Fin Smith on Leinster Chaos & England Ambition | The Rugby Pod

[@T800Trak]

Irish Fan here ,what a great honest and nice young man .Very well spoken and very fair Well done Fin.

[@tomf1dublin1]

Leinster fan here . Fin played a great game on Saturday . Very impressed . Such a well rounded speaker as well . Every success in his career . Pity our young 10 is not given the chances to play afforded to Fin in Northampton .

[@lucasambielle6756]

Before talking about chaos at the breakdown and Leinster 'cheating' you should mention the 7 or 8 -unforced- knock-ons of Northampton in the first-half as well as the offside at the restart that gave Leinster a scrum in the centre of the pitch. I was cheering for Saints on Saturday but they simply were not good enough.

[@davidwalker2402]

I think that sums it up, both English teams are still playing catch up in Europe just now.

[@garyambrosini1427]

​@davidwalker2402 tbf, for the last 3 or 4 years it's only been Leinster, La Rochelle and Toulouse who have been able to win the champions cup. Most of the other teams, french and irish too, aren't close atm.

[@EnglishVeteran]

What a great young man Fin is . He came across really well and I would say a future leader for England. Great interview, you lads banged out some pretty hard questions but he gently pushed them through the covers! 😊

[@dreamcatchersong]

Ireland fan here, Finn Smith will be great for England and Saints, and a current and future top player. How good is his point kicking!

[@andrewkelly7065]

Leinster cheating ?? TBF the young lad never said that but the two guys saying that is a shame. Sometimes you just get beat by a better team lads.

[@pad4]

The handling errors cost Saints the match, not the referee. I don't think making excuses is good for the future of English rugby.

[@danielg8001]

At his age he is an awesome player with such intelligence. When they played Munster he took them apart. Some of his kicks into the 22 were reminiscent of Ronan at his best. Unfortunately he was wearing a Northampton shirt! Good luck to him.

[@rjirving]

What an articulate young man. Great interview. Really like him as a player - great hands, vision and fantastic tackler. He will go far.

[@some_might_say]

Leinster were not at their best esp with a misfiring fly half so they were poor by their own standards. NH came back and showed what they can do but I suspect if Leinster had have played to their usual high standard the result would have been greater

[@LOGOS422]

Playing at Croke Park brought more pressure on Leinster. At the Aviva they would have won more comfortably as it's more familiar.

[@terencemacsweeney3667]

The Saints started too slow and then were fumbling and making mistakes, they really did not get into the game until well into the second half. How much of that is down to Leinster and the speed of play, - a lot I think. My thoughts are that opposition teams will see Leinster start both halves at full speed with a huge onslaught, but if you are close to them midway through the second half they are beatable.

[@MartinJames-s3n]

Great to see the boys back together - there is an energy there guys. Fin - old head on young shoulders- class.

[@brianmsahin]

Fair play to Saints, they put up a good fight and made it worthy of a semi final contest. I enjoyed relaxing and sipping my Guinness for the first 53 minutes, but was sitting on the edge of my seat for the rest of it. In fairness Leinster lowered the intensity in the 2nd half probably thinking the job is done, and important URC games coming up but they were surprised by the Saints comeback for sure. Looking at the game again, after the Saints scored that 2nd great try, Leinster did shut it down as they didn't look anywhere near scoring again. Excellent interview with a very smart young man who is also a great player. This will be a learning experience for him and his younger teammates. It was also a timely kick in the behind for Leinster warning not to get to complacent against top quality teams like Northampton.

[@slugger7520]

Can you bring your drink back to your seat in Croke Park?

[@brianmsahin]

@@slugger7520 Under the GAA rules you can't drink in the stadium itself, but you can at the Aviva. It's a bummer for some I suppose. However if someone can't stay away from alcohol for 40 minutes or so until half time, they have bigger problems to worry about. Personally I don't drink at any games, I can go to the pub for that, or have a few in front of TV. Best way to enjoy a live game is not to have to worry about spilling your beer on another fan in front of you if your team scores a try and frankly, those plastic cups are disgusting. Ruins the enjoyment of having a beer.

[@davidwalker2402]

Whining why ? Leinster and Toulouse are far better teams and both deserved to win , at least fin didn’t get into the whining. NH made twice as many tackles as Leinster that shows which team was playing rugby and which team was defending…

[@danedwadd62]

They literally said they was the better teams

[@davidwalker2402]

@@danedwadd62 they did after they spent the usual time whining about referee decisions. Referee had nothing to do with the teams that won full stop.

[@user-is9of]

Saints scored 2 lucky tries one of which with an injured leinster player on the ground 🤔

[@danedwadd62]

@@davidwalker2402 final decision was literally wrong call in Leinster game

[@smudgersmith2650]

Tremendous interview from Fin, honest appraisal on the Saints performance, the boy has a big future.

[@kevinvolf8387]

Having watched Fin against the Irish provinces this year I think he's a great talent. Things would have been really hard for his side in these fixtures if he hadn't been rewarding them with near perfect goalkicking and keeping the scoreboard pressure on the opposition. He does a great job with the questions here as well; the first one about chaos / cheating is a really awkward one to answer. Andy and Jim were setting him up to look like a sore loser and he showed great maturity to avoid the trap. The contract questions were really awkward as well and maybe he stumbled a little there but generally really impressive showings from a 21 year old

[@stabcitySB]

Just thinking about it now, Northampton have been at the highest level so many times in Europe, like early 2000’s, broke our Munster hearts, throughout the 2010’s- and now into the 2020’s. Serious outfit. I thought they were unlucky with the final ruck the last day but sometimes these things go your way, others they don’t and as much as it pains me, Leinster are just class. Great game, no shame in losing that one.

[@PaddyV]

Very grounded and honest - great maturity for his age as well

[@mikekirkpatrick6718]

Saffa here. What a nice kid and so sensible too. Sure we'll see some great rugby from him upcoming.

[@dublinthaiboxing4317]

If Byrne take one of the two missed conversions and take the penalty he missed.. it’s not so close

[@DM-rp9ik]

Yeah, very true Northampton kicked at 100% and Leinster at 40%

[@MattRose-f2n]

"Play the ref" is a saying as old as time... you can't always blame the referee; I'm sure Northampton got away with lots of stuff too.

[@fionnmckool]

Was at the match and they got away with a red card at least, 5 meters in front of me. Finns a good lad and has a bright future

[@MattRose-f2n]

@@fionnmckool push off the ball in the lead up to Northampton's second try as well, but sure look, games over...

[@Nieljoyceniel]

@@fionnmckooldo you know what minute and the players involved?

[@MattRose-f2n]

@@Nieljoyceniel The first try - 58.08, Freeman pushes Porter into Larmour before the ball.

[@t1h3r3]

Future for England at 10 is bright with Fin and Marcus 🔥

[@davidwalker2402]

Neither of them have proven themselves on the international stage yet, and Farrell deserves to be chosen for the Lions ahead of both of them .

[@EdLo3]

Great guy and definitely the incumbent No.10 for England. It will be an unbelievable fight-out between the two Smiths over the coming years BUT Fordy is still a class, class act so it might be a while until Fin gets the reigns. Great to hear he's inspired by Mounga! He'll learn his trade, hopefully get more games like Leinster and kick-on from there.

[@DM-rp9ik]

Why do English teams always give out about the breakdown. Surely, you just adjust to what the rest of the world is doing

[@MaryHarry-hh4pq]

Fin you where great son from leinster fan.

[@ianllewelyn9658]

What a mature and impressive young man!

[@daireharlin181]

Gibson park is the best rugby player in europe if not the world this season

[@PB22559]

He's playing well but Dupont is out on his own.

[@inamortz2372]

Ah here. Dupont is still on another level.

[@kenrehill8775]

Dupont os still beyond him. He’s lost 4-5kg in recent weeks and is shredded from his time with the sevens in cap Breton. It’ll be a great clash at the end of the month

[@Conorguill]

@@PB22559 Dupont is not playing union this year

[@Gilescowdemdem]

@@Conorguill Huh? He played on the weekend?

[@smoozerish]

good interview

[@sylvester5566]

Good chatty interview. In my opinion, the questions about contracts are unfair on a young man playing well, who could benefit from the Croke Park experience.

[@andrewharris1837]

Imagine Smith at flyhalf and Marcus at fullback,Freeman &Slade in the centres with Sleightholme and Wei Ferbosa on the wings phwoar 😅

[@lizzyhanahoe4197]

Please explain why you say Leinster cheated? Great young player, sure he’ll be around for a long time and will only improve with experience, well done to him.

[@adamuprichard491]

I can't help but feel since Irelands quarter final exit and England winning at Twickers combined with the nauseating SA fan boy love off there is a subtle underhanded mugging off the Irish everyone on this pod cast is intimating but not voicing directly about this pod cast now.

[@andrewwhyte9316]

Taking accountability is a rare trate these days even more rare within the business world top marks for taking accountability.

[@aaronforde9608]

Leinster were playing at 70% and could have run away with it if they hit top form. Best team won. Fin is a cracking player though, very mature.

[@andrew097]

I think Northampton did very well considering Leinster 1st half. Everything went right for them and little for Northampton.

[@jonbrook4009]

I think Horthampton did very well considering they were practically playing the Ireland national team...

[@MrStarfishPrime]

This guy is only 21 and sounds more mature than most of the 50 yo people.

[@michaelvdunne]

James talk about cheating remember Niall Beck famous hand on Peter Stringer in final of Heineken cup!!!! Every time you talk about cheating remember that one.

[@neillscan]

Jeezus Saints were never going to win until Leinster took the foot off the gas. As for cheating and slightly off in the first half was better described by a man half your aged.

[@JamesMacleanEsq]

Gutted he didn't follow his grandad and play for Scotland

[@johnhanson5943]

Leinster were way ahead. The score-line didn’t reflect the gulf between the two. It would be better for young players to avoid this type of pod / hype.

[@jasonwall5012]

A load of bollix, Cheating have you ever heard so much dribble in all your days. Also the Northampton high tackles, and collapsing the mauls and offsides, side entries at the rucks, and so on, then what would you call that??? As i said a lot of bollix. Also, what's Jim Hamiltons' problem with Ireland and Leinster?. Is it bitter sour grapes or what?.

[@markmacken1]

This is some propaganda from the english. Andy and Jim at it none stop

[@gprugby]

Unsubscribing. Too much fan-boying and buzz words about growing the game etc! Everything that is wrong with rugby.

[@robertol6577]

Crooked throws at the lineout, Northampton offside all day in midfield but still Leinster are cheating?

[@Johan-rg3vo]

There was a few saints high hits/tackles that ref ignored...

[@amantedellopera1681]

Yes saint threw crooked the whole game,and should have had a yellow maybe even a red card,so ref missed stuff for both sides,english are never happy,always whinging their pundits are worse,that arsehole stephen jones being by far the worst