Tigers v Leinster (A) - Champion Cup - Qtr Final - 07th April 2023 - KO 8:00pm

[Big Dai]

In your opinion Big Dai.

Of course......caveat accepted....but after 75 years on the planet it's the only one I care about.

[Big Dai]

In your opinion Big Dai.

Of course......caveat accepted....but after 75 years on the planet it's the only one I care about.

[sapajo]

In your opinion Big Dai.

Of course......caveat accepted....but after 75 years on the planet it's the only one I care about.

[Scott1]

I do believe Leinster play the winners of Toulouse/Sharks. Could be a cracker!

[TiltonTiger]

I do believe Leinster play the winners of Toulouse/Sharks. Could be a cracker!

At that famously neutral venue the Aviva Stadium.

[Duncan B]

We started with our Best 15 and the bench could add nothing

Thought Youngs would’ve started if he was fit. But not far off.

[Big Dai]

I do believe Leinster play the winners of Toulouse/Sharks. Could be a cracker!

Allez Toulouse

[johnthegriff]

Our pomp 2001, mostly our own production line with a few low key signings, Kay, Healey, Corry and Winston Stanley, the only big name addition Pat Howard.
The salary cap.means that there is no advantage being the richest club, the Marquee system benefits the rich owner and inflates wage demands.
Our centres when fit, Kelly, Porter and Scott are fine but two injured at present and one just returned from.long period out.

[sapajo]

We started with our Best 15 and the bench could add nothing

Thought Youngs would’ve started if he was fit. But not far off.

Best fit XV. Could have done with BY, Porter. Chessum. Green and Wells

[longlivethecrumbie]

No hiding from it - Leinster are a class side. When you're on the front foot, which they were second half, you get the rub of the green with decisions. The volume of talent they have and the makeup of the main 'domestic' competition they compete in allows them to rest their big guns regularly, bring through some very good young talent which teams in the Prem just cannot afford to do.

Until Premiership sides can afford to have very, very good second and third string players and have large enough squads to allow for rotation things won't change much. The reality is that the game in this country is in such a mess financially that we are generally stuck with where we are with the clubs having to cut their cloth in order to survive.

If you compare the sides on paper there's nobody from a Tigers perspective who would walk into that side. Some you'd have a good argument over (Martin, Montoya) and that would be it. We were down to a wing (who hasn't played all that well for the majority of this season) at centre and Kelly who has only just returned from injury. Trying to keep Ringrose quiet is a near impossible task I'm afraid.

Not all doom and gloom - let's just hope that we don't let this derail our season.

[CrumblingTerrace]

It was a brave effort from our boys. We never expected to win and never looked close. It's humbling, but it's the reality of European rugby.

Leinster are an exceptional team. They scored twice the points on twice the budget.

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rug ... y-22727873

[kpj tiger]

Honestly with our lack of accuracy (a bit of a running theme this year) there was only going to be one winner today against a team as good as Leinster. It doesn't help that they are so ruthless themselves, they exploited Potter at 13 several times and caught Steward out as well. Their bench added far more impact especially in the pack where ours really didn't except Cracknell.

As far as we are concerned our starting pack fought manfully, especially Montoya, Martin, Reffell and Weise. I thought JVP was a bit of a mixed bag again and Pollard was good except some of his passing which was a bit wayward, Kelly was rusty but showed glimpses of his class. What was concerning was that you could argue our back 3 today was the best England has produced in the last 10 years under the highball and it was still a real 50/50 battle which shows how poor we are generally in that area.

Biggest plus was not too many injuries or knocks (I think just Montoya and Watson with a stinger), I don't think our confidence will be knocked much and hopefully we can get back to winning ways in the prem where I think we have a genuine chance at retaining our title.

[Big Dai]

I'd just like to wish Exeter all the best tomorrow and hope they progress to the next round after extra time and a penalty shoot out.

[Tykger]

Honestly with our lack of accuracy (a bit of a running theme this year) there was only going to be one winner today against a team as good as Leinster. It doesn't help that they are so ruthless themselves, they exploited Potter at 13 several times and caught Steward out as well. Their bench added far more impact especially in the pack where ours really didn't except Cracknell.

As far as we are concerned our starting pack fought manfully, especially Montoya, Martin, Reffell and Weise. I thought JVP was a bit of a mixed bag again and Pollard was good except some of his passing which was a bit wayward, Kelly was rusty but showed glimpses of his class. What was concerning was that you could argue our back 3 today was the best England has produced in the last 10 years under the highball and it was still a real 50/50 battle which shows how poor we are generally in that area.

Biggest plus was not too many injuries or knocks (I think just Montoya and Watson with a stinger), I don't think our confidence will be knocked much and hopefully we can get back to winning ways in the prem where I think we have a genuine chance at retaining our title.

Time for Wiggy and the coaching staff to step up. Get the boys in and learn from the positives. Earning the chance to play a champions cup quarter final against the world's best team should not be missed. Some of the stuff our team got to see first hand should be a real learning experience. They should be humble enough to accept that, but also to realise that as individuals they are not too far away from being at that level already. Martin, Reffell, Kelly, let alone the obvious established internationals we have are outstanding. Next steps are about cohesion and consistency.
It looked a gulf on the scoreboard, but we are not far away. Good prep for taking on Sarries in the final. COYT!!!

[Tigers86asw]

Well Leinster are a class outfit. What a great team. There are two separate but related things here.

Firstly the game- no complaints apart from the odd ref decision which would have made little difference. They are a great team- fluid, clinical and very fit. We fought hard but lack the cohesion and power to match them. They deserved to win.

The second issue is why. We cannot compete on our current budget. We have an excellent academy that produces excellent players but not enough of them. We all know this- there needs to be fewer teams in the Prem with central contracts and England players playing more Prem games. Grow the game and grow revenue for top English clubs and they will compete again.
As for Leinster they dominate the talent pool for one of the best rugby nations in the world. The other provinces are nowhere near their level so it is not the system that’s the issue it’s their domination of it that matters. A budget of 10 million? Whilst having one of the best academy systems in the world? No wonder they are so good. They are an outstanding team but I cannot see the Irish provinces continuing to stomach being so far behind- that’s an issue for the IRFU. As for Tigers, they will come again but as we all know the RFU and Premiership Rugby have got to sort the system out to make it competitive for us in Europe.