Ulster vs Munster, Sat 2 Jan 6pm Match Thread

thomond2006

VS

Munster: Denis Hurley; Doug Howlett, Lifeimi Mafi, Jean de Villiers, Ian Dowling; P Warwick, P Stringer; W du Preez, D Varley,T Buckley; M O'Driscoll, D Ryan; B Holland, N Ronan, J Coughlan.

Replacements: M Sherry, S Archer, P O'Mahony, T O'Donnell, D Williams, S Deasy, T Gleeson.

Ulster: Jamie Smith, Andrew Trimble, Ian Whitten, Paddy Wallace, Simon Danielli, Ian Humphreys, Isaac Boss
Tom Court, Nigel Brady, BJ Botha, Ed O'Donoghue, Dan Tuohy, Stephen Ferris, Willie Faloon, Chris Henry (Capt)

Replacements: Andy Kyriacou, Declan Fitzpatrick, Ryan Caldwell, T.J. Anderson, Cillian Willis, Niall O'Connor, Timoci Nagusa

Munster make six changes (two positional) for a very tough trip to Ravenhill, where they have lost in the past two seasons.

Denis Hurley moves to his old position of fullback, I suppose it had to be him with Jones injured and Warwick at 10. Let's hope he does the business. I'd like him to settle in one position though, which is the wing imo.

The De Villiers-Mafi centre combination gets another run. McGahan must be desperate for this to function and be his first choice partnership.

What in God's name is going on with Nick Williams? In the starting XV one week, not in the 22 the following week? Something is not right there.

On the other hand I'm delighted to see O'Mahony on the bench, really talented player. Captained the Ireland U-20's in the World Cup recently. Hope he gets 20-25 minutes.

Hyperbullet

Where the feck is Nick Williams? Is he injured again? Played well against Connacht and no sign of him this week. :mad:

Agree with you about Hurley. I'd say if manning was fit he'd start at 10 and move Warwick to full back. Happy enough with that squad though. I'm sure Archer will get game time as well.

spoon

That team has it's work cut out for them if they want to come out of Ravenhill with any points. There's a few odd decisions there. Williams missing altogether is strange, he seemed to have a good enough game last week. Also, what has happened to Quinny?
We have next to no experience coming off the bench as well.

I hope to god the Mafi - JDV partnership works for this game. They've given it a lot of chances up till now.

Hyperbullet

spoon wrote: »

That team has it's work cut out for them if they want to come out of Ravenhill with any points. There's a few odd decisions there. Williams missing altogether is strange, he seemed to have a good enough game last week. Also, what has happened to Quinny?
We have next to no experience coming off the bench as well.

I hope to god the Mafi - JDV partnership works for this game. They've given it a lot of chances up till now.

Actually, Thomond, where did you get the squad? Here it is as taken from the Munster home page:

Munster: S Deasy, D Hurley, D Howlett, I Dowling, T Gleeson, L Mafi, J de Villiers, P Warwick, D Williams, P Stringer, W du Preez, S Archer, J Brugnaut, T Buckley, D Varley, D Fogarty, M Sherry, M O'Driscoll, D Ryan, A Quinlan, B Holland, N Ronan, T O'Donnell, N Williams.

http://www.munsterrugby.ie/news/6951.php

Risteard

Hyperbullet wrote: »

Actually, Thomond, where did you get the squad? Here it is as taken from the Munster home page:

Munster: S Deasy, D Hurley, D Howlett, I Dowling, T Gleeson, L Mafi, J de Villiers, P Warwick, D Williams, P Stringer, W du Preez, S Archer, J Brugnaut, T Buckley, D Varley, D Fogarty, M Sherry, M O'Driscoll, D Ryan, A Quinlan, B Holland, N Ronan, T O'Donnell, N Williams.

http://www.munsterrugby.ie/news/6951.php

He's listed the starting team, not the squad.

Aidric

This game has the potential to be a cracker. Hope De Villiers can continue to make a statement. There won't be much in it.

Size=everything

Going to go with Ulster for this one. From talking to my cousin it seems a good few of the old Munster heads have been out on the absolute tear the last few days. Can't be doing that in todays professional era.

Hyperbullet

Aidric wrote: »

This game has the potential to be a cracker. Hope De Villiers can continue to make a statement. There won't be much in it.

Very true. The game in thomond earlier this year was a very tough contest.

Size=everything

Aidric wrote: »

This game has the potential to be a cracker. Hope De Villiers can continue to make a statement. There won't be much in it.

Hes been making a statement since he started playing, allbeit a negative one. He seems to be hitting a decent patch of form the last 2 games though I'd still rate him behind O'Driscoll, D'arcy and Wallace on current form. Certainly been better than Mafi though.

Would like to see
12.De Villiers
13.Earls

Hyperbullet

Size=everything wrote: »

Going to go with Ulster for this one. From talking to my cousin it seems a good few of the old Munster heads have been out on the absolute tear the last few days. Can't be doing that in todays professional era.

Seriously doubt this...

But even so, they're human and its the holiday season. Everyone's entitled to a few beers.

Any sign of the Ulster squad yet?

phog

Size=everything wrote: »

Going to go with Ulster for this one. From talking to my cousin it seems a good few of the old Munster heads have been out on the absolute tear the last few days. Can't be doing that in todays professional era.

Why not? Do you really think all the provincial players abstain from beer for the full season? Surely if they're being rested as requested by the IRFU they can have a few beers. I know DOC got married the Wednesday before Christmas I'd expect there was a few rugby buddies there and if they knew they had downtime they might have had given it a lash.

Size=everything

phog wrote: »

Why not? Do you really think all the provincial players abstain from beer for the full season? Surely if they're being rested as requested by the IRFU they can have a few beers. I know DOC got married the Wednesday before Christmas I'd expect there was a few rugby buddies there and if they knew they had downtime they might have had given it a lash.

Of course but I am referring to a few players in the squad named not those on downtime. Anyway, ignore the comment I just thought it was suprising.

Aidric

Size=everything wrote: »

Hes been making a statement since he started playing, allbeit a negative one. He seems to be hitting a decent patch of form the last 2 games

I was obviously referring to the last two games when I said continue to make a statement.

castie

Size=everything wrote: »

Going to go with Ulster for this one. From talking to my cousin it seems a good few of the old Munster heads have been out on the absolute tear the last few days. Can't be doing that in todays professional era.

Cant be taking rumour to be truth in todays world either.

lyencoli

nick williams injured his knee and brugnuat injured his groin during the week

danthefan

Ulster should win this, that Munster pack is there for the taking.

phog

Size=everything wrote: »

Of course but I am referring to a few players in the squad named not those on downtime. Anyway, ignore the comment I just thought it was suprising.

Seeing that you felt it important to bring it up in the first place I think you should name them, give us an opportunity to confirm or deny the rumour.

PhatPiggins

thomond2006 wrote: »

VS

Munster: Denis Hurley; Doug Howlett, Lifeimi Mafi, Jean de Villiers, Ian Dowling; P Warwick, P Stringer; W du Preez, D Varley,T Buckley; M O'Driscoll, D Ryan; B Holland, N Ronan, J Coughlan.

Replacements: M Sherry, S Archer, P O'Mahony, T O'Donnell, D Williams, S Deasy, T Gleeson.

Ulster: TBA

Munster make six changes (two positional) for a very tough trip to Ravenhill, where they have lost in the past two seasons.

Denis Hurley moves to his old position of fullback, I suppose it had to be him with Jones injured and Warwick at 10. Let's hope he does the business. I'd like him to settle in one position though, which is the wing imo.

The De Villiers-Mafi centre combination gets another run. McGahan must be desperate for this to function and be his first choice partnership.

What in God's name is going on with Nick Williams? In the starting XV one week, not in the 22 the following week? Something is not right there.

On the other hand I'm delighted to see O'Mahony on the bench, really talented player. Captained the Ireland U-20's in the World Cup recently. preHope he gets 20-25 minutes.

Good write up there thomond. I'd go the other way with Hurley, I think FB is his best position but he's a real confidence player so playing on the wing where he's under less pressure has been good for him.

The "old munster heads" out on the lash is a laugh.

eroo

So what if they were out and about on the beer? Little known fact: when these lads do drink(which is very rare) they can't take very much of it! Their body's don't have the tolerance for it because they are at peak fitness levels, and they hardly ever drink so tolerance can't be built up. I know that a few of the squad have been seen in a bad state after 2-3 pints!

OT, I think this will be a great match. More game time for the likes of Ronan, Warwick, Holland and Coughlan is great for the squad.

thomond2006

lyencoli wrote: »

nick williams injured his knee and brugnuat injured his groin during the week

I see.

Ulster team will be announced lunchtime tommorrow.

Will probably be full strength considering the side they sent to the RDS last weekend.

Ulster should win this, that Munster pack is there for the taking.

If Ferris and Henry play, it will be a long night for the Munster backrow.

If Court and Botha play, Munster will be murdered in the scrum. It's such a key component of a team in the modern game imo.

I think MOD and Ryan are equal to any Ulster second row tbh.

Digifriendly

thomond2006 wrote: »

I see.

Ulster team will be announced lunchtime tommorrow.

Will probably be full strength considering the side they sent to the RDS last weekend.



If Ferris and Henry play, it will be a long night for the Munster backrow.

If Court and Botha play, Munster will be murdered in the scrum. It's such a key component of a team in the modern game imo.

I think MOD and Ryan are equal to any Ulster second row tbh.

Entirely agree. Ulster's second row is their big weakness at present up front. Take Ulster to win but not by a lot.

subfreq

One thing that really impressed me was the attacking patterns the Ulster backs ran in the RDS.

Leinster are the bench mark in Europe for defence and there was several time the shadow Ulster team opened them up and you really don't see that in the RDS.

Should be a belter of a game.

JDV has looked different gravy in the recent glimpses.

bleg

This will hardly go ahead will it?

Nukem

Size=everything wrote: »

12.De Villiers
13.Earls

Completely agree-have no idea why they haven't done this just as an experiment. Mafi is becoming (even more) one dimensional

thomond2006

Nukem wrote: »

Mafi is becoming (even more) one dimensional

Yes I don't think centre suits him for that reason, would like to see him tried on the wing and see how he goes there.

Earls (like all the Irish internationals) should be available next week for the Scarlets match. I hope to see JdV at 12 and Earls at 13.

ULSTER:

Jamie Smith, Andrew Trimble, Ian Whitten, Paddy Wallace, Simon Danielli, Ian Humphreys, Isaac Boss
Tom Court, Nigel Brady, BJ Botha, Ed O'Donoghue, Dan Tuohy, Stephen Ferris, Willie Faloon, Chris Henry (Capt)

Replacements

Andy Kyriacou, Declan Fitzpatrick, Ryan Caldwell, T.J. Anderson, Cillian Willis, Niall O'Connor, Timoci Nagusa

Strong selection for Ulster. Is Cave injured?

Looking at the teams, Munster have a superior backline and Ulster a superior pack (especially scrum).

Weather pending, this should be a thriller, with Warwick vs Humphreys the pick of the head-to-heads.

I'm gonna stick my neck out and say Munster by 3, but with little confidence to be honest.

Goodluck2me

thomond2006 wrote: »

ULSTER:

Jamie Smith, Andrew Trimble, Ian Whitten, Paddy Wallace, Simon Danielli, Ian Humphreys, Isaac Boss
Tom Court, Nigel Brady, BJ Botha, Ed O'Donoghue, Dan Tuohy, Stephen Ferris, Willie Faloon, Chris Henry (Capt)

Replacements

Andy Kyriacou, Declan Fitzpatrick, Ryan Caldwell, T.J. Anderson, Cillian Willis, Niall O'Connor, Timoci Nagusa

Was he injured until now, I noticed marshall was on the bench a lot but Cillian if he would ever stay fit is fantastic.

dreamer_ire

Pitch passed inspection last night and covers still on so hopefully all will be ok for today. BBC predicting snow about 6pm though so will make for a chilly night.

Ulster Rugby site now saying that they are confident the match will be going ahead but there will be a pitch inspection this afternoon. Decision due about 3pm.

Aidric

Is this game only on Setanta? I cancelled my subscription in December.

castie

With fans travelling so far you would think theyd make a decision earlier than 3pm

padser

Aidric wrote: »

Is this game only on Setanta? I cancelled my subscription in December.

I didn't know this until today as I never pay attention to adverts (always assume there is a catch etc) but I am an Eircom customer and turns out I can just log onto

http://setanta-video.eircom.net/eircom/channels/Live.aspx (have to register but no credit card etc)

and watch live stuff on Setanta. So if Eircom is your Broadband provider you might be able to get it that way (its also possible you could pay for it - dunno though)

thomond2006

Update??

danthefan

thomond2006 wrote: »

Update??

http://www.magnersleague.com/live

ScrubsfanChris

thomond2006 wrote: »

Update??

3-0 to Ulster, 10 minutes gone.

Jimmyboss

3-0 Ulster, Humphreys pen, 12 mins

Judgement Day

How is the game going - NOT the score - the play?

Judgement Day

10-0 Danielli try.

The Saint

Ulster try and conversion.

10-0

Bugger

laugh

Second Ulster try 15-0

TitoPuente

Danielli in for his second try. 15-0. Looks like Munster could be in for another New Year tonking from the men in white.

The Saint

15-0 :eek:

padser

15 - 7

Judgement Day

15-7 and JDV gives me back some dignity and cash!!:D

Judgement Day

15-10 Warwick penalty.

Juwwi

For any1 who does'nt have setanta but has eircom broadband

http://setanta-video.eircom.net/eircom/channels/Live.aspx?rd2=1

Risteard

Scrum being dismantled, unsurprisingly, but apart from that we're not doing too badly.

Could still win it.

DonkeyPokerTour

The referee is being consistent at the breakdown, in that he gives 0.00000001seconds to release the ball for both sides. This is giving no chance at all to get the ball back. Penalty count must be massive.

Munster dominated the first 7-10min, from 10-25min Ulster won, then the last 10-15min Munster dominated again. But all 3 tries were kinda something from nothing. Danielli's first try came from a partially blocked down kick, second from a missed tackle, then JDV's try came from Humpherys ripping the ball from Mafi only for it to bobble free, JDV picked up and touched down.

Judgement Day

Ominiously quiet - what's happening?

castie

any updates?

Judgement Day

I think Belfast has dropped off the planet!

castie

"kickable munster penalty"

taken off the munsterfans.com site


Its hit the post apparantly

The Saint

castie wrote: »

"kickable munster penalty"

taken off the munsterfans.com site


Its hit the post apparantly

Missed