HEC: Munster vs Northampton Saints, Sat 12 Nov 6pm, Sky Sports

BarackPyjama wrote: »

I don't disagree in general. The refereeing at the World Cup was an absolute disgrace but I'd have to disagree that Nothampton were robbed by the referee tonight. He made some questionable decisions which went against both sides in more or less equal measure.

Did you see when Northampton mauled it?

Northampton start maul. POM jumps on top of the maul, should be penalty yellow card, putting the people in the maul and himself in danger. Maul rolls on. POC comes in around in the side to try and disrupt it, but fails. Then the entire Munster front row jumps in on the other side to try and disrupt the maul, and while it's still rolling on Owens gives scrum Munster.

Also we had a few knock ons in the final play. And Varley's knock on in the run up to Howlett's try. He was worth around 20 points to Munster.

Some finish! I couldn't see it happening after they got knocked back over the half way but I think Chambers made a break and they got the momentum then. No better man to nail the kick!

There were positives and negatives from the match.

POM showed he is up to this level. He now must be first choice backrow.
Donnacha Ryan was excellent.
Coughlan made little impact but Leamy was superb when he came on. He loves to get stuck in. Coughlan seems to struggle past a certain level.
The maul was superb but they didn't use it wisely.
Murray had an average game. Done some good and some bad things.
The front row had a day to forget.
Niall Ronan mixed the good with the bad. Wallace would make a big difference there.

The Munster back play was brutal. They looked clueless at times when trying to link up. Running into one another and players not expecting the ball etc. Even Northampton looked in a different class. They need somebody new there, somebody who can coach them the basics. Joe Schmidt perhaps?

matthew8 wrote: »

Northampton will be seriously pissed off. They would have got a try bonus win if it wasn't for Owens. The problem wasn't the scrum put in, it was the actual scrum and some of the mauls, and the knock ons at the breakdown.

dont be so one eyed, munster should also have had another 2 tries... you will also find that very few SH's ever feed the ball in straight.

twinytwo wrote: »

dont be so one eyed, munster should also have had another 2 tries... you will also find that very few SH's ever feed the ball in straight.

Lol what a hilarious post given your whinging after the world cup final.

chupacabra wrote: »

The more I see Howlett the more I think he would be a great center in his twilight years.

if he still had the legs he would have destroyed the saints tonight.

Owens made bad calls on both sides. I think both teams had that disadvantage. It was an even playing field. As a point both sides had tries that came from knock-ons.

Some of the scrum calls confused me though...

What made this game so good for me was how evenly matched both teams seemed to be. The two tries in the first 10 minutes really summed that up.

It was 80 minutes of intense, scintillating, at times sublime rugby. Aside from the poor reffing, this was a great showcase for european rugby.

.. I still can't believe this was only a pool match on the first weekend.

Anyone else think Downey played really well? One dimensional? Not quite. Howlett looked great too, as did Hurley... Keith who?

.ak wrote: »

Anyone else think Downey played really well? One dimensional? Not quite. Howlett looked great too, as did Hurley... Keith who?

Keith Who might have finished off the break Hurley made!

.ak wrote: »

... also don't know why the scrum feeds have been highlighted so much in this match. It's like this in all games... I haven't seen a ball rolled into the frontrows in a long, long time...

That was just Dewi Morris losing the run of himself. He tries to be impartial but sometimes the emotion comes pouring out.

sock puppet wrote: »

Yep. Two of the world's best refs gave a few calls in favour of the home team. But of course this game is different because you support one of those teams.

you will find i was supporting the abs in the final. You will also find i havent defended any of the decisions made tonight. Lets be honest there is no comparison between the two... but whatever makes you feel happy. Continue to nit pick away.;)

Auvers wrote: »

are RTE showing highlights tonight?

TG4 has rights their program starts at 20 past nine and goes on till 20 past twelve

EDIT Forgot the T

CIARAN_BOYLE wrote: »

G4 has rights their program starts at 20 past nine and goes on till 20 past twelve

With 3 hours they should be able to give each game a good amount of time.