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Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Hey there, we are Indosport with me, John Molloy. We cover sport and we have things like this.
If you ask Arsenal's defenders, Gabriel and Saliba, to play in that PSG team or that Bayern team, they would be exposed as much as those centre-backs were last night. Because effectively, the attackers were on top. Then you ask the question, how many defenders were actually on the pitch last night? Because none of the full-backs have no interest in defending. They're like wingers.
And I've seen Saliba and Gabriel in an open game in that League Cup semi-final doubleheader against Newcastle last season get torn apart by Izak.
I won't have anyone convince me that they can defend in that space.
Hello everybody and welcome to the Left Wing Podcast. The URC quarterfinals are done and dusted and there is only one Irish team left standing. Things kicked off last Friday night as Connacht came up short away to Glasgow, although it was a pretty spirited effort from Stuart Lancaster's side.
Then we moved on to Loftus First on Saturday and it was a tough day for Munster against the Bulls, a fairly chastening 45-14 defeat.
to end Clayton McMillan's first season in charge and then we round it off the weekend from an Irish perspective at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday night as Leinster bounce back from their humbling Champions Cup final defeat with a fairly hefty 59-10 win over the Lions. They march on to the semi-finals this Saturday where they host the Stormers at the Aviva Stadium.
Will Stoddard here with you, delighted to be joined on this week's episode of the Left Wing Podcast by Luke Fitzgerald and Jonathan Bradley. But first... A reminder that the Left Wing podcast is sponsored by Energia. Energia sponsors rugby in Ireland at all levels, at grassroots with the Energia AIL and as official energy partner to Leinster, Connacht and the Irish men's and women's teams.
The Energia Rugby for All initiative supports inclusion, welcoming everyone of all abilities to participate in the game. Find out more at energia.ie forward slash rugby and avail of an exclusive home energy offer for rugby fans. As well as the on-pitch action at the quarter-final stage, there was plenty off-the-field stuff happening over the last week or so as well.
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Chapter 2: What happened in the URC quarter-finals for Irish teams?
I suppose they were somewhat fortuitous in the sense that Glasgow didn't fully make their dominance pay on the scoreboard with a couple of those disallowed tries, even though they were rightly chalked off. But I think there was a lot to like about their defence. There was a lot to like about their defensive application. You mentioned Josh Ione there performing like a man.
He knows that Ciarán Froli is going to be there next year. I thought he was really, really good throughout. Yeah. I think just somewhat similar to the Montpellier game in the Challenge Cup.
Chapter 3: How did Connacht perform against Glasgow in the quarter-finals?
I just think they got on the wrong side of the referee and then find it difficult to get him back onside. And it wasn't even so much just the penalties. It was playing a team like Glasgow when they have penalty advantage. That just makes it so, so difficult. I'd love to know the stats of... how your chances of scoring a try increase whenever you're playing with the freedom of penalty advantage.
But whenever you watch that Glasgow attack and they just have that extra license to go at you, it makes it so, so difficult.
Chapter 4: What went wrong for Munster in their match against the Bulls?
And it felt like the Connors were almost constantly playing with Glasgow having a penalty in the back pocket.
Yeah, we mentioned that last week when we were talking about the Bordeaux-Lens game. Bordeaux's first three tries came with penalty advantage, which definitely gives you the freedom to, you know, kind of, as you say, pull some plays out that you mightn't do if you didn't have that luxury.
It's funny, maybe I'm suffering from Frawley derangement syndrome, but when you mentioned Josh O'Anne's performance there, I was thinking, like, is there a world where Frawley doesn't actually play 10 after all next year? Like, he's playing 15 or he's playing 12, potentially, like... We've seen that before when Lancaster was at Whitland Street. He played a lot of time in other positions.
Chapter 5: What are the implications of Munster's defeat for their future?
I've seen it with Joey Carberry as well.
Joey Carberry went to Munster to be a 10 and then played full-back a lot. There is precedent there as well.
Yeah, yeah. Luke, anything you want to add? It's funny, even though I do think Glasgow had the game, not in hand necessarily, but just had another gear. Like, when Connacht cut the gap to, I think, was it 28-21, you know, Sean O'Brien, like, drops that kickoff with a couple of minutes to go and Glasgow then get the clinching score.
If they just, like, retain that kickoff and clear upfield, they have a puntious chance of snatching extra time, potentially, and maybe going on to win the game. So even though Glasgow were maybe that bit better, Connacht were still in that game.
Yeah, I felt it was the toughest of the quarterfinals was the Connacht draw. I think they were the team of all the underdogs. They were the team that were playing the best. I think they looked the most cohesive, looked like their coach has really made a massive impact.
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Chapter 6: How did Leinster bounce back after their Champions Cup defeat?
And I think... Yeah, I thought it was really impressive by Glasgow. I would agree. My sense was that they would always get there. I think we're saying the same thing, aren't we? That it was kind of in hand. But I felt like they'd always get over the line. They've got a lot of threat. They really do have a lot of threat. And they hang on to the ball well.
They have a lot of good ballplayers, so they can get the ball to places where... they need to hurt you. They've got kind of big enough ball carriers as well who are kind of explosive and powerful. And I thought that did tell. I thought Conor... I mean, it's very clear why they got to the knockouts this year.
That massive, massive defensive improvement was just... And I thought they showed a huge amount of heart. They were all on the same page. Lots of really positive stuff. But I still think there is another gear for them to go... They just need to be maybe at the top level, one or two tries stingier when it comes to those bigger games. And they'll know that. They will know that.
But I think they can take it to another gear. I think all those things will be bedded in. I expect them to be, or they should expect, I think is probably a better way to phrase it, how I'm thinking about Connacht. They should expect to be a little bit better on that side of the ball again next year. They should go to another level. I think they've found something there. They found a unity.
They found a cohesiveness of thought. And I'm really impressed with them. I think like the key challenge for them, again, is going to be the same that it is probably most years is that, you know, do they have the depth when they have, you know, if there's a few injuries and can they deal with the weight of a heavier pack a la the kind of Montpellier game?
And Al had that kind of, I suppose, Glasgow rolling mall where they just couldn't really get a hold of it. But I mean, I really like Lowe. Just in terms of that, I thought Illo, like, I mean, he was outstanding at times in the game, I thought. Really, really impressed. Every time I've seen him, I've been really impressed. He had to be keeping Biela out as well.
I mean, that's, I think he is keeping Biela out of the team. So, I mean, that's a serious one-two punch to have in the tight end slot. So, that's very impressive. Interesting to see how they kind of cope with it. Dennis Buckley, we probably haven't seen as much of him this year. But, you know, I think there's a bit of change over there.
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Chapter 7: What is James Lowe's future in Irish rugby?
Heffernan as well. He's pushing on a little bit. So, I still think they need a little bit of depth. But... I was really impressed and they finished the season really well and expect them to get better next year. So kind of good on both sides, if you like, if that's possible from, you know, a loss from the Irish perspective. But I think Glasgow are a real threat coming into the semifinals.
I think they're really an excellent team and they're very well coached.
Yeah, I don't like to lean on the moral victory side of it, but Glasgow realistically would have been a team all season. We would have thought of us maybe knocking in around the top five in Europe. So for Connacht to go on the road and fire so many shots and to cause them so many problems, I think it is a very big staging post in their development.
And Jonathan, I've written down five things here that I think bode really well for next season for Connacht. Firstly, just like a second season under Lancaster, as Luke mentioned, just betting in the defence a bit more, even improving the attack. Another pre-season will be a big benefit for
like he mentioned earlier like they have five weeks off now but he's already kind of earmarking like mid-July looking forward to getting back on the training pitch with the team like they'll have key players back from injury who they didn't have in the running like Matt Hanson it's funny you kind of forgot he existed because he's been injured like all season but he's like one of the best attacking threats in the league and he'll be back hopefully fit and firing like even Sean Jansen who is a key man was just injured last weekend like he's generally been playing but he's like one of their best ball carriers like the young talent they have for next year as well
Like Billy Bohan, Sam Illo, who Luke mentioned, Darren Murray, who's been brilliant. Like Harry West, who was injured as well. I remember we were talking about him a couple of weeks ago. He looked really good at 13.
The new... Rendergast is going into that leadership role as well, guys. I think they'll have a few leaders in there, you know? And I wonder what Froli try and get into that kind of one of those roles when he gets down there, you know? He's very experienced. Like, you know, he's been kind of patchy in Leinster in terms of his form and being in the team.
But I think he could play a key role down there. If he's coming down with confidence, he's a quality player. If he stays injury-free, I think they're getting another leader as well down there. I like what I see from Frawley. I just wanted to put in there, Jonathan, I just think it's interesting how they kind of kick on.
And as I said, Prendergast as a leader, really liking everything about him at the moment. He's playing great, but leading the team very well, it looks like, too. Sorry to cut across.
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Chapter 8: What insights did Leo Cullen provide in his press conference?
42%. Oh, nice. You have the calculator.
No, no, no, no.
But yeah, that might be a bit too many. I know there have been upsets before. I think, you know, I remember Connick beating Ulster and Ravenhill a couple of years ago when they were an away team, but we haven't seen many away upsets. And Munster, when they won the league, obviously won in Glasgow first up or kept winning on the road.
But yeah, this weekend in particular, the game has felt a little drab. Mismatch is real.
It's more pronounced as well, obviously, when you have the cross-hemisphere travel. So it hasn't worked out particularly well for the league. I don't think that... What would that be? Five of their six knockout games before the final will involve two teams from different hemispheres playing each other.
And it's maybe no coincidence that the most competitive one, I know the Lions obviously stayed and they didn't make for a competitive game, but the most competitive game was the two teams from the same hemisphere playing each other.
Yeah, I was wondering, did they treat this two weeks as a holiday to the Lions? Because they didn't seem to have any benefit of having been in Ireland for the last two weeks. I just wanted to mention Andre Pollard because he wasn't the most eye-catching player necessarily on Saturday, but he kicked seven out of eight and a lot of tricky touchline kicks as well.
When they played earlier in the season, it was a really good game and he kicked six from six that day and was again integral in getting the scoreboard ticking over. They only won that game, I think, by three points. Obviously, it was a blowout at the weekend, but what's that, 13 out of 14 kicks in the two games? It's a very tricky one. It just shows the
his importance still as we go into a World Cup year shortly and be able to see how he figures. Just want to mention this before you finish on Munster, like I mentioned kind of my five reasons to be positive from a comic perspective. Like if you look at the same things and go from a Munster perspective, they're all pretty alarming bar one.
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