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| Joe Tomane in his first appearance for the boys in blue in our preseason friendly against Montauban |
For the second season in a row, Leinster played the ideal number of matches any team would want in their campaign (I say 'ideal' rather than 'maximum' because we could have had a Pro 14 quarterfinal as well). It may not have brought forth the same amount of trophies as 2017/18 but all in all it was a set of 32 contests that would have been the envy of most clubs across the continent.
I'm still not sure if I would have done one of these 'writeup of all writeups' posts had we lost to Glasgow, but it's probably best not to think about that too much.
For me we seemed to have a lot more 'meaningless' matches than usual; some that became that way because of our sheer dominance, and others because we had built so much of a lead on the Conference B table that getting a result in the Pro14 wasn't a priority for over two months.
So on we go - there was no writeup for the preseason opener in Montauban but every other contest in the campaign got the full Harpin treatment...
For me we seemed to have a lot more 'meaningless' matches than usual; some that became that way because of our sheer dominance, and others because we had built so much of a lead on the Conference B table that getting a result in the Pro14 wasn't a priority for over two months.
So on we go - there was no writeup for the preseason opener in Montauban but every other contest in the campaign got the full Harpin treatment...
AUGUST/SEPTEMBER
Friday, Aug 10 - Friendly
Montauban 17-18 Leinster
Friday, Aug 17 - Friendly
"What we saw in Donnybrook on Friday was two different teams at different stages of preseason readiness and anyone who knows anything about rugby understands that the eighty minutes would have been very different had it taken place during the competitive season."
writeup = 'QUALITY FALCON RUGBY'
Fri Aug 31 - Pro 14 Round 1
"Put in simplest terms, we fell fifteen points behind when we shouldn't have before clawing our way back to victory when we shouldn't have."
writeup = 'FLOODLIGHT ROBBERY'
Sat Sep 8 - Pro 14 Round 2
"If the 2018/19 Leinster setup are going to learn anything from this 80 minutes, we have to ask ourselves a simple question...'We were short of victory by 3pts...was that completely down to the referee?', to which the answer would only be a resounding 'no'. "
writeup = 'LLANELLI LESSONS LEARNED'
Sat Sep 15 - Pro 14 Round 3
"Just like that, with the clock at 45:28, as the pre-halftime leavers are probably tucking into their burgers and pints, the now-recovered Sexton is popping over the extra two points for a 17-0 cushion at the break."
Sat Sep 22 - Pro 14 Round 4
writeup = 'REWARDING SUPPORT'
Sat Sep 22 - Pro 14 Round 4
Leinster 31-7 Edinburgh
"I don't want all of these writeups to be 'Leinster love-ins' and I'll do my best to be critical when I think it's warranted, but once in a while I'd like to start one off by recounting a masterpiece move from the ‘training paddock’ as best as I can"
"I don't want all of these writeups to be 'Leinster love-ins' and I'll do my best to be critical when I think it's warranted, but once in a while I'd like to start one off by recounting a masterpiece move from the ‘training paddock’ as best as I can"
writeup = 'OPTIONAL EXTRAS'
Sat Sep 29 - Pro 14 Round 5
Connacht 3-20 Leinster
"Pretty much every carrier in a green shirt was met either at or behind the gainline by two tacklers in blue ones. There was simply nowhere to go, and this applied in the 80th minute every bit as much as it did in the first quarter once Connacht started coming at us."
"Pretty much every carrier in a green shirt was met either at or behind the gainline by two tacklers in blue ones. There was simply nowhere to go, and this applied in the 80th minute every bit as much as it did in the first quarter once Connacht started coming at us."
writeup = 'AGAINST THE GRAIN'
OCTOBER
Sat Oct 6 - Pro 14 Round 6
"Last year at this fixture I embarrassed myself in the stands by spilling my pint. This time my mates will probably tell you that I did so by standing up and screaming “NO WAY!!!” over and over after Lowe’s dive to get the ball down. Maybe, just maybe, there was a colourful adjective between those two words."
writeup = 'LOWE POINTS'
Fri Oct 12 - Champions Cup Round 1
"What I particularly liked about this move was the way Robbie Henshaw fixed his runner, made him bite and nonchalantly shovelled the offload to Lowe in classic top-level centre fashion. Only it wasn't Henshaw doing all that, was it. It was Tadhg Furlong!!!!"
Sat Oct 20 - Celtic Cup Final
Scarlets A 8-15 Leinster A
Technically Leinster did another double this season but we won't harp too loudly about it as one was the Celtic Cup which replaced the much-maligned British &Irish Cup. Still, there were a lot of positives from this campaign (though apparently not enough for me to do a writeup on the final!). For one thing the format of one seven-week block of matches is much better than playing them on the same weekends as the Champions Cup, but more importantly in was a great opportunity for next generation stars like Conor O'Brien and Scott Penny to get game time.
Sun Oct 21 - Champions Cup Round 2
writeup = 'UPGRADE'
Sat Oct 20 - Celtic Cup Final
Scarlets A 8-15 Leinster A
Technically Leinster did another double this season but we won't harp too loudly about it as one was the Celtic Cup which replaced the much-maligned British &Irish Cup. Still, there were a lot of positives from this campaign (though apparently not enough for me to do a writeup on the final!). For one thing the format of one seven-week block of matches is much better than playing them on the same weekends as the Champions Cup, but more importantly in was a great opportunity for next generation stars like Conor O'Brien and Scott Penny to get game time.
Sun Oct 21 - Champions Cup Round 2
"Toulouse were ready for us. We weren't ready for them being ready for us. But that the two points we were lacking to keep this winning run going were definitely on our side of things gives us every opportunity to come back even stronger."
Sat Oct 27 - Pro 14 Round 7
writeup = 'FIVE STAR RUGBY'
"I was delighted to see Joe (Tomane) score. He has been the target of a lot of social media jibes in recent weeks. A lot of it, in fairness, was justified because on more than one occasion moves seemed to break down when they reached him. That said, a lot of those observations came with a hint of what I call 'import scapegoating' about them..."
writeup = 'TICKING BOXES'
NOVEMBER
Sun Nov 4 - Pro 14 Round 8
"...the system errors were frustrating throughout but we've played like this many's a time over the years and ended up losing because the leaders we'd be relying on wouldn't step up and that's what made the difference for us."
Fri Nov 23 - Pro 14 Round 9
writeup = 'KINGS FOR A DAY'
Fri Nov 23 - Pro 14 Round 9
"Even though the Scarlets also won with a bonus point on the night, this victory made the top of the Conference B table look even more ridiculous than it already did."
writeup = 'THE DIFFERENCE'
"78m - Leinster try #9 - Jimmy O’Brien...yet the squeeze from the reigning champions was relentless. This time it was Max Deegan with a miss pass that found a ‘JOB opening’ out wide and this time he had work to do in applying the finish yet he made it look, yes, ridiculously easy."
writeup = 'SCHOOL OF RUGBY'
Sat Dec 8 - Champions Cup Round 2
"Jordan Larmour...For him to draw a bead on the trajectory of the ball, take it and sprint under the posts with Semesa Rokoduguni on his tail was no mean feat whatsoever."
Sat Dec 15 - Champions Cup Round 4
writeup = 'FLAG DAY'
"I often say the job a number 8 does at the back of a scrum is one of the most under-appreciated skills in the game. Everyone points to GAA for Rob Kearney's high ball prowess but can you think of a sport that prepares you for leaning forward, sticking your head between two arses and controlling a rugby ball at your feet while a scrum is charging ahead???"
Sat Dec 22 - Pro 14 Round 11
writeup = 'CLIMATE CHANGES'
"...you can rest assured that this is one of the precious few places on t'internet where an author will take Saturday evening's Leinster v Connacht match and compare it to a particular movie in such a way as to make the boys in blue seem like the good guys!"
Sat Dec 29 - Pro 14 Round 12
writeup = 'DIE HA(RDS)'
"Chasing an egg around Thomond Park did not lead to the final score. It was a result that stemmed from an inability to cope with tactics that anyone with the smallest amount of rugby understanding knew Munster were going to deploy..."
writeup = 'SEEING RED'
JANUARY
Sat Jan 5 - Pro 14 Round 13
"...the odds that the emerging talent pool was going to be evenly spread about the island were always long and with Leinster having the largest population and the most silverware, it's not that surprising that such a large percentage of them hails from there."
writeup = 'MIND THE GAP'
Sat Jan 12 - Champions Cup Round 5
"It was never easy and it took a mountain of hard work, but on Saturday this so-called ‘under strength’ Leinster squad put in one of the most comprehensive displays I dare say the RDS has ever seen."
writeup = 'SPECIALE DÉJEUNER'
Sat Jan 19 - Champions Cup Round 6
"In simplest terms we were resorting to a mostly running game, but when most of the carries come equipped with two teammates in perfect position to clear out, then each one is guaranteed to be profitable."
writeup = 'SLOW AND STEADY...'
writeup = 'SLOW AND STEADY...'
Fri Jan 25 - Pro 14 Round 14
"If we want to dwell on the mistakes from Friday night we can, but it's worth remembering we can also cite the Law of Swings and Roundabouts given we were a bit unlucky in the reverse fixture back in September."
writeup = 'GOT AWAY WITH ONE'
FEBRUARY
"...we started to see Conor O’Brien showing what he can bring to this level of rugby and probably higher. Even in the minimum of space he can fight his way past a gain line, but when a set move affords him green grass ahead, his strong, upright style of running can be devastating"
writeup = 'IT'S NOT ALL BLACK AND WHITE'
Fri Feb 22 - Pro 14 Round 16
"We expected a big win, which we got, and I'm happy. This match will be furthest from our thoughts when we get to May, but you'll have a hard time convincing me that matches like these aren't worthwhile."
writeup = 'SOUTHERN COMFORT'
MARCH
Leinster 19-7 Cheetahs
"...by God, this was a rough 80 minutes of rugby to watch. So rough in fact that I didn't bother rewatching the final quarter and that's a rarity at Harpin Manor."
writeup = 'DAMP SQUIB'
Fri Mar 22 - Pro 14 Round 18Edinburgh 28-11 Leinster
"Leinster are in a very unique situation, going into the final four regular season matches in the Pro14 knowing that even if we lost them all 100-0 we'd still finish in first place in Conference B to earn a home semifinal and the first weekend in May off. This offers some interesting challenges."
writeup - 'RETURN TRIP'
Sat Mar 30 - Champions Cup QuarterfinalLeinster 21-18 Ulster
"So that was it - victory for Leinster as most predicted but it could have easily gone the other way. Ulster came with the right attitude and did themselves proud but in the end I think our experience in this particular competition served us well in the second half."
writeup - 'BODIES ON THE LINE'
APRIL
Leinster 27-27 Benetton
"Overall I find Max (Deegan) to be an extremely versatile player that seems to take great care in developing every aspect of his game. After excelling at 8 since his rise to the Pro 14 side, he has been at “6s at 7s” only in the literal sense in recent weeks, and his man of the match award on Saturday was well deserved."
writeup = 'CHOPPING AND CHANGING'
Sat Apr 13 - Pro 14 Round 20Leinster 24-39 Glasgow
"Basically my opinion on our lack of victories in this ‘midseason preseason’ is this : we have shown in the past that no matter what kind of form we bring into European matches, we can perform on the day."
writeup = 'SEVEN TRIES FOR FIVE BROTHERS'
Sun Apr 21 - Champions Cup SemifinalLeinster 30-12 Toulouse
"after a run of disappointing results, Leinster certainly found a way to produce the goods when it mattered. But despite the impressive display, it was clear at times that we had another level to reach for as well, and with Saracens awaiting for us in Newcastle, we will have to find it."
writeup = 'GEAR SHIFT'
Sat Apr 27 - Pro 14 Round 21Ulster 14-13 Leinster
"You'll just have to trust me that I'm being sincere when I say I was delighted or them. Of course no one likes to see their team lose but I have harped before on how Ulster have had some rotten luck in recent years so I couldn't begrudge them these celebrations."
writeup = 'ZOMBIE RUBBER'
MAY
Sat May 11 - Champions Cup Final
"We started strong, they came back stronger. That just about sums it up perfectly, doesn't it? No need for me to write anymore, right?"
writeup = 'STRONGER'
Sat May 18 - Pro 14 SemifinalLeinster 24-9 Munster
"I think we can pretty much take it for granted that as long as James Lowe is with Leinster, he'll make a point of getting himself involved somehow against our biggest rivals."
writeup = 'COLLISION COURSE'
Sat May 25 - Pro 14 Final
GLASGOW WARRIORS 15-18 LEINSTER
"It's not that I thought that this was an easy victory, but watching the way Leinster set about the entire match put me in mind of one word : 'comfortable'. "
writeup = 'PARADISE WON'
The disappointment from Newcastle still lingers after less than a month as I put this post together, but overall there was more than enough to make all Leinster fans eager for 2019/20 to kick off. Leo, Stu & Dr Phil still at the helm, plenty of new players to bring through to regular spots in the senior squad, and of course a 7th league title and 5th star still to aim for. Bring it on. JLP
