Munster v. London Irish (Friday - 7:00pm)

ScrubsfanChris

Munster XV:
D Hurley; D Riordan, T Gleeson, P Warwick capt, D Barnes; J Manning, T Morland; D Ryan, D Varley, T Buckley; I Nagle, B Holland, T O'Donnell, N Ronan, D Leamy.
Replacements: D Fogarty, J Brugnaut, R O'Mahony, S Archer, F Jones, S Deasy, P Stringer, E Grace, M O'Driscoll,


London Irish Squad:
D Armitage; A Thompstone, T Homer, C Gower, S Tagicakibau; R Lamb, P Richards; D Murphy, D Paice, P Ion; A Perry, K Roche; R Thorpe, S Armigage, C Hala'Ufia. (Replacements from): C Dermody; J Buckland; A Corbisiero; G Johnson; N Kennedy; P Hodgson; J Lennard; D Danaher; J Fisher; G Stowers; J Joseph; A Lalanne; M Watson.


Thats a pretty good London Irish squad especially in the backs with Armitage, Homer, Lamb and Richards (assuming they start).

Tickets for the game will be available on the night according to the Munster website (Terrace/School-boy/Uncovered seating only)
http://munsterrugby.ie/9814.php

phog

Thanks for putting the time on the title - even though I printed off my tickets today I didn't think to check the time, I just assumed it was a 7.30 kickoff.

FridaysWell

Be interesting to see how Manning manages this backline. And how Warick plays. . .

No offence munster but Irish looking to win.

I'll be wrong though

buzz55

Is this on TV? Or highlights only at some stage?

andrewdcs

gah, season can't start soon enough! Would love to watch this.

ScrubsfanChris

buzz55 wrote: »

Is this on TV? Or highlights only at some stage?

No, there is no big screen at the match either.
More importantly I hope the match next week against Leicster is on TV.

I'm at the match so I will try to provde updates as much as possible.

ScrubsfanChris

07 - 03 to Munster, try for Varley

Tobyglen

Updated by the score here

http://www.munsterfans.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=21105&TPN=1

ScrubsfanChris

14 - 03, Leamy Try

razorblunt

Was all set to go to this one, plans changed at last minute, keen to see how Nagle goes again this game.

ScrubsfanChris

21 - 03 at half time, good game so far, Munster running the ball alot in all parts of the pitch. But alot a ball been kicked back and forth between the teams. L. Irish are getting the better of Munster in the scrums but it's a good contest at the lineouts. There has also been a good few turnovers at the rucks for both sides.
Munster wearing the away Navy strip tonight, looks good with the white shorts.

O ya, has anyone seen Mafi's hair recently, what the hell is going on there?

ScrubsfanChris

Final Score: Munster 31-23 London Irish
Warwick converted a penalty just inside the L. Irish half with 2 minutes to go.

Hyperbullet

2 good results in 2 weeks. Delighted.

ScrubsfanChris

A few pics from the game: (iphone quality)

CoDy1

Nice pics Chris, New away jersey looks pretty nice.

Do you know what the attendance was?

ScrubsfanChris

CoDy1 wrote: »

Nice pics Chris, New away jersey looks pretty nice.

Do you know what the attendance was?

Thanks, I aint no photographer though
We will have to wait until tomorow for some decent pics taken by the news papers and such.
The new away jersey looks pretty good alright, navy jersey with white block over left shoulder and white shorts with yellow trim.



Don't know what the attendance was but it was pretty close to full from what I could see.

Match report: http://munsterrugby.ie/9819.php

Hyperbullet

Looked like a lovely evening for a match too. Good atmosphere at the ground Chris?

Four-Percent

ScrubsfanChris wrote: »

Final Score: Munster 31-23 London Irish
Warwick converted a penalty just inside the L. Irish half with 2 minutes to go.

Great result.Did Irish start playing in the second half or what?

ScrubsfanChris

Hyperbullet wrote: »

Looked like a lovely evening for a match too. Good atmosphere at the ground Chris?

The atmosphere was ok, not brilliant. The crowd did get behind the team though with alot a "Muunssterrrr" chanting but not a hint of "The fields of Athenry" I'm afraid. Weather has really good with a bit of a wind swirling around the pitch.

logonapr

Thought Munster were quite poor tonight and were flattered by the result. Lots of errors & a much weaker performance than last week against Sale when Munster had far fewer of their 'names' playing

2040

Good game. I think i might be attracted to Paul Warwick.

FridaysWell

logonapr wrote: »

Thought Munster were quite poor tonight and were flattered by the result. Lots of errors & a much weaker performance than last week against Sale when Munster had far fewer of their 'names' playing

How did Manning do at flyhalf?

ScrubsfanChris

FridaysWell wrote: »

How did Manning do at flyhalf?

He came off a few minutes into the second half, I was standing right behind the bench and he seemed pretty dissapointed with himself or else he has pissed off for being replaced.

phog

Four-Percent wrote: »

Great result.Did Irish start playing in the second half or what?

Well they brought on Nick Kennedy but I think it had a lot to do with the raft of substitutions on both sides, that happens alot at friendlies, team lose shape once a few subs come on at the same time.

Overall, it was good result for Munster if you compare the quality of the their opposition.

Amazotheamazing

FridaysWell wrote: »

How did Manning do at flyhalf?

Pretty well, he took his kicks, could maybe have showed more control but despite the scoreline, we were under pressure in the first half for long periods.

Overall it was a very impressive result from our youngsters. I'll be amazed if we can hold onto both Varley and Nagle, when you consider the players we have ahead of them.

FridaysWell

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

Pretty well, he took his kicks, could maybe have showed more control but despite the scoreline, we were under pressure in the first half for long periods.

Now I think Manning is Irish qualified. Think he could get onto the 'A' setup?

Thanks by the way :)

siltirocker

O'Gara
Sexton
Keatley
O'Connor
Humphreys
(possibly) Staunton

All ahead of him atm at fly-half. So even an 'A' cap will need to be hard earned.

chupacabra

FridaysWell wrote: »

Now I think Manning is Irish qualified. Think he could get onto the 'A' setup?

Thanks by the way :)

Not a chance, he'll be a decent back up to Rodge and Warwick but wont get a call up to the national side unless all our fly halfs get swine flu.

FridaysWell

chupacabra wrote: »

Not a chance, he'll be a decent back up to Rodge and Warwick but wont get a call up to the national side unless all our fly halfs get swine flu.

hahaha don't be cursing them then. Thats a shame hes not that good (for national selection) I've only watched him play 2-3 times so thats why I asked, I wasn't sure. Thanks all :pac:

bleg

I love that away strip. Definitely going to buy it.

Amazotheamazing

chupacabra wrote: »

Not a chance, he'll be a decent back up to Rodge and Warwick but wont get a call up to the national side unless all our fly halfs get swine flu.

He's better than both of the guys starting for Ulster, imo. At least O'Connor is young enough to improve, but Humph's will never make it.

RuggieBear

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

He's better than both of the guys starting for Ulster, imo. At least O'Connor is young enough to improve, but Humph's will never make it.

i'd probably agree with that but manning's big issue is he appears to be very injury prone. I'm not sure i've seen him finish a match

Amazotheamazing

RuggieBear wrote: »

i'd probably agree with that but manning's big issue is he appears to be very injury prone. I'm not sure i've seen him finish a match

Yeah, he's a shockingly bad tackler, he always goes head on. He should really examine what Stringer does (wrap around tackles) and try and copy it, much less impact. He didn't go off injured last night though, think it was to give Deasy a run in the centre.

danthefan

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

He's better than both of the guys starting for Ulster, imo. At least O'Connor is young enough to improve, but Humph's will never make it.

From Manning's point of view, based on what? What's he done to be rated ahead of anyone?

Amazotheamazing

danthefan wrote: »

From Manning's point of view, based on what? What's he done to be rated ahead of anyone?

Well, Humph's is a flake who can't tackle. Great one day, rubbish the next, which is a pity, because on his day he can be class running with the ball or playing players into space. O'Connor is a young guy who has little or no game control, can't kick and doesn't seem to have any running game, from what I've seen.

Manning is a lovely passer of the ball (up there with Paddy Wallace), in the past two weeks has kicked from both the touchline and the halfway line, can offload in the tackle, and despite being a technically bad tackler rarely misses tackles (if only he would). What he really lacks, and what I'd like to see more of with Munster, is game control. He needs to play with more authority on the pitch, like he does for Cork Con, when he pretty much runs the show.

Obviously, I've seen more of Manning than I have of Humph's or O'Connor, but I don't think I'm being overly harsh on them. O'Connor has time on his side, but he's starting his third pro season now and he's still not trusted enough to be Ulster's main kicker. Of course, it's not crucial that an outhalf is the kicker, but with O'Connor, what does he bring with him to say he's going to step up?

danthefan

Don't particularly rate O'Connor but definitely don't rate Manning either. It's a case of who is the least bad with the 3 of them. Manning has been in Ireland for 4 seasons now, this is his 5th I think, and he's spent most of his time in the AIL. He's lucky to still have a contract and he'll never get near an Irish side. Humph has easily played the best rugby of the 3 though, you're right that he's inconsistent and a bad defender though. A certain other Irish 10 has shown though that you can plan around that and still be successful.

Amazotheamazing

danthefan wrote: »

Don't particularly rate O'Connor but definitely don't rate Manning either. It's a case of who is the least bad with the 3 of them. Manning has been in Ireland for 4 seasons now, this is his 5th I think, and he's spent most of his time in the AIL. He's lucky to still have a contract and he'll never get near an Irish side. Humph has easily played the best rugby of the 3 though, you're right that he's inconsistent and a bad defender though. A certain other Irish 10 has shown though that you can plan around that and still be successful.

I don't disagree with a lot of that, I was just pointing out I'd have Manning ahead of the Ulster players. Manning needs to step up and achieve something in the ML, but the two players ahead of him in Munster are pretty decent.

Currently, I couldn't see Manning being capped by Ireland, but O'Connor has A caps and honestly, if O'Connor got into the full senior side, we'd be in serious trouble.

Anyhow, back to the game, Barnes looked like he might be an option this year for Munster, if we can find space for him. Would love to see what either O'Donnell or Holland would do with the full pack, very different players. Holland is a bit of an O'Callaghan or Easterby, serious grafter, does the hard work that isn't always obvious whereas O'Donnell is a closer to a Ferris still backrower. Either way, let's see if they can do it in the ML.

danthefan

Fair enough re. the 10s, lets just leave it there. Manning might be ahead of the Ulster lads but I'm not sure any are heading anywhere fast.


T Gleeson, D Barnes, D Ryan, D Varley, I Nagle, B Holland, T O'Donnell


What sort of ages are these lads?

Amazotheamazing

danthefan wrote: »

Fair enough re. the 10s, lets just leave it there. Manning might be ahead of the Ulster lads but I'm not sure any are heading anywhere fast.


T Gleeson, D Barnes, D Ryan, D Varley, I Nagle, B Holland, T O'Donnell


What sort of ages are these lads?

Gleeson is 23, can't really see him making it beyond the ML.
Barnes is 20, looks very good, in the first year of the Academy.
Ryan is 25, would walk into a lot of teams, will probably be third choice for Ireland this years.
Varley is 26, hard to know if he'll get games, was class for Garryowen before he he moved to Wasps, might not even get his game with Garryowen because Sherry is starting for them now.
Nagle is 20, highly rated, has to bulk up yet though.
Holland is 24, solid player, he has to make something of it this year.
O'Donnell is 21 or 22, highly rated prospect, can play anywhere in the backrow.

Of the lot, I'd say Barnes, Nagle and O'Donnell look like the best prospects. Holland's a hard guy to rate, like I said, a grafter but often in the right place at the right time. Showed lovely hands for our first try last week.

danthefan

I wouldn't be holding out much hope for a 24 year old backrow at this stage to be honest unless he improves hugely in a very short space of time.

Leinster should look at poaching one of these 2nd rows, seems there's a load of them knocking about in Munster. Ryan is a LH yes? Is he going to be making the Munster squad? Because if he can play LH only then he's not going to be a bench option for the HEC.

How was the Munster scrum yesterday by the way, did Buckley manage?

Stev_o

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

Gleeson is 23, can't really see him making it beyond the ML.
Barnes is 20, looks very good, in the first year of the Academy.
Ryan is 25, would walk into a lot of teams, will probably be third choice for Ireland this years.
Varley is 26, hard to know if he'll get games, was class for Garryowen before he he moved to Wasps, might not even get his game with Garryowen because Sherry is starting for them now.
Nagle is 20, highly rated, has to bulk up yet though.
Holland is 24, solid player, he has to make something of it this year.
O'Donnell is 21 or 22, highly rated prospect, can play anywhere in the backrow.

Of the lot, I'd say Barnes, Nagle and O'Donnell look like the best prospects. Holland's a hard guy to rate, like I said, a grafter but often in the right place at the right time. Showed lovely hands for our first try last week.

Whats the story with Grace these days? Is he being given a look in? Heard he's a real prospect for Munster and Ireland as a natural 7.

Amazotheamazing

danthefan wrote: »

I wouldn't be holding out much hope for a 24 year old backrow at this stage to be honest unless he improves hugely in a very short space of time.

Leinster should look at poaching one of these 2nd rows, seems there's a load of them knocking about in Munster. Ryan is a LH yes? Is he going to be making the Munster squad? Because if he can play LH only then he's not going to be a bench option for the HEC.

How was the Munster scrum yesterday by the way, did Buckley manage?

Sorry, I assumed you meant Donnacha Ryan, Dave Ryan is 23, and can cover both sides, mostly LH though.

Scrum was awful yesterday, have to wonder how Buckley's made it this far.

I don't know about Holland, like i said, he's a hard player to judge.

danthefan

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

Sorry, I assumed you meant Donnacha Ryan, Dave Ryan is 23, and can cover both sides, mostly LH though.

Scrum was awful yesterday, have to wonder how Buckley's made it this far.

I don't know about Holland, like i said, he's a hard player to judge.

I just cut the names from the teamsheet so was talking about the prop Ryan, I know about Donnacha Ryan, who is a very good player.

Not good to hear that about the scrum.

Amazotheamazing

Stev_o wrote: »

Whats the story with Grace these days? Is he being given a look in? Heard he's a real prospect for Munster and Ireland as a natural 7.

Grace is still in the Academy, afaik, came on in both the preseason games so far. Much like Leinster and wingers, we can't play all our good forwards.

Stev_o

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

Grace is still in the Academy, afaik, came on in both the preseason games so far. Much like Leinster and wingers, we can't play all our good forwards.

Good stuff but do you think he'd be able to overleap Ronan when Wallace calls it a day?

Amazotheamazing

Stev_o wrote: »

Good stuff but do you think he'd be able to overleap Ronan when Wallace calls it a day?

I don't know to be honest. Ronan is a very different player to the scrawny guy who left Leinster, maybe he'll never be up to Wallace's standard but he's getting better with every game.

Backrow players like Holland (he's started the last two games as a second row but he's primarily a 6 or 8), O'Donnell, Grace, O'Mahony, and Essex are all pretty talented guys but we just don't have enough games for them to show what they can really do. You can't just drop a player in and hope he does well, a player needs time to bed in and adjust.

Same with Nagle, outplayed a host of experienced professionals in his last two games, but still has to find a way past Donnacha Ryan, let alone MOD, POC and DOC to get into our HEC team. Is there a harder second row to break into in Europe?

Stev_o

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

I don't know to be honest. Ronan is a very different player to the scrawny guy who left Leinster, maybe he'll never be up to Wallace's standard but he's getting better with every game.

Backrow players like Holland (he's started the last two games as a second row but he's primarily a 6 or 8), O'Donnell, Grace, O'Mahony, and Essex are all pretty talented guys but we just don't have enough games for them to show what they can really do. You can't just drop a player in and hope he does well, a player needs time to bed in and adjust.

Same with Nagle, outplayed a host of experienced professionals in his last two games, but still has to find a way past Donnacha Ryan, let alone MOD, POC and DOC to get into our HEC team. Is there a harder second row to break into in Europe?

Hopefully the A league then will help these guys get good game time against other tough opposition then and we can only hope from there on in that the diamonds begin to sparkle.

ScrubsfanChris

Does anybody know if the match against Leicster next week is going to be on tv?
I don't think Sky Sports will show it, but what about BBC or ITV.

chupacabra

ScrubsfanChris wrote: »

Does anybody know if the match against Leicster next week is going to be on tv?
I don't think Sky Sports will show it, but what about BBC or ITV.

Doubt it, dont think any of the irish preseason games are being shown anywhere.