Munster 22 for Dragons game

Hansel

Hurley returns to Munster squad

RUGBY : Tony McGahan has made just one change to his Munster squad ahead of Sunday's Magners League clash with Newport-Gwent Dragons at Musgrave Park.
John Hayes and Rua Tipoki are both sidelined which means Denis Hurley returns to the squad.
Hayes has still not recovered from the bout of illness that forced his withdrawal before last week's Edinburgh game.
Elsewhere the Leinster under-19 and under-20 teams to face Ulster in Friday night's interprovincial championships at Ballynahinch and Ravenhill respectively have both been named.
Munster Squad : F Pucciariello, M Horan, J Flannery, F Sheahan, T Buckley, D O'Callaghan, P O'Connell, M O'Driscoll, D Ryan, J O'Sullivan, J Melck, D Wallace, T O'Leary, P Stringer, R O'Gara, P Warwick, I Dowling, L Mafi, B Murphy, D Howlett, K Earls, Denis Hurley.

Taken from the Irish Times.

I'd start with the following:
1. Marcus, 2. Fla, 3. Mushy, 4. D.Ryan, 5. O'Connell, 6. Melk, 7. Wallace, 8. O'Sullivan, 9. O'Leary, 10. O'Gara, 11. Dowling, 12. Mafi, 13. Murphy, 14. Howlett, 15. Earls

Possibly a bit of Limerick bias in my selection of Murphy and Earls. Hurley does need gametime also.

Amazotheamazing

Would agree with that team except start Stringer instead of O'Leary. Stringer didn't play too well in his cameo last week, but O'Leary is still a limited player, imo.

theKramer

Lets hope we get to see what Earls is made of in the centre. Havent seen him play there so hopefully he will get the start. I think a lot of people are going to be interested in this game if he is picked at centre

toomevara

What's going on with the fixture list n the ML? Its crazy...the Dragons play llanelli last night (thrilling game, the Scarlets second half fight back fantastic) and have to face Munster on Sunday, a three day turnaround, desperately unfair.

Cardiff had to do the same...Leinster last weekend and the Ospreys on Tuesday (and it showed in that Ospreys game)...Absolutely ridiculous, and also puts players at risk of injury/exhaustion....

RuggieBear

toomevara wrote: »

What's going on with the fixture list n the ML? Its crazy...the Dragons play llanelli last night (thrilling game, the Scarlets second half fight back fantastic) and have to face Munster on Sunday, a three day turnaround, desperately unfair.

Cardiff had to do the same...Leinster last weekend and the Ospreys on Tuesday (and it showed in that Ospreys game)...Absolutely ridiculous, and also puts players at risk of injury/exhaustion....

No one to blame but themselves. they have to play all those games now so that their involvement in the EDF cup doesn't interfer with the league.

Decent amount of rotation in that team. good to see murphy coming back in.

pucan

RuggieBear wrote: »

good to see murphy coming back in.

Agreed.

toomevara

Ah, a self inflicted wound, fair enough! That EDF cup a pointless nonsense in an already overcrowded fixture list. Surely its gotta go...?

Hansel

toomevara wrote: »

Ah, a self inflicted wound, fair enough! That EDF cup a pointless nonsense in an already overcrowded fixture list. Surely its gotta go...?

This is the last year of it, I think.

[Jackass]

Good oppertunity for Earls to start at 13 which I'm sure he will, which will probably see Howlett return to the wing and Hurley at 15.

What's the story with Hayes and Tipoki? Anything long term or jusr precation?

Hansel

Hayes is recovering from the sniffles, the big wuss.
Tipoki is just being rested.

seabee

This is live on S4C now - Sky Digital 134. You can change the Welsh commentary to english using the interactive feature.

dreamer_ire

Super try!

Inquitus

It's the Keith Earls show

Stev_o

Master class skill there. Sublime.

Id say Francis is gonna feeling like a dope for saying that Earls has less flair compared to Fitzgerald or Kearney

dreamer_ire

Inquitus wrote: »

It's the Keith Earls show

In a nutshell!

Zzippy

Earls is on fire! Cracking dummy, chip and chase, and what a pick up to finish off the try. Great prospect for the future...

Jackz

Good stuff.

Inquitus

Earls with the Hattrick

Stev_o

Two Irish 20 something year olds getting hat tricks on the weekend happy days i think.

dreamer_ire

I think Munster might have found their new permanent full back *s

Stev_o

dreamer_ire wrote: »

I think Munster might have found their new permanent full back *s

I dont he's a FB he's a OC but the fact that he has pace to burn and a good rugby brain means he can slot in at FB but i dont know if he has the aerial skills to cope with teams really targeting him.

Inquitus

Stev_o wrote: »

I dont he's a FB he's a OC but the fact that he has pace to burn and a good rugby brain means he can slot in at FB but i dont know if he has the aerial skills to cope with teams really targeting him.

Aye he's been dodgy under a couple of high balls early on tonight, but then Hurley was dodgy too, so Earls will hold down the spot.

RuggieBear

nice try.

dragons are rabble. unbelievably pathetic tackling

Inquitus

We are going to be savage this season with this level of strength in depth. Same goes for Leinster putting 50 on Edinburgh without Cullen, CJ, Elsom, D'Arcy etc.

remus808

Three more tries inside 10 minutes or so.. Finishes 50-6..

dreamer_ire

Inquitus wrote: »

We are going to be savage this season with this level of strength in depth. Same goes for Leinster putting 50 on Edinburgh without Cullen, CJ, Elsom, D'Arcy etc.

It's gonna be some match on the 28th!

remus808

Agree with the point about depth..

Leinster putting 50+ on Edinburgh, usually a strong side, with a few players missing..

Munster 2nd string putting 50 on the Dragons..

RuggieBear

good win. lots of great running and decent tries.


having said that, unless the dragons were missing a heap of players, they must be the worst team in the league. They were absolutely pathetic in the last 20mins

Inquitus

dreamer_ire wrote: »

It's gonna be some match on the 28th!

Aye and I have my tickets on the way

Jackz

There was fair banter on Setanta between Dara and the "two Leinster men".

toomevara

Dragons absolutely appalling, Welsh 5th region me hole! Someone somewhere's having a laugh. Leinster/Munster look strong on this weekend's evidence, fabulous stuff...great for the game, great for Irish rugby...bodes well for the season ahead. Warwick also looking very steady, which is a relief

As an aside Tony McGahan's deadpan style absolutely brilliant you couldn't make it up, the guys a legend in the making..

[Jackass]

Good show from Munster.

Dragons shipped 21 points in 6 minutes all from their own possesion in the Munster 22. That really is pathetic. And tackling was worse than Connacht yesterday. Hands down the 2 weakest teams in the league.

But you can only play the opposition infront of you as they say, and Munster certainly did that. They never seemed to bother going into third gear, let alone forth of fifth and they put 50 on the score board which is very promosing for them. The didn't even really break a sweat. Earls was fantastic also. I'd dare say I think Fitzgerald is still is slightly ahead of him, but I would, I'm a Leinster man.

Good sqaud management from Munster too and some of the younger lads got a good run and the big guns will be fresh for the much tougher task of Cardiff next week.

Great to see the Munster fans and management (talking after the game) so openly taking this competition very seriously this year and it will be the most competetive year for ML ever. I think this is the year ML really arrives and the complex towards GP can really be burried when the likes of Munster, Leinster, Ospreys, Scarlets and Blues will hopegully be able to make this a massively competetive climax later on in the season.

All teams are fielding their strongest possibly side for their big games and, as with all league competitions, rotating their squad for the weaker teams, as with Munster today. Of course the winner of that outcome is all of us with the league taking it's place as a major piece of silverwear for the development of the game and the teams coffers.

It's going to be a titanic encounter in RDS in 2 weeks time, with the mouth watering prospect of Ospreys, also on absolute fire, there the week before.

It's being billed (by me ) as the biggest Leinster - Munster head to head since 2006.

Bring it on!!

toomevara

[QUOTE='[Jackass]

It's being billed (by me ) as the biggest Leinster - Munster head to head since 2006.
![/QUOTE]

Going to be great, downside though will be that the Boards rugby forum will be virtually unusable for about 3 weeks as the usual horde of headbangers, spakkers and hangers-on come out of the woodwork to sling provincial bile at each other....ah well....

bleg

anybody think the ref was extremely biased against munster this evening? it was ridiculous how quickly he penalised munster for being off their feet and yet i counted numerous times when there were 2, 3, 4 dragons players lying on top of the ball. he penalised frankie in the second half for taking too long at the lineout but consistently let the dragons away with it. usually nigel owens is a fine referee but made some dodgy calls tonight.

should have had a scottish ref for the match.

RuggieBear

tbh bleg i had the opposite opinion. i thought he was ok tho i thought he took too long to yellow both teams for spoiling

Nukem

That was a master class by Munster but putting things into perspective, Leinster, Scarlets and Ospreys looked impressive this weekend but all be it against poor teams.

Munster and Leinster look like they are going to be serious forces to contend with. Munster have Warrick, Howlett and Earls really looking class and Leinster have Conti, BOD,Fitzgerald and Nacewa, mouth watering match up - can't wait.

P.S - something seems to be wrong with the spell check (e.g. - spell munster and spell has an option to Munster, spell leinster and no Leinster:pac:)

Inquitus

Nukem wrote: »

That was a master class by Munster but putting things into perspective, Leinster, Scarlets and Ospreys looked impressive this weekend but all be it against poor teams.

Munster and Leinster look like they are going to be serious forces to contend with. Munster have Warrick, Howlett and Earls really looking class and Leinster have Conti, BOD,Fitzgerald and Nacewa, mouth watering match up - can't wait.

P.S - something seems to be wrong with the spell check (e.g. - spell munster and spell has an option to Munster, spell leinster and no Leinster:pac:)

Munster only played 6 or 7 Heiny starters tonight......you mention Warwick he's never going to start against Leinster......

Nukem

Inquitus wrote: »

Munster only played 6 or 7 Heiny starters tonight......you mention Warwick he's never going to start against Leinster......

I would be surprised if he didnt have a headache there - 25pts is hard to dispute, even play him in the centers for a few minutes at the end may offer a few options

Tim Robbins

bleg wrote: »

anybody think the ref was extremely biased against munster this evening? it was ridiculous how quickly he penalised munster for being off their feet and yet i counted numerous times when there were 2, 3, 4 dragons players lying on top of the ball. he penalised frankie in the second half for taking too long at the lineout but consistently let the dragons away with it. usually nigel owens is a fine referee but made some dodgy calls tonight.

should have had a scottish ref for the match.

I thought Nigel Owens had a stormer. Best ref I have seen in Celtic League this year. Don't think Lewis had a good game yesterday.

suppafly

The match tonight was really great. Munster really put in a good performance. Had some really lovely moves for the how they got the tries. Earls chip chase try was awesome. it was sweet to how he flicked the ball up into his had on the run. He's looking very good altogether.

Tim Robbins wrote: »

I thought Nigel Owens had a stormer. Best ref I have seen in Celtic League this year. Don't think Lewis had a good game yesterday.

i thought he was alright. not brill. was a bit strange than they had a welsh ref.

Crash

Inquitus wrote: »

Munster only played 6 or 7 Heiny starters tonight......you mention Warwick he's never going to start against Leinster......

He's still a surprisingly good player - in all honesty i think himself and O'Leary work together better than any combination of those two and O'Gara/Stringer - Tis odd, they seem to function better as a combo then when thrown together into the first string team. Also, my estimates of warwick have gone up a huge amount over his last two years IMO.

zAbbo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdkuVKAm15c

Earls is unreal, on form I'd put him at either FB or OC for Ireland.

buck65

Great try, lovely skill. Earls is one for the future.
About the game though Dragons were really poor, Munster took their chances and played some lovely unopposed rugby through the backs. The lineout was shocking though, Cardiff will be a better barometer of form befor the big one in the RDS.
Warwick, Howlett and Dowling were excellent. Murphy looked fairly good in the centre as did Mafi.
O Sullivan's break was classic.

toomevara

zAbbo wrote: »

Earls is unreal, on form I'd put him at either FB or OC for Ireland.

Watched that try on Sky+ over and over (yes, I am that sad) just to see if the flick up was intentional, the more I look at it the more I think it was! The guy's skill level is huge, and oodles of natural abiity, reminds me alot of G.Murphy in his pomp.

Between Fitzgerald and Earls, well... who'd a thunk it a year ago?...hope they can translate provincial form to the national team....Don't want to get too carried away but these autumn internationals are becoming more appetising every day...

Amazotheamazing

Fairly sure the flick was intentional for Earls try, he's definately trying to tap the ball in some way anyhow and he doesn't break stride to catch it which suggests he knew exactly where it was going.

What's amazing is the speed at which he did everything, the move is surprisingly fluid considering the things he had to do to complete it.

Tim Robbins

zAbbo wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdkuVKAm15c

Earls is unreal, on form I'd put him at either FB or OC for Ireland.

Earls looks classy alright. I accept he has a burst of pace and can spot a 5M gap but I'd like to see him take a hit and offload, and tested defensively.
Who'd have thought it Munster produce a classy back? Must be the first since Michael Kiernan.

Joke Mods - please be kind

spoon

I'd like to see him take a hit and offload

Earls took a very big hit pretty early in the game. He held onto it pretty well and maintained the possesion.

[Jackass]

When you look at the backline for Ireland, if all fit, it is tough to replace people like O'Driscoll and D'Arcy at centre, and at FB I don't think Kearney would be replaced by anybody, although Dempsey is looking extremely sharp. Can't rule him out of anything.

On the wings there's the likes of Horgan (in poor form) and Fitzgerald playing those kind of roles. Geordan Murphy is still floating around too, then there's Bowe who looks on fire for Ospreys.

It's by no means a for gone conclusion that this guy could hold down an Irish spot! I hate to dampen people's appetites here, and before I go on, I'm not doubting he is a very exciting talent, but to be honest, I don't think that chip and chase try is spectacular at all, he flogs a very unsubtle dummy and runs through a gap you could litterally drive a bus through, grubbers a ball as a Dragons player flaps to the ground and is completely unaposed going through...I think the ball is bouncing up for him and I'm not sure how much his lunge / flick made a difference to the bounce of the ball (but we'll give him credit for it.)

He is no doubt very exciting, but in fairness to that match, Munster were 29 - 6 or whatever Dragons score was, with 6 minutes to play, and Munster then went on to score 3 tries in 6 minutes, all of which came from Dragons possesion in the Munster 22. I mean that's the type of opposition we're talking about here.

Players like O'Driscoll are talked down at the moment because he doesn't turn water into wine, but when you look at the bread and butter, agaisnt the best players in the world, he's a proven line breaker in inches of space, an amazing off loader and tackles like a machiene.

I know it's not fair to make comparrisons yet, but all I'm saying is, to me Earls has shown a lot of pace and talent, but has proven nothing yet. Even Fitzgerald would be ahead of him in my book as he's played HEC and Irish rugby and looks comfortable, even finishing 2 very nice tries against Tolouse last season, a long with a rake in ML, I think when earls stands up under the high ball, in defence and can put magic together against real opposition, I'd be ready to say he's living up to the hype.

Can't wait to see Fitzgerald v Earls in RDS in a couple of weeks. That will be the first big test of Earls imo.

Stev_o

Id rather see him at OC or wing then FB tbh think he might be found out with up and unders.

Amazotheamazing

[Jackass] wrote: »

When you look at the backline for Ireland, if all fit, it is tough to replace people like O'Driscoll and D'Arcy at centre, and at FB I don't think Kearney would be replaced by anybody, although Dempsey is looking extremely sharp. Can't rule him out of anything.

On the wings there's the likes of Horgan (in poor form) and Fitzgerald playing those kind of roles. Geordan Murphy is still floating around too, then there's Bowe who looks on fire for Ospreys.

It's by no means a for gone conclusion that this guy could hold down an Irish spot! I hate to dampen people's appetites here, and before I go on, I'm not doubting he is a very exciting talent, but to be honest, I don't think that chip and chase try is spectacular at all, he flogs a very unsubtle dummy and runs through a gap you could litterally drive a bus through, grubbers a ball as a Dragons player flaps to the ground and is completely unaposed going through...I think the ball is bouncing up for him and I'm not sure how much his lunge / flick made a difference to the bounce of the ball (but we'll give him credit for it.)

He is no doubt very exciting, but in fairness to that match, Munster were 29 - 6 or whatever Dragons score was, with 6 minutes to play, and Munster then went on to score 3 tries in 6 minutes, all of which came from Dragons possesion in the Munster 22. I mean that's the type of opposition we're talking about here.

Players like O'Driscoll are talked down at the moment because he doesn't turn water into wine, but when you look at the bread and butter, agaisnt the best players in the world, he's a proven line breaker in inches of space, an amazing off loader and tackles like a machiene.

I know it's not fair to make comparrisons yet, but all I'm saying is, to me Earls has shown a lot of pace and talent, but has proven nothing yet. Even Fitzgerald would be ahead of him in my book as he's played HEC and Irish rugby and looks comfortable, even finishing 2 very nice tries against Tolouse last season, a long with a rake in ML, I think when earls stands up under the high ball, in defence and can put magic together against real opposition, I'd be ready to say he's living up to the hype.

Can't wait to see Fitzgerald v Earls in RDS in a couple of weeks. That will be the first big test of Earls imo.

I think we need to move away from the EOS era of always playing the same players regardless. Sure against the top teams we should play our best players, but against others (Italy, Scotland etc) we should have confidence in our younger players, whether that means D. Ryan, Fitz or Earls.

I don't think Earls will be a fullback in the longer term, but he has been earmarked as a special talent since he was in his early teens. He can play 11, 12, 13, 14 or 15, and had played 10 too. People might be getting carried away, but he has delivered at every level he has played at so far. This might be a season too soon for him, but he has plenty of big tests already.

It's easy to look and say what he did was nothing special, but if it was easy we'd see it every week. The fact is we rarely see a new player break through and score 3 very different tries in one game. His first was a run-in, his second a dummy, break, kick and chip (without breaking stride) and his third was a traditional midfield break where he dropped his shoulders and wrong footed the tackler. That is hugely impressive, imo.

Tim Robbins

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

It's easy to look and say what he did was nothing special, but if it was easy we'd see it every week. The fact is we rarely see a new player break through and score 3 very different tries in one game. His first was a run-in, his second a dummy, break, kick and chip (without breaking stride) and his third was a traditional midfield break where he dropped his shoulders and wrong footed the tackler. That is hugely impressive, imo.

I can't see anyone pushing Kearney for number 1 Irish full back. He's a massive boot on him.