was at the time, they really focused on identifying players at a younger age... of course most of it is thanks to the St. Michaels production line.

Apparently they are focusing similarly on scrumhalves and hookers at underage level.

 

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Leinster Rugby (caps in brackets):

15. Jimmy O'Brien (7)
14. Adam Byrne (52)
13. Rory O'Loughlin (61)
12. Conor O'Brien (17)
11. Barry Daly (36)
10. Ciarán Frawley (14)
9. Hugh O'Sullivan (14)
1. Ed Byrne (45)
2. Bryan Byrne (42)
3. Michael Bent (124)
4. Ryan Baird (1)
5. Scott Fardy (44) CAPTAIN
6. Max Deegan (46)
7. Will Connors (5)
8. Caelan Doris (16)

Replacements From:

Rónan Kelleher (2)
James Tracy (92)
Peter Dooley (61)
Vakh Abdaladze (7)
Ross Molony (82)
Josh Murphy (21)
Martin Moloney (0)
Paddy Patterson (3)
Harry Byrne (0)
Joe Tomane (13)
Cian Kelleher (7)
Hugo Keenan (5)

 

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Leinster Rugby 'A' vs. Cardiff Blues – Celtic Cup, Round 1

15. Jack Kelly(St. Michaels/DUFC/U23)
14. Niall Comerford(Blackrock/U20)
13. Gavin Mullin(Blackrock/UCD/U23)
12. Liam Turner(Blackrock/DUFC/U21)
11. Rob Russell(St. Michaels/DUFC/U21)
10. Conor Kelly(Roscrea/Clontarf/U21)
9. Cormac Foley(St. Gerards/St. Marys/U21)
1. Michael Milne(Roscrea/UCD/U21)
2. Dan Sheehan(Clongowes/DUFC/U22)
3. Jack Aungier(Suttonians RFC/Clontarf/U22)
4. Cian Prendergast(Newbridge/UCD/U20)
5. Charlie Ryan(Blackrock/UCD/U21)
6. Ronan Watters(St. Marys/St. Marys/U21)
7. Mark Hernan(St. Michaels/U20)
8. Ronan Foley(St. Marys/UCD/U22)

Replacements
16. John McKee(Campbell/Old Bevedere/U20)
17. Marcus Hannan(Clane RFC/Old Belvedere/U20)
18. Charlie Ward(Tullow RFC/Clontarf/U20)
19. David Maher(Roscrea/MU Barnhall/U20)
20. Sean O'Brien(Blackrock/U20)
21. Jack Connolly(Gonzaga/U20)
22. Paddy McKenzie(Wicklow RFC/Old Wesley/U20)
23. Adam La Grue(Terenure/Terenure/U21)

Bold = academy

Academy players absent, presumed injured:

Tom Clarkson(U20)
Oisin Dowling(U23)
Jack Dunne(U22)
Brian Deeny(U20)
David Hawkshaw(U21)
Tommy O'Brien(U22)
Michael Silvester(U21)
Aaron O'Sullivan(U21)

Notable Leinster 20's not in side:

Harry Noonan(LH Prop)
Bobby Sheehan(Hooker)
Anthony Ryan(Backrow)
Mick O'Gara(Centre)
James Reynolds(Centre)
Luis Faria(Centre)
Andrew Smith(Wing)
Max O'Reilly(Fullback)

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

Good idea as it was at the time, they really focused on identifying players at a younger age... of course most of it is thanks to the St. Michaels production line.

Apparently they are focusing similarly on scrumhalves and hookers at underage level.

A lot is made of Leinster's supposed inability to develop scrumhalves. John Cooney, Luke McGrath and Nick McCarthy is pretty good talent development under the age of 30. A lot of clubs would be delighted with James Tracy, Bryan Byrne and Ronan Kelleher as hookers produced by their system. I won't argue that those positions are where Leinster haven't produced as much talent as elsewhere though. Perhaps back three is another area of slight concern. Such a shame that Conor Nash chose the AFL over a career in rugby. It's hard to argue against a better wage and fulltime career in Melbourne which he got.

What I like is that Leinster aren't patting themselves on the back for their success in the last couple of seasons. They're striving for better. Without turning this into a provincial sh!tfight, it's something Munster failed to do after their successes from 2006-2011 and Leinster didn't do a good enough job of replacing their star players from 2008-2014 which saw a gradual erosion of the talent base. Of course coaching from 2013 to 2015 in Leinster played a part in this too.

I'm excited by the proposed centres of excellence which Leinster have planned for around the province. It'll assist in the cultivation of raw talent outside the traditional schools and grow the underage club game around the province. I'm sure there are plenty more Tadhg Furlongs, Sean O'Briens, Joey Carberys, Trevor Brennans and Shane Horgans out there if they get the right coaching.

 

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Leinster U19 team to face Munster

15. Jamie Osborne (Naas RFC)
14. Chris Cosgrave (St Michael's College)
13. Simon O'Kelly (St Michael's College)
12. Karl Martin (Boyne RFC)
11. Josh O'Connor (Wexford Wanderers RFC)
10. Tim Corkery (Kilkenny RFC)
9. Harry Colbert (Gonzaga College)
1. Hugo O'Malley (Blackrock College)
2. Levi Vaughan (Terenure College)
3. Sam Illo (Wasley College)
4. Alex Soroka (Belvedere College)
5. Joe McCarthy (Blackrock College)
6. Jack Guinane (St Michael's College)
7. Aaron Coleman (Belvedere College)
8. Will Hickey (St Michael's College)

Replacements
16. Ronan Loughnane (CC Roscrea)
17. Temi Lasisi (Enniscorthy RFC)
18. Shane Connolly (CC Roscrea)
19. Steven Walsh (The King's Hospital)
20. Jack Barry (Gonzaga College)
21. Matthew Cullen (Blackrock College)
22. Justin Leonard (Belvedere College)
23. Matthew McGetrick(Terenure College)

 

[big ginger 8]

Canada are streaming the match on facebook this evening, kick off 8pm Irish time.