Munster vs Connacht Sat. 7.30

bleg

Munster have named a near full strength squad for the Magners League clash with Connacht at Thomond Park on Saturday (7.30).

The one omission from the side that saw off the Ospreys last Sunday in the Heineken Cup is Donncha O'Callaghan who is given the weekend off while Donncha Ryan, Michael Essex and Nick Williams are added.

Munster: D Hurley, P Warwick; D Howlett, K Earls, L Mafi, B Murphy, I Dowling; R O’Gara, P Stringer, T O’Leary; T Buckley, M Horan, J Hayes, M Essex, J Flannery, D Fogarty, M O’Driscoll, P O’Connell, D Ryan, A Quinlan, D Wallace, N Ronan, D Leamy., N Williams.

donncha announced his engagement so he's off for the weekend.

i'd like to see a team something like this:
15. Hurley
14. Howlett
13. Earls
12. Murphy
11. Dowling
10. Warwick
9. Stringer
1. Horan
2. Fogarty
3. Hayes
4. O Driscoll (c)
5. Ryan
6. Leamy
7. Ronan
8. Williams

bench of flannery, buckley, o connell, quinlan, o leary, o gara, mafi

not much chance of that though

Johnnio13

Connacht will field a full strenght team too apart from all the injured players

Come on Connacht!

thomond2006

As long as Keatley doesnt try any garryowens Hurley at FB is fine.

Hope Hurley will banish the memories of the Ulster game at TP where he couldn't take an up and under to save his life.

That was one very very bad day. :(

Connacht will come with a bit of confidence but will be hockeyed, gan dabht ar fad.

phog

This should be a 5 pointer for Munster and with Leinster probably announcing a second rate team to take on Edinburgh then we should really be pushing away from them for the race to the league title.

Diabhal Beag

Connacht must prove to the whole World that we will not be as bad as the Ospreys

I predict an upset

Robbo

Hopefully Robbie Morris will be back to cause a bit of chaos in the scrum because if either McGovern or Lynne play in the front row, scrums may as well be uncontested in spite of Marcus Horan.

ManoCornuta

Come on Connacht!

I was at the last match against Munster when they won, and stupidly delegated ticket-buying responsibility to someone else this time round and didn't get tickets, but I'll be glued to the television.

Zzippy

Had to give my ticket away for this one as I'm working, grrr! :mad:

Can't see past a Munster win given the squad they've announced, but hopefully Connacht put it up to them, could be like last season when Munster had to empty their bench of big names to get the win.
Like Robbo said, we need Robbie Morris to play to have any chance in the scrum.

Come on Connacht!

thomond2006

Little Shyte wrote: »

I predict an upset

..............*sigh*

Judgement Day

Little Shyte wrote: »

Connacht must prove to the whole World that we will not be as bad as the Ospreys

I predict an upset

In your dreams!

Diabhal Beag

No. In the realms of possibility actually :P

chupacabra

Little Shyte wrote: »

I predict an upset

Not a chance mate. McGahan said it himself that they are taking the magners league very seriously this year, so i doubt they would throw it away at such a late stage when they can probably win it this weekend.

Podge_irl

chupacabra wrote: »

Not a chance mate. McGahan said it himself that they are taking the magners league very seriously this year, so i doubt they would throw it away at such a late stage when they can probably win it this weekend.

There's a difference between throwing it away and simply being beaten you know.

zenmonk

Could be sticky for first 20-30 mins but with that squad surely Munster would punch holes. Munster by 10 -no bonus point.

mjquinno

if you dont mind paying 65 there are hospitality tickets available on the munsterrugby site. i got them for the last match against leinster.

ManoCornuta wrote: »

Come on Connacht!

I was at the last match against Munster when they won, and stupidly delegated ticket-buying responsibility to someone else this time round and didn't get tickets, but I'll be glued to the television.

ManoCornuta

Little Shyte wrote: »

I predict an upset

I don't predict one, but I do hope for one...

lemonpie

This is probable a stupid question at this stage, but is there any chance I'd get hold of some tickets anywhere now?

Robbo

Connacht Squad: L Bibo, A Browne, F Carr, S Cronin, M Deane, G Duffy, A Dunne, A Farley, A Flavin, D Gannon, I Keatley, R Loughney, B McGovern, J Muldoon, F Murphy, T Nathan, D Nolan, J O'Connor, R Ofisa, C O'Loughlin, C Rigney, D Riordan, M Swift, N Ta'auso, B Wilkinson, A Wynne.

With the team to be announced tomorrow lunchtime. No Robbie Morris, Keith Matthews or Swifty. I can see Carr at fullback with Duffy in the centre.

murphym7

mjquinno wrote: »

if you dont mind paying 65 there are hospitality tickets available on the munsterrugby site. i got them for the last match against leinster.

How does this work? I've had a look around the Munster site but can't find anywhere to get these Hospitality tickets, I would pay 65 in a flash.

thomond2006

mjquinno wrote: »

if you dont mind paying 65 there are hospitality tickets available on the munsterrugby site. i got them for the last match against leinster.

Was it worth it, over paying 35 euro just fot the stand ticket?

Diom

We will be mauled by the ref at scrum time because Lyne/Loughney will find it hard to compete. We will hemorrhage points there, and Munster will be at least 9 ahead at half time I'd say.
Downhill from there?

I'd love to be proved wrong. It's be great to see Connacht get something from this, and still be able to challenge Dragons come Saturday week for HEC rugby.

johnnyboy4711

not that munster will need it but depending on who it is it is worth 9 points at least to them.
Some of the referee decisions in the ML have been criminal against Connacht and the in-action of the touch-judges they seem to forget that the have a flag in their hands at all!
anyway we have big issues in the front row after northampton took its toll!
Really hop we are in the game with 20 to go!
heres hoping!
slan
John

murphym7

Diom wrote: »

We will be mauled by the ref at scrum time because Lyne/Loughney will find it hard to compete. We will hemorrhage points there, and Munster will be at least 9 ahead at half time I'd say.
Downhill from there?

I'd love to be proved wrong. It's be great to see Connacht get something from this, and still be able to challenge Dragons come Saturday week for HEC rugby.

I'd love to see Connacht in the Heineken Cup but that is not going to happen next year anyway, no matter what happens in the ML.

England and France - Six (6) teams each
Ireland and Wales - Three (3) teams each
Scotland and Italy - Two (2) teams each

Although I think England gets a seventh team next year due to Leciester getting a lsemi place, not sure how that will work though.

Diom

?

The play-off has been scrapped?

Fizman

Going to this tomorrow. I fancy Earls to run in a few for some reason. Win by 12-15 maybe.

Diom wrote: »

?

The play-off has been scrapped?

What play-off is that?

f1dan

Fizman wrote: »

What play-off is that?

The highest non-qualifying ML team play the third place team in the Italian league. It's a straight fight between Connacht and the Dragons

Robbo

Connacht team: G Duffy; F Carr, N Ta'auso, T Nathan, L Bibo; I Keatley, F Murphy; B Wilkinson, S Cronin, R Loughney; A Browne/M Swift, A Farley; J Muldoon (C), J O'Connor, C Rigney/R Ofisa.

Replacements: A Flavin, B McGovern, M Swift/D Gannon, C Rigney/R Ofisa, C O'Loughlin, A Dunne, M Deane.

I didn't expect to see Nathan in the centre although he did wind up there in Northampton when Matthews went off. It's as strong as the team could be, all told so I hope we can get something out of the game and not pick up any more injuries for the trip to the Dragons next week.

bleg

Munster: 15 Denis Hurley, 14 Doug Howlett, 13 Barry Murphy, 12 Keith Earls, 11 Ian Dowling, 10 Paul Warwick, 9 Peter Stringer, 8 Denis Leamy, 7 Niall Ronan, 6 Nick Williams, 5 Donncha Ryan, 4, Mick O'Driscoll (C), 3 Tony Buckley, 2 Denis Fogerty, 1 Federico Pucciariello.
Replacements: 16 Michael Essex, 17 Marcus Horan, 18 Billy Holland, 19 David Wallace, 20 Tomas O'Leary, 21, Ronan O'Gara, 22, Lifeimi Mafi.



jaaz i wasn't far off. still a strong side even though a lot of the big guns are rested/on the bench. the bull gets the weekend off...he deserves it!

Podge_irl

murphym7 wrote: »

I'd love to see Connacht in the Heineken Cup but that is not going to happen next year anyway, no matter what happens in the ML.

England and France - Six (6) teams each
Ireland and Wales - Three (3) teams each
Scotland and Italy - Two (2) teams each

Although I think England gets a seventh team next year due to Leciester getting a lsemi place, not sure how that will work though.

You only have 22 teams there. England get a seventh team because they did better then the French this year and the better placed of the fourth Welsh and Irish sides goes into a play-off against the third Italian side.

thomond2006

Munster team should be strong enough to win comfortably imo.

Nick Williams better start producing the goods, has done f**k all so far.

johnnyboy4711

This guy is not good!
but with him being there might give connacht a squeak!
Everyone else is from the IRFU though,so if jones is giving too much to connacht they will sure pull him back into line!
Here's to the perennial underdogs!!!
slan
j

Rigel

thomond2006 wrote: »

Nick Williams better start producing the goods, has done f**k all so far.

I have to agree with you Thomond, Williams hasn't lived up to his reputation, we really need him start delivering at this stage of the season to give some of the others a break but not sure if he's lost it or if it's because of all the strapping he wears on his legs. He really needs a big performance tomorrow.

Compared with our last (conspiracy theory) outing against Connacht there are no changes in the backs other than positional with Mafi on the bench and Hurley starting. Fogarty for Flannery only front row change with Leamy only back row change, others are positional or bench.

The bench is where it's all happening, Munster had nothing to throw at Connacht that cold night in December but Tony McGahan isn't making the same mistake again. This time the bench is bursting with match winning talent; Horan, Wallace, O'Leary, O'Gara, and Mafi. Imaging that lot coming at you with 20 minutes to go.

April Munster: D Hurley; D Howlett, B Murphy, K Earls, I Dowling; P Warwick, P Stringer; F Pucciariello, D Fogarty, T Buckley; M O'Driscoll capt, D Ryan; N Williams, N Ronan, D Leamy. Replacements: M Essex, M Horan, B Holland, D Wallace, T O'Leary, R O'Gara, L Mafi.

December Munster: K Earls; D Howlett, B Murphy, L Mafi, I Dowling; P Warwick, P Stringer; F Pucciariello, J Flannery, T Buckley; M O'Driscoll capt, D Ryan; A Quinlan, N Ronan, D Wallace. Replacements. F Sheahan, T Ryan, J Coughlan, N Williams, M Prendergast, J Manning, D Hurley

johnnyboy4711

"The bench is where it's all happening, Munster had nothing to throw at Connacht that cold night in December but Tony McGahan isn't making the same mistake again. This time the bench is bursting with match winning talent; Horan, Wallace, O'Leary, O'Gara, and Mafi. Imaging that lot coming at you with 20 minutes to go. "

Lucky for Munster the have these guys to bring in when our lads are out on their feet!
Someday Munster might leave it a little too late to bring them in to save the day !
Also its nice that Munster can offer Warwick twice the wages what he was getting in Connacht ,now thats pulling power!!!
No sour grapes the guy was a great player for us and has come on leaps and bounds for you!
Hope you go on to win both ML and HC!
slan
j

Fozzie Bear

I'm going to this more to have a look at the new Thomond Park then in any sort of expectation of an upset. Have not been there since it was redeveloped.

Even with Munster giving their bigger names a break I cannot see anything other then a big win for Munster. They are really on a roll right now after the Ospreys game whereas Connacht have been losing by big margins in their last few games. Northampton pasted us in the EC cup but we put in a moral boosting performance according to some. WTF is that? 42-13 is a hammering in my book. Nothing to boost moral about that.

No way in hell Connacht are going to beat Munster in their own back yard. Sweet sweet revenge for Decembers shock result me thinks.

johnnyboy4711

Its not feckin leinster your playin!
Let us have our day back then!
Sorry for the whipping boys of the Magners league to beat the mighty munster!
maybe we should have rolled over and play dead like you assumed we would in december.
I just want a good performance and maybe(fingers crossed) a losing bonus point!
j

ManoCornuta

Fozzie Bear wrote: »

No way in hell Connacht are going to beat Munster in their own back yard. Sweet sweet revenge for Decembers shock result me thinks.

I'd be inclinded to agree with ya, Connacht sure do love to perform well at the Sportsground.

Sweet revenge though?

For what?

The underdogs beat Munster. It's not like Munster's standings or reputations or shot at the final were affected by it.

Diom

Fozzie Bear wrote: »

I'm going to this more to have a look at the new Thomond Park then...

Connacht have been losing by big margins in their last few games. Northampton pasted us in the EC cup but we put in a moral boosting performance accordinng to some. WTF is that? 42-13 is a hammering in my book. Nothing to boost moral about that.

Yeah do you even know what happened in that game? Also Connacht have not been losing by big margins recently aside from away to Edinburgh, where even Leinster will struggle tonight.

ManoCornuta

Diom wrote: »

where even Leinster will struggle tonight.

Just finished watching that match, it was truly awful.

dh0661

ManoCornuta wrote: »

Just finished watching that match, it was truly awful.

It was, wasn't it.

I will resist the temptation to write in big bold red writing.

Come on Munster

ManoCornuta

dh0661 wrote: »

It was, wasn't it.

I will resist the temptation to write in big bold red writing.

Come on Munster

Well resisted!

thomond2006

I can't resist:

COME ON MUNSTER!!!

Damn, I need some will power. :D:D

Judgement Day

To get any sort of a decent return on betting on Munster V Connacht with Paddy Power I am considering going for a handicap of -28 (i.e. Munster to win by more than 28 points) - anybody think this is on? I did quite nicely with the win against Ospreys but I was too cautious only going for a -8 handicap. Did well on Ulster tonight too - it was a close run thing - but at least it made up for having to listen to sporadic match reporting on Newstalk's Off the Ball as the only way of following the game.

C'MON MUNSTER!

Fozzie Bear

Diom wrote: »

Yeah do you even know what happened in that game? Also Connacht have not been losing by big margins recently aside from away to Edinburgh, where even Leinster will struggle tonight.

First off I'm from Galway and a Connacht fan. Secondly our last 10 games below. All our biggest losses are away from home, N'hampton, Edinburgh, Ospreys, L'Irish there are some big losses in there and tomorrow we are away...... Much as I hate to say it I can't see us pulling off another shock win like the one I watched in College road a few months ago. Just giving my opinion not trying to wind anyone up.

Northampton 42 Conn 13
Conn 39 Dragons 17
Edinburgh 32 Conn 5
Conn 14 Blues 19
Ospreys 22 Conn 10
Conn 49 Dax 3
L/Irish 75 Conn 5
Conn 14 Scarlets 17
Leinster 26 Conn 18
Conn 12 Munster 6

ManoCornuta wrote: »

Sweet revenge though?

For what?

The underdogs beat Munster. It's not like Munster's standings or reputations or shot at the final were affected by it.

True about the under dog thing, not like it was Leinster or anything:p But I'd be willing to bet that Munster fans coming out of Thomond tomorrow (if they win) will consider it revenge for us beating them in December and a restoration of the status quo. Hope to God I'm completely wrong of course....

C'Mon CONNACHT!!!

Judgement Day

Fozzie Bear....But I'd be willing to bet that Munster fans coming out of Thomond tomorrow (WHEN they win) will consider it revenge for us beating them in December and a restoration of the status quo.

Corrrected that for you!!

Zzippy

Fozzie Bear wrote: »

First off I'm from Galway and a Connacht fan. Secondly our last 10 games below. All our biggest losses are away from home, N'hampton, Edinburgh, Ospreys, L'Irish there are some big losses in there and tomorrow we are away...... Much as I hate to say it I can't see us pulling off another shock win like the one I watched in College road a few months ago. Just giving my opinion not trying to wind anyone up.

Northampton 42 Conn 13 Very close til the last 10 minutes, despite our scrum being sh1te, then the ref handed it to Northampton

Conn 39 Dragons 17 Great win

Edinburgh 32 Conn 5 Bad result alright

Conn 14 Blues 19 Should have won this, played well enough to win

Ospreys 22 Conn 10 Didn't take our chances, could have won this. Scoreline flattered Ospreys.

Conn 49 Dax 3 Great win.

L/Irish 75 Conn 5 Second string side out, rested players for Dax game. Not relevant.

Conn 14 Scarlets 17 Should have won this, again played well enough to win.

Leinster 26 Conn 18 Could have won this, or at very least deserved a bonus point.

Conn 12 Munster 6 Great win.

The results you posted don't bear out the real story, apart from the Edinburgh game we haven't been heavily beaten where we had a full team or got a fair game from the ref, I wouldn't call a 12 point defeat away to Ospreys a heavy beating. Having said that I wouldn't be surprised to see Munster win handily tonight. Hope to God I'm wrong though!

Come on Connacht!

Fozzie Bear

Judgement Day wrote: »

Fozzie Bear....But I'd be willing to bet that Munster fans coming out of Thomond tomorrow (WHEN they win) will consider it revenge for us beating them in December and a restoration of the status quo.

Corrrected that for you!!

Hmmmm I'd hate to see you being force fed extra helpings of bitter bitter humble pie later this evening by my fellow Connacht posters

ManoCornuta

Fozzie Bear wrote: »

Hmmmm I'd hate to see you being force fed extra helpings of bitter bitter humble pie later this evening by my fellow Connacht posters

You've no idea how much I would love to see that happen...

thomond2006

C'mon Munster.

dreamer_ire

Scarlets 12-3 up against Ospreys at half time.

chupacabra

No bonus point for the Ospreys. Its as good as munsters now if they can get a BP win against connacht. HOWEVER i certainly wont be calling this one and even though my heart belongs to munster, more than a little part of me wants to see Connacht have a smashing game.

C'MON CONNSTER!

Hennybug

Hang on did i actually hear Neil Francis pay Connacht a compliment :eek: