Munster Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread.

irishbucsfan

Tomtom364 wrote: »

Deasy has proven imself to be useless. great attacking with ball in hand and a broken field. but good lord his defence is shocking. always dropping off tackles

Well that never stopped ROG.

Defense is something that can be learned (most of the time) so I wouldn't ignore Deasy because of that. I'd love to see him develop into a quality 12.

thomond2006

I would back Deasy for another season tbh. To be fair if Cusack is getting another year then Deasy definitely deserves to.

CiaranMT

thomond2006 wrote: »

Hurley at centre isn't a bad idea, I can't see him getting gametime in the back three with Howlett, Earls, Jones and I rate Zebo higher than him as an attacking player.

I'd love to see Zebo continue to get consistent game time like he did at the end of last season. He's got seeerious gas.

thomond2006

A lineup during the WC of

du Preez, Sherry, Archer/Borlase, Nagle, MOD, O'Donnell, O'Mahony, Coughlan;
?, Keatley, Zebo, Hurley, Barnes, Howlett, Deasy

wouldn't be too bad. That's assuming the likes of Botha, Hayes and Jones make the SA and Ireland squads. I put a question mark at SH as it's hard to know who Kidney will take. I reckon he will take 2 of O'Leary/Stringer/Murray. Murphy should slot in somewhere in that XV too.

How did Hanrahan do at the U20s WC? Is he ready to step up to PRO12 level?

ormond lad

thomond2006 wrote: »

A lineup during the WC of

du Preez, Sherry, Archer/Borlase, Nagle, MOD, O'Donnell, O'Mahony, Coughlan;
?, Keatley, Zebo, Hurley, Barnes, Howlett, Deasy

wouldn't be too bad. That's assuming the likes of Botha, Hayes and Jones make the SA and Ireland squads. I put a question mark at SH as it's hard to know who Kidney will take. I reckon he will take 2 of O'Leary/Stringer/Murray.

How did Hanrahan do at the U20s WC? Is he ready to step up to PRO12 level?

jj always looked very good when he came on...very unlucky not to be starting and will play a big role next year

Tomtom364

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Well that never stopped ROG.

Defense is something that can be learned (most of the time) so I wouldn't ignore Deasy because of that. I'd love to see him develop into a quality 12.

Now it is a little unfair to compare his dropping off a tackle with ROGs because Deasy has played Full Back pretty much every time I have seen him, Where as when ROG gets bounced there is usually someone there to snag the slowed down player.

I don't know for fact, id have to watch all the games back, but deasy seems to miss a tackle that directly allows a try in pratically every match he plays. Again, from full back though. If he cant tackle then he shouldn't be playing full back.

When I have seen Deasy in outhalf (very little) he just seems not sure of what he wants to do with the ball.
Cusack looks alot more promising as a developing outhalf.

civilnug

What about Tom Carter from the Waratahs?

Have seen a bit of the Super 15 the last few weeks and he looks a serious 12.

CatFromHue

civilnug wrote: »

What about Tom Carter from the Waratahs?

Have seen a bit of the Super 15 the last few weeks and he looks a serious 12.

well it looks like stade francais are going to be releasing all their players (they have until monday to raise 6.5million).

stade have this baldy headed chap who has a great history in irish rugby and is renouned for passionate displays when the red of munster is about. he has a few miles on the clock but offers what no other 12 in munster or who munster have been linked with can.

would they dare though????

:D

TopOfTheRight

What are the contract situations re Stormers' centres JDV, Fourie and De Jong?
Tom Carter is a good shout too actually
I'm getting desperate at this stage!

thomond2006

IIRC JdV is out of contract, not sure about Fourie. I'd say De Jongh will stay put, he's still young and will want to nail down a Springbok place.

Don't think I've seen Tom Carter play, is he a playmaker type or a bosher?

danthefan

CatFromHue wrote: »

well it looks like stade francais are going to be releasing all their players (they have until monday to raise 6.5million).

stade have this baldy headed chap who has a great history in irish rugby and is renouned for passionate displays when the red of munster is about. he has a few miles on the clock but offers what no other 12 in munster or who munster have been linked with can.

would they dare though????

:D

Also an extremely flakey defender.

jolley123

I can't see Carter leaving. I've always got the impression that he's "Waratahs till I die". However, given the right offer he might go. He's a good player. Hit some really good form for the Waratahs in recent games.

Playmaker or bosher? Neither really. Just an intelligent player, strong in contact and a good solid work-rate.

Munster really do need to make a signing though. I'm surprised we still haven't heard anything.

sock puppet

jolley123 wrote: »

Playmaker or bosher? Neither really. Just an intelligent player, strong in contact and a good solid work-rate.

In fairness that's where his playing abilities begin and end.

jolley123

sock puppet wrote: »

In fairness that's where his playing abilities begin and end.

Yeh, not worth a spot. He's a good player, just like Tom Marshall is a good player. But if Munster are going to dip their hands in their pocket, they should be looking to go big.

JdV probably is the best option. Seeing as he'd fit straight back in.

sock puppet

jolley123 wrote: »

Yeh, not worth a spot. He's a good player, just like Tom Marshall is a good player. But if Munster are going to dip their hands in their pocket, they should be looking to go big.

JdV probably is the best option. Seeing as he'd fit straight back in.

Yeah. The only issue with De Villiers is that he probably wouldnn't be available for a while.

ormond lad

profitius wrote: »

I think POM and TOD are ready now. I've been very impressed with POm whenever I've seen him although he needs to calm down a bit. Its a big year for Dave O'Callaghan. Big player who can play backrow or secondrow and is in his third year of the academy.

profitius wrote: »

Who is he? Never heard of him.

ormond lad wrote: »

from borrisokane played youths rugby with nenagh, went to UCC, has started on their AIL team in 2nd row for last few years
very smart(8 A1s in Leaving) but could be going abroad to do a masters if he doesnt get something out of the rugby
Not sure why he is even been looked as even if POC, DOC, MOD and Ryan went to the RWC, we could still play in 2nd row Nagle, Holland, Foley and Hayes who afaik all got ML time this season.

I had heard this a few weeks ago but it was confirmed tonight by a coach in nenagh who is in contact with philly regularly. he was offered a development contract with munster for next season but he rejected it as he is starting a masters in oxford or cambridge(cant remember which one hes going to) in september

Amazotheamazing

ormond lad wrote: »

I had heard this a few weeks ago but it was confirmed tonight by a coach in nenagh who is in contact with philly regularly. he was offered a development contract with munster for next season but he rejected it as he is starting a masters in oxford or cambridge(cant remember which one hes going to) in september

Did Munster really need him? Seems to me that smart thing for any lock to do at Munster atm is to move away. A development contract isn't worth enough to put off a Masters at a top college.

If we assume that DOC, POC, MOD and Ryan are our four first choice locks, there's another four (Nagle, Holland, Foley and Hayes) scrapping out for minutes (let alone games) in the ML. Unless a player can honestly expect to make the senior squad in the next 12 to 18 months he has to ask if he's doing the right thing staying around to play AIL. It's fair enough for a guy like Sherry to hang around, Flannery is getting on and Varley isn't a really top player, but it'd be extraordinary for an 8th or 9th choice lock to rise that fast.
Even with a MOTM against Oz, Nagle didn't see all that much gametime.

ormond lad

ormond lad wrote: »

I had heard this a few weeks ago but it was confirmed tonight by a coach in nenagh who is in contact with philly regularly. he was offered a development contract with munster for next season but he rejected it as he is starting a masters in oxford or cambridge(cant remember which one hes going to) in september

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

Did Munster really need him? Seems to me that smart thing for any lock to do at Munster atm is to move away. A development contract isn't worth enough to put off a Masters at a top college.

If we assume that DOC, POC, MOD and Ryan are our four first choice locks, there's another four (Nagle, Holland, Foley and Hayes) scrapping out for minutes (let alone games) in the ML. Unless a player can honestly expect to make the senior squad in the next 12 to 18 months he has to ask if he's doing the right thing staying around to play AIL. It's fair enough for a guy like Sherry to hang around, Flannery is getting on and Varley isn't a really top player, but it'd be extraordinary for an 8th or 9th choice lock to rise that fast.
Even with a MOTM against Oz, Nagle didn't see all that much gametime.

I know, next season even if the first 4 you named went to the world cup we would have 4 2nd rows to cover the 4-5 pro12 league games that will be on during the WC but they must clearly rate him if they are willing to offer him a development contract for the whole season when only a short while ago they were offering him a short time summer contract.
If i was him, id stick to the studies, if he wants to play rugby and is that good playing colours game in twickenham live on sky sports will do him no harm, and plenty of clubs will see him through that

Amazotheamazing

ormond lad wrote: »

I know, next season even if the first 4 you named went to the world cup we would have 4 2nd rows to cover the 4-5 pro12 league games that will be on during the WC but they must clearly rate him if they are willing to offer him a development contract for the whole season when only a short while ago they were offering him a short time summer contract.
If i was him, id stick to the studies, if he wants to play rugby and is that good playing colours game in twickenham live on sky sports will do him no harm, and plenty of clubs will see him through that

I think they see giving him a development contract as a win-win situation. They pay him peanuts and they get a decent stand-in who might turn out to be very good. There's no real downside to development contracts from a province's point of view. The players obviously accept them because they are better than nothing and are seen as the first step on the pro ladder. Donnellan doesn't need to go pro, he'll most likely have a good paypacket if he's good enough to go to a top university and secondly, he's young enough to still be able to go pro when he's finished his studies. There's no set upper limit on how long a pro second row can last either. Guys like Shaw and Thorn are still doing the business in their late 30's. A guy coming through the pro system, with luck and the right attitude, lifestyle etc might even be able to last longer.

thomond2006

Munster Back On Thursday
28 June 2011, 5:14 pm
By The Editor

Munster will begin preparations for the coming season when they assemble for pre-season training in Cork on Thursday.

They will be joined on Monday by their international contingent who spent this week in Carton House (Maynooth) but before that the entire squad will debunk to Warrington to attend the funeral service for Paul Darbyshire.

Darbyshire, the Munster Head of Strength & Conditioning, died last Monday morning, and his funeral takes place tomorrow morning.
New signings BJ Botha and Ian Keatley will be among those in Cork along with 11 players who have come up through the ranks to earn full time contracts.

Six of those are forwards, Mike Sherry, Stephen Archer, Dave Foley, Ian Nagle, Peter O'Mahony and Paddy Butler, with the five backs, Conor Murray, Simon Zebo, Scott Deasy, Declan Cusack and Danny Barnes, joined by Ivan Dineen and Sean Scanlon who are on Development contracts.

http://www.munsterrugby.ie/news/9148.php

The squad on the page is a long list, I've seperated it below (italics denotes a player who can cover in that position):

Hookers: J Flannery, D Fogarty, D Varley, M Sherry, S Henry

LH Props: M Horan, W du Preez, D Hurley, J Ryan

TH Props: BJ Botha, S Archer, J Ryan, P Borlase

Locks: M O'Driscoll, D O'Callaghan, P O'Connell, D Foley, I Nagle, B Holland, D Ryan

Backrows: P Butler, D Leamy, N Ronan, T O'Donnell, P O'Mahony, D Wallace, J Coughlan, D Ryan, B Holland

Scrumhalves: T O'Leary, C Murray, D Williams, P Stringer

Flyhalves: I Keatley, R O'Gara, D Cusack, S Deasy

Centres: T Gleeson, L Mafi, I Dineen, D Barnes, K Earls, J Murphy, S Zebo

Wingers: D Hurley, D Howlett, K Earls, J Murphy, S Zebo, D Barnes, F Jones, S Deasy, S Scanlon, T Gleeson

Back 3: F Jones, S Deasy, S Scanlon, K Earls, J Murphy, D Hurley, D Howlett

I'm concerned there is still no word on a NIQ centre signing.

With that current squad, I'd like to see a first choice XV of (assuming all are fit):

du Preez, Flannery, Botha, DOC, POC, Ryan, Wallace, Coughlan;
Murray, ROG, Earls, Mafi, Barnes, Howlett, Jones

Point out any mistakes I've made!

Amazotheamazing

Tom Gleeson must have one hell of an agent.

thomond2006

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

Tom Gleeson must have one hell of an agent.

Maybe he just wasn't out of contract? In any case I hope Dineen gets gametime ahead of him even though he's only on a dev. contract and Gleeson has a full contract.

Amazotheamazing

thomond2006 wrote: »

Maybe he just wasn't out of contract? In any case I hope Dineen gets gametime ahead of him even though he's only on a dev. contract and Gleeson has a full contract.

Ah I was only joking, he's not the worst player we've had but he can't seem to get a run of games. It's interesting that guys like Murray, Zebo, Barnes and Jones were given real shots at winning their place whereas Dineen and Gleeson weren't.

wixfjord

Jesus the TH depth chart is looking light.

Amazotheamazing

wixfjord wrote: »

Jesus the TH depth chart is looking light.

We need to stop thinking like that, we should be saying it might give a chance to AIL guys. Shawe did ok for Leinster this year and Cronin was good for Ulster and nobody had even really considered them provincial level players this time last season. Who knows how much better they'd have been had they had a proper pro preseason.

thomond2006

wixfjord wrote: »

Jesus the TH depth chart is looking light.

Hopefully Peter Borlase will prove an asset after a full pre-season, he's had to deal with a lot of problems over the Christchurch earthquake. I read recently in a paper about something to do with his house after another earthquake in Christchurch, might have been destroyed I can't remember.

Amazotheamazing

thomond2006 wrote: »

Hopefully Peter Borlase will prove an asset after a full pre-season, he's had to deal with a lot of problems over the Christchurch earthquake. I read recently in a paper about something to do with his house after another earthquake in Christchurch, might have been destroyed I can't remember.

It was water damaged, the tank in the attic flooded the house. Not to be too critical but if there's no-one living there at the minute, someone should have drained the tank and turned off the water.

CatFromHue

no press release or anything on the john hayes situation?

thats bad form!

CatFromHue

thomond2006 wrote: »

Hopefully Peter Borlase will prove an asset after a full pre-season

i dont we can judge him fairly on what happened last season.

look at strauss in leinster he only started 1 game in his first season. who would have known what would have happened to him if john foagrty hadnt had to retire.

Amazotheamazing

CatFromHue wrote: »

no press release or anything on the john hayes situation?

thats bad form!

It may not be settled yet or he may prefer to wait until after Darbyshire's funeral or he might just be too busy on the farm.