Leinster mind games begin? - Champions Cup (A) - Saturday 06th April 2024 - KO:8:00pm

[TigerFeetSteve]

If we moan about Leinster not saying if their guys are fit or not, we have to judge ourselves by the same std...

McKellar saying we'll find out in 24 hours if Martin, Chessum & Reffell are fit...

Hope so, team is released in less than that...

https://twitter.com/BBCRLSport/status/1 ... RfX5g&s=19

[mol2]

To be honest on the form we've displayed of late, Leinster could turn out their veteran's 3rd team and not break sweat!

[TigerFeetSteve]

To be honest on the form we've displayed of late, Leinster could turn out their veteran's 3rd team and not break sweat!

https://twitter.com/BBCRLSport/status/1 ... 129lA&s=19

[Tiglon]

See England v Ireland for what can happen. Same narrative pre-game, surprising result.

Not saying it will happen, but it can.

[Nofrontteeth]

What will Storm Kathleen do to a) travel and b) the game tactics?

[OakhamTiger32]

What will Storm Kathleen do to a) travel and b) the game tactics?

a) Looks like it’s a reasonably brisk southerly wind Fri & Sat which would make it a crosswind landing in to Dublin if they are on their main parallel runways. The mean wind should be within limits for the air liners but the gusts could make life a little more interesting! They have a more north/south orientated runway though which would likely be used to mitigate the crosswind being out of limits.

Friday looks ok though and the worst of the wind should have been and gone by kickoff at 2000. Worst time looks to be between about 0700-1700 on Sat.

b) hopefully less wayward box kicking and a bit more ball in hand, the odd spiral bomb but the pitch is north/south facing give or take so it’s going to be a big advantage for the side kicking with the wind. Game of 2 halves perhaps!

I guess we will see but safe travels folks to all of those making the journey and here’s hoping the lads put in a good shift and get the job done

[Nofrontteeth]

What will Storm Kathleen do to a) travel and b) the game tactics?

a) Looks like it’s a reasonably brisk southerly wind Fri & Sat which would make it a crosswind landing in to Dublin if they are on their main parallel runways. The mean wind should be within limits for the air liners but the gusts could make life a little more interesting! They have a more north/south orientated runway though which would likely be used to mitigate the crosswind being out of limits.

Friday looks ok though and the worst of the wind should have been and gone by kickoff at 2000. Worst time looks to be between about 0700-1700 on Sat.

b) hopefully less wayward box kicking and a bit more ball in hand, the odd spiral bomb but the pitch is north/south facing give or take so it’s going to be a big advantage for the side kicking with the wind. Game of 2 halves perhaps!

I guess we will see but safe travels folks to all of those making the journey and here’s hoping the lads put in a good shift and get the job done

Thanks Oakham Tiger 32.
Like you I hope all our fans remain safe, be that travelling or the consumption of Guinness . As for the game I'm interested to see if the weather forces our kicking game out. Have we got a 'Plan B'?

[Lutontiger]

Yes, safe travels for team and all supporting them, both there, and after a few Guinnesses on the way back!

[nicmattyg]

for us to have any hope we need Reffell, Chessum and Martin fit

15. Shillcock
14. Steward
13. Scott
12. Kelly
11. Hassell-Collins
10. Pollard
9. JVP
1. Cronin
2. Montoya
3. Cole
4. Martin
5. Chessum
6. Hanro
7. Reffell
8. Wiese

16. Clare
17. Whitcombe
18. Hurd
19. Wells
20. Hatherall
21. Illione
22. Youngs
23. Kata

I think we need the second playmaker but with the defensive shield of Scott and Kelly in the centres, hopefully we're still in the game with 20 to go and we can unleash Kata on tiring backline from Leinster, Also think we'll need a 6-2 split to keep the power up with with Steward and Shillcock both starting we have 10 and 15 covered in the starting side

I think about 12 of that starting 15 are international players, and 3 from the bench (ish)? Tigers are playing worse than the sum of their parts currently because that is a team/squad littered with top drawer talent.

They’ll start firing at some point, let’s hope it’s this weekend

[Not a jock]

"I think about 12 of that starting 15 are international players, and 3 from the bench (ish)? Tigers are playing worse than the sum of their parts currently because that is a team/squad littered with top drawer talent."

An obvious question is "why?" In their (brief) golden period of challenging Sarries, Chiefs could be an example of a team that was greater than the sum of its parts. Possible answers to both "why?"s have been discussed on here many times.

[Wayne Richardson Fan Club]

If we are truly honest how many Tigers would actually get into Leinster's best XV, Pollard for certain, any others would be 50/50 calls at best & as that includes Montoya & Wiesse it shows the quality of Leinster.

[GB72]

Looks like Martin, Chessum and Reffel are injured. That is pretty much any chance we had. Hate to be pessimistic but we needed them.

[Tigerbeat]

Leicester Tigers have named their side for Saturday’s Investec Champions Cup Round of 16 clash at 8pm against Leinster at Aviva Stadium in Dublin.

Tigers have made three changes to the team from last week’s victory away to Newcastle, with Dan Cole returning at tighthead prop.
Dan Kelly will wear number 13 while Jamie Shillcock comes in at fullback. Freddie Steward shifts to the wing.
Leicester Tigers head coach, Dan McKellar said: “We’re excited to get over to Dublin and rip into this challenge.”
“Their record speaks for itself but, like any game of rugby, if you can apply pressure and deny opportunity consistently, you’ll give yourself a great chance to be in the contest.
“We’ve got a lot of experience and fight in this group so outside of these walls is irrelevant to us; we’ll turn up to the Aviva on Saturday night ready to go with a bucket load of belief.”

STARTING XV

15 Jamie Shillcock [23]
14 Freddie Steward [83]
13 Dan Kelly [76]
12 Solomone Kata [15]
11 Ollie Hassell-Collins [17]
10 Handré Pollard [29]
9 Jack van Poortvliet [68]

1 James Cronin [30]
2 Julián Montoya [55]
3 Dan Cole [318]
4 Harry Wells [194]
5 Kyle Hatherell [18]
6 Hanro Liebenberg [103]
7 Olly Cracknell [38]
8 Jasper Wiese [74]

REPLACEMENTS

16 Charlie Clare [90]
17 Francois van Wyk [48]
18 Will Hurd [38]
19 Finn Carnduff [10]
20 Emeka Ilione [21]
21 Tom Whiteley [26]
22 Phil Cokanasiga [14]
23 Mike Brown [23]

[westwinds31]

No Martin, Chessum or Reffell - it's a worry unless they're being "saved" to be ready for Saints away.

[Tigerbeat]

https://www.leinsterrugby.ie/preview/do ... ab=preview

The Leinster Rugby team, proudly sponsored by Bank of Ireland, to take on Leicester Tigers in the Investec Champions Cup Round of 16 tomorrow evening in Aviva Stadium has been named by Head Coach Leo Cullen (KO: 8pm, live on RTÉ2, TNT Sport and RTÉ Radio 1). 38,000 tickets have been sold for the game, with the remaining tickets available here. Caelan Doris captains the team for the first time in European competition, as Jamison Gibson-Park and Jack Conan are both set to make their 50th appearance in the Champions Cup.

The starting lineup sees three changes from the team that defeated Leicester in January. Hugo Keenan returns to start at full-back, with Jordan Larmour and James Lowe named on the wing. Robbie Henshaw and Jamie Osborne form the centre partnership once more, with Ross Byrne and Gibson-Park linking up at half-back. In the pack, Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan and Tadhg Furlong join forces for the first time since the Guinness Six Nations, in the front row.#

Ross Molony and Joe McCarthy are in the heart of the pack, with Ryan Baird, Josh van der Flier and Doris in the back-row. Among the replacements, Conan is joined by Academy scrum-half Ben Murphy and the returning Ciarán Frawley. Speaking ahead of the game, Leinster Rugby’s Assistant Coach Andrew Goodman has said recent matches against tomorrow’s opponents wont count for anything when the teams take to the pitch. “We’ve had a great rivalry with Leicester in the past few years. We have good footage to look back on, but they have a clear DNA, and we have big respect for what they do!”
Leinster Rugby (caps in brackets)
15. Hugo Keenan (63)
14. Jordan Larmour (101)
13. Robbie Henshaw (85)
12. Jamie Osborne (40)
11. James Lowe (75)
10. Ross Byrne (155)
9. Jamison Gibson-Park (135)
1. Andrew Porter (115)
2. Dan Sheehan (56)
3. Tadhg Furlong (140)
4. Ross Molony (175)
5. Joe McCarthy (29)
6. Ryan Baird (63)
7. Josh van der Flier (136)
8. Caelan Doris (76) CAPTAIN

Replacements:
16. Rónan Kelleher (56)
17. Cian Healy (272)
18. Michael Ala’alatoa (62)
19. Jason Jenkins (32)
20. Jack Conan (140)
21. Ben Murphy (11)
22. Harry Byrne (62)
23. Ciarán Frawley (80)

Referee: Pierre Brousset (FFR)