The UAFC

Leinster Rugby (caps in brackets):

15. Jimmy O’Brien (76) 14. Tommy O’Brien (28) 13. Liam Turner (22) 12. Robbie Henshaw (81) 11. Rob Russell (23) 10. Sam Prendergast (7) 9. Jamison Gibson-Park (131) 1. Cian Healy (268) 2. Dan Sheehan (52) 3. Thomas Clarkson (32) 4. Jason Jenkins (27) 5. James Ryan (77) CAPTAIN 6. Ryan Baird (59) 7. Will Connors (42) 8. Caelan Doris (72)

16. Lee Barron (13) 17. Jack Boyle (8) 18. Michael Ala’alatoa (55) 19. Joe McCarthy (25) 20. Jack Conan (136) 21. Luke McGrath (198) 22. Harry Byrne (58) 23. Josh van der Flier (132)

6-2 bench split.

Leinster v Ulster, Round 9, BKT United Rugby Championship, RDS Arena, Monday 1 January, 5.15pm (Live on RTE, ViaPlay and URC.tv)

(15-9) Will Addison, Rob Baloucoune, Luke Marshall, Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale, Billy Burns, John Cooney;

(1-8) Steven Kitshoff, Rob Herring, Tom O’Toole, Kieran Treadwell, Iain Henderson, Matty Rea, Sean Reffell, Nick Timoney.

Replacements: Tom Stewart, Andy Warwick, Scott Wilson, Alan O’Connor, Dave Ewers, Nathan Doak, Mike Lowry, Jude Postlethwaite.

Players currently unavailable for selection:

Callum Reid (lower back), James McCormick (shoulder), David McCann (ankle), Reuben Crothers (knee), Angus Curtis (concussion), James Hume (foot), Ben Carson (illness), Ethan McIlroy (illness), Ben Moxham (knee), Stewart Moore (muscle injury).

Ffs Sheridan needs to be played DMF.

HammerTime wrote: ↑Fri Dec 29, 2023 1:07 pm Ffs Sheridan needs to be played DMF.

Bit of a joke alright. Very poor management. He provided good impact off the bench vs Racing and hasn’t been seen since.

Is that a leinster B team? Only 4-5 starters from their strongest 15. Starting their 4th choice 10? Talented as he his. Just shows the level Leo thinks we are at.

Bookies have Leinster -15 v Ulster +15. Leinster 1/14 v Ulster 17/2.

jean valjean wrote: ↑Fri Dec 29, 2023 1:24 pm Is that a leinster B team? Only 4-5 starters from their strongest 15. Starting their 4th choice 10? Talented as he his. Just shows the level Leo thinks we are at.

Some level of IRFU Player Management no doubt involved. Keenan, Ringrose, Porter, Kelleher etc. played on Tuesday. 8 of the starting XV on Monday did so when they beat La Rochelle away with another 3 on the bench in France. So decent enough side!

Big-al wrote: ↑Fri Dec 29, 2023 1:18 pm

HammerTime wrote: ↑Fri Dec 29, 2023 1:07 pm Ffs Sheridan needs to be played DMF.

Bit of a joke alright. Very poor management. He provided good impact off the bench vs Racing and hasn’t been seen since.

Would love to hear from one of these promising young lads that have been dropped by Ulster over the years, and understand what they have been told.

As a spectator, it is a real head scratcher. I know Matty had a decent game against Racing, but I can't recall hearing his name/seeing him against Connacht (I only saw the 2nd half tbf). How he starts ahead of Ewers (our #2 big name signing of the season) and a young lad that on the surface, looks to have bags of potential, is truely baffling.

Is it just me that 15 points might be overly generous to Leinster given the teams named? The fact that I'm feeling a tinge of hope after seeing the team sheets makes me worry I've picked up some grave illness over the Christmas holidays. Only Rea now keeping Ewers out of the team helping keep me tethered to reality...

I hope this means big Dave’s youngster is doing well today!

MightyRearranger wrote: ↑Fri Dec 29, 2023 2:56 pm Is it just me that 15 points might be overly generous to Leinster given the teams named? The fact that I'm feeling a tinge of hope after seeing the team sheets makes me worry I've picked up some grave illness over the Christmas holidays. Only Rea now keeping Ewers out of the team helping keep me tethered to reality...

I think it is. Or it ought to be.

Dave can give us a bit of oomph off the bench.

justinr73 wrote: ↑Fri Dec 29, 2023 3:21 pm

MightyRearranger wrote: ↑Fri Dec 29, 2023 2:56 pm Is it just me that 15 points might be overly generous to Leinster given the teams named? The fact that I'm feeling a tinge of hope after seeing the team sheets makes me worry I've picked up some grave illness over the Christmas holidays. Only Rea now keeping Ewers out of the team helping keep me tethered to reality...

I think it is. Or it ought to be.

Dave can give us a bit of oomph off the bench.

As could Sheridan as he has already shown.

But no, let's reward mediocrity instead and pick Matty Rea to start.

justinr73 wrote:

Dave can give us a bit of oomph off the sofa.

Fixed. Totally agree but also I might not.

There always seems to be one designated fringe player every season for people to get angry about.

I mean there was Lowry not playing 10 and the increasingly pedestrian looking Rea Jnr not playing at all.

McCann was told to work on stuff and that seems to have gone OK.

From the excellent article

"By comparison, the other provinces struggle on that front and face challenges in breaking even. Munster are the only province that owns their stadium.
Servicing the debt on Thomond Park remains an issue even if the IRFU revised the annual repayments down to €100,000 in recent times."

Does the IRFU not own both Ravenhill and Thomond?