Munster Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread.

profitius

Rugby in Munster has exploded in the last 10 years due to it being in the media, being more professional and Munster and Irelands success. I wasn't really interested in it years ago because I only remember it being on for a few weeks of the year (5 nations) and Ireland finishing bottom didn't exactly inspire people.

We should start to see the benefit for Munster in the next few years. That depends on Munster being able to take advantage of the growth of rugby in clubs. I'm sure there'll be more Clare, Kerry and Waterford players in the future.

Clareman

The upsurge in rugby tied in well with the professional era, some call it a bandwagon

buck65

Clareman wrote: »

You can't let Marcus go, there'd be no-one in the squad from Clare then

Isn't Damien Varley from kilaloe?

Link http://www.clareherald.com/sports/rugby/2623-killaloes-damien-varley-to-start-for-munster-against-gloucester.html

profitius

Clareman wrote: »

The upsurge in rugby tied in well with the professional era, some call it a bandwagon

I hope more people jump on the bandwagon!

Cpt_Blackbeard

Clareman wrote: »

You can't let Marcus go, there'd be no-one in the squad from Clare then

He may be from Clare, but he learned his rugby in Limerick with Munchins



Even though Munchins in a whole lot of a 100m from the boarder...

Cpt_Blackbeard

buck65 wrote: »

Isn't Damien Varley from kilaloe?

Link http://www.clareherald.com/sports/rugby/2623-killaloes-damien-varley-to-start-for-munster-against-gloucester.html

Again he learned his rugby in Limerick at Munchins

Clareman

They might have gotten their schooling in Limerick but they got their breeding in Clare

Cpt_Blackbeard

Clareman wrote: »

They might have gotten their schooling in Limerick but they got their breeding in Clare

Next you're going to say the same about Keith Wood

durkadurka

He's from main st killaloe isn't he?

Clareman

Yup, as is Mr. Foley, the banner is the best..............

Even if it is just by the width of a river

sock puppet

Clareman wrote: »

Yup, as is Mr. Foley, the banner is the best..............

Even if it is just by the width of a river

Bah. Ballina will produce an international captain yet... just you wait.

Amazotheamazing

Clareman wrote: »

Yup, as is Mr. Foley, the banner is the best..............

Even if it is just by the width of a river

Foley lived in Limerick til he was 6 or 7, surely you know that means he's only a blow in in Clare terms?

buck65

Well he hurled under age for Clare as did Woody so we're definitely keeping Axel.
Actually Marcus was a decent hurler as a young lad too I seem to remember!

Clareman

All 3 of the lads played hurling for Clare at underage levels.

And everyone knows that blow in rules don't apply if you are good at sport

Clareman

Marcus played Under 16 hurling for Clare, was speaking to a friend of mine and was discussing this, he was on the same team as him, he remembers when he heard he wasn't going to play minor cause he was concentrating on rugby how he thought he was being an idiot.................

some_dose

Good news - Nagle staying on at Munster for at least another 2 years. Management would want to pull the finger out and get him starting matches asap.

Ian Nagle, a late call up to the Ireland Wolfhounds squad, will start this Friday night against Scotland A joining Devin Toner in the second row partnership.

News of the 22 year old's selection comes just after he has committed to Munster, having agreed a two year deal.

Coaches Eric Elwood and Anthony Foley included Nagle in the squad after fellow Munster man Donnacha Ryan and Ulster's Dan Tuohy, both named in the original squad, were ruled out due to injury.

Damien Varley and Tony Buckley start in the frontrow with Tomas O'Leary, Denis Hurley and Johne Murphy named in the backline.

The O2 Ireland Wolfhounds play Scotland ‘A’ in Netherdale this Friday, January 28th, ko 7.30pm.

In their final outing the Ireland Wolfhounds will take on the England Saxons the following Friday, Feb. 4th, in Ravenhill, ko 7.30pm.

Link: http://www.munsterrugby.ie/news/8572.php

thomond2006

I assume "two year deal" means he's onto a full provincial contract. Excellent news.

Hopefully he will get more games this season now that his future lies at Munster.

CatFromHue

if he is on a full contract that means munster have 5 second rows in the senior panel.

2/3 of them will more than likely go to the world cup but when they get back......it could get tricky!

thomond2006

CatFromHue wrote: »

if he is on a full contract that means munster have 5 second rows in the senior panel.

2/3 of them will more than likely go to the world cup but when they get back......it could get tricky!

You mean 6: POC, DOC, MOD, Ryan, Holland, Nagle

Ian_K

Lads, Donncha Ryan? I have never seen anything from him to suggest that he should be a professional rugby player. Fair enough he can play second row or flanker but he doesnt appear to be even magners league standard in either position so i wouldnt use that as a reason to keep him in the squad!
If any of our second rows were to be releases i would nominate Ryan. Or am i missing something??

CIARAN_BOYLE

Ian_K wrote: »

Lads, Donncha Ryan? I have never seen anything from him to suggest that he should be a professional rugby player. Fair enough he can play second row or flanker but he doesnt appear to be even magners league standard in either position so i wouldnt use that as a reason to keep him in the squad!
If any of our second rows were to be releases i would nominate Ryan. Or am i missing something??

He isn't as bad as you describe, if Munster let go a lock they should hopefully aim to improve their age profile.

That said he has completly failed to live up to his potential, he had the potential to be great. Someone should definitely go and I'm not sure who I'd let go if it was my decision

Hopefully Nagle gets his shot and isn't stuck behind 3 aging guys, and DR and Holland who have completly failed to match their potential

jacothelad

[QUOTE=Ian_K;70302333]Lads, Donncha Ryan? I have never seen anything from him to suggest that he should be a professional rugby player. Fair enough he can play second row or flanker but he doesnt appear to be even magners league standard in either position so i wouldnt use that as a reason to keep him in the squad!
If any of our second rows were to be releases i would nominate Ryan. Or am i missing something??[/QUOTE]

Hold on there. He does make every scary faces in the lineout. Put that in along with Buckley's scrummaging and mythical loose play and Hayes' lineout lifting and you have 3 unique reasons to choose these guys over better players. I've never seen Ryan do anything and he's as much of a 6 as the Bull. i.e. useless.

danthefan

You'd have to wonder why Nagle stayed at Munster. His career is going to stagnate horribly.

Podge_irl

danthefan wrote: »

You'd have to wonder why Nagle stayed at Munster. His career is going to stagnate horribly.

Seems like an awfully poor decision. How being left out of the 23 for the LI game didn't push him overboard is beyond me.

Amazotheamazing

danthefan wrote: »

You'd have to wonder why Nagle stayed at Munster. His career is going to stagnate horribly.

Some players want to stay with their home province.

PhatPiggins

CIARAN_BOYLE wrote: »

He isn't as bad as you describe, if Munster let go a lock they should hopefully aim to improve their age profile.

That said he has completly failed to live up to his potential, he had the potential to be great. Someone should definitely go and I'm not sure who I'd let go if it was my decision

Hopefully Nagle gets his shot and isn't stuck behind 3 aging guys, and DR and Holland who have completly failed to match their potential

Holland hasn't failed to live up to anything. He's been extremely competent when played out of position in the second row, gets bugger all game time to prove himself and to be honest didn't arrive with a big reputation so had nothing to live up to. I think he's a very decent player but should bugger of to another team as he'll never get ahead of the others.

Ryan has by and large failed and if he has any ambition at all should move. Good enough to start for a HC team though.

PhatPiggins

danthefan wrote: »

You'd have to wonder why Nagle stayed at Munster. His career is going to stagnate horribly.

For similar reasons the 15 or so players in the Leinster set up who are good enough to start for other teams are happy to stay in Dublin and play 4 games a season.

Podge_irl

PhatPiggins wrote: »

For similar reasons the 15 or so players in the Leinster set up who are good enough to start for other teams are happy to stay in Dublin and play 4 games a season.

Such as?

Conway, Harris-Wright, O'Malley, Dom Ryan and Dave Kearney have been involved in more games then Nagle this season, several with HEC gametime. Nagle had a couple of barnstorming performance and was then never seen again. On top of which he has Donnacha Ryan ahead of him - the perfect example of a player who should have moved and has thus thoroughly wasted his talent.

profitius

Ian_K wrote: »

Lads, Donncha Ryan? I have never seen anything from him to suggest that he should be a professional rugby player. Fair enough he can play second row or flanker but he doesnt appear to be even magners league standard in either position so i wouldnt use that as a reason to keep him in the squad!
If any of our second rows were to be releases i would nominate Ryan. Or am i missing something??

Ryan is an athletic, skillful lock. He's fast and he'll cover more ground than most locks and has a great engine. Theres a reason he's been picked for Ireland squads.

He's more suited to high paced rugby which was why hes been in international squads. He's not a heavyweight lock though and not a lineout organiser. He preforms best with MOD or POC but as we saw in the London Irish game, he didn't form a good partnership with DOC. Ryan was made the fall guy over that.

I wonder how many times he has started alongside POC? I'd say its very few times.

To say Donnacha Ryan has been badly managed is an understatement. He has 2 undroppables ahead of him and it looks like an impossible situation.

I hope DR leaves Munster and finds regular game time with somebody. I'd start him alongside POC any day. But theres nothing worse than seeing a career wasted by bad management.

I'd worry for Nagle too. Yes hes just 22 and by the time he's 25 the way should be clear for him but he's still going to be wasting his time on the bench.

profitius

Podge_irl wrote: »

Such as?

Conway, Harris-Wright, O'Malley, Dom Ryan and Dave Kearney have been involved in more games then Nagle this season, several with HEC gametime. Nagle had a couple of barnstorming performance and was then never seen again. On top of which he has Donnacha Ryan ahead of him - the perfect example of a player who should have moved and has thus thoroughly wasted his talent.

I'd agree that Leinster are far better at bringing young players through. Or more accurately, Schmidt is. Cheika wasn't too quick to bring young players in. Sexton almost left, McLoughlan was 24 last year, Strauss was third choice, Ross was behind 2 NIQ players, O'Malley got games a few years ago but wasn't seen much since. It depends on the coach.

In a few years time it should be interesting what happens in Leinster in regards to young players coming through having their way blocked.