Munster Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread.

rrpc · 02-04-2012 11:35am

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

I thought Murray was quite good against France and Reddan was quite poor against England so for me, Murray is still the guy Ireland need to go with. If Marshall comes in ahead of Reddan and challenges Murray then it's a good thing for Ireland.

I don't think any scrum half would have been good against England and since England took Reddan's main weapon away from him (quick ball), he was bound to struggle. Things didn't improve when TOL came on (not really likely anyway) but it certainly wasn't an outcome that Reddan could be blamed for.

All you can really say about the England game is that it was where Kidney's luck with injuries (and his poor selection ploicies) finally went against him.

Amazotheamazing · 02-04-2012 11:41am

rrpc wrote: »

I don't think any scrum half would have been good against England and since England took Reddan's main weapon away from him (quick ball), he was bound to struggle. Things didn't improve when TOL came on (not really likely anyway) but it certainly wasn't an outcome that Reddan could be blamed for.

All you can really say about the England game is that it was where Kidney's luck with injuries (and his poor selection ploicies) finally went against him.

Not so much blamed for as highlighted a weakness. Is it worth persisting with reddan given his age wrt to younger guys like Murray and Marshall? Not really, imo. He doesn't have their potential.

irishbucsfan · 02-04-2012 11:43am

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

irishbucsfan wrote: »

D'Arcy is better at 12 than both McFadden and O'Malley though. When he is playing for Leinster.

They're both getting plenty of opportunity though recently.

As for Luke, he has had an excellent season. Conway isn't close to that jersey yet.

I really like Fitz, I think he has the full bag of tricks and he seems to be nice guy but on Saturday I couldn't help but think how little end product there is to anything he does. It looks good but is it anything more than that? As I said before, I'd have him as Ireland's replacement 13 to BOD but I'm not sure he's a back three player anymore. If you compare Nacewa to Fitz as utility back three players, Nacewa is leagues ahead of him.

I don't know about that at all.

He created a try for Kearney from an outside break. The only other person to have that much creative influence on the game really was Madigan with his cross-field kick to Nacewa. Munsters defense gave nothing.

Look at his form before his injury, he was absolutely electric against Bath. Scored a couple of tries and created others.

He needs to do more to create these things because he doesn't have that Fionn Carr pace. I think when he's not having a run of games he loses the confidence to try those things that compensate for that. But that kick, take and pass to Kearney show he's there or thereabouts right now.

I would like to see him at 12 but I think hes still one of our best attacking threats at 11.

Amazotheamazing · 02-04-2012 11:49am

irishbucsfan wrote: »

I don't know about that at all.

He created a try for Kearney from an outside break. The only other person to have that much creative influence on the game really was Madigan with his cross-field kick to Nacewa. Munsters defense gave nothing.

Look at his form before his injury, he was absolutely electric against Bath. Scored a couple of tries and created others.

He needs to do more to create these things because he doesn't have that Fionn Carr pace. I think when he's not having a run of games he loses the confidence to try those things that compensate for that. But that kick, take and pass to Kearney show he's there or thereabouts right now.

I would like to see him at 12 but I think hes still one of our best attacking threats at 11.

How good are Bath though? And again, where's the end product? At the end of it he just doesn't have the pace of any of Ireland's other wing options. I think it's natural to want to see him in the centre but that in itself is an admission he's not such a great wing he shouldn't be moved.

rrpc · 02-04-2012 11:50am

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

Not so much blamed for as highlighted a weakness. Is it worth persisting with reddan given his age wrt to younger guys like Murray and Marshall? Not really, imo. He doesn't have their potential.

Of the two, Marshall has a better chance currently because he's more suited to playing the game Sexton plays than Murray. Reddan can't last the pace of his own game and was clearly knackered by the time he was subbed off in TP.

Which is why I'm advocating more time for Murray and Keatley to start together. Keatley played with Frank Murphy in Connacht who (putting his other deficiencies aside) can not be accused of being slow. Playing with Keatley would help to up Murrauy's tempo, but the decidion rests with the current Munster management and they've not shown any desire to do this.

Munster badly need a new coach who'll put more emphasis on back play and get more out of the half backs. Munster have some very good backs, but they're not getting anything near the best out of them.

Somebody who's not afraid to shake things up and make the tough decisions that need to be made.

Amazotheamazing · 02-04-2012 11:59am

rrpc wrote: »

Of the two, Marshall has a better chance currently because he's more suited to playing the game Sexton plays than Murray. Reddan can't last the pace of his own game and was clearly knackered by the time he was subbed off in TP.

Which is why I'm advocating more time for Murray and Keatley to start together. Keatley played with Frank Murphy in Connacht who (putting his other deficiencies aside) can not be accused of being slow. Playing with Keatley would help to up Murrauy's tempo, but the decidion rests with the current Munster management and they've not shown any desire to do this.

Munster badly need a new coach who'll put more emphasis on back play and get more out of the half backs. Munster have some very good backs, but they're not getting anything near the best out of them.

Somebody who's not afraid to shake things up and make the tough decisions that need to be made.

No scrumhalf could fix our 10/12 problem. I think Murray has the rugby brain that Marshall lacks. I don't think Keatley is so good that we should drop both O'Gara and Mafi for him, which is what we'd have to do. I wish he'd make a case for himself that he is.

02-04-2012 12:05pm

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

No scrumhalf could fix our 10/12 problem. I think Murray has the rugby brain that Marshall lacks. I don't think Keatley is so good that we should drop both O'Gara and Mafi for him, which is what we'd have to do. I wish he'd make a case for himself that he is.

woah.

Just woah.

Marshall is erratic because that's what he's supposed to be. I don't think anyone could say he doesn't have a rugby brain. Would you say the same of Quade-Cooper? He tries things that don't always come off, but he's an incredibly "clever" player.

Amazotheamazing · 02-04-2012 12:11pm

Deleted User wrote: »

woah.

Just woah.

Marshall is erratic because that's what he's supposed to be. I don't think anyone could say he doesn't have a rugby brain. Would you say the same of Quade-Cooper? He tries things that don't always come off, but he's an incredibly "clever" player.

You think it's intentional? I have my doubts but i've no problem with seeing Marshall play for Ireland to see if he what he bring to the table works at that level.

And Quade Cooper is a strange comparison, imo, he's a deeply flawed player albeit exciting to watch. Most fans would rather have Carter as their outhalf, imo.

02-04-2012 12:18pm

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

You think it's intentional? I have my doubts but i've no problem with seeing Marshall play for Ireland to see if he what he bring to the table works at that level.

And Quade Cooper is a strange comparison, imo, he's a deeply flawed player albeit exciting to watch. Most fans would rather have Carter as their outhalf, imo.

How is it a strange comparison? I reckon it's pretty much spot on.
QC does plenty right, and a feature of his game is that to do so, he has to also do plenty wrong. Marshall is remarkably similar. In playing the way he does, he makes plenty of frustrating decisions, does things that aren't "ideal" but in the main, it has been working.

It's not conservative, but it's not "bad" or "brainless". His willingness to try things is a trait, not a weakness.

QC makes mistakes, but he's a fantastic reader of the game, knows how to find exploits, and does so. He breaks plenty of eggs making the omelette, but that can be outweighed by his output.

Marshall isn't a complete player by any stretch of the imagination, but I think he's a remarkably clever player to be honest.

jm08 · 02-04-2012 12:23pm

rrpc wrote: »

We're not disagreeing here

I've stated elsewhere that Keatley should be getting starts with Murray. TOL is far too slow for Keatley's style of play. The examples I gave above are ones where this kind of rotation happens. Unfortunately for Keatley he's been done no favours by the Munster management, Murray also would benefit from that pairing because ROG doesn't require quick ball, so Murray doesn't have to deliver it. You could see he was trying to speed up to match Sexton's demands in the 6N, but he couldn't maintain the pace.

Murray has only started 3 Rabo games this season and in fairness to Murray, the 6Ns games were his first to start with Sexton (another 3 games).

Keatley needs to sort out his kicking. I wouldn't worry about o'gara too much, he has hardly played in the last 2 months, so must be fairly rusty (and when he was playing, sexton was taking the kicks).

Warwick didn't get off the bench for munster for his first season, so i wouldn't worry too much about keatley just yet, but he could work a bit harder on his kicking from the tee.

Amazotheamazing · 02-04-2012 12:28pm

Deleted User wrote: »

How is it a strange comparison? I reckon it's pretty much spot on.
QC does plenty right, and a feature of his game is that to do so, he has to also do plenty wrong. Marshall is remarkably similar. In playing the way he does, he makes plenty of frustrating decisions, does things that aren't "ideal" but in the main, it has been working.

It's not conservative, but it's not "bad" or "brainless". His willingness to try things is a trait, not a weakness.

QC makes mistakes, but he's a fantastic reader of the game, knows how to find exploits, and does so. He breaks plenty of eggs making the omelette, but that can be outweighed by his output.

Marshall isn't a complete player by any stretch of the imagination, but I think he's a remarkably clever player to be honest.

Really? I wouldn't class Marshall as clever, I think like you said, it's a trait, it's a natural thing but it's not necessarily a good thing. A scrumhalf has to be solid, first and foremost, and Marshall isn't. but I'm willing to be proved wrong, if he tours to NZ or has a blinder on Sunday I'll be happy enough to praise him for it. I don't like rugby by numbers (in general) but were I an Ulster fan I think i'd prefer consistency from the starting scrumhalf.

rrpc · 02-04-2012 12:41pm

jm08 wrote: »

Murray has only started 3 Rabo games this season and in fairness to Murray, the 6Ns games were his first to start with Sexton (another 3 games).

That's my point exactly. Of those three starts, none of them were with Keatley.

jm08 · 02-04-2012 12:57pm

rrpc wrote: »

That's my point exactly. Of those three starts, none of them were with Keatley.

1st was against Aironi (first game back after the world cup). Nov
2nd was against Leinster (week before Heineken Cup). Nov
3rd was against treviso when it seems that the world cup players had been given christmas off. early january.

I dont think you can blame the munster management for not giving them gametime together. both murray & keatley are really only in their first full season's with munster and with the world cup, murray has just not been available.

rrpc · 02-04-2012 1:10pm

jm08 wrote: »

1st was against Aironi (first game back after the world cup). Nov
2nd was against Leinster (week before Heineken Cup). Nov
3rd was against treviso when it seems that the world cup players had been given christmas off. early january.

I dont think you can blame the munster management for not giving them gametime together. both murray & keatley are really only in their first full season's with munster and with the world cup, murray has just not been available.

Reddan also went to the RWC and played in the 6N and has had 5 starts in the Rabo, almost double what Murray has had.

My point is that Keatley is getting a lot of stick from Munster fans but has started almost all his games for Munster with TOL, who's universally been described as off form and is now leaving.

Madigan is being hailed as the best thing since sliced bread, but the criticisms bring levelled at Keatley could equally apply to Madigan: not kicking from the tee in Madigan's case because Ferg is better (is this not the same thing?) and only starting clutch games when the incumbent is injured (or not at all in Keatley's case).

When Keatley has played well, it's not been with TOL, so the point still stands that he should be given a shot with Murray and it's probably too late for that to happen this season.

Flincher · 02-04-2012 1:44pm

rrpc wrote: »

Reddan also went to the RWC and played in the 6N and has had 5 starts in the Rabo, almost double what Murray has had.

I think you're stretching the point a bit there. Murray would have started on Saturday had he been fit, and you'd be talking about 5 starts v 4 starts (bearing in mind that Reddan's extra start was against the Scarlets in February when Murray was with Ireland).

You could easily argue they have both started the same amount of games when they have both been available.

Amazotheamazing · 02-04-2012 1:57pm

rrpc wrote: »

Reddan also went to the RWC and played in the 6N and has had 5 starts in the Rabo, almost double what Murray has had.

My point is that Keatley is getting a lot of stick from Munster fans but has started almost all his games for Munster with TOL, who's universally been described as off form and is now leaving.

Madigan is being hailed as the best thing since sliced bread, but the criticisms bring levelled at Keatley could equally apply to Madigan: not kicking from the tee in Madigan's case because Ferg is better (is this not the same thing?) and only starting clutch games when the incumbent is injured (or not at all in Keatley's case).

When Keatley has played well, it's not been with TOL, so the point still stands that he should be given a shot with Murray and it's probably too late for that to happen this season.

Well TOL is off and Murray will hopefully be around for a full season next season so we'll see. Fact remains, Keatley could have done more, regardless of who he was paired with.

CIARAN_BOYLE · 02-04-2012 1:59pm

rrpc wrote: »

Reddan also went to the RWC and played in the 6N and has had 5 starts in the Rabo, almost double what Murray has had.

But Reddan only started 3 out of 6 HC games.

rrpc · 02-04-2012 2:31pm

CIARAN_BOYLE wrote: »

But Reddan only started 3 out of 6 HC games.

You're selectively quoting me and removing any semblance of context.

The point is Murray not starting with Keatley, Reddan and Boss are rotated in Leinster, so there's relative equality in how and who they play with.

Flincher wrote:

I think you're stretching the point a bit there. Murray would have started on Saturday had he been fit, and you'd be talking about 5 starts v 4 starts (bearing in mind that Reddan's extra start was against the Scarlets in February when Murray was with Ireland).

You could easily argue they have both started the same amount of games when they have both been available.

And he would have started with O'Gara, not with Keatley and Keatley never even got a look in. Reddan isn't the point I only brought him up to point out that there were opportunities for Ireland players to play more Rabo games.

Amazotheamazing · 02-04-2012 2:33pm

No Concerns Over Earls
2 April 2012, 12:18 pmBy The EditorKeith Earls who was forced to retire in the 67th minute of Saturday's game at Thomond Park Stadium is reported to be fit and well ahead of the Heineken Cup quarter final visit of Ulster.

Good news also with regard to the injured trio Paul O'Connell, Donnacha Ryan and Conor Murray who missed that game.
Ryan engaged in light training last Thursday while O'Connell and Murray visited a specialist in Dublin where they received the all-clear to resume training this week.

All three will be present when the squad assembles in Limerick for the first of two sessions on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Ian Costello will bring his British & Irish squad together this afternoon in Cork to begin final preparations for their semi-final tilt at Leinster on Good Friday in the RDS.

Amazotheamazing · 02-04-2012 2:34pm

Great news, if we're to have any chance we need those four players on the pitch.

Podge_irl · 02-04-2012 2:55pm

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

Hard to know, O'Gara isn't playing as well as he thinks he is, but he's not quite as bad as that either. Ultimately it's up to young players to win their places. There is a massive downside to that, and I think everyone can see that Zebo wouldn't have gotten a run but for Howlett's injury but it's still a central tenet of every squad, even Leinster with d'Arcy (somehow) holding his place ahead of McFadden etc.

The thing is, the window of opportunity for young players in any established squad to play with the "first" team is quite small, guys like Keatley have to impress in their cameos, like guys like Sherry and TOD have recently. Sherry is already pushing Varley, it's up to Keatley to be so good that he's pushing O'Gara. Of course, it's far, far harder to do that from outhalf, but Keatley doesn't help himself enough, imo.

Yeah, I was horrendously over-starting how poor ROG has been cause it was 2 in the morning.

ROG hit some form around Christmas and was playing reasonably well up until the 6N but has fallen away a bit again since. You are right in that younger players need to earn their place, but Keatley just isn't getting a chance with the full team. He's also almost never coming off the bench - I understand entirely why Munster want ROG on towards the end if the game is close but then they should be trying to give Keatley some game time from the start. If its going poorly then yank him off.

It'll be interesting to see how a new coach approaches it.

Amazotheamazing · 02-04-2012 6:40pm

Reports saying Ferris could be a real doubt for the weekend. Hard to know what this means for the match, he's one of the best players in Europe and even half fit he has to start you'd think.

budhabob · 02-04-2012 6:45pm

With our trio of injuries looking likely to be back, this would be a real boost. Saying that if we're going to get through the quarters you'd rather it be without any excuses.

Amazotheamazing · 02-04-2012 6:56pm

budhabob wrote: »

With our trio of injuries looking likely to be back, this would be a real boost. Saying that if we're going to get through the quarters you'd rather it be without any excuses.

Meh, if we don't win we'll no doubt have plenty of excuses too. if only Fla or Wallace were fit, if Jones or Sherry hadn't missed a lot of the season, if Howlett was playing etc.

budhabob · 02-04-2012 6:58pm

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

Meh, if we don't win we'll no doubt have plenty of excuses too. if only Fla or Wallace were fit, if Jones or Sherry hadn't missed a lot of the season, if Howlett was playing etc.

Good point.....with that in mind fingers crossed ferris is out.

jm08 · 02-04-2012 7:13pm

Podge_irl wrote: »

Yeah, I was horrendously over-starting how poor ROG has been cause it was 2 in the morning.

ROG hit some form around Christmas and was playing reasonably well up until the 6N but has fallen away a bit again since. You are right in that younger players need to earn their place, but Keatley just isn't getting a chance with the full team. He's also almost never coming off the bench - I understand entirely why Munster want ROG on towards the end if the game is close but then they should be trying to give Keatley some game time from the start. If its going poorly then yank him off.

It'll be interesting to see how a new coach approaches it.

O'gara has hardly played since Northampton in jan. he was released to play against Treviso, other than that is was about 2 x 60 mins in the 6Ns. Treviso was about 6 weeks ago which is the last time he has placed kicked in a match situation. he needed 80 mins last weekend- just not the time to be blooding keatley.

Cpt_Blackbeard · 02-04-2012 7:14pm

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

Meh, if we don't win we'll no doubt have plenty of excuses too. if only Fla or Wallace were fit, if Jones or Sherry hadn't missed a lot of the season, if Howlett was playing etc.

The list of excuses is near endless, but hopefully we won't have to delve into it.

Amazotheamazing · 02-04-2012 7:22pm

Cpt_Blackbeard wrote: »

The list of excuses is near endless, but hopefully we won't have to delve into it.

No harm to remind ourselves that we're facing into this game up against it.

Brewster · 02-04-2012 7:47pm

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

Cpt_Blackbeard wrote: »

The list of excuses is near endless, but hopefully we won't have to delve into it.

No harm to remind ourselves that we're facing into this game up against it.

The mind games are starting early!! Munster are strong favourites for this game, just ask the bookies. Ulster have a poor record of winning big games away from home. Bath away is the only game I can remember them winning in last years group stages. Aironi away doesn't count! They lost to Biarritz, Leicester, Northampton, Clermont away from home over last two years. Had game been in Belfast, it would be a different prospect.

Fireball07 · 02-04-2012 7:53pm

Brewster wrote: »

The mind games are starting early!! Munster are strong favourites for this game, just ask the bookies. Ulster have a poor record of winning big games away from home. Bath away is the only game I can remember them winning in last years group stages. Aironi away doesn't count! They lost to Biarritz, Leicester, Northampton, Clermont away from home over last two years. Had game been in Belfast, it would be a different prospect.

Yeah but Munster only barely scraped a home win against Northampton in all that and none of their other HC performances were massively impressive, certainly nothing to scare Ulster. And with a struggling scrum, doubts over the fitness of 3 of their key players and with their best outside back out injured, Ulster must be really fancying their chances.

Obviously Ferris would be a huge blow if he did miss out, might swing the back row advantage back in favour of Munster.

Cpt_Blackbeard · 02-04-2012 8:17pm

Brewster wrote: »

The mind games are starting early!! Munster are strong favourites for this game, just ask the bookies. Ulster have a poor record of winning big games away from home. Bath away is the only game I can remember them winning in last years group stages. Aironi away doesn't count! They lost to Biarritz, Leicester, Northampton, Clermont away from home over last two years. Had game been in Belfast, it would be a different prospect.

Bookies odds are heavily skewed by betting patterns. Munster fans will always bet on their province winning at home in the HEC and the odds reflect that.

Munster have a squad both decimated and disrupted by injuries, poor form going into the games, and were missing their star forward's coach for over a month.

The Thomond Park aspect probably makes Munster favourites, but making them strong favourites just ignores too many current aspects and just focuses on Munster's history. Personally, I think we'll do very well to come out with a win against an inform and settled Ulster side.

02-04-2012 8:19pm

Bookies odds are not affected by betting patterns per se. The market can be moved by substantial bets being placed, but a bookmaker makes their money by setting a line that they think is "the most correct".

Tote betting is different though, I think that's what you're confusing it with.

Amazotheamazing · 02-04-2012 8:39pm

Brewster wrote: »

The mind games are starting early!! Munster are strong favourites for this game, just ask the bookies. Ulster have a poor record of winning big games away from home. Bath away is the only game I can remember them winning in last years group stages. Aironi away doesn't count! They lost to Biarritz, Leicester, Northampton, Clermont away from home over last two years. Had game been in Belfast, it would be a different prospect.

Every team has to break the the cycle now and then, Ulster are the perfect team to win in Thomond.

Brewster · 02-04-2012 10:08pm

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

Brewster wrote: »

The mind games are starting early!! Munster are strong favourites for this game, just ask the bookies. Ulster have a poor record of winning big games away from home. Bath away is the only game I can remember them winning in last years group stages. Aironi away doesn't count! They lost to Biarritz, Leicester, Northampton, Clermont away from home over last two years. Had game been in Belfast, it would be a different prospect.

Every team has to break the the cycle now and then, Ulster are the perfect team to win in Thomond.

Oh Ulster have a great chance but people have written Munster off time and time again... Poite is not a homer so could this be a factor?! Absolutely can't wait for game, nice roast lamb Sunday dinner before watching game, having been at Aviva to see Leinster through the night before hopefully!

Buceph · 03-04-2012 12:30am

No, you're the favourite!
No, you are.
You're the favourite!
I am not, you are!

DDC1990 · 03-04-2012 8:24am

Brewster wrote: »

Oh Ulster have a great chance but people have written Munster off time and time again... Poite is not a homer so could this be a factor?! Absolutely can't wait for game, nice roast lamb Sunday dinner before watching game, having been at Aviva to see Leinster through the night before hopefully!

Its not that he's not a homer, he just tends to favour anyone but Munster.

budhabob · 03-04-2012 8:29am

“The scan revealed significant damage to Stevie’s left ankle and it is unlikely that he’ll be available for Sunday,” said an Ulster spokesman.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2012/0403/1224314296127.html

With Ferris out and POC back it puts us in a great position for the weekend.

GerM · 03-04-2012 8:31am

DDC1990 wrote: »

Its not that he's not a homer, he just tends to favour anyone but Munster.

He calls it as he sees it, rewarding the scrum going forward and doesn't appreciate lip from the players. Munster have had him more than enough times to know how he handles the game. He has refereed Munster twice this season in the HEC. Munster lost two games with him in charge last season, away to Ospreys and home to Harlequins. Neither defeat was Poite's fault. He favours nobody.

GerM · 03-04-2012 8:33am

budhabob wrote: »

“The scan revealed significant damage to Stevie’s left ankle and it is unlikely that he’ll be available for Sunday,” said an Ulster spokesman.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2012/0403/1224314296127.html

With Ferris out and POC back it puts us in a great position for the weekend.

Game over I reckon, to be honest. Ulster are about 75% of the team they would be with Ferris. He makes a massive difference to them, more than POC does even with Munster. I would think Munster to win by about 10 now given home advantage.

bamboozle · 03-04-2012 9:22am

was at Clontarf v Garryowen at the weekend, the garryowen centre Corey Hircock looked excellent, i've seen Dineen play 12 for Con and Barnes play 13 for Dolphin and Hircock's performance on Sat was the best i've seen from an opposition centre this season. Similar style to Eoin O'Malley. I'd say we'll see him playing for munster next season.

totallegend · 03-04-2012 9:30am

Just saw this on the Connacht thread:

PhatPiggins wrote: »

Denis Fogarty is off to France next season.

Posted on Sunday, was it an April Fool?

ed7890 · 03-04-2012 9:43am

totallegend wrote: »

Just saw this on the Connacht thread:

Posted on Sunday, was it an April Fool?

I saw that somewhere else as well, I think it's true.

jm08 · 03-04-2012 9:51am

Looks like I was right about ogara's comments about retiring. According to Brian Odriscoll (who is also a bit pissed off with being asked about when he is going to retire) said that ROG mentioned he was going to retire at 38 so that people would get of his back and stop asking him about retiring.

Sounds all good for BOD as well. He can take the bits now.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2012/0403/1224314296144.html

Amazotheamazing · 03-04-2012 10:05am

bamboozle wrote: »

was at Clontarf v Garryowen at the weekend, the garryowen centre Corey Hircock looked excellent, i've seen Dineen play 12 for Con and Barnes play 13 for Dolphin and Hircock's performance on Sat was the best i've seen from an opposition centre this season. Similar style to Eoin O'Malley. I'd say we'll see him playing for munster next season.

I don't know, if we were going to play him would we be bringing in Lualala? He might have been better off staying in the Championship.

castie · 03-04-2012 10:06am

GerM wrote: »

He calls it as he sees it, rewarding the scrum going forward and doesn't appreciate lip from the players. Munster have had him more than enough times to know how he handles the game. He has refereed Munster twice this season in the HEC. Munster lost two games with him in charge last season, away to Ospreys and home to Harlequins. Neither defeat was Poite's fault. He favours nobody.

Yes he rewards the scrum going forward which alot of the time is the incorrect call. NH being a prime example of a team with alot of power and trickery to make it look like your infringing.

Hes been at this long enough to watch videos and get to grips rather than favouring the one team for the whole game at scrum time.

This then filters down and pisses off the players who may not keep their mouths shut and then lose decisions elsewhere because of that.

totallegend · 03-04-2012 10:07am

jm08 wrote: »

Looks like I was right about ogara's comments about retiring. According to Brian Odriscoll (who is also a bit pissed off with being asked about when he is going to retire) said that ROG mentioned he was going to retire at 38 so that people would get of his back and stop asking him about retiring.

Then he shouldn't have threatened to retire during the World Cup.

jm08 · 03-04-2012 10:11am

totallegend wrote: »

Then he shouldn't have threatened to retire during the World Cup.

Wouldn't make much difference. BOD is also a bit fed up of being asked when he is going to retire.

Anyway, that was just internationally. He might have 2nd thoughts again as sitting on the bench for 2 months certainly doesn't help his game when he comes back to his club.

ed7890 · 03-04-2012 10:17am

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

I don't know, if we were going to play him would we be bringing in Lualala? He might have been better off staying in the Championship.

He's only in the academy now sure. Lualala coming wont stop him getting a handful of Pro12 games next year to see how he gets on.

totallegend · 03-04-2012 10:23am

jm08 wrote: »

Wouldn't make much difference. BOD is also a bit fed up of being asked when he is going to retire.

Anyway, that was just internationally. He might have 2nd thoughts again as sitting on the bench for 2 months certainly doesn't help his game when he comes back to his club.

I don't want to risk this thread getting locked like the others, so I'll just make a statement of fact then leave it at that.

ROG cannot retire from internationals only and just play on for Munster; he is on a central contract. It's all or nothing, or he negotiates a new provincial contract.

Reply if you want, I'm out.

jm08 · 03-04-2012 10:42am

castie wrote: »

Yes he rewards the scrum going forward which alot of the time is the incorrect call. NH being a prime example of a team with alot of power and trickery to make it look like your infringing.

Hes been at this long enough to watch videos and get to grips rather than favouring the one team for the whole game at scrum time.

This then filters down and pisses off the players who may not keep their mouths shut and then lose decisions elsewhere because of that.

I think POC and Poitre get on reasonably well now. He lets Munster get away with murder at the breakdown. He even joked in the game against northampton when munster were looking for a penalty for something that he wasn't giving, that "your not in thomond park now".

His mind is well decided about the scrum though. Not sure if its just Northampton's scrum being completely dominant or that Munster just has a poor scrum. Botha has always had problems with Northampton's one. I'd imagine he will be well up for this game considering how he was more or less discarded by Ulster and would want to prove a point. He should also be very familiar with the Ulster scrummaging techniques.

Munster Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread.

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