The Final

[rumncoke]

Rob Kearney lost a great deal of his original benefit to a team once the pass back into the 22 was taken out of the game . As a running full back he lacks the eye for a gap and plays to formula into contact in the opposition half .
The Connaught full back had an eye for space and a gap ( which Payne has) Against Ulster Leinster closed the gaps because they expected Payne to run they were less prepared for Connaught .
Against Ulster Leinster got their kicking game right and came away with 50/ 50 ball in the first half Connaught didn't face 50 /50 it was more 60/40 .

How many times did Leinster either kick possession or miss handle in the 1st 20 minutes which denied them possession inside the Connaught 22 where their forwards could inch forward and commit the Connaught back row to the ruck .

Ulster were forced to play inside their own 22 for longer because Leinster kept possession better .

If Bowe or Zebo were fit I doubt Daverage would feature

Like Mc Fadden the Kearneys have attitude and are bad losers as are are most of the Leinster team unfortunately being a bad loser does not guarantee you are a good player



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[Russ]

Cronin is hateful

[BaggyTrousers]

Located on the western edge of Europe at kick off time I have yet to see the game and won't until tomorrow night but I look forward to it.

Congratulations Connacht, teams don't always get what they deserve but Connacht have, they have played superb rugby this season, they have had as bad an injury crisis as any all season and unheralded guys have stepped in, played their adventurous style without apparently the slightest fear and got the job done.

To have stumbled and clutched defeat from the jaws of victory at Treviso I thought was the beginning of the end but to beat Weegies twice and then Leinster who have been uninspired but incredibly mean in defence and efficient in recording wins is a hell of an achievement. To do it on a neutral ground against serial winners just fantastic.

Sympathy to our friend D4, for he is of similar vintage to myself and has been a Leinster fan since before the pot hunter fans who never set foot in Donnybrook when they couldn't fill a 6000 stadium were even born. Leinster support has been strangely low at the RDS this year the glory boys appear to have packed their tents and gone to wendyball. Hard ould station D4, magnanimous post I assume that maybe now you will see Connacht as worthy of equal treatment but I doubt that the IRFU will.

Leinster have yet again shown Ulster a clean pair of heels so the crowing of some is a bit childish but all hail Pat Lam for showing the rest what can be achieved with cool heads and a determination not to give the ball away cheaply.

Fantastic.

[Jackie Brown]

Cronin is hateful

Great winger, tom kite hooker

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[Marco]

Watched the match again and a few remarks:

Hats off to the organisers, very respectable crowd, got the balance right for me, nothing over the top, on TV it seemed to me that the atmosphere was far better than the 75,000 at Twickenham, Murrayfield looked brilliant.

Gregor Townsend is a class act, spoke very positively about Connacht and the support that young Russell got after his injury, obvious respect for what Connacht have achieved, something that he did with Glasgow.

We have witnessed two semi finals and a final that were all high quality, better than the Aviva equivalents, in both spectacle and skill levels, and no doubt better than the Top 14 will be, its a league with challenges but I am optimistic for the future, would be surprised if Conor O'Shea doesn't shake up things in the Italian system and what Welshman (certainly Ieuan Evans and Scott Quinnell enthused) would not want to have been at that occasion yesterday?

Pat Lam, words fail me for what he has achieved. I doubt if any of those Connacht payers would play anything like as well in another team under a different coach, will be very interesting to see how Henshaw's game will develop at Leinster.

That was rugby that people want to see and will bring in the crowds. Rob Penney got serious stick from pretty much all the 'experts' in trying to bring a more expansive game to Munster; 'not the Munster way', 'the players are not good enough' etc. We will never know what would have happened if he had been allowed another couple of years there, Lam is now three years in Galway remember!

Connacht turned up at all the key games, remember that Treviso beat them only three weeks ago. For eight consecutive seasons Ulster have, bar the quaterfinal at Thomond in 2012, failed to turn up at the really big, critical games. I have no idea whay this is the case, would very much like to hear Rory's true thoughts on this!

I'm not an expert at all, but even I noticed how different Aki's role was yesterday to the semi-final, clearly Lam reckoned that leinster would have done their homework and marked him, so he changed the point of attack and used him as a decoy runner and distributor, possibly also protecting his knee a bit as well, brilliant coaching.

The pure out and out pace and strength in the tackle of Healy and Adeolokun, no pirouttes or twirls, just speed, a joy to watch.

I am a Joe Schmidt fan, but the telling stat for me that I heard yesterday was that the back three Connacht players have scored 19 tries this season, the back three Leinster players, 2! Guess which three got picked for the Summer tour?

[Dave]

Unfortunately Pro 12 is not International Standard nor was that Final international style rugby

Connaught got the run of the green early as Leinster made to many mistakes giving away possession .

Having to chase the game got to Leinster in exactly the same way as it did with Ulster the week before with their back 3 being exposed as the weakest part of their game was made visible .

Daverage lacks pace his brother has also lost pace and his strength which was kicking the length of the field is no asset without out a wind . Fitzgerald I have always considered a show pony all effort and no product .

That does not make the Connaught back 3 Internationals

It just means R Kearney is possibly past it Dave never really had it and Fitzgerald fails to deliver .





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Rum the only thing that can show a player to be of international class is playing international rugby. The Connacht back 3 were several miles better than the Leinster back 3 yet blue Joe is ignoring their talent. That is the point people are making. Show me an international winger that scored a better try than Adeolokin this weekend? That was skill worthy of an international.

[BaggyTrousers]

One sad thong is that AJ McGinley us being chased out of Connacht to Sale next season as they have bought a Saffer for 2 seasons. Lam is on record as saying no matter what club he is with, in two years time he will go looking for AJ.

Yes AJ took the US fleg of convenience to get a career in rugby and is of no use to Ireland as a player but he us as Irish as anyone here and it's a shame that he is driven away to the PRL.

A pity he cannot be accepted as Irish if not IQ and allowed to earn as an Irish man in his own country.

Two other big figures for Connacht, Henshaw and Muldowney also leaving. I hope they are not missed and as importantly for them, not filled with regret.

Sad that the winning team will never play together again but I suppose that is professionalism for you.

[Dublin4]

Licking our wounds here.
It is a very good result for Irish rugby and well deserved.
I am still uncertain about aspects of the Connacht project. The demographic fact is that they only have a quarter of the population of Leinster or Ulster. Let's hope that they only build a stadium of say 10,000 to 12,000 all seater capacity.
Munster got carried away by the ephemeral support of the Greatest Fans in the World and can't half fill TP these days.

There is something wrong about our back 3 going to SA. Rob K looks past his best. He has been a wonderful servant but at 30 or 31 he has a helluva lot of mileage and injuries on the clock. In contrast, the Connacht back 3, 2 of whom are long term Leinster rejects, deserve more. Adelolunken could have struck terror into the whites of the eyes of the Saffers.

I look forward to Henshaw learning his trade at the Leinster school next season, if I may be allowed a little irony.

[ruckover]

I can sort of see why Henshaw wanted to go (I still think he's definitely wrong for leaving) but why would Aly Muldowney leave? He's abandoning a club very much on the up to go to a French team not in the Champions' Cup for next season. Seems a really strange move.

Anyway, massive congratulations to Connacht. They have been, by a long way, the best team in the PRO12 this season and deservedly have the silverware to show for it. Although a part of me is slightly wistful that we couldn't win the PRO12 this year given some of the rubbish that's been served up throughout the season.

[Snipe Watson]

Licking our wounds here.
It is a very good result for Irish rugby and well deserved.
I am still uncertain about aspects of the Connacht project. The demographic fact is that they only have a quarter of the population of Leinster or Ulster. Let's hope that they only build a stadium of say 10,000 to 12,000 all seater capacity.
Munster got carried away by the ephemeral support of the Greatest Fans in the World and can't half fill TP these days.

There is something wrong about our back 3 going to SA. Rob K looks past his best. He has been a wonderful servant but at 30 or 31 he has a helluva lot of mileage and injuries on the clock. In contrast, the Connacht back 3, 2 of whom are long term Leinster rejects, deserve more. Adelolunken could have struck terror into the whites of the eyes of the Saffers.

I look forward to Henshaw learning his trade at the Leinster school next season, if I may be allowed a little irony.

Connacht have had a fantastic season and I'm delighted for them. I don't think they will lose the run of themselves. They have learned how to thrive on a shoestring and made the most of their opportunities. Pragmatism will be the order of the day and I expect them to make the most of their success without mortgaging themselves to the hilt.
Munster totally lost the run of themselves with their redevelopment and are now paying the price, or not paying it as the case may be.

Kearney was a fine player 5 years ago, but he's turned into a nasty cheapshot merchant.

[Russ]

Wonderful servant my hole

Not good enough and never was

[Snipe Watson]

I can sort of see why Henshaw wanted to go (I still think he's definitely wrong for leaving) but why would Aly Muldowney leave? He's abandoning a club very much on the up to go to a French team not in the Champions' Cup for next season. Seems a really strange move.

Anyway, massive congratulations to Connacht. They have been, by a long way, the best team in the PRO12 this season and deservedly have the silverware to show for it. Although a part of me is slightly wistful that we couldn't win the PRO12 this year given some of the rubbish that's been served up throughout the season.

The challenge for Connacht is going to be massive to come close to replicating their form next season. Despite what everyone is rattling on about, they do not have a pool of top quality players. They are a classic example of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. A group of good players, playing out of their skins and collectively making a fantastic team with indomitable team spirit.
Come September, they all have to come back and start again. Can their 10, 12, 13 deliver another season like this without Henshaw? For me Bundee Aki as been the player on a roll and I think he is an ordinary enough 12 when matched up against an equally physical midfield.

[rumncoke]

Russ there was a time when he Rob Kearney was the best full back in the 6 nations as stated elsewhere injuries ,age , and rule changes have rendered him a shadow of the player he was .

The thing about International rugby is that the game is based first and foremost on defence and while Connaught have wings who score the also leaked trys on occasion



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[Russ]

Russ there was a time when he Rob Kearney was the best full back in the 6 nations as stated elsewhere injuries ,age , and rule changes have rendered him a shadow of the player he was .

The thing about International rugby is that the game is based first and foremost on defence and while Connaught have wings who score the also leaked trys on occasion



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Best of a bad bunch in 09 and the game moved on a week later

[rumncoke]

Much as I am happy to Connaught win the fact is that Leinster were the authors of their defeat . They made to many mistakes in the first 20 minutes and Connaught had the ability to Capitalise on them .
But review of the table shows Leinster only had 27 trys scored against them to Connaught who had 46


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