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Leinster player ratings vs Exeter - 2021 Champions Cup
Leinster player ratings: Leinster faced a hard fact this weekend: home clubs have a 76 per cent success rate from the 96 Champions Cup quarter-finals played to date.
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The last time these two sides met was in the 2017/18 pool stage when Leinster won both matches before going on to lift the trophy in Bilbao and the men in blue once again proved they’re the fitter, more streetwise operators.
LEINSTER PLAYER RATINGS:
15. HUGO KEENAN – 7.5/10
Caught cold, falling off a tackle on Tom O’Flaherty in the third minute, although he seemed to exchange words with James Lowe in the aftermath. Was excellent after that, slipping offloads from unlikely angles and putting teammates away given the mere sniff of a chance.
14. JORDAN LARMOUR – 7.5
Another Leinster player who looked like he hadn’t got off the bus in the opening minutes, missing O’Flaherty for his second try after just nine minutes. His footwork shone but lapses under the high ball will haunt him. His finishing was first class however and it justified his selection ahead of the dependable Dave Kearney.
13. RORY O’LOUGHLIN – 7
A bit of a mixed bag from O’Loughlin, who contributed his share of missed tackles to Leinster’s brittle edge defence. On the other side of the ledger, showed what he when given half a yard of space to exploit. You had to smile when picked up the late intercept, having battled all day, and then frown, when it was disallowed.
12. ROBBIE HENSHAW – 8.5
A rusty start to preceding for Henshaw, chesting on an early ball from Lowe. His influence in the midfield warzone started to tell, with his physicality coming to the fore. His parcel tackle on Simmonds summed up his game. Everywhere, controlled and fierce.
11. JAMES LOWE – 8
The headlines of late have been about his defence but his attack did all the talking in this one. Bullocking runs had Chiefs defensive lines hitting the panic button and was good value for his try. At times he tries too hard to do it all and getting shunted out in the 55th minute was borderline criminal.
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10. JOHNNY SEXTON – NA
Maybe the most at fault for the opening try, Sexton soon found himself in the thick of things and Leinster’s cogs began to turn. Looked distraught when taken off with for a HIA and he didn’t return.
9. LUKE MCGRATH – 7
Maybe overplayed his hand a little with the box kicking. An excellent snipe in the 52nd nearly opened the Chiefs up and did well under intense Chiefs’ pressure
1. CIAN HEALY – 6
Got into Exeter setpiece early and found some give.
2. RÓNAN KELLEHER – 8
In the loose Kelleher is an absolute animal; his all-court game a handful for any opposition. His lineout throwing matched his open field heroics too.
3. TADHG FURLONG – 7
You still feel the Wexford man is still trying to find his best form and this was a thoroughly respectable shift.
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4. SCOTT FARDY – 7
So close to scoring a crucial bite back try and what felt at the time like an early turning point. Didn’t panic and got through plenty of unmentionable work thereafter.
5. DEVIN TONER – 7.5
Used the go-go Gadget arms to let Jack Maunder know he was there in the opening exchanges. Imperious in the lineout and had plenty of lovely little touches around the park. The veteran is playing great.
6. RHYS RUDDOCK – 7
His alpha-battle with the likes of Dave Ewers and Jacques Vermuelen was worth the proverbial price of admission. Exeter probably edged the tough stuff, but it went down to the judges’ scorecard, and Leinster’s superior fitness proved telling.
7. JOSH VAN DER FLIER – 8.5
A breakdown terrorist who continues to improve as a carrying option after surprising many with his proficiency in that area in the Six Nations. Tackled his face off and didn’t get out of Exeter’s.
8. JACK CONAN – 7.5
Maybe Ireland’s form back row gave as good as he got in a game that at times veered heavily into man-up-a-thon territory. Conan wasn’t found wanting.
REPLACEMENTS:
17. ED BYRNE – 7.5
Did a number of Harry Williams in the final quarter.
22. ROSS BYRNE – 9
Shone after being thrown in the deep end. Took a big shot from Jonny Hill that could easily have been a cardable decision and another one later from Kirsten. Huge performance in the context of what was on the line. A quiet, assured presence whose decision-making is near faultless.
Comments on RugbyPass
I don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
4 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
24 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
24 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
24 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
24 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
9 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
9 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
28 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
24 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
28 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
24 Go to comments