Leinster v Northampton

[fivepointer]

LEINSTER vs NORTHAMPTON SAINTS
Heineken Champions Cup, Round 2 (Pool A)
Saturday 19 December 2020
RDS Arena
Kick-off: 1pm

15 Tom Collins
14 Ryan Olowofela
13 Fraser Dingwall
12 Rory Hutchinson
11 Taqele Naiyaravoro
10 George Furbank
9 Tom James

1 Alex Waller (c)
2 Sam Matavesi
3 Paul Hill
4 Alex Moon
5 Api Ratuniyarawa
6 Nick Isiekwe
7 Tom Wood
8 Shaun Adendorff

Replacements:
16 Mikey Haywood
17 Francois van Wyk
18 Owen Franks
19 Alex Coles
20 Teimana Harrison
21 Henry Taylor
22 Piers Francis
23 Matt Proctor

Not available due to injury:
Dan Biggar (knee), Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi (achilles), Lewis Ludlam (shin), Ollie Sleightholme (ankle), and Kayde Sylvester (achilles).

[Raggs]

Waller is an idiot. What on earth are you expecting to achieve by scrumming against Leinster on your 5m line when instead you could have used the free-kick.

[Mellsblue]

Great line by Dingwall.

[fivepointer]

Waller is an idiot. What on earth are you expecting to achieve by scrumming against Leinster on your 5m line when instead you could have used the free-kick.

It was utterly moronic.
The "defence" for the first Leinster try was schoolboy level. Saints have done well to come back into the game and score a couple of neat tries. Now just tighten up, dont give up soft possession and territory.

[Puja]

Waller is an idiot. What on earth are you expecting to achieve by scrumming against Leinster on your 5m line when instead you could have used the free-kick.

It was utterly moronic.
The "defence" for the first Leinster try was schoolboy level. Saints have done well to come back into the game and score a couple of neat tries. Now just tighten up, dont give up soft possession and territory.

What happened?

Puja

[switchskier]

Tom James has been quite impressive so far. Nothing too flashy but very solid for a third choice nine. Hutchinson seems to be playing ten as much as Furbank though, who's a little MIA atm.

[fivepointer]

Thought Tom James was excellent. Took his try nicely, got the ball away quickly and accurately. Based on that, he should get some more game time.
Saints were a frustrating mix of some very good parts allied with some truly awful parts.

[Raggs]

Waller is an idiot. What on earth are you expecting to achieve by scrumming against Leinster on your 5m line when instead you could have used the free-kick.

It was utterly moronic.
The "defence" for the first Leinster try was schoolboy level. Saints have done well to come back into the game and score a couple of neat tries. Now just tighten up, dont give up soft possession and territory.

What happened?

Puja

Waller an idiot what happened?

Saints won a scrum 5m out from their tryline, forced a knock on. The scrum ended up being a free kick due to Leinster shoving early. Saints scrum has not been great recently, and Leinster is Leinster. Waller, as captain, decided that instead of using a free kick on his 5m line to clear his lines with a massive kick, that the correct call was to scrum again. They lost possession with a free kick against them.

EDIT - Thing is, outside of a penalty (and how likely would that have been?) what result is Waller expecting that is better than a free kick under no pressure from his 5m line?

[Digby]

Saints were awful. Leinster weren't great but didn't need to be. At times this game saw uncontested plays by both defences, mostly from Saints.