Hurling Superleague...it's the only way, lads!

I know this is a rugby blog, but now and again I like to give my opinion on other sports, so maybe I'll do that every Tuesday from now on since not much seems to happen in the world of the oval ball on that day, but we'll see how it goes.

Now, if you'll forgive me, I'd like to have my latest pop at the GAA.

What a surprise...down at Croke Park there is talk of yet again re-vamping the All-Ireland Championship, and this time, not even basic Irish geography is safe.

If the latest proposals make it all the way through the dozens of committees and county boards, we could see a Leinster Hurling final in the coming years between Galway and Antrim.

It leaves me asking a simple question...are these changes meant for the good of the game or are the meant to stop Kilkenny winning every year?

Well for me, the solution is simple.  Hurling needs a Superleague.

Eight counties, might I suggest Kilkenny, Waterford, Cork, Tipperary, Clare, Limerick, Galway and Antrim for starters.

Keep the Leinster and Munster Championships, and let the provincial champions meet the next-highest finishers in the Superleague in the All Ireland semifinals.

This will keep the provincial traditions, give the sport continuous top-level exposure for at least fourteen weeks with games that actually mean something, and also solve the Galway and Antrim problem, affording them regular competition.

Of course promotion/relegation or even a playoff could give the other counties a chance to make it in the top tier if they decide to bring their hurling programmes up to the required standards.

It's proper marketing that is the key.

Yes, I know that the GAA is a community-based amateur organisation, I totally get that.  But once again they are about to go into an International Rules Series against a league that is played halfway round the world that has clubs which are constantly cherry-picking their best talent.

Get your heads out of the sand down there at Croker, lads!  You are in competition for athletes!!!  Do something to make the game appear more attractive!!!  Superleague is the answer!!!

Leinster-0 Munster-18

pic courtesy of www.rte.ie

ONE FOR THE FUTURE

Allow me, if you will, to jump into the future and give you a taste of what my blog might read like in about six years’ time…

…and overall it was a mesmerising display from Sexton – he had the French at his mercy on the day, running his back line like finely-tuned machine for the entire match, and clearly was the man of the match in the 52-0 drubbing which sealed the Seven Nations Championship for Ireland.

When asked afterwards what inspired him to this level of world domination, he told reporters that it was the invaluable experience he gained playing for Leinster against Munster way back in 2008 that surely did the trick…

Only something like that happening years down the line would make last night’s match easier to swallow. In the meantime, it will stick in my throat.

Yet AGAIN, I will state that the reason I buy a season ticket for Leinster rugby is that I expect them to field the best available team for the night. With Nacewa unable to play No 10, the obvious move for such a big game would have been to switch Contepomi to out-half, bring someone like Horgan into the centre to partner O’Driscoll, and give Rob Kearney a full 80 minutes out on the wing.

But noooooo…we have to DEVELOP young Sexton, don’t we. So he gets a full match which Kearney gets brought on as an impact sub too late, and besides, the young fly-half’s ineffectiveness was so deep rooted at that stage that nothing really seemed like getting started anyway.

We never, ever, ever looked like crossing the line last night. Sure, Felipe missed three kicks early on which would have possibly given us a momentum of sorts, but even though this was a better quality opposition than we had seen at the RDS before now, the free-flowing champagne rugby was nowhere to be seen for the night, and even the most naïve follower could spot that it came from the number 10 shirt.

Now let’s be clear – I don’t blame Sexton personally for last night’s result, I just don’t agree that he should have been anywhere but on the bench when we had such accomplished players in the squad to lead the line.

And of course, there was some of the “sour grapes” incidents. Mafi and Howlett between them got away with at least three high tackles on the night, and right before the first try which effectively settled the contest, new boy van der Linde was clearly obstructed (effectively a “block” as in American football and thus illegal) as he tried to make a tackle. Yet the Irish ref saw nothing.

One thing I will say is that the score does the game little justice. The half-time 3-0 tally would have been more appropriate.

But congratulations to the Munster boys. The occasion itself was a great one, with a full house and a tense contest for most of the match.

I just hope against hope that this selection policy only remains the same for the Meaningless League and that the boys get to take a back seat to let the men face the Heineken Cup challenge in a couple of weeks.

Say hello, win a jar

My plan for today...

1:30pm, watch my soccer team Spurs kick-off their Premiership match with Portsmouth

1:45pm, press "pause" on my digital video recorder

1:46pm, drop my kids back to their mum's

2:15pm, return home, press "play" on dvr

4:30pm, have some dinner stomach lining

5pm, don Leinster jersey, set off for #18 bus stop

5:45pm, (bus permitting) hook up with other Magners Seven members at Simmonscourt entrance of RDS

6pm, have first pint of many

7pm, KICKOFF!!!

after the final whistle, can't predict too much...

But ANYWAY...just for the laugh, if anyone spots me at the RDS or anywhere around the ground before or afterwards, just walk up to me and say "Mr Rugger Blogger, I presume?" and I'll buy the first one to do so a pint of Guinness/lager/cider.

Don't worry, I'm not expecting anyone to actually do it, it's more irony really.

GO LEINSTER!!!!!!

Sexton & New Boys To Start

Hot off the presses, here's the Leinster starting XV for the big derby match Sunday night.

I think you all know by now how I feel about Sexton...he has promise, but I'm not 100% sure he's up to scratch for a big game like this one. 

Hopefully he'll prove me wrong, but if it looks like Munster have targeted him as a weak link early on and they're successful, I hope Cheika will do the decent thing and take him off switching Contpomi to No 10.

Best of luck also to Messrs Elsom and van der Linde for their respective debuts.

LEINSTER:

15: Girvan Dempsey

14: Shane Horgan

13: Brian O’Driscoll

12: Felipe Contepomi

11: Luke Fitzgerald

10: Jonathan Sexton

9: Chris Whitaker

1: Ronan McCormack

2: Bernard Jackman

3: CJ Van Der Linde

4: Leo Cullen CAPTAIN

5: Malcolm O’Kelly

6: Rocky Elsom

7: Shane Jennings

8: Jamie Heaslip

REPLACEMENTS:

16: Stan Wright

17: John Fogarty

18: Trevor Hogan

19: Cameron Jowitt

20: Sean O’Brien

21: Chris Keane

22: Rob Kearney

MUNSTER:

Keith Earls; 

Doug Howlett, 

Rua Tipoki, 

Lifeimi Mafi, 

Ian Dowling; 

Ronan O'Gara, 

Tomas O'Leary;

 

Marcus Horan, 

Jerry Flannery, 

John Hayes; 

Paul O'Connell CAPTAIN, 

Donncha O'Callaghan; 

Donnacha Ryan, 

David Wallace, 

Justin Melck

REPLACEMENTS: Frank Sheahan, Federico Pucciariello, John O'Sullivan, Alan Quinlan, Peter Stringer, Paul Warwick, Barry Murphy

REFEREE: Simon McDowell (IRFU)

Reason To Watch Leinster TV

Let's see...I'm from Leinster Rugby Marketing and I want to hype my new online TV service known as Leinster TV.  What can I do?

Ooooh - I know, I'll get a hot blonde chick with a sexy D4 accent to tell everyone all about it!

And I'll get her to tell everyone to tell everyone else all about it!

Or at least, tell everyone to tell everyone else there's a hot blonde chick telling everyone all about it!!!

I feel my work here is done, except for passing a message on to Bock the Robber that THIS is what I call a REAL Leinster Lady.

Roll on Sunday evening.

(By the way, that's just a picture - it won't play, you'll have to follow the link to watch the full video.  Not so much with the sharing over at Leinster Rugby it seems!)

Leinster Rocked By Injury Crisis

You heard it here first, folks.

Not only are Leinster without their only specialist out-half for Sunday night's massive derby clash with the scarlet-clad boys from the south, but his stand-in is out as well.

In a vain attempt to stop Ospreys' Scottish international winger Nikki Walker crossing for a bonus-point-earning try last Friday, Isa Nacewa only went and broke his flaming arm!!!

This puts the Kiwi out until November, and I'm afraid to tell all you Leinster fans that we'll probably have to make do with our third-choice Number 10 on Sunday night so we may as well give up.

I mean, who's ever heard of this Contepomi guy anyway???

And with him out of the center, BOD is going to struggle with someone like Shane Horgan or Luke Fitzgerald donning the Number 12 jersey. Surely neither of them would have any experience playing there at any level?

Of course, as if all that wasn't bad enough in the back-line, Michael Cheika it seems is threatening to take an unbelievable risk by handing Meaningless League debuts to two complete newcomers to northern hemisphere club rugby.

Just how on earth will Australia's Rocky Elsom and South Africa's CJ van der Linde cope with the cauldron like atmosphere of the RDS? Their only previous experience was in the lowly depths of such venues as the MCG or Ellis Park so heaven only knows how they'll adapt.

All in all it's not looking good for Leinster as they can only name a squad of 31 to face Munster. (that includes Sexton, but hopefully he won't start on account of his injury)

Yes, I know, maybe I overdid the sarcasm, but you have to admire this bloody squad we've put together don't you? All we need is for them to produce the goods on the night. 

I have managed to swing the Monday morning off whether I'll be celebrating or drowning my sorrows afterwards.

So Much Ryding On it

I’m not a fan of golf most of the year, but there are two things that can happen that will get me more than interested…

First and foremost, there’s the Ryder Cup. Second, there’s an Irishman doing well in a major.

So needless to say, I’ve been showing a lot of interest in golf this year!!!

The next thing I am compelled to do is to dispel any illusions…yes, I was born in the USA, but the Ryder Cup forces me to pick sides between the place I was born and the place I grew up, and I’m afraid Europe gets the nod. When the Americans win (if you can remember back that far hehehe…), I don’t conveniently change allegiance, you can rest assured.

But even if you’re not a fan of the sport of golf itself, you can’t help but be intrigued by this bi-annual contest, particularly when the singles are on later today.

Once you throw your weight behind one of the teams, you are then treated to a non-stop succession of dramatic moments as the graphics on the screen precede each putt with the words “to win hole” or “to halve hole” and you’ll either be screaming “GET IN YA BASTARD” or “MISS! MISS!”.

Try it if you don’t believe me.

Though the Americans hold the lead after the first two days, you have to admire the way the Europeans pulled them back on the Saturday, and only two points behind going into the singles, have more than a fighting chance of retaining the trophy.

Remember – Europe only needs fourteen points to hold on to the Ryder Cup – the Americans need fourteen and a half to win it. That could play a big part in how things pan out today.

So far on the European side you can’t deny it has been the flamboyant Ian Poulter who has stood out, totally justifying his wild card selection. As for the other one, Paul Casey, although he did secure a vital putt to get a half at the end of his round yesterday, I still think the side would have gotten a better overall return out of Darren Clarke.

On the home team, I have only one thing to say. 

Who the hell names a guy Boo Weekly? Sounds more like a magazine for people fascinated with ghosts and monsters!!!

Here’s to an entertaining evening and may the better team win, so long as it’s Europe.

Leinster-19 Ospreys-13

pic courtesy of rte.ie

ADDING INSULT TO INJURY TIME

Anyone reading this blog is going to think I’m an awful moan before this season is out.

I mean, I’m a Leinster season ticket holder, I witnessed yet another impressive victory for my boys last night, and it was overall a great occasion; nice weather, large crowd, enjoyable atmosphere, so what could I possibly bitch about?

Well it didn’t exactly ruin the night for me, but the fact that we the spectators had no idea how much injury time was to be played did leave something of a bad taste in my mouth as I walked out of the RDS, especially since the visitors’ late, late try earned them a bonus point.

Now for the match itself, it definitely lived up to its billing. Leinster, Meaningless League Champions from last season, squaring up against the Ospreys, who themselves lifted the EDF Challenge Cup.

And the teams were so well matched that it took 20 minutes for Hook to drop a goal to open the scoring.

But after trading 3-pointers, what was effectively a deadlock between these two was finally broken by a glimpse of the champagne rugby that Leinster had shown the week before.

 

Contepomi and Luke Fitzgerald traded a series of back-and-forth passes which mesmerised the Welsh defence and led the young Irish international to cross for yet another try to the delight of the home crowd. That was worth sacrificing your Friday night for the RDS all in itself.

The main feature for the rest of this enthralling contest was the way the visitors pummelled the Leinster line only for the boys in blue to repel them each and every time.

Actually I have just remembered another beef I have from the night – why, oh why do they appoint a Welsh referee when one of the teams is from Wales? Is there a shortage of Scottish officials? 

Well Nigel Owens came in for a lot of stick on the night, even prompting the Leinster supporters to come up with a new chant (the re-fer-ee’s from Way-uls!) which is quite an accomplishment in itself!

But although it seemed Owens was determined to give every 50/50 decision to the visitors for the evening, it could be said that one lineout that he overturned could have settled the contest.

Contepomi found a good touch from inside his 22 turning defence into attack, but it seemed as though the touch judge (who was Irish would you believe) missed the fact that the Ospreys winger had caught the ball on the line then brought it to touch, which of course meant the throw should have been for us.

Well he awarded it to the Welsh, but the man in the middle ran over and over-ruled him, to the ironic cheers from the Leinster faithful. What now became an attacking line-out led to us eventually coverting a penalty which, closely followed by two quick Nacewa drop-goals, put at least the destination of the four league points beyond doubt.

But with the stadium clock still mysteriously frozen on 80 minutes, time also seemed to stand still for the Leinster defenders as Ospreys left wing Nikki Walker crossed the line and with Welsh Grand Slam hero James Hook slotting over an impressive conversion, all of a sudden the visitors had earned a bonus point, and the blue-clad supporters were left wondering what had just happened.

There are two ways this injury time thing can be resolved. 

First, they could let the clock run past the 80 minutes and much like soccer let the crowd know how much extra time is to be played.

The option I’d prefer, however, is the one they used in the World Cup last year whereby the referee controls the clock and stops it where necessary, so that when it reaches 80, you know that the next time the ball goes out of play the contest is over.

It’s a small tweak, but a necessary one. All in all though, I dare say the Leinster fans would have taken that scoreline had it been offered at the beginning. Sets us up nicely for the big one with Munster next Sunday night.

Leinster Team to Face Ospreys

Remember I remarked a couple of weeks ago how bad the Leinster Rugby website was at reporting injuries, particularly when it comes to newly-crowned skipper Leo Cullen?

Well it looks like the equaivalent site of this weeks opponents, the Ospreys, shows them how it should be done.

The Leinster team is pretty much as I would have picked it.  Cheika resisted the temptation to partner Malcolm O'Kelly with the returning Cullen, and instead rewarded the giant Devin Toner with a start for his impressive early season appearances.

And the backline seems to be the exact same formation that ran in a hatload of tries against Edinburgh, which has to be a good thing.

But even though I have been calling for him to be left out, er, couldn't they let us know what happened to Jonathan Sexton?  He's not even in the 22?

Surely it behooves the club to let fans know why he's out of contention?  Has he been dropped due to form?  Or was it the knock he picked up against the Scots?  

Or, as the silence would have speculators like me believe, could be down to his attitude?  He didn't seem too happy being called to the line last Friday, did he?

And having introduced CJ van de Linde to the crowd last week, maybe they could tell us why he doesn't feature?  Still a bit jet-lagged perhaps???

Over on the Welsh region's site, they let you know what's going on, simply by adding an "Injury News" section to their team page.

I mean sure, all the info may not be 100% true, but at least the club tells you SOMEthing...

The visitors' starting XV looks impressive, with Hook at number 10 and Irish international Tommy Bowe on the wing.

Should be a good 'un...

LEINSTER:

15: Girvan Dempsey

14: Shane Horgan

13: Brian O'Driscoll

12: Felipe Contepomi

11: Luke Fitzgerald

10: Isa Nacewa

9: Chris Whitaker

1: Ronan McCormack

2: Bernard Jackman

3: Stan Wright

4: Leo Cullen CAPTAIN

5: Devin Toner

6: Cameron Jowitt

7: Sean O'Brien

8: Jamie Heaslip

REPLACEMENTS:

16: Cian Healy

17: John Fogarty

18: Malcolm O'Kelly

19: Stephen Keogh

20: Shane Jennings

21: Chris Keane

22: Rob Kearney

OSPREYS:

15: Lee Byrne

14: Tommy Bowe

13: Sonny Parker

12: Andrew Bishop

11: Nikki Walker

10: James Hook

9: Rhys Webb

1: Duncan Jones

2: Huw Bennett

3: Adam Jones

4: Alun-wyn Jones

5: Ian Evans

6: Jonathan Thomas

7: Steve Tandy

8: Ryan Jones CAPTAIN

REPLACEMENTS:

16: Ed Shervington

17: Paul James

18: Ian Gough

19: Fio Tiatia

20: Rhodri Wells

21: Daniel Biggar

22: Johnny Vaughton

REFEREE: Nigel Owens (WRU)

Nature v Nurture

Had the beginnings of an interesting email debate amongst the Magners Seven about the presence of Jonathan Sexton in the Leinster side, until I realised I was outnumbered!!!  I'll try and spell out my point here.

The debate began thus...

DoDo - how did BOD do on Friday night (against Edinburgh)? Any signs of his brilliance?

JLP - The entire backline showed brilliance, at least they did once Sexton was replaced by Nacewa at #10.  The most telling stat on the night was that Sexton came off at 28 minutes, Leinster got their first try at 29.

KB - But the opposition weren’t great in fairness, plus Sexton is the key to replacing mummy’s boy O’Gara, if Nacewa takes the 10 spot then it will be a longer road. Granted he’s a class act and has shone on his appearances so far..

JLP - Point taken, but I guess I wonder is it worth playing him just because he is meant to be good for the national team some day in the future, while we Leinster season tickets holders want to see the best team playing and winning week-in week-out.  It's the classic dilemma facing Irish rugby at the moment.  Would Munster fans trade their 2 Heineken Cups for one Six Nations title?

NK - I believe the IRFU still has the final say on what foreign imports the provinces can make so to a large extent its in their hands on Heineken Cup versus Six nations.

It was a good game to watch though....the new stand is a big improvement from the past few seasons.

KB - Exactamundo, someone needs to manage it as the influx of foreign players and then squad rotation won't help get the irish youngsters gain experience and could be detrimental to the irish team.

Didn't see much use my arguing beyond that.  Of course, I know exactly where they're coming from and yes, the Irish provinces are merely "regions" which are meant to service the greater good, ie the national team.

But my very point should be better made to the Magners Seven than anyone else.  We've invested in season tickets for Leinster.  In many ways, that makes us shareholders in the club for this season.  Our tickets are helping to pay the wages of the players we see out on the pitch.

Can you imagine shareholders of an actual business being told : "Sorry, you have to realise that we're only training in these young brokers; they are promising talent so we need them out there to get ready for bigger markets in the future".   And they then proceed to squander all your hard-earned investment.

And even when you drop the business analogy - are you telling me I shelled out all that money for what are effectively training games?

No frickin way.  Irish rugby needs Leinster and Munster (and Ulster if they're good enough) to do well just as much as it needs the national team to do well.  The only way to do that is to allow their coaches, like our own Michael Cheika pictured above, to select the best available XV on any given day.

And I'm all from squad rotation, but only when the replacement is just as capable of putting in a top-notch performance.

In any other sport, Sexton would lose his place for the twenty-eight minutes he had against Edinburgh last Friday night, and were I coach and if I didn't have my actions dictated by the IRFU, I would make him earn his place back.

As I have suggested before on this blog more than once, why don't they send him to Connacht to get a full season of top-flight games under his belt and let the big boys compete for the big prizes.

THAT would be the natural way to proceed.

H Cup Scouting report

I know that early season form doesn't REALLY account for much, but I suppose you have to take a bit of optimism from the following set of stats re: Leinster's Heineken Cup Pool 2.

League record up to and including Sunday, September 14, 2008...

CASTRES OLYMPIQUE : Played 4, drawn 1, lost 3, 14th place (bottom)

LONDON WASPS : Played 2, lost 2, 11th place (2nd from bottom)

EDINBURGH RUGBY : Played 2, lost 2, 9th place (2nd from bottom)

LEINSTER RUGBY : Played 2, won 1, drawn 1, 4th place

Leinster-52 Edinburgh-6

pic courtesy of rte.ie

CHAMPAGNE RUGBY

There really isn’t a whole lot you can say about a match like this – the scoreline more or less says it all.

But it wasn’t just about the quantity of the scoreline, the near sell-out crowd was treated to a performance which especially towards the end could only be described as champagne rugby.

The visitors actually started well, with sensible tactics. With their first three or four possessions from the ruck, they ran the ball. Clearly Andy Robinson was more than aware of the dangers of putting the ball in the air towards a back three that consisted of Kearney, Fitzgerald and Dempsey.

And so thanks to a monster kick by Phil Godman, the visitors took a 3-0 lead and things did not look easy for Leinster by any means.

Then we started to get some ball for ourselves, and we proved just as capable of getting on the scoresheet ourselves and after 21 minutes, the scores were locked at 6-6 and with a quarter of the match gone it looked for all intents and purposes that the scores would remain close throughout.

Now – you see the final score above there right? So obviously things changed. In my view, what turned this match around was a substitution, and it’s one that is actually worrying for Irish rugby when you consider the result of it.

After 28 minutes, Jonny Sexton was taken off and Ica Nacewa installed at out-half.

After 29 minutes, Luke Fitzgerald was crossing the line for the first of his hat-trick of tries which was the perfect set-up for his 21st birthday celebrations the following day.

In that first half an hour, the only thing that was keeping the scores close was Sexton’s ineffectiveness at Number 10. The most telling moment for me was when he took the ball himself from the ruck and clearly intended to kick, yet didn’t realise that his teammate Brian O’Driscoll had just peeled himself out of the same ruck and was going back to his position, and was standing in Sexton’s way.

Even though he had plenty of time to adjust, the youngster still went through with his kick, slamming it into O’Driscoll and handing possession back to the opposition. I have a feeling that his collar bone injury wasn’t the only reason he was replaced, and although Nacewa did not himself trouble the scorers, the difference he made to our attacking prowess was immense. 

From then on, there was simply no stopping the boys in blue, and with Felipe good for 9 kicks out of 11, the result, margin and bonus point were never really in doubt.

Definitely a performance which, on its own, justifies my investment in a season ticket. Hopefully they can continue their form next week, although surely the Ospreys will provide more of a challenge seeing as how they have won three out of three to date.

But going back to the Sexton thing, it does make you worry about the Irish team, seeing as how having also watched Ulster’s defeat in Cardiff and Niall O’Connor’s ineffectiveness. Just how screwed are we for a decent quarterback if O’Gara gets injured/retires?

Leave it to me to find something negative in a 52-6 thrashing, but there you go!!!

for an excellent account of the game plus the current state of Leinster rugby (and I don't just say excellent because he appears to agree with me), check out Brendan Fanning's article in the Indo.

Musical Backs

It's official folks, Leinster are now the Chelsea of rugby.

The good news, we now add Luke Fitzgerald and Girvan Dempsey to our starting lineup to face Edinburgh on Friday.

The bad news, we're leaving Shane Horgan and Ica Nacewa on the bench.

Well I can't say I'm surprised, since the coaching staff have spoken about a "rotation policy" several times in the build up to the season, and with Leo Cullen and Gordon D'Arcy to come back from injury and Rocky Elsom about to arrive from Down Under, there's no signs of it changing in the future.

Personally I don't see the point in paying people a professional salary only to put them on the bench, but there you go.

I also don't see what there was in Devin Toner's performance that makes him have to sit it out.

Nor did I see anything in Sexton's performance that makes him deserve his place in the starting XV ahead of Nacewa who practically got us the draw in Cardiff all on his own.

But there you go. I guess it would be boring if they picked exactly the same side that I wanted; then I'd have nothing to blog about!!!

Here's the lineup to face Edinburgh, who by way of contrast have only one enforced change to their team that narrowly lost to Munster last weekend...

15: Girvan Dempsey

14: Luke Fitzgerald

13: Brian O’Driscoll

12: Felipe Contepomi

11: Rob Kearney

10: Jonathan Sexton

9: Chris Whitaker CAPTAIN

1: Ronan McCormack

2: Bernard Jackman

3: Stan Wright

4: Trevor Hogan

5: Malcolm O’Kelly

6: Cameron Jowitt

7: Shane Jennings

8: Jamie Heaslip

REPLACEMENTS:

16: Cian Healy

17: John Fogarty

18: Devin Toner

19: Sean O’Brien

20: Chris Keane

21: Shane Horgan

22: Isa Nacewa 

Thornley Speaks...on Sexton

Say what you like about George Hook as Ireland's leading rugby expert...I would personally pass that baton on to Gerry Thornley of the Irish Times.

Sorry George, love your radio show, love the funky ties you wear, love your distinctive voice, but sadly you are to Irish rugby what John McCain is to American politics.

Now that doesn't mean I necessarily agree with GT, but you can be sure that as long as I have this rugby blog going you'll be reading many a quote from his column.

And today, he speculates on Jonny Sexton's future at fly-half.

The article is all about promise and praise for his team-mates, but it seems to overlook the fact that in his first competitive start against the Blues last weekend, Sexton was mostly ineffective and had to be replaced by Nacewa.

Personally, I don't think this Leinster squad can afford to be pussy-footing around with young talent, escpecially when it means leaving names like Fitzgerald and Dempsey on the bench.

I DO believe Sexton needs to be developed if we're after an alternative to Paddy Wallace when it comes to filling ROG's shoes, but I'm not sure if it's right for him to be led by the hand at Leinster.  Like I've said before, why not ship him across to Connacht for a season and let him run the show out there?

...yes, I KNOW he's still in college at Belfield, but in what is the professional era of rugby union, should a full-time outfit like Leinster Rugby really be taking that into account?  Can't he transfer to UCG if the degree means that much to him?

Personally I think the big crowds heading through the turnstiles at the RDS deserve to see the best available team put on the field for every match, and if Sexton is not being named as a starting out-half with the intention of his leading the attack throughout the 80 minutes then this has to be reviewed if we are to make a serious assault on the meaningful silverware.

Healy Supports Suicide Awareness

Fair play to Leinster Rugby and in particular prop Cian Healy for supporting the promotion of World Suicide Prevention Day.

I only found out about it thanks to their newsletter arriving in my Inbox and the only criticism I would have is that their post does not include links to find more information so allow me to provide them.

For news on Irish organisation, go to "Turning The Tide Of Suicide"

For more global info, go to "The International Association of Suicide Prevention".

Cardiff-16 Leinster-16

If I really thought this league was worth taking seriously I’d be saying that Cardiff must really be kicking themselves right now for not winning this match.

The only two positions at which Leinster were not outplayed on the evening were at numbers 4 and 5, where Toner and O’Kelly respectively put in accomplished performances.

Everywhere else across the park we were beaten, and the only thing for me between us and a losing scoreline was the fact that the home side paid us way, too much respect and opted for drop goals when they could have surely crossed the line at least once more for a five-pointer.

The way things shaped up, the team that finished the match for Leinster could very well be the XV that should have started it, particularly the backline.

For all of O’Driscoll’s huffing and puffing, it never looked like he and Contepomi (who seems to be carrying an excess pound or two this season) would break the line and our only real attacking option seemed to be the new boy Ica Nacewa, who proved this by following up his own kick for our only score on the night.

But what can you say about a Leinster squad that can bring on the likes of Girvan Dempsey and Luke Fitzgerald from the bench. And with van der Linde, d’Arcy and captain Cullen all to come back, you can only assume things can get better for this bunch of players, especially when the real competition starts, ie the Heineken Cup.

All in all Michael Cheika should be happy to be travelling back to Dublin with two points in the bag and an unbeaten record intact.

Defender of Irish Dignity or Jumped-up Pedant? You decide...

Here you see an exchange of comments following a good piece by Paul Rees of the Guardian about the Meaningless League. As you see, I couldn't help myself from jumping on MadeinHK's statement...fair play to HenryFitz in Tralee for backing me up!

MadeinHK - Derby

September 5, 2008 1:10 PM

Being on Setanta is good in Scotland as many people own it to watch Scottish football on anyway. Also it is on most packages for no extra charge, so most Scots with digital will have the channel whether they know or not.

And Edinburgh and Glasgow both won their last three games of last season and finished 4th and 5th. Not sure how this means they threw in the towel. In previous years they would suffer as their internationals would come back from the 6N and for some reason this would disrupt the teams. I guess the players would return and had lots of fruitless games as they couldn't be relegated, were gifted HC action and had no chance of winning anything. Now the squads have more depth, more continuity and more purpose.

Good article I thought, very positive which hasn't been the case around the Mangners league since it started. Esp look forward to what will happen when play-offs introduced. There's talk of reducing the HC places as well so top 4 go to play-offs and bottom two miss out on HC. It should mean more meaningful games and a proper climax to the season. Would be great if GP champion and Magners champion played in a grand British club final.

JLPagano - Dublin

September 5, 2008 2:30 PM

...and to MadeInHK's suggesting that the Magners League champs playoff against the GP champs in a "British Club Final", I suggest to take geography and history lessons!!!

MadeinHK

September 5, 2008 5:00 PM

JL Pagano: What on earth are you talking about?

Historically speaking, the British Isles refers to Britain and Ireland. Great Britain was an Imperial moniker, the great(er) applying because of its rule over the whole of the British Isles and in particular its domination of Ireland. When Scotland and England were united it became...the United Kingdom (not Great Britain). Ireland may be independent and the British Empire no more (thank goodness), but that doesn't mean Ireland is not part of the British Isles geographically and historically speaking.

Others may disagree on sentiment, and fine it's not important, but I don't need history or geography lessons.

Btw The British Isles are known as such because they were inhabited by the Britons (Celts) before the Anglo-Saxons and assorted Germans came and settled in England. So British Isles does not mean English in fact the reverse. It is more like Celtish Isles.

JLPagano

September 5, 2008 5:06 PM

MadeinHK, this is what I'm talking about.

Your quote was this : "Would be great if GP champion and Magners champion played in a grand British club final. ". The word "Isles" is not mentioned.

Were your playoff to take place this year, it would be Leinster vs London Wasps.

Leinster is not a British club.

End of.

HenryFitz - Tralee

September 5, 2008 5:16 PM

A worthy attempt to restore the original connotations of the word British there, MadeinHK, but it's been indelibly graffitied by its 300 year association with the English. Trying to reclaim it now is as doomed as Randall's attempt to reclaim porch-monkey in Clerks II.

MadeinHK

September 5, 2008 5:22 PM

I'm sorry I don't see why that's an end of. Why must British Club Final refer to Great Britain and not to the British Isles?

I can understand why it might be necessary for sensitivity issues regarding the Lions, but on a rugby blog it seems like ridiculous pedantry. Of course, there are always dicks trying to score pedantic points off one another.

Yeah ok. Although its still called the British Isles on maps - not the British and Irish isles. I thought it was implicit that that's what I was referring to. I just object to jumped-up pedants, I don't really care.

JLPagano

September 5, 2008 5:48 PM

It's because you think I'm a "jumped-up pedant" that I suggested you take a history lesson!!! Maybe since the Romans once inhabited England we should rename the Premiership to Serie A??? ;-)

It was a light-hearted observation at best to begin with, but you chose to stretch it out (quite a lot of words for someone who doesn't care by the way!) into an explanation of the term "British isles", which you never used in the first place.

And I always find that in a discussion/argument (which is what I always thought these forums and blogs were for), the first to resort to name-calling is generally the one that's losing.

Mystery Solved

So it was shoulder surgery that Leo Cullen had at the end of April that put him out for the first three games of the season.

Could they not have just said that when they announced him as captain?

OK, enough of the negative...Leinster launched their new-look website today and I have to say I'm impressed so far.

They also named their starting lineup for their opening Meaningless League clash with Cardiff on Saturday...

LEINSTER:

15: Isa Nacewa

14: Shane Horgan

13: Brian O’Driscoll

12: Felipe Contepomi

11: Rob Kearney

10: Jonathan Sexton

9: Chris Whitaker CAPTAIN

1: Cian Healy

2: Bernard Jackman

3: Ronan McCormack

4: Devin Toner

5: Malcolm O’Kelly

6: Cameron Jowitt

7: Shane Jennings

8: Jamie Heaslip

REPLACEMENTS:

16: John Fogarty

17: Stephen Knoop

18: Trevor Hogan

19: Sean O’Brien

20: Chris Keane

21: Luke Fitzgerald

22: Girvan Dempsey

That's quite a formidable lineup if you ask me, and considering the only name that really jumps out at me on the Cardiff side is Tom Shanklin, one would have to assume the visitors will be favourites. We'll have to see.