Whether it’s Church’s bicep, BOD’s ankle or even Conor Murray’s hair, Keego has an opinion…
So this week I am kind of like xfactor. You may have had more than your fair share of me, but I promise, this is the final dose………for this week.
I thought I would look forward to our first Heino game against Exeter on Saturday in the 4tress.
There isn’t a huge amount of data regarding us playing against them so I am looking at our last 3 games against their last 3 games (cheers to leinsterrugby.ie for that).
It does not make for good reading. We have had 3 games that we should have won, even understanding the fact that we start slow every year. Last year we started slow but looked like we were on the right track. We looked cohesive, strong and never lost a game, the opposition won games. This year we do not look good. I was hoping that the Munster match would line everything up right. But we were not our best on Saturday. There where flashes but we struggled far too much, again taking into account the injuries and changes in positions. Fact is we should have done better.
This worries me, at this stage in the season we should be a fairly competent unit. We should be doing the simple things right. There where flashes of that on Saturday but not enough. Some people are saying I am being negative and not being a proper Leinster fan. I feel that looking at things objectively MAKES me a Leinster fan. We hear all the time about this amazing Leinster academy, this is the exact time these players should be stepping up and delivering at a high level. We do not expect anything unrealistic. I expect the players to fight! Against a tough Connacht team we did NOT fight. There is no shame in losing but fighting hard, there IS shame in losing without fighting.
It is the Connacht result that worries me. I say this without meaning any disrespect to Connacht rugby, Eric Elwood (who is a bag of ledges) or the great players they have there.
Exeter has had a similarly heavy defeat in their last 3 games. They lost to Leicester by 22 points. But that result is book ended by 2 really good wins against Saracens and Harlequins. They looked very impressive against ‘Quins last weekend. In saying that the teams in the English league do sometimes have off days, Exeter where fairly impressive in putting away the opposition. They looked strong, the opposite of how we have looked so far this season.
Now, with this being the Heineken cup, the slate has been wiped clean. Our injury list is coming back to the right side of being a nightmare. Boss and Cullen look to be on the mend (and may make the squad) and McLaughlin and his mingin elbow is 50/50 for Saturday. It looked to be far longer from the viewing on the big screen against Munster. Nacewa suffered a hematoma in a collision with Conor Murrays fringe but should be ready to rock on Saturday, the notorious B O’D rolled his ankle but his ankle realized it was attached to B O’D and has gotten its act together so he should be ready to rumble too. This along with the news that Cian Healy’s bicep (bigger than my waist) has decided to not be a bellend we should be close to full capacity. Still missing two back rowers and our full back. I would like to point out that calling a bicep a bellend is a technical term.
We need to take a positive from last week, we need a big start. Scare the chiefs. Let them know that they are against the champions. I have no doubt that the blue army will be in full voice, I just hope the team can follow. I do not mean to sound negative, I know we have a big team of big players who are the best in the world. I just want to see that. I want to see the players who step in for the injured stand up and be counted.
If we do the simple things right, we hit them hard and don’t try anything too fancy. This is not a game for sexy offloads; this is a game for a-b-c rugby. Simple things will get us through this.
As usual, if you are in the anglesea stand come say hello. If you want to discuss/abuse me via twitter then feel free to tweet/twat me, just be prepared for my rebuttal ;)
Until next week…..
Keego (@nkeegan): Newbie blogger, former professional wrestler, sometime attempted rugby player (@TheThirsty3rds), professional procrastinator and attempted musician with a fondness for long walks on the bar, tea and the couch. Opinionated Leinster fan and constant gardener.
