Munster Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread.

profitius

sock puppet wrote: »

On this point there's been a bit of talk of Munster signing Nonu here. If they were to sign someone to play at inside cenre would they not be better off going for a Giteau/Barnes type player? Especially if Keatley is to be ROG's successor.

Yes thats what I'd like to see. A more creative 12 as opposed to a crash ball 12.

sock puppet

Cpt_Blackbeard wrote: »

I understand the where you are coming from but Nonu's game is so complete that he can play the distributional 12 as well as the crashball one. He has the most rounded game of any 12 and is a lot more than the crashball player he used to be.

That said, I would rather that we at least try and find a homegrown 12.

True that. If Munster did go for a foreign signing it'd be handy to have someone who could step in at 10. Suppose they still have ROG for another two seasons.

Cpt_Blackbeard

If we get in a top NIQ after the worldcup, it has to be someone who can play in a couple of positions as to not hinder the development of our youngsters.

Personally because of this I'd rather not sign Nonu or McCaw as they just play 12 and 7 respectively. I'd rather we get someone like Giteu who can comfortably play 10/12 so even if they play every game we can develop quality homegrowns in both the 10/12 jersey at the same time.

The only real positions we need to find is TH and 7 as I'm not sure if we have any youngsters coming to fill these jerseys. Although one of POM/TOD might turn out to be a 7.

thomond2006

Munster Squad:
Wian Du Preez, Darragh Hurley, Tony Buckley, John Hayes, Mike Sherry, Damien Varley, Billy Holland, Donncha O’Callaghan, Paul O’Connell, Mick O’Driscoll, Donnacha Ryan, Niall Ronan, James Coughlan, Tommy O’Donnell, David Wallace, Denis Leamy,

Tomas O’Leary, Peter Stringer, Scott Deasy, Ronan O’Gara, Paul Warwick, Johne Murphy, Sam Tuitupou, Keith Earls, Lifeimi Mafi, Denis Hurley, Doug Howlett.

I'd like to see:
Du Preez, Varley, Buckley, DOC, POC, Coughlan, Wallace, Leamy;
TOL, ROG, Murphy, Mafi, Earls, Howlett, Warwick

Bench: Sherry, Hurley, Hayes, MOD, TOD, Stringer, Deasy, Hurley

I doubt they will drop Tuitupou from the 23. I think he will start and Mafi and Hurley will be on the bench with Deasy missing out completely.

Munster B&I Cup Squad:

Forwards: David Kilycoyne, Peter Borlase, Stephen Archer, Duncan Casey, Sean Henry, Dave O’Callaghan, Ian Nagle, Dave Foley, Billy Holland, Tommy O’Donnell, Kieran Essex, Paddy Butler.

Backs: Duncan Williams, Conor Murray, Declan Cusack, Scott Deasy, Ivan Dineen, Barry Murphy, Tom Gleeson, Danny Barnes, Simon Zebo, Sean Scanlon, TBC.

Well Tommy O'Donnell and Scott Deasy included in the B&I Cup squad sort of gives the game away there.

CIARAN_BOYLE

thomond2006 wrote: »

Munster B&I Cup Squad:

Forwards: David Kilycoyne, Peter Borlase, Stephen Archer, Duncan Casey, Sean Henry, Dave O’Callaghan, Ian Nagle, Dave Foley, Billy Holland, Tommy O’Donnell, Kieran Essex, Paddy Butler.

Backs: Duncan Williams, Conor Murray, Declan Cusack, Scott Deasy, Ivan Dineen, Barry Murphy, Tom Gleeson, Danny Barnes, Simon Zebo, Sean Scanlon, TBC.

Well Tommy O'Donnell and Scott Deasy included in the B&I Cup squad sort of gives the game away there.

and Billy Holland

thomond2006

CIARAN_BOYLE wrote: »

and Billy Holland

Well tbf I don't think Holland has much of a shout getting on the 23, TOD and Deasy in particular did.

CouchSmart

Nonu would be a great signing for Munster - he's the complete 12 (bar kicking); pass, run, great defence. I'd love him at Leinster.

thomond2006

Nonu would be a class signing indeed.

some_dose

Lads can we please stop talking about Nonu. I'm starting to believe these rumours and I don't want to be severely disappointed when it turns out to be just that.

toomevara

Hotting up a bit before the weekend's game. Could be a bit niggly;

http://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/heineken-cup/toulon-blast-irish-critics-over-mercenaries-lsquoinsultrsquo-2494444.html

thomond2006

According to Thornley in the IT, Hayes will start.

irishbucsfan

thomond2006 wrote: »

According to Thornley in the IT, Hayes will start.

In fairness Buckley might be a little out of condition after being sick, so that's understandable.

Toulon should dominate the scrums so?

Judgement Day

toomevara wrote: »

Hotting up a bit before the weekend's game. Could be a bit niggly;

http://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/heineken-cup/toulon-blast-irish-critics-over-mercenaries-lsquoinsultrsquo-2494444.html

Nice to see the silence for kickers at Thomond Park given a mention - even from this unlikely source.

C'MON MUNSTER.....C'MON JONNY.....Ohh dear, I'm really going to need to be very drunk to enjoy this one.

The Rooster

phog wrote: »

but Micko has hardly let us down when standing in for Paulie.

And more than that. Certainly played better than I thought he would, and with O'Callaghan having a dip in form he was definitely the best lock in the period - there wasnt many weeks when Micko was 2nd best, probably only last week where it was O'Callaghan who was clearly the dominant force.

Its just a pity that Ryan's progression has completely stunted this year. At the beginning of the year I thought he'd be putting serious pressure on for a 6N place, but now he's firmly No.4 in Munster, with Toner also passing him out in Irish terms (by virtue of big match experience) and Tuohy probably edging ahead of him at this stage too.


I've heard and read a lot of comments on O'Connell. It seems he's so up for this match that he's fit to burst, and his enthusiasm alone will rub off on others and ensure that no ounce of effort is left behind. So he has to start and he will start. But 51 weeks since his last start for Munster, its hard to expect his actual personal performance to be huge. If he got to a 7/10 level it'd be a great achievement, given his leadership should add to overall team performance.

Back row transfers
Just reverting back to the speculation about McCaw being a possible acquisition by Munster (albeit suggestions now that he may stay in NZ).

Apparently another man who is up for a move to Europe after the World Cup is Rocky Elsom. He'd be some capture!!

thomond2006

Munster:
Denis Hurley; Danny Barnes, Tom Gleeson, Ivan Dineen, Barry Murphy; Scott Deasy, Conor Murray; Dave Kilcoyne, Sean Henry, Stephen Archer; Ian Nagle, Dave Foley; Billy Holland (c), Tommy O'Donnell, Paddy Butler.

Replacements: Duncan Casey, Peter Borlase, Dave O'Callaghan, Kieran Essex, Duncan Williams, Declan Cusack, Simon Zebo.

Nottingham:
D Jackson; A Savage, A Forsyth, J Sifa, T Streather; T Usasz, J Arlidge; J Harris, J Stephens, M Halsall; I Kench, A Williams; C Hammond, L Sherriff, S Kalamafoni.

Replacements: B Buxton, T Youngs, A Shaw, P Eggleshaw, F Barnham, Hamilton, D Marshall.

http://www.munsterrugby.ie/news/8529.php

Great test for Nagle and Foley to come up against the AB legend Ali Williams.

Is Conor Murray considered 3rd choice scrum half now? I hope so. Not a slight on Williams but Murray seems a better player.

CIARAN_BOYLE

You are right about it being a great test against williams in the second row, some great experience for the two lads

porterbelly

Borlasse on the bench for the 'A' team. The penny has dropped, he's a fraud.

SomeFool

From munsterrugby.ie

14 January 2011, 9:07 pm
By Fiona Murphy
Four second half penalties from Scott Deasy and then a massive rearguard action gave Munster a 15-14 victory over Nottingham at Meadow Lane tonight.
Munster trailed 8-3 at the end of a first half in which they had two players, Tommy O'Donnell and captain Billy Holland yellow carded.

Two Deasy penalties in the third quarter edged Munster in front before James Arlidge restored his side's advantage but Deasy booted Munster ahead and in the closing minutes the visitors had to withstand phase after phase of Nottingham pressure before emerging worthy winners.

thomond2006

Great news, well done lads.

Amazotheamazing

porterbelly wrote: »

Borlasse on the bench for the 'A' team. The penny has dropped, he's a fraud.

Did you see him in the NPC? He's not a fraud, if Munster can't get something out of him it's done to poor coaching on our behalf.

PhatPiggins

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

Did you see him in the NPC? He's not a fraud, if Munster can't get something out of him it's done to poor coaching on our behalf.

I did see a bit of NPC, looked good with ball in hand and has a high work rate. Problem with the NPC is that the scrums are largely uncontested and more importantly there are huge mismatches between the good and bad teams.Guys playing for Canterbury automatically look better.

Having said all that I think its far too early to judge Borlasse. He does look a bit on the light side though.

thomond2006

Word on MFs is Barry Murphy left the field injured and is now on crutches.

CIARAN_BOYLE

Do we need to start getting concerned about Munsters disciplinary rate

2nd dirtiest team in the ML (in terms of yellows and proven citings)
http://www.magnersleague.com/statzone/specsavers_fair_play_league.php

2 yellows and a red from the HEC so far, and 4 yellows in 3 B&I cup games so far.

Someone in the management teams needs to do something about this, Munster can't give up stupid cards, Munster can't just have 14 players on the field at key times.

Amazotheamazing

PhatPiggins wrote: »

I did see a bit of NPC, looked good with ball in hand and has a high work rate. Problem with the NPC is that the scrums are largely uncontested and more importantly there are huge mismatches between the good and bad teams.Guys playing for Canterbury automatically look better.

Having said all that I think its far too early to judge Borlasse. He does look a bit on the light side though.

Guys playing for Canterbury look better because they are better, imo. You can't get into the Canterbury team and not be at least someway decent. That's not to say that the level isn't lower than the ML, but he has the goods, imo.

PhatPiggins

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

Guys playing for Canterbury look better because they are better, imo. You can't get into the Canterbury team and not be at least someway decent. That's not to say that the level isn't lower than the ML, but he has the goods, imo.

No completely agree but just how good they are is hard to judge because some of the teams they are playing are bog standard.Stephen Donald always looks fantastic in the NPC. He would have been within as ass's roar off the Super14 team.

Slightly OT but have you seen the format for the Super 15 this season? Are they even going to play the NPC ans Currie Cup any more? Wellington/Cant could play each other 6 time's this year, and this is supposed to improve attendances :pac::pac:

phog

SomeFool wrote: »

From munsterrugby.ie

Good win for the As, I thought with all the talk about our H/C chances that the eye might have been taken off this game but fair play to the lads for getting the win. I hope Barry Murphy's injury isn't a bad one as he really needs to get a run of games.

CIARAN_BOYLE

Just out of curiousity I made a list of Munster players aged 30 or over

Wallace 34
Quinlan 36
O'Gara 33
POC 31
DOC 31
Howlett 32
Horan 33
Hayes 37
Flannery 32
Coghlan 30
Buckley 30

btw will Munster be going for a ACC run or will they throw out a bunch of lads in the academy

ScrubsfanChris

CIARAN_BOYLE wrote: »

btw will Munster be going for a ACC run or will they throw out a bunch of lads in the academy

Don't think so, a Magners League playoff spot is nearly a certainty if they win just their remaning home games.
They should be looking to win the ACC if they end up in it, have to beat London Irish first and get a try bonus to be sure.

ambid

CIARAN_BOYLE wrote: »

Just out of curiousity I made a list of Munster players aged 30 or over

Wallace 34
Quinlan 36
O'Gara 33
POC 31
DOC 31
Howlett 32
Horan 33
Hayes 37
Flannery 32
Coghlan 30
Buckley 30

btw will Munster be going for a ACC run or will they throw out a bunch of lads in the academy

Not necessarily contradictory options. Guys like Nagle, Butler, and Deasy might actually improve the team this year if they get a run of games. Second row, back row, and centre have been problems for them this year. They have a cushion in the Magners so have scope to blood the young guys there anyway.

If I was McGahan to salvage the season I'd set three goals for the rest of the season: 1. win the Magners and Amlin double; 2. win all interpros; 3. bring through a lot of young guys for the future. If he does all this he'll maybe take some heat off himself.

He might want to fix his scrum and get a few back row and back line moves going at some stage too.

conf101

Just looking at the HEC pool tables and Munster have to win next week, preferably with a BP, to be in with a chance of Amlin qualification and even then, depending on other results, could be unlucky and just miss out.