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What written judgement said about Alex Mann's role in gouging saga
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Leinster player ratings vs Munster | 2025/26 URC
By Ian Cameron at Croke Park, Dublin
Leinster player ratings: Munster outmuscled Leinster 31–14 at Croke Park, Clayton McMillan’s side dominating the breakdown and exposing their provincial rivals’ sloppy handling.
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A night to forget for Leo Cullen’s men, who looked disjointed and sloppy across the park.
15. Jamie Osborne – 5.5
Looked relatively sharp early doors, barring one glaring miscommunication with Lowe. The brain rot set in in the second half and he blotted his copybook with two penalties and some lazy running.
14. Jordan Larmour – 6
Returning from injury into the deep end, it didn’t take long for Larmour to start testing the red wall. Sadly HIA’d around the 28-minute mark and didn’t return.
13. Garry Ringrose – 4
A totally anonymous first half from the returning British & Irish Lion. He was more active in the second half but was one of a number of lacklustre Lions.
12. Robbie Henshaw – 6
A key turnover on 30 minutes relieved pressure on a Leinster side well and truly under the pump. Less at fault than his bumbling backline buddies.
11. James Lowe – 3.5
One of those days for Lowe. Just looked an inch or two off the pace, with dropped passes and miscued plays the order of the day in North Dublin. Missed a tonne of tackles too. Getting into it with the Munster players in the dying moments only underlined what a poor day it was for both him and the team.
10. Sam Prendergast – 5
Got caught with the ball in Leinster’s first attack and his kick from hand was a little loose, as was a missed touch-finder penalty. In fact, his kicking ranged from mediocre to poor for most of this affair, while Leinster’s starter plays more often than not stuttering rather than bursting into life. Had a brighter start to the second half with one excellent touch-finder, but was very much in second place here to Jack Crowley.
9. Jamison Gibson-Park – 4
Never really shook off the ring rust here and there were SS Titanic levels of it. His passing at times in the first half was really poor, and his intercepted pass to his opposite number underscored what was one of his worst first 40 minutes in a long time. He improved but not nearly enough.
1. Paddy McCarthy – 6
Won his scrum battle comfortably and provided a solid set-piece platform but offered little impact around the park. His stock continues to creep up.
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2. Rónan Kelleher – 7
Trundled over from a catch-and-drive lineout and made it look easy. Did very little wrong.
3. Tadhg Furlong – 7
First blood in the scrum went to Furlong against his old teammate Milne and he dominated nearly every set-piece exchange from there on in.
4. RG Snyman – 6.5
Plenty of offloads in the offing from the giant South African but for the most part his teammates were reading off a different hymn sheet. Worryingly for Leinster (and the Boks), he limped off shortly after half-time.
5. James Ryan – 5.5
One of the slightly brighter Leinster forwards early doors and, unlike some of his peers, stayed in the fight.
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6. Alex Soroka – 5
Has had a really bright start to the season but faded into the background here.
7. Josh van der Flier – 6
Got stripped of the ball on one occasion but it was against the run of play in what was a relatively effective performance, even if Munster very much won the back-row unit battle. Looked totally vexed by the end.
8. Max Deegan – 6
Brought a physical edge you don’t always associate with the player, his hit on Brian Gleeson unintentionally putting paid to the Munsterman’s afternoon. Fell away in the second half.
REPLACEMENTS:
16. Dan Sheehan – 6
Not even Sheehan could save Leinster here.
17. Andrew Porter – 6
One decent turnover aside, another Lion who failed to roar.
18. Thomas Clarkson – 5
Helped the one area where Leinster held the upper hand but otherwise offered little around the park.
19. Brian Deeny – 5
Failed to make a dent.
20. Scott Penny – 8
Scored, as he does, despite being on the pitch just eight minutes.
21. Fintan Gunne – N/A
Why he wasn’t brought on earlier with Gibson-Park being so poor defies logic. The understudy was far better than the master on this occasion, even with a short cameo.
22. Ciarán Frawley – 5
Failed to make an impact at 12, a position that isn’t suiting him.
23. Jimmy O’Brien – 7.5
Caught a little cold for Munster’s second try from a perfectly judged Jack Crowley chip over the defence. Other than that, he was probably Leinster’s standout attacker.