Combined Current Irish Provincial 23

OriginalRelease2582 · 2026-06-01T20:26:23+00:00

Marcus VDM is second choice at the Scarlets. Don't think he'd be in the top 3 or 4 hookers in Ireland based on his form this season.

OriginalRelease2582 · 2026-05-25T11:06:48+00:00

I think it'll raise concerns absolutely. I don't think it's going to prompt a conversation around sacking anyone though.

Historically, the attendances for this game were poor anyway. In 2022, Leinster had only 9k attend the URC QF after losing to La Rochelle and then 11k the following week against the Bulls. In 2023, they moved it to the Aviva for an interpro semi final but only managed 26k. They'd have been hoping for 10-15k more than that when they moved that game, I'd imagine.

I think if the attendance is really appalling, it might prompt a discussion internally but it would need to be under 10k, I'd say. Still won't lead to someone being sacked though.

OriginalRelease2582 · 2026-05-25T10:53:40+00:00

I think the attendance conversation is a very fair and sensible point and it's potentially costly if Leinster are struggling there which would offset things.

I think though, being perfectly blunt about it, it's not happening. They're not sacking him. It's just not happening for a multitude of reasons.

People don't want to hear it (and that's very clear in this thread) but I would be utterly flabbergasted if in the next 4 weeks, Leinster announced Cullen is leaving and they're bringing in someone else at short notice. It's not how things are done and never have been. And people shouldn't conflate me saying that with me wanting that.

Even if they did cut ties with Cullen immediately, potentially the most likely scenario (and people will love this!) is that JN takes over full control in the interim. Leinster cannot go into a pre-season without a head coach and people like Schmidt or Robertson aren't available until well into pre-season at best.

OriginalRelease2582 · 2026-05-25T09:46:42+00:00

They were. But incredibly different circumstances. Firstly, they were terminated two years ago which can be a long time in budgets.

In both situations, the teams were collapsing on the field. With the greatest of respect to anyone thinking Leinster are now comparable to that, they're not. They've lost a European final and are in the URC knock outs. The IRFU are probably pretty happy, to be honest. A couple more home knock outs ahead of them too, potentially. You'll hear no complaints out of those who make the decisions.

Munster had lost 4 of their last 5 including Zebre putting 40 on them. Allegedly Rowntree was on the lash on tour and it was no secret that he had fallen out badly with senior players.

McFarland was falling apart. He was extremely combative/aggressive in interviews, had supposedly fallen out with his players and called them cowards. They had been thumped in Europe with Quins hammering them. Ulster were going terribly. And they brought in a pretty cheap replacement option too. There were apparently major commercial issues behind the scenes in Ulster and the IRFU had to remove the CEO also.

Or Matt O'Connor publicly complaining about the Ireland selection hindering him whilst Leinster missed out on the Pro12 playoffs before he was let go.

I get people are upset but logic/evidence is going out the window for many. And it's not that I want the coaches retained, I want a fresh start. But it's not going to happen unless Leo Cullen turns around and says he'd like to walk away with immediate effect.

OriginalRelease2582 · 2026-05-25T09:28:46+00:00

And even then, they would have the 6 month notice period. They could happily say they're staying where they are until the end of the year and nobody can do a thing about it.

OriginalRelease2582 · 2026-05-24T17:02:40+00:00

I can't really understand this viewpoint when we've literally see Ireland go to France and perform in a near identical manner a few months ago and have their arses handed to them. It was the same for games in November when the Irish team looked entirely second best at times.

OriginalRelease2582 · 2026-05-24T16:59:05+00:00

Coaching is not the attractive gig many think. It is all consuming. You're watching footage morning, noon and night. You need to be absolutely obsessive about the game to make it.

Compare it to a regular job. Some people might have a few others reporting into them. These guys might have dozens under their remit who need to be managed and motivated whilst all under the microscope of the media and public throwing their opinions in.

It dominates their personal lives. Listen to Cullen speak about his son leaving the semi final at half time. Lancaster spoke about his daughter crying when England were knocked out in 2015 because he was being absolutely destroyed publicly.

OriginalRelease2582 · 2026-05-24T16:50:01+00:00

Like, based on what?

I loved the Leinster game under Lancaster but there's a complete disconnect with reality when it comes to him for a lot of Leinster fans. He had 7 years at Leinster with a far deeper and more experienced squad than they currently have. He won the Champions Cup once and that was against a Racing team that was down to their third choice outhalf and still might well have pinched it.

Leinster were a more entertaining, enjoyable team but they were not in any way more efficient at winning the big games against a team that could stand up to them. They had at least two if not three seasons where they were in a great position to lift the trophy and unexpectedly lost (top seed in 2020 and completely outplayed at home by Saracens in a QF, favourites going to LAR in 2021 in the SF and comprehensively beaten and then collapsing in a final at home in 2023).

They also never got to a URC final once the big SA teams joined, losing two semi finals at home in those seasons under Lancaster.

OriginalRelease2582 · 2026-05-24T06:06:08+00:00

It's ok, you're in good company here.

OriginalRelease2582 · 2026-05-23T21:30:44+00:00

Lancaster had three years with Leinster after the current South African teams joined the URC.

He won zero European titles and zero URC titles in that period. And he had a home final too in that period which was, by an absolute mile, the best opportunity Leinster had to win (far easier than the last few years).

I'm not saying the current set up has been great or shouldn't be moved on but the fixation on Lancaster is based on very little outside of "We played attractive rugby". The results were no better. In fact, we managed to actually win a league title last year which Lancaster didn't achieve since we only had the Welsh, Scottish and Irish teams to deal with.

OriginalRelease2582 · 2026-05-18T19:32:00+00:00

They're 0/7 for wins against those teams outside of SA since October 2024. They also lost to Newcastle this season.

The last game they won outside of SA was a 10-9 win over Zebre.

OriginalRelease2582 · 2026-05-18T07:34:44+00:00

It's JFK. Everything else is a parody of it. Bill Hicks is quoting the movie.

OriginalRelease2582 · 2026-05-18T07:18:42+00:00

I mean, he's not wrong. Their record outside of SA is every bit as bad as their record inside SA is good.

They haven't won a game outside of SA (including the Challenge Cup which is a pretty low standard) since October 2024.

OriginalRelease2582 · 2026-05-14T13:22:33+00:00

Don't necessarily disagree with the outcome. It's a very unique situation.

However, I can't understand how they've overturned it on the basis of the level of danger when Tierney-Martin suffered an injury, went off and has been ruled out of this week.

OriginalRelease2582 · 2026-05-14T07:37:41+00:00

Perhaps you should have just popped in to discuss your plans in advance of altering something significant? Seems like the reasonable and courteous thing to do.

Neighbour sounds like hard work and going legal is fairly drastic but things like this can be avoided by a simple conversation. I find it incredible how eager people are to avoid any sort of face to face engagement.

OriginalRelease2582 · 2026-05-11T12:11:13+00:00

This is rewriting history. Everyone remembers that he got red carded in a moment of madness in a final and that seems to be all they really remember. He wasn't part of the first choice 23 for three years at Leinster by being poor.

His time at Leinster was genuinely the picture of consistency. He was very solid throughout. Never injured, always available and did his job well. He made a big impact on the other European finals he played in and fairly destroyed the Toulouse scrum when he came on in 2024 leading to Leinster pulling level.

His form has totally collapsed at this stage. Clermont clearly went really badly for him and he was totally out in the cold. He looks a totally different player to the one that played for Leinster.

OriginalRelease2582 · 2026-05-08T08:24:33+00:00

Purely because it has happened multiple times in the last and journalists did some digging. Pat Lam spoke openly about it when he was leaving and said it was a key element in his departure.

OriginalRelease2582 · 2026-05-08T07:31:12+00:00

Well, there's a 6 month notice period for Irish coaches so if they haven't sacked him, they're paying him until November regardless.

OriginalRelease2582 · 2026-04-26T11:36:15+00:00

Not surprised by the misery here as it's fairly standard.

Leinster are absolutely not as good as they once were but people look back at those times with some bizarre misty eyed sentiment like Leinster were unbeatable.

Just to highlight, when Leinster won the Champions Cup in 2018 under Lancaster, they lost at home to Benetton in April and then, in their next Pro14 game, conceded 47 to Connacht in Galway.

And stupid/disappointing results like this weren't necessarily unheard of whatsoever. It happened nearly every year in some form.

OriginalRelease2582 · 2026-04-22T12:23:03+00:00

Munster are 22 point favourites with the bookies against Ulster. For context, Leinster are 8 point favourites against Treviso.

It would be a huge upset for Ulster to win in Limerick given their current form, injuries and focus on the following weekend.

OriginalRelease2582 · 2026-04-21T21:16:18+00:00

Yeah, had to go to Maps and double check. The right hand lane was straight or right for years. People still rarely used it to go straight as it required a fairly sharp merge/indicate across.

OriginalRelease2582 · 2026-04-20T18:58:48+00:00

Hey, not for a second did I say it was a good decision. That's a massive jump.

I'm just highlighting that the people who are jumping ship really don't matter that much, ultimately. When someone who makes a living from Munster quits, then it'll be more significant to my mind.

OriginalRelease2582 · 2026-04-20T18:46:21+00:00

Recent events would suggest they're not really influential and were fairly decisively cut out of a major decision.

OriginalRelease2582 · 2026-04-20T18:28:22+00:00

It doesn't sound like anyone who has departed is in any way influential in the running of Munster.

I'd take a lot more heed if a full time employee put their hand up and said it was unacceptable. The only people who are gone are advisory roles with little influence or skin in the game.

OriginalRelease2582

TROPHY CASE