Ulster V Leinster Friday 30th Sept

[jean valjean]

So it's looks like after poking the bear last season, Leinster will finally send the adults up to ravenhill for a game. Looking forward to it, need hendo back in and moore to come through any protocols. Some decisions needed on who to partner hendo? Back row make up and who gets the right wing spot if sexton is out? Any chance of a lesser spotted Addison or even Hume making it?

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[Dave]

Imagine believing Baloucoune is better playing some B grade manufactured rubbish than a full blooded inter Pro against the auld enemy. That is the wisdom at the top of irish rugby.

[Neill_M]

Kick Off Time 7:35pm

TV - Premier Sports 1 / BBC 2 NI / RTE2 / URC TV / Supersport

[Neill_M]

Re the injuries, there was a recent Belfast Telegraph article that Henderson was targeting a return on the South African tour in rounds 5 & 6.

[StandUp]

Imagine believing Baloucoune is better playing some B grade manufactured rubbish than a full blooded inter Pro against the auld enemy. That is the wisdom at the top of irish rugby.

Precisely Dave. Stupidity at its height.

[Columbo]

Imagine believing Baloucoune is better playing some B grade manufactured rubbish than a full blooded inter Pro against the auld enemy. That is the wisdom at the top of irish rugby.

Exactly.. I don’t mind the rest of the squad really, but taking him is absolutely crackpot.

[Big-al]

Imagine believing Baloucoune is better playing some B grade manufactured rubbish than a full blooded inter Pro against the auld enemy. That is the wisdom at the top of irish rugby.

Exactly.. I don’t mind the rest of the squad really, but taking him is absolutely crackpot.

Having Shanahan on the bench instead of Doak won’t help either. I’d love to know what the IRFU are trying to achieve with this tour.

[allezlesverres]

Re Marty whilst it certainly looked like an HIA, the commentary said it was a tactical sub at the time so no idea what that means. It was about 20 mins in which would be a strange time for a tactical sub and he had just scored what looked like a pretty painful try. Is JTA available? He looked decent in his preseason outing and you would back a combination of TOT and JTA to give a competent performance so if Marty can't play it's maybe not as big an issue as it would have been last season.

With Hendy not available the second row picks itself - Treadwell was brilliant v Scarlets and will partner AOC. Not sure who takes the bench spot - probably Izzy?

In the backrow we have reasonable resources for once. Its a shame not to have DV for such an important game but there we are. Pick Timoney, Marcus Rea and AN Other (as long as it's not the other Rea).

[jean valjean]

Re Marty whilst it certainly looked like an HIA, the commentary said it was a tactical sub at the time so no idea what that means. It was about 20 mins in which would be a strange time for a tactical sub and he had just scored what looked like a pretty painful try. Is JTA available? He looked decent in his preseason outing and you would back a combination of TOT and JTA to give a competent performance so if Marty can't play it's maybe not as big an issue as it would have been last season.

With Hendy not available the second row picks itself - Treadwell was brilliant v Scarlets and will partner AOC. Not sure who takes the bench spot - probably Izzy?

In the backrow we have reasonable resources for once. Its a shame not to have DV for such an important game but there we are. Pick Timoney, Marcus Rea and AN Other (as long as it's not the other Rea).

Izzy could well be on the bench....in South Africa.

On marty, the tactical call made sense given it was a hot day on a fast track with very few scrums. Also meant he could some back in if needed, but it was good to let TOT a run around in the sun.

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[Cormac]

Leinster Injuries;

Doris misses out against Ulster with concussion, Connors and James Ryan in the maybe category. Gibson-Park will be available. Frawley out for a few weeks with a shoulder injury.

Other absentees include James Lowe and Hugo Keenan.

Possible team: J O'Brien; Larmour, Ringrose, Henshaw, Kearney; Sexton, JGP; Porter, Sheehan, Furlong; Ryan/Molony, Jenkins; Ruddock, vd Flier, Conan

Bench: Kelleher, Healy, Ala'alatoa, Molony/Baird, Baird/Connor, McGrath, R Byrne, Ngatai

[rumncoke]

The tour is not just about the games to be played --its about the how well you blend into a group of strangers over a prolonged period of time , how you apply yourself to training both individually and in a group situation when placed in a group of players you don't know , how quickly you adapt -- how quickly you adapt to a number of roles and plays over a number of phases with players you don't know.

Basically an International squad has only about 2 weeks to gel in a team -- and that fact is the reason why groups of players from a single province tend to get picked at international level . Not all the best players in their position but they get picked because they have a group understanding . eg centre pairings Henshaw and Ringrose The Leinster back 3 , Leinster Half backs the sum of parts is greater than the parts individually.

If you can't then your potential to advance into an international squad could be limited.

The games are there to test how well you have absorbed the lessons of training and apply them.

As stated elsewhere very few of those selected have a chance to be included in the world cup squad for 2023 but many in that squad and many of the players in the provincial match day 23s will be selected for the next world cup. the fact is an emerging tour should have been organised for both summer 20 and summer 22 and weren't.

[paddybrown]

I agree with Jean about Marty's withdrawal. Warwick & Moore are our best scrummaging props, but O'Sullivan and O'Toole are younger and more nimble so better suited to a game like that.

One more Ulster player won't be available - David McCann has been drafted into the Emerging Ireland squad after Alex Kendellen and Alex Soroka withdrew with injuries.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/63032110

Leaves us a bit thin in the back row. We've got Timoney, the Rea brothers, Jordi Murphy and Greg Jones to pick from. Unless Treadwell can play blindside?

Ciaran Frawley and Caolin Blade are also out of the tour. Someone on Off the Ball was speculating that the whole exercise was to give Frawley more experience at out-half, and see what kind of leadership he shows when he's the main man. If that's true, then the whole thing is even more of a waste of time now.

[StandUp]

The whole concept has been a shambles from day one. I would love to know how much this is costing. Good money that could have been spent on grass roots rugby.

[paddybrown]

I can only assume Dan put his foot down on Marcus Rea. If they'd taken him, we'd really struggle.

[HammerTime]

Funny that we almost always play Leinster at home at the end of the season but not this year. The fact that there's some pointless tour going on elsewhere that takes quite a few of our first team and none of theirs is also strange. Ah well. We're playing decent stuff and would be an even sweeter win if it was to happen.