Munster next year

gosplan

Taken from the times a few days ago:

Munster will now be busily trying to recruit and upgrade existing contracts in putting some shape on their squad for next season after taking the difficult decision to release 11 of the current squad at the season’s end.

The players concerned are believed to have been informed of Munster’s decision last January, with Rua Tipoki, Frankie Sheahan, Kieran Lewis, Anthony Horgan, Federico Pucciariello, John O’Sullivan, Brian Carney, Mike Prendergast, Michael Essex, Mark Melbourne and Conan Doyle all to be released.

Surprised at Tipoki going but I guess he's injured quite a lot. Also not sure what kind of contract he had in place.

Interestingly enough this leaves Munster with one foreign place open as they'll only have four on their books - Warwick, Mafi, Doug Howlett and Nick Williams.

Thornley in the Irish Times figures it'll go on a replacement for Tipoki - a frontline centre like Jean de Villiers or someone.

Given the money coming in from the new Thomond, the more-than-likely winning of the Magners league and an excellent showing in the Heineken Cup so far, Munster shouldn't have a problem attracting a huge name to Limerick.

The Saint

They could sign Contepomi as a replacement centre for Tipoki. :pac:

gosplan

The Saint wrote: »

They could sign Contepomi as a replacement centre for Tipoki. :pac:

LOL.

Nah, think Munster have already gotten the best out of him. :pac::pac:

spoon

If Tipoke goes, and i sincerely hope he does not. I would be really disapointed if we spent money on a center. We have two good centers in Earls and Mafi and have quality cover in Murphy, I'm pretty sure Manning plays a lot of his games in the AIL at 12 also.

Ideally we would have Tipoke stay on in a coaching role, and as backup to the Mafi - Earls partnership. That would mean he would still contribute to the team in a great way and would have a chance of staying injury free.

thomond2006

The Saint wrote: »

They could sign Contepomi as a replacement centre for Tipoki. :pac:

Yeah, he's certainly a fan favourite at TP. :D:D

Seriously, though we don't need another SH import like De Villiers.

9: TOL, Stringer
10: ROG, Warwick, Manning
Wings: Dowling, Howlett, O' Boyle, Murphy
Centres: Mafi, Earls, Murphy
FB: Warwick, Hurley, Howlett

Do we really need any additions to that list? Plenty of cover in each position imo.

Nick Williams, WTF x 1000??? :mad::mad::mad:

The Saint

Junt a general wonderment (and I know he's not eligible to play for Ireland). People have been saying that Warwick will soon be eligible for Irish citizenship. If he takes this up does that mean we could bring in an extra foreign import since Warwick will no longer be a foreign player?

Noopti

The Saint wrote: »

Junt a general wonderment (and I know he's not eligible to play for Ireland). People have been saying that Warwick will soon be eligible for Irish citizenship. If he takes this up does that mean we could bring in an extra foreign import since Warwick will no longer be a foreign player?

Good question. I'm not sure how it works, I presume if you are an Irish citizen you are not longer classified as foreign.

The Saint

Noopti wrote: »

Good question. I'm not sure how it works, I presume if you are an Irish citizen you are not longer classified as foreign.

Yeah, that's what I would have thought. Now all we need to do is get the IRB to change that silly 7's rule and we might have a viable replacement international outhalf.

I think a good tighthead import would be a good idea for Munster though. Give them time to settle in before the Bull finally calls it a day.

Otacon

I would like to see us sign someone like Keatley from Connacht, or a similarly Irish-grown outhalf. I feel we need more options than we have (not at Munster, but Ireland).

Keatley is a very good player, but Connacht are playing Heineken Cup rugby and I personally feel he could grow further at Munster.

As I said, he is just one option. There are no doubt more.

buck65

Munster have O Gara and Warwick for outhalf and (OMG) Manning for backup. Keatley would rot in the reserve team, he should stay with Connacht and hopefully they will improve next year.
Happy enough to see the clear out as Munster really had alot of players.
Tipoki will be missed but always intended retiring this year, hats off to Horgan and Freddie who were great servants.
Brian Carney never really made his mark even though he scored a few tries last year, J O Sullivan looked decent but needs first team play as does Lewis and Doyle.

Amazotheamazing

The Saint wrote: »

Junt a general wonderment (and I know he's not eligible to play for Ireland). People have been saying that Warwick will soon be eligible for Irish citizenship. If he takes this up does that mean we could bring in an extra foreign import since Warwick will no longer be a foreign player?

No, it's not about foreign players as such, it's about non-Irish qualified players. Warwick might count as Irish on residency rules, but as he has been capped at 7's, he'll never be Irish qualified. We are only allowed 5 non-Irish qualified players.

In defence of Nick Williams, he arrived injured and hasn't had a real chance to get fully match fit (shoulder, knee and rib injuries in a row). give him a proper rest and a proper preseason and I reckon we'll be glad to have him.

Amazotheamazing

The Saint wrote: »

I think a good tighthead import would be a good idea for Munster though. Give them time to settle in before the Bull finally calls it a day.

We have Tony Buckley and Tim Ryan in line to replace Hayes, we shouldn't go rushing off to buy foreign players when we have the opportunity to develop local guys.

gosplan

I'm not so sure Mafi/Earls/Murphy is adequate for two positions.

Most likely Earls will be gone for the 6N campaign next year. Murphy can cover for that but I wouldn't really want him as long term cover.

It's fine I guess provided they stay injury free and Earls isn't needed in another position.

I'm not saying Munster need another centre badly but with Tipoki going, I can't really see any reason not to replace him bar badly needing a player in another position instead.

Amazotheamazing

gosplan wrote: »

I'm not so sure Mafi/Earls/Murphy is adequate for two positions.

Most likely Earls will be gone for the 6N campaign next year. Murphy can cover for that but I wouldn't really want him as long term cover.

It's fine I guess provided they stay injury free and Earls isn't needed in another position.

I'm not saying Munster need another centre badly but with Tipoki going, I can't really see any reason not to replace him bar badly needing a player in another position instead.

Afaik, the thinking is that guys like Tom Gleeson and Evan Ryan will be ready to step up next year in the centre, have my doubts myself.

spoon

gosplan wrote: »

I'm not so sure Mafi/Earls/Murphy is adequate for two positions.

Most likely Earls will be gone for the 6N campaign next year. Murphy can cover for that but I wouldn't really want him as long term cover.

It's fine I guess provided they stay injury free and Earls isn't needed in another position.

I'm not saying Munster need another centre badly but with Tipoki going, I can't really see any reason not to replace him bar badly needing a player in another position instead.

I wouldn't mind cover being got for the position, but having some southern hemisphere star coming over and taking Earls spot would be the last thing i want. I want to see Irish players being developed, and he's shown a huge amount of promise in the center provided he gets game time.

_blank_

Lets keep this discussion on track and about Munster folks

I don't want to have to delete any more posts in this thread.

Thanks

Amazotheamazing

Rought guess at our squad for next year,

Horan, Hurley, D. Ryan

Flannery, Fogarty, Varley,

Hayes, Buckley, Ryan,

O'Connell, O'Callaghan, O'Driscoll, Ryan, Foley

Quinlan, Leamy, Holland,

Williams, Coughlan

Wallace, Ronan, O'Donnell

O'Leary, Stringer, Williams

O'Gara, Warwick, Manning

Dowling, McCarthy,

Mafi, E. Ryan

Earls, Murphy, Gleeson

Howlett

Hurley, Jones.

A 12 and a winger look to be our biggest needs.

anonymous_joe

What's the story with Carney, he retiring or what?

Amazotheamazing

anonymous_joe wrote: »

What's the story with Carney, he retiring or what?

Wouldn't be surprised to see him head off for some easy years in Italy, but he's being let go by Munster.

twinytwo

Why not get bowe back .. he would be better of here anyway and who better to learn off than doug

spoon

Bowe wouldn't get guarenteed game time as he'd be competing directly against Howlett. I doubt he would leave Ospreys for that.

Aidric

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

In defence of Nick Williams, he arrived injured and hasn't had a real chance to get fully match fit (shoulder, knee and rib injuries in a row). give him a proper rest and a proper preseason and I reckon we'll be glad to have him.

I hope you're right because he has been hapless in any game I've seen him play for Munster thus far.

Stev_o

Why don't Munster put their money to good use and instead of deciding to import another merc invest in their academy and player base? Earls should step up for the 13 jersey when Tipoki leaves, if another foreigner is put ahead of him i think it ll be a disaster.

anonymous_joe

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

Wouldn't be surprised to see him head off for some easy years in Italy, but he's being let go by Munster.

Yeah. Pity really, always underused by Munster/Ireland, but then like a lot of league lads, great in attack, less so in defence.

twinytwo wrote: »

Why not get bowe back .. he would be better of here anyway and who better to learn off than doug

Why in the name of Christ would Bowe go to Munster?

He's playing for a good team, with good players, etc. Why jack all that? Anyway he can 'learn' (he's fairly experienced on his own right by now) from Shane Williams if he wants, a winger easily as good as Howlett.

robgloster

A winger and a center. I dont think Bowe would fit in at Munster. I think we should buy in a center to cover earls and Mafi. And look around Munster for a winger who could learn alot from Duggie

7mountpleasant

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

We have Tony Buckley and Tim Ryan in line to replace Hayes, we shouldn't go rushing off to buy foreign players when we have the opportunity to develop local guys.

Was in Athlone at the weekend and to be honest I woud feel more comfortable having the uncontracted cork born Gerry Cronin in the team than Ryan at the moment, If buckley gets over his injuries then great but some cover would be a bonus.

Amazotheamazing

Stev_o wrote: »

Why don't Munster put their money to good use and instead of deciding to import another merc invest in their academy and player base? Earls should step up for the 13 jersey when Tipoki leaves, if another foreigner is put ahead of him i think it ll be a disaster.

We do that already, it's not an either/or situation. Every team needs to bring in outside players from time to time.

7mountpleasant

anonymous_joe wrote: »

Why in the name of Christ would Bowe go to Munster?
.

well his dad is from cork.

Amazotheamazing

7mountpleasant wrote: »

Was in Athlone at the weekend and to be honest I woud feel more comfortable having the uncontracted cork born Gerry Cronin in the team than Ryan at the moment, If buckley gets over his injuries then great but some cover would be a bonus.

Ryan didn't have a good game, but then again, it was a pretty weak Con front five so he was always going to suffer against a will-drilled cohesive opposition pack. If Hurley and Fogarty (and maybe even Mick O'Driscoll) had been in the front five, I suspect Con's scrum would have been a lot steadier.

Amazotheamazing

7mountpleasant wrote: »

well his dad is from cork.

Since when has Cork been part of Waterford?

http://www.munster-express.ie/sports/rugby/bowe-co-take-a-bow/

anonymous_joe

7mountpleasant wrote: »

well his dad is from cork.

And his mum's from Leinster and he's from Ulster.

He'd be competing with Howlett for a place, whose Munster's expensive cash hog, why get a player for the same position?

damianroche1982

How about a replacement for O'Gara or someone to put more pressure on his position so he doesnt get complacement.


www.bestfilmquotes.com

robgloster

damianroche1982 wrote: »

How about a replacement for O'Gara or someone to put more pressure on his position so he doesnt get complacement.


www.bestfilmquotes.com

It would be hard to find a better 10 then Warwick at the Moments.

damianroche1982

but he isnt pushing O'Gara too much to be honest. Another position we could invest would be a long term replacement for Haze... I dont think Buckley is doing it yet and not sure if he will. What you think about Marcos Horan??

gosplan

damianroche1982 wrote: »

but he isnt pushing O'Gara too much to be honest. Another position we could invest would be a long term replacement for Haze... I dont think Buckley is doing it yet and not sure if he will. What you think about Marcos Horan??

Don't want to get into this but there's not too many people in the world who would push O'Gara. Can't sign two of the world's top few players for one position - even Munster aren't that big.

robgloster

If warwick can push for the 10 no1 will unless Carter wants to play.
Correct me if im wrong isnt Buckly like 28. we should still be looking for a younger prop than him . Horan will be around for a bit in sure a someone will pop up and take his place.

7mountpleasant

anonymous_joe wrote: »

And his mum's from Leinster and he's from Ulster.

He'd be competing with Howlett for a place, whose Munster's expensive cash hog, why get a player for the same position?

Playing a lot of his rugby this year at centre with ospreys so could also provide much needed cover in that area also.

7mountpleasant

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

Since when has Cork been part of Waterford?

http://www.munster-express.ie/sports/rugby/bowe-co-take-a-bow/

stand corrected, remember watching the news and seeing the intereview with the parents.

anonymous_joe

7mountpleasant wrote: »

Playing a lot of his rugby this year at centre with ospreys so could also provide much needed cover in that area also.

At outside centre. And given that every single Munster fan will not shut up about Keith Earls (yeah, yeah, he's good, but fúck off, I've good reason to hate him until he makes his Ireland debut :P) who looks fairly likely to merit a starting berth at 13, why would you want Bowe? Anyway, Bowe's gone for all the International games, which is when you need lads who offer cover.

Amazotheamazing

anonymous_joe wrote: »

At outside centre. And given that every single Munster fan will not shut up about Keith Earls (yeah, yeah, he's good, but fúck off, I've good reason to hate him until he makes his Ireland debut :P) who looks fairly likely to merit a starting berth at 13, why would you want Bowe? Anyway, Bowe's gone for all the International games, which is when you need lads who offer cover.

Earls has already played, and scored, for Ireland. Infact, considering he scored two minutes into his Ireland debut v. Canada, he may even hold a record for fastest score of some kind.

anonymous_joe

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

Earls has already played, and scored, for Ireland. Infact, considering he scored two minutes into his Ireland debut v. Canada, he may even hold a record for fastest score of some kind.

You're right of course. Sure I even watched the match. Silly of me.

Change that to 'becomes an Ireland regular' and I'll look like less of a tool.