Leinster V Munster rivalry

Tim Robbins · 24-09-2007 4:57pm #1

Just thought I'd write a thread looking beyond the World cup!
How do people think Leinster / Munster rivalry will pan out this season?

Munster could have better wingers than Leinster (Howlett and Carney) this season which should make it harder for Leinster fans to chant: "Boring, Boring Munster".
Will Munster fans take the Celtic League a bit more serious this season?

Do people think this will still be the biggest Rugby rivalry in Ireland?
What about having a shield similar to the Calcutta Cup and the one between Oz and NZ?

bleg · 24-09-2007 5:34pm

looking forward to watching a full strength munster team playing actually, hope they will take the celtic league a bit more seriously

marco_polo · 24-09-2007 5:39pm

Tim Robbins wrote:

Just thought I'd write a thread looking beyond the World cup!
How do people think Leinster / Munster rivalry will pan out this season?

Munster could have better wingers than Leinster (Howlett and Carney) this season which should make it harder for Leinster fans to chant: "Boring, Boring Munster".
Will Munster fans take the Celtic League a bit more serious this season?

Do people think this will still be the biggest Rugby rivalry in Ireland?
What about having a shield similar to the Calcutta Cup and the one between Oz and NZ?

Should be as healthy (and cordial of course

) as always, a beefed up Leinster pack and and much improved Munster backline should make their games very interesting. Would love to see these two battling it out near the top of the Magners league (or even better in the HEC) come the end of the season.

Marshy · 24-09-2007 5:45pm

Guess I better not go there

Santa Claus · 24-09-2007 6:25pm

marco_polo wrote:

Should be as healthy (and cordial of course ) as always, a beefed up Leinster pack and and much improved Munster backline should make their games very interesting. Would love to see these two battling it out near the top of the Magners league (or even better in the HEC) come the end of the season.

Ollie le Roux should provide a bit of beef in the scrum but not much else...he's a shadow of his former self and hasn't aged as well as his former partner Os du Randt.

it'll be good to see Shane Jennings and Leo Cullen coming back....why we let them go in the first place I don't know !

Don't know much about the argentinian prop Gomez but sad to see Roly Meates bow out as scrummaging coach.

marco_polo · 24-09-2007 6:31pm

Santa Claus wrote:

Ollie le Roux should provide a bit of beef in the scrum but not much else...he's a shadow of his former self and hasn't aged as well as his former partner Os du Randt.

it'll be good to see Shane Jennings and Leo Cullen coming back....why we let them go in the first place I don't know !

Don't know much about the argentinian prop Gomez but sad to see Roly Meates bow out as scrummaging coach.

If he is an argentinian prop I would suspect isn't be too shabby at all. Great to see the two boys back home also, should be a real bonus for the season ahead.

I would suspect le Roux was brought in to maybe get one ML season out of him and possibly mentor some of the up and coming props (do Leinster have any good young prospects in this position?).

Santa Claus · 24-09-2007 6:37pm

marco_polo wrote:

If he is an argentinian prop I would suspect isn't be too shabby at all. Great to see the two boys back home also, should be a real bonus for the season ahead.

I would suspect le Roux was brought in to maybe get one ML season out of him and possibly mentor some of the up and coming props (do Leinster have any good young prospects in this position?).

The argentinian lad Gomez is only 24 with i think 1 test under his belt so Ollie can mentor him and I know Leinster signed 12 of the U20 Grand slam winning side to the academy.

With Reggie and Green gone we badly need to cultivate some young(er) props soon !

zAbbo · 24-09-2007 6:50pm

Leinster also signed Stephen Knoop for prop cover, even though Hickie is retired, there's still a backline which is far superior to Munster.

It should be interesting, especially juggling the International players.

I think POC & BOD will miss the first encounter due to Baa-Baa's duty.

LFC5Times · 24-09-2007 7:58pm

Success for either team is based solely on the Heineken Cup imo.

The Celtic League both teams should be in top 4 and winning it is no great shakes,the ultimate test is the Heineken Cup.

Leinster - cant see them winning the Heineken Cup as long as Cheika and Knox are there and this should be there last year.

Munster - have recruited well especially in the backline - Warwick,Tipoki and Howlett - are all quality signings and well done Kidney on them.
But i worry about Munsters pack aka the Ireland pack.
They where fairly shown up by Leicester in Thomond Park and Llanelli Scarlets in the Heinken Cup q-finals.
I was beginning to wonder is it the end of them ? especially as they all have underperformed for Ireland even,but maybe when they come back to Munster they may get back to their best but if they dont they can kiss the Heineken Cup away to.

RuggieBear · 24-09-2007 10:24pm

yep the foreigners in the munster backline certainly bring a fair bit of skill and pace. If Munster take the magners league seriously there could be some seriously entertaining games.

stringer, rog, carny, lewis, tipoki, howlett, Warwick(?): is a seriously good attacking backline.

marco_polo · 24-09-2007 11:35pm

LFC5Times wrote:

Success for either team is based solely on the Heineken Cup imo.

The Celtic League both teams should be in top 4 and winning it is no great shakes,the ultimate test is the Heineken Cup.

Leinster - cant see them winning the Heineken Cup as long as Cheika and Knox are there and this should be there last year.

Munster - have recruited well especially in the backline - Warwick,Tipoki and Howlett - are all quality signings and well done Kidney on them.
But i worry about Munsters pack aka the Ireland pack.
They where fairly shown up by Leicester in Thomond Park and Llanelli Scarlets in the Heinken Cup q-finals.
I was beginning to wonder is it the end of them ? especially as they all have underperformed for Ireland even,but maybe when they come back to Munster they may get back to their best but if they dont they can kiss the Heineken Cup away to.

The question that Munster must ask themselves is when the pack returns to will they be automatically quaranteed their places for the big games again as seemed to happen last year or will he show faith in some of the younger forwards. Some of whom are showing a great deal of potential such as Buckley, O'Sullivan and Ryan. We should be giving these lads a jersey for the big HEC games if they are performing better than ytheir more experienced counterpart in the ML games.

Not advocating a mass clearout as despite the poor RWC performances most of these guys still have a lot left to offer to Munster and Irish rugby, but a bit of real competition would do these no harm. Perhaps it is the key ingredient which has been lacking at both provincial and international level for the past couple of years.

zAbbo · 24-09-2007 11:43pm

RuggieBear wrote:

yep the foreigners in the munster backline certainly bring a fair bit of skill and pace. If Munster take the magners league seriously there could be some seriously entertaining games.

stringer, rog, carny, lewis, tipoki, howlett, Warwick(?): is a seriously good attacking backline.

compared to

Whitaker, Contempomi, Fitzgerald, D'Arcy, O'Driscoll, Horgan, Dempsey

with a backup of...

Willis, Sexton, Warner, Berne, Brown, Kearney

It'll be interesting alright.

Friday 30th November: Munster v Leinster (Musgrave Park, 7.30pm)
Weekend 11-13 April: Leinster v Munster (RDS)

Snickers Man · 25-09-2007 12:12am

Nearly 10,000 people at the RDS for the opening Magner's League game!!

If they can keep that up, the game will flourish here, even as the golden generation of the last ten years starts to wither and die.

And not all of the season ticket holders were there. Some of us had bloody weddings to go to. But we'll be at the next one.

suppafly · 25-09-2007 12:37am

I mus say i am very much looking forward to watching Munsters new signings. Should be very interesting

Jilm · 25-09-2007 1:51am

For the first time in a long while, Munster have a large enough squad of good players to be in a position to be able to seriously challenge for the ML - despite having to provide the bulk of players in the Irish starting 15.

The new signings also seem to have invigorated members of the existing squad as their place in the starting 22 are under threat - players like Dowling and Horgan looked fitter & hungrier in their first few games compared to last season.

Once Howlett arrives, the Munster backline will be able to give the likes of Wasps & Clermont more than a run for their money. Leinsters squad on the other hand lacks Munsters depth and I think this season it will be another case of good but not good enough.

Jigsaw · 25-09-2007 2:07am

I can't wait to see Howlett do his stuff in Ireland. Ulster won the Magners League season before last but it wil be a long time before they win it again I think. How the hell did Munster land Howlett? Was it purely on the basis of the Heinekin Cup triumph?

Ulster have got Rob Dewey and Danielli but that is pish compared to Howlett.

It is not even as if he is just seeing out the end of his career and lifting the pay cheque - he is still the best in the world pretty much.

not fair :mad:

Jilm · 25-09-2007 2:43am

Jigsaw wrote:

I can't wait to see Howlett do his stuff in Ireland. Ulster won the Magners League season before last but it wil be a long time before they win it again I think. How the hell did Munster land Howlett? Was it purely on the basis of the Heinekin Cup triumph?

Of course, money was the main reason, the deal rumoured was for €1 mill for 2 1/2 years. Xian Cullen may have put a good word in, plus there are a few Kiwis already in the Munster squad ..Tipoki, Mafi, Manning.

It is not even as if he is just seeing out the end of his career and lifting the pay cheque - he is still the best in the world pretty much.

He's certainly the ABs best winger at the moment, hopefully he doesn't crock himself anytime soon...

marco_polo · 25-09-2007 11:26am

Jilm wrote:

He's certainly the ABs best winger at the moment, hopefully he doesn't crock himself anytime soon...

While he is no slouch himself Howlett would not quite have the sheer raw pace of the other two wingers Silvatu or Rokocoko.

However he is and will continue to keep one of them out of the All Blacks first team because he is such a good finisher and a much better all round winger than either of the other two. Plus he looks to be in cracking form.

Jilm · 25-09-2007 12:04pm

marco_polo wrote:

While he is no slouch himself Howlett would not quite have the sheer raw pace of the other two wingers Silvatu or Rokocoko.

However he is and will continue to keep one of them out of the All Blacks first team because he is such a good finisher and a much better all round winger than either of the other two. Plus he looks to be in cracking form.

I consider him the best AB winger at the moment as the 2 Fijians aren't playing nearly as well as they could in this RWC unlike Howlett.

Leinster V Munster rivalry

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