Bristol v Leinster Reaction | Champions Cup Rugby | 2024/25

[@harryocallaghan8082]

Despite missing Sheehan, Furlong, Keenan, Lowe, Baird & Osborne they still managed to put 23pts on Bristol away, who are joint top of the Premiership table with Bath. And they got two yellow cards. That’s very encouraging to see especially with young Prendergast at outhalf who was brilliant. Controlled the game very well and with J Barrett coming in I’d imagine they’ll be using him a lot at inside centre which is his best position. It’s almost impossible to stop Leinster when they get into the oppositions half. They rarely leave that part of the field without scoring. And their structures in defence is really coming together now under Nienaber. They’ll be serious contenders again this year.

[@readesiun988]

This was a painful watch right up to Leinster 13 men point and suddenly Leinster go up two gears and just march up the pitch and score. Second half just destroyed Bristol in a few minutes. Jordie showed his class from the off, you must be proud to see him do so well on his first outing, watching Snyman tear down that pitch was a sight to behold and god love the back who was left to tackle him. Leinster were just enjoying themselves in the second half, Prendergast looks like he has been there for years, the boy has it, in bucketloads, good to see him continue on and play the big games. The ref was just very strange, seemed to me he was the cause of most of the problems in the scrum. he was painfully slow with his calls. JDF man of the match, the man is a machine , all in all given the major storm that hit us this weekend it was a great start to the Champions cup.

[@kiaoragin]

Sam P showed a little speed that I dint see before. Some nice jinking too.

[@ericdavison6186]

And he chooses the right time. I think that's Cullens mantra. Timing precision and pressing advantages

[@karlboylan6382]

Jordie Barrett looking at home in a Leinster shirt. Pity it's only for 6 months.

[@TwoCentsRugby]

Yeah not a bad start!

[@Camcolito]

I reckon Jordie O'Barrett will stay on.

[@Scumbelina55]

@@Camcolito 🤞

[@ColmDevitt57]

Leo et al, thank you for your contribution.

[@lawLess-fs1qx]

He only needs 5 months to win the Heineken cup. 6 months to do the double. Heino & URC.

[@neilmontgomery3470]

It was an incredibly windy night which made for a nessy game.The encouraging thing was how well Leinster were with 13 men.

[@TwoCentsRugby]

Yeah man conditions this weekend have been rough

[@kevindevane6175]

@@TwoCentsRugby Storm Darragh Babby!!!!

[@Cpchurch87]

Shows the difference of getting our starters on the pitch. 6 or 7 of that 15 wouldnt be starting if a final was tomorrow (and everyone fit) and some of the 23 wouldnt make a final 23. Very mixed backline too missing a few key playmakers. Jordie really played that role when he came on. Could be crucial for us. I had a feeling that the bench would make the difference. Postitives is our defence is looking solid. Bristol have averaged 35 points/game this season. Hopefully we click a bit more in attack as we go on, as Toulouse are looking dangerous

[@pscotXRPking]

Leinster subs on in the second half Barrett Doris Porter Synman

[@ColmOkeeffe-f8u]

Mark love your podcast, leinster with jordie is definitely a winner, much respect from an Irish fan,

[@Stephno86]

Prendagast, JVF, Snyman, Barrett where outstanding ...first half was one to remember, also big mention for Guss McCarthy..has to be a starter from now on , till sheehan comes back anyway....reff...what a joke of a man.

[@raymonddixon7603]

The first half was one to forget!!

[@barryb90]

It wasn't a great game. The bench was all the difference for Leinster. I have to say Prendergast was fantastic, VDF really stepped up when we went 2 men down. Jordie Barrett, what a man.

[@Natedawg38]

Leinster + Snyman + Barrett = R.E.F. Rugby Expeditionary Force.

[@gezzarandom]

Solid enough win for Leinster. Although Bristol will be gutted they didn’t take more advantage when Leinster were down to 13 and conceded as well.

[@TwoCentsRugby]

Yeah man that was a golden opportunity wasted

[@andrewsmith-cm9qw]

As we say in Scotland MINCE. as in Bristol are MINCE. you should have watched Bordeaux/Leicester it was a cracking match and the mighty Glasgow Sale Sharks came to Scotstoun and went back to England as Sale Goldfish.😀

[@JohnHirsch88]

5 mins of Leinstertainment was all that was needed

[@jimbo1706]

Commentator "Jordi Barrett could soon become a favourite with the Leinster fans" It's Jordi f****** Barrett, lad, he's been a hero with rugby fans around the world for years But seriously, what a debut from the man. Injected thr zest we needed to kick on and win like we meant it

[@spearsgears]

That was Ryle being sarcastic mate ffs

[@alanmulcahy7749]

​@@michaelmoynihan9591 I believe the family spent a year in Ireland when the boys were young - I think Beauden was 10.

[@jimbo1706]

@@michaelmoynihan9591what are you talking about?

[@jimbo1706]

@@spearsgears thank you for your imput

[@conormarren]

Ringrose smoked McGinty: McGinty's dad was a teacher in their school 🎉

[@petehendo8]

I don’t think it made a difference to the outcome as Leinster were awesome in the second half, but how on gods green earth was it not a yellow for the second trip. Fair play to Leinster, we’ve been averaging 36 points a game in the prem this year, their line speed was awesome, didn’t allow us to play our running rugby.

[@alanmulcahy7749]

As a Leinster fan, definite yellow... However, the ref was very harsh on Leinster in 1st half & TMO failed to spot a Bristol obvious hands in the ruck 5 yards from line just B4 the ref's warning (IMHO, yellow & likely try). It looked like the ref came out @ start if 2nd half trying make it up to Leinster (might have been a "discussion" in officials' changing room). I thought most of his scrum decisions were wrong (possibly flicking coin in pocket?) Anyway, I think the best team won & both sides tried to play some rugby.

[@Dreyno]

@@alanmulcahy7749Pat Lam’s teams always try and play. As a Connacht fan, Plan A not working was always followed by Plan A but more. God I miss a Pat Lam coached Connacht. Showtime.

[@petehendo8]

@@alanmulcahy7749 yeah ref had a mare. That last incident, he said ball was not out, so we didn’t play it. Then he said he might have been wrong!! Harding made the point, if he would have said out they would have fallen on it and recycled it. As for the scrums, we got away lightly feel like a lot of the resets could have been penalties to Leinster.

[@petehendo8]

@@Dreyno another reason we couldn’t play our game. After AJ went off we didn’t have a 10. Our two backup 10s in Williams and Mailins are injured. Ironic thing about last night is I read from a reliable source that Barrett turned us down in favour of Leinster. I mean you can’t blame him lol

[@alanmulcahy7749]

@@petehendo8 I think he chose to spend his break in Ireland even before the rugby decision - which would have the same result ! Although working with Lam would have been good.

[@Scumbelina55]

Already love Jordie! Felt spoilt having him, RG, and World Player of the Year nominee Doris on our bench 💙

[@TomRichards-s9r]

Pretty solid performance by leinster

[@LFire12]

Leinster weren't at the races till they went down to 13, then they finally woke up. But that Ref...for BOTH sides...was just bizarre. The scrum mess was in large part down to his calls which were incredibly slow...and then he was guessing...started handing out frees and pens, and it all went to crap. The stuff at the end showed exactly how much he was not in control... the TMO was right, Dorris was onside, but the ref got himself out of a hole for his terrible calling by pretending he wasn't. But Leinster need a bit of swift kick, they are ill disciplined and some of those players need the riot act read to them. JVDF (especially), Conan and Ringrose (that drop at the end notwithstanding) were excellent...and Prendergast, still finding his feet, had a really good game, and showed up as a running threat which is pleasing. J'OB and Larmour also stood up well though didn't get a huge amount to do. But the bench was class...Barrett was everywhere...and Porter's pass to Snyman for the break and Prendergasts support line made that try a thing of beauty.

[@TwoCentsRugby]

Yeah the way he dismissed the TMO for that final no try had a touch of "I'm getting out of this hole I dug" about it

[@kevindevane6175]

Bizare calls all weekend!

[@Camcolito]

BiNd!

[@alanmulcahy7749]

​@@TwoCentsRugby Good refs just say: I made a mistake, scrum to X...

[@rahimoneill7294]

Ref sent both props to the bin because the ref didnt have a clue how to ref the scrum. Such a basic lack of professionalism...he shouldnt be near a top tier game again. Clearly out of his depth.

[@mjomalley]

back to "ref school' for that one

[@JoeBloggz-x2j]

The general standard of reffing to very poor TBF.

[@niallormond6972]

Have never seen brousset have a good game as ref , he has history of looking at incidents watching them back with tmo making a decision only for it to be reviewed after the game to say he got it wrong clearly

[@paulnash5500]

Leinster were very rusty. One week of training for the test players. Jordie Barrett played well for a first game. Good win for Leinter. They could do without the tripping.. stupid. The scrums 😢

[@captain.awesome4172]

What is this tournament? Are these all the Northern countries? French English Irish Scots?

[@alanmulcahy7749]

European Rugby.....South Africa, Ireland, France, England, Scotland, Wales & Italy... I suppose it is a bit confusing alright...

[@charlottescott7150]

The top teams in the URC plus English premiership (but there are 8 out of the 10 English teams in it which seems odd) plus Top14

[@brianmsahin]

It was a crazy messy game and not saying the players weren't a little at fault but, that referee had absolutely no control over the game. The ref is an important part of the setup but this guy failed miserably. He didn't stamp his authority on the field and chaos ensued for most of the first half and parts of the second. Leinster winning yet again, and comfortably despite not playing well is a warning to other teams when they actually do get it together which I think they will. Prendergast is a future superstar.

[@robbiee814]

It wasn't just the lack of control, the ref was primarily to blame for the issues with the scrums his calling for the set was all over the place which meant the props had no stability on the engage. Not to mention the inconsistency in the calls for the trips and the shambles for the no try at the end!

[@tonymurphy9795]

@@robbiee814 Refs have the power to ruin games.

[@charlottescott7150]

Which ref was it?

[@brianmsahin]

@@charlottescott7150 It was Pierre Brousset Charlotte.

[@charlottescott7150]

@@brianmsahin thank you. I'll keep an eye out for him!

[@cathalsheehan9596]

That’s why Prendergast is the Lions 10 in waiting!

[@Driver2616]

I was at the game. It was frustrating because the referee seemed to us to be interfering too much, making bad decisions, not allowing the game to flow….. And it was all capped off by him not allowing the Doris try! Forget the weather. It wasn’t that bad and anyway, all these players can play properly in bad weather, if allowed by the ref. At the end of the first half, it was obvious at that stage that Bristol had thrown everything they had in their armoury at Leinster and that was it for them. So it was very predictable then that all Leinster had to do in the second half was play their game effectively and they would run away with it. As it turned out that’s exactly what happened.

[@davidcanavan169]

I was going to say what are you doing dropping the kids to school on Sunday morning and then I remembered it's Monday for you😂

[@degsiemcdegface459]

Ref was pure muck. Well done Leinster.

[@tonymurphy9795]

Being Irish I was delighted to see Leinster win. So I have no axe to grind when I say the referee was terrible, especially when it came to the scrum where he'd have been better off tossing a coin.

[@tommybyrne6735]

I’m delighted that Leinster won but My Jaysus that Ref was Shocking 🤦‍♂️🇮🇪

[@kevindevane6175]

I'm afraid Kelligher's time as starting 2 has come to an end.

[@simonwall9769]

Hate criticising the ref, but he had, zero control of the game. He was making it upotv as he went along. Zero idea what was going on at scrum time. It was the most incompetent referring display I've seen in some time.

[@alanmulcahy7749]

Yes, And I have seen some bad ones...

[@somersetfan1]

Toulouse were different class today. Honestly, if they keep that standard, I can't see anyone beating them, even South African altitude and heat.

[@JoeBloggz-x2j]

Wrong video mate.

[@k0bra3eak40]

Leinster's bench saved this game from being pure drivel. Jordie and RG are miracle signings

[@TwoCentsRugby]

Yeah man jeez RG, Jordie, Doris, Porter from the bench... nuts!

[@somersetfan1]

Bristol nixed by not having a fly half on the bench, but the Leinster subs were the difference

[@davidwalker2402]

The match was ruined by the referee , its difficult to know why he’s allowed referee these games, no control bad decisions mistakes .

[@colmgeiran3476]

Leinster has 2 squads to avail of. The second half batch pretty damn good: Snyman and Barret looking the part. As for the Tripping, hope the guys quit this carry-on. Sammy P looking like the real deal. Coybib.

[@eugenegerber5805]

Barrett looking much better at club level

[@MrRoGoNow]

Ref had a very negative impact on that game.

[@seamusryan2320]

Awful refereeing performance. Didn’t seem to know the rules!

[@spearsgears]

Honestly all of the bollocks in the scrums was Lahiff, he went to ground 9 out of 10 times. Absolutely useless.

[@TwoCentsRugby]

It was painful man

[@fawltyoldboybasil.2178]

Couple of things stuck out for me re Leinster players - Leinster fans who have been touting Max Deegan got to see why he has not been able to make the Ireland squad on a steady basis. His decision making in general is just not good enough. The Yellow Card he got was 100% justified. The scrum situation is not good - although the officiating on Sunday was a complete head-scratcher. Work to do.

[@mjomalley]

ref had a very poor game

[@michaelodonnell824]

Bristol will either field their underage squad or their Women's team in France... That's standard English Premiership reaction if they lose their first European match at home...

[@caius8614]

Felt like I had a stroke watching this game.

[@TwoCentsRugby]

It was genuinely a bizarre one mate

[@kieranoconnor4334]

Bristol top of the Premier in UK?! WTF!

[@charlottescott7150]

In the English clubs defence, they have a very low salary cap since Covid. Something like 6 times less than Leinster for example.

[@jasonwall5012]

The ref was an absolute joke and a half. Encouraging stuff from Sam 5/5 kicks cross field kicks and great passing in such shite conditions.

[@FJM992]

I don’t normally bash the refs but this one was an absolute clown. It sounded like he had won a competition just to be there and had never refed a game of rugby before.

[@fragmentedtheory]

Gonna go find some bleach for my eyes

[@TwoCentsRugby]

Wait wait, reset a scrum first

[@fragmentedtheory]

​@@TwoCentsRugbyvisibly saw players aging during that

[@Kenny-zn6dl]

Leinster made four changes at halftime, Doris, porter, snymen and wait for it....Barrett, all four would possibly make world 15 international team, Leinster struggled without them, toulouse are miles ahead of the chasing pack and will most likely win another champions cup.

[@charlottescott7150]

Shame for Bristol. Leinster too good.

[@foxyboiiyt3332]

Watching Leinster is pointless. Easily win, boring. Knew they would win easily and they did. They will march to the final then lose, its what they do. I don't even bother watching their games anymore

[@MattRose-f2n]

great, can you stop commenting on Leinster stuff now?

[@Camcolito]

@@MattRose-f2n Yeah maybe he can stop commenting first, then stop watching at his leisure 😂

[@alexmunro8231]

Mybe just me but these refs are so bad. Bulls game the refs talk French to each other or I assume it was French. The game needs to invest in refs. An really decide how the team works together. This is almost like when line out goes wrong. I think they should pick team of refs to work together for a season. Evaluate the performance of the team of refs.

[@fergalohearga9594]

Pretty shite match altogether ... The God Almighty Prendergast fortunate and as always, the Leinster press will be throwing their garlands ... he was actually pedestrian but then, I'm from Cork.

[@alanmulcahy7749]

I find a better balance from some Limerick rugby supporters...both shoulders... IMHO: - The kid is a good outhalf & needs a chance to develop. - Crowley is already good & is further along his development (& a different style & has a very high ceiling) - Frawley has not been given enough game time & needs to play 10 to reach his potential too.

[@heads2gether]

Fortunate to score two tries and steer his team to an away win in Europe at 21? I'm sure Crowley will be at ten for Ireland in 6N but SP is exciting

[@deirdreryan5674]

Rubbish game and SP is not ready

[@heads2gether]

Not ready for..?

[@GoldenbanjoDJ]

The weirdest reffing performance ever. Didn’t even give a chance for the scrums to form before giving pens, setting precedent early on. The chat for the Doris attempt was comical. And if he’s binned one guy for a trip and then sees another trip doesn’t give a yellow? He was bizzare