Leinster v Scarlets

[Numbers]

Well the teams are out, Scarlets starting Patchell at 15:

Leinster:

15.Kearney 14.McFadden 13.Ringrose 12.Henshaw 11.Nacewa 10.Sexton(C) 9.Gibson-Park 1.Healy 2.Cronin 3.Furlong 4.Toner 5.Ryan 6.Fardy 7.Leavy 8.Murphy

Reps: Tracy, McGrath, Porter, Molony, Conan, McCarthy, Carberry, Larmour

Scarlets:

15.Patchell 14.Halfpenny 13.Williams 12.Parkes 11.Evans 10.Jones 9.Davies 1.Evans 2.Owens(C) 3.Lee 4.Beirne 5.Bulbring 6.Shingler 7.Davies 8.Barclay
Reps: Elias, Evans, Kruger, Rawlins, Cummins, Davies, Hughes, Boyd

Interesting selection.

[kk67]

Sounds pretty tense on the radio. Is that Jerome with the whistle...?.
Poite......well,...he's giving loads of information to the players in-play.

[morepork]

Leinster squeezing Scarlets like a tube of toothpaste.

[kk67]

Nacewa squeezes the tube any way he wants.

[wayneha50]

That was absolutely brutal.

[SerjeantWildgoose]

Ye could have turned up for the second half, at least!

[Son of Mathonwy]

Ouch. It's like a different game in the KO stages.

[Sourdust]

This is what we mean when we talk about Irish teams being "boring" - it's a back-handed compliment really.

That was as boring a game of rugby as you could ever see. If one side is simply not allowed to touch the ball, there's no contest, there's just a procession. Ireland and Leinster now play this utterly suffocating game wherein they simply keep the ball forever, and just fall over the line when they happen to be near it. It's hugely impressive on a technical level, and I certainly don't expect any Irish fans to apologise for winning; but for the rest of us, whether victim or neutral, it's just supremely irritating. I'd be in favour of any law changes which made it harder to do what they do, so we can actually have a match.

[WaspInWales]

This is what we mean when we talk about Irish teams being "boring" - it's a back-handed compliment really.

That was as boring a game of rugby as you could ever see. If one side is simply not allowed to touch the ball, there's no contest, there's just a procession. Ireland and Leinster now play this utterly suffocating game wherein they simply keep the ball forever, and just fall over the line when they happen to be near it. It's hugely impressive on a technical level, and I certainly don't expect any Irish fans to apologise for winning; but for the rest of us, whether victim or neutral, it's just supremely irritating. I'd be in favour of any law changes which made it harder to do what they do, so we can actually have a match.

6 tackles each then?

[morepork]

You could start with the kicking strategy. Some of the Scarlets kicking from hand was terrible.

[kk67]

This is what we mean when we talk about Irish teams being "boring" - it's a back-handed compliment really.

That was as boring a game of rugby as you could ever see. If one side is simply not allowed to touch the ball, there's no contest, there's just a procession. Ireland and Leinster now play this utterly suffocating game wherein they simply keep the ball forever, and just fall over the line when they happen to be near it. It's hugely impressive on a technical level, and I certainly don't expect any Irish fans to apologise for winning; but for the rest of us, whether victim or neutral, it's just supremely irritating. I'd be in favour of any law changes which made it harder to do what they do, so we can actually have a match.

Yup. Teams that seek technicality as a given usually prosper.

At the least, trying to cheat is not their default game,.... like the English.

[Son of Mathonwy]

I didn't see the match. Does anyone think having Patchell at 10 would have made much difference?

[paddy no 11]

Watch Scott Fardy at rucks.....he cheats a lot in fact all the time

[Spiffy]

Watch Scott Fardy at rucks.....he cheats a lot in fact all the time

Everyone cheats at rucks. Crafty players will push it to the limit and see what they can get away with. It is part and parcel of the game. None better than Ritchie McCaw.

[morepork]

Watch Scott Fardy at rucks.....he cheats a lot in fact all the time

Everyone cheats at rucks. Crafty players will push it to the limit and see what they can get away with. It is part and parcel of the game. None better than Ritchie McCaw.

Racist.

[WaspInWales]

It's not cheating if the ref doesn't see it.

If the ref sees it, he's either cheating or a homer...or both.

[Numbers]

A replica of the Ireland v Wales game without the consolation tries at the end, fair play to Leinster they strangled the life out of us and we couldn't contest the breakdown.

[Sandydragon]

A few seasons ago there was much complaining over jackling and how differing refs were interpreting the breakdown differently. There was also a widely shared perspective that the defence was on top on many games.

The law interpretation has changed and now the attack has the advantage. But this leaves teams struggling to get the ball when one side are very disciplined.

Scarlets, and Wales, either need to win with 30% of the ball and resolute defending, or they need to find a way to get hold of the ball.

Not kicking stupidly would be a start though for both teams.

[kk67]

It's not cheating if the ref doesn't see it.
If the ref sees it, he's either cheating or a homer...or both.

Aye... it's a minefield.

[Sourdust]

It's cheating if it's cheating. If the officials don't see it, that's a problem with them, or the laws. It's not the fault of the side who aren't cheating, or aren't cheating as well as the other cheats.

For the record I didn't think that much of what Leinster did to Scarlets was cheating - they have become supremely good at utilizing current laws in a disciplined fashion. My complaint is that once this becomes possible, laws surely need to change. Ireland v Wales was different inasmuch as nearly everyone not wearing green saw one side blatantly and consistently breaking the laws without redress. If what Ireland did that day was actually perfectly legal, where are all the inevitable smartarse YouTube videos showing how we're all wrong?