Munster Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread.

Podge_irl

profitius wrote: »

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.

McFadden has had some trouble as well - got far less time last year then he should have.

I'm not trying to couch this in a Lein/Mun argument. I'm genuinely confused to as to what the hell Nagle is thinking. After FINALLY being added to the HEC squad after Munster were knocked out, he was nowhere to be seen in the matchday squad. He has POC/DOC/MOD/Ryan ahead of him (and at least two of them appear that they'll be ahead of him no matter what he does). He's just not getting any opportunities - one presumes he'd get paid better and get more game time elsewhere.

Cpt_Blackbeard

profitius wrote: »

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.

Ryan and Nagle would be a great pairing. Very dynamic but would be a bit lightweight.

PhatPiggins

profitius wrote: »

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.

Didn't he not get injured during the first London Irish game?

Anyone would look good beside Paul O Connell. Kidney keeps including him in squads because he was promising 5 years ago and he must see something in him that no one else on the planet has spotted.

I don't think he's been all that badly managed he's just injury prone and basically not as good as people are building him up to be.

All banter aside what's your relationship with the guy? Your defence of him is almost maternal.

profitius

PhatPiggins wrote: »

Didn't he not get injured during the first London Irish game?

Anyone would look good beside Paul O Connell. Kidney keeps including him in squads because he was promising 5 years ago and he must see something in him that no one else on the planet has spotted.

I don't think he's been all that badly managed he's just injury prone and basically not as good as people are building him up to be.

All banter aside what's your relationship with the guy? Your defence of him is almost maternal.

I don't know him and never met him. I think hes a very good player who has not been given a fair chance at Munster.

colster

profitius wrote: »

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.

Cheika gave a lot of Leinster players their debut. They're a year older and Schmidt is reaping the fruits.

bamboozle

profitius wrote: »

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.

Ryan is 27 and despite all his early promise he's only ever started one HC game, if he has any ambition he needs to move on. Himself and Billy Holland would be ideal signings for Connacht, as they'd get a lot more game time there to prove themselves.

Are any of the munster 2nd row's out of contract this season (ie MOD or DR) suprised Nagle is staying on.

Cpt_Blackbeard

bamboozle wrote: »

Ryan is 27 and despite all his early promise he's only ever started one HC game, if he has any ambition he needs to move on. Himself and Billy Holland would be ideal signings for Connacht, as they'd get a lot more game time there to prove themselves.

Are any of the munster 2nd row's out of contract this season (ie MOD or DR) suprised Nagle is staying on.

Ryan should hope for more than Connacht tbh. He would start for most HC teams. A move to an English team would be a better move for him. Leinster might need another lock soon with Cullen and Hines getting on in age.

Ciaran-Irl

PhatPiggins wrote: »

Anyone would look good beside Paul O Connell. Kidney keeps including him in squads because he was promising 5 years ago and he must see something in him that no one else on the planet has spotted.

Kidney keeps him in squads because he has some man love for players than can cover multiple positions (blindside in this case). He just loves having them for the bench. It is why he was involving Sean O'Brien long before he became world class, it is why he persists with Paddy Wallace, It is one of the reasons why he was so keen on T'OL way back before he broke into the Munster team (had played wing and outhalf, as I recall).

I have never, ever seen evidence of Donncha Ryan being HEC standard. He might be, but I have never seen it. Can someone point to a game or a clip that he was immense in? I'm not trying to be obtuse, but I would genuinely like to see him at his best. When was that? I'm told he's an all round nice, intelligent guy, loves to speak Irish, is a great influence on the team etc. etc., but I can't for the life of me remember a game where he was immense. He was one of the quieter players in the game against the All Blacks in 08, and even that was years ago at this stage.

buck65

You are just being obtuse Ciaran.

buck65

No but seriously he seemed to get knocked back alot with that injury last year when it seemed his turn to shine. By all accounts he goes well in training for club and country and maybe needs a few games on the trot to get into it.
For one though I would prefer to see Nagle and Micko on the books ahead of Ryan. Micko is consinstently good for Munster, ok not international standard but a very capable pack leader and lineout man.
Rumours abound in the medjia that Ross is southbound and Hagan eastbound this year.:eek:

Cpt_Blackbeard

Ya Thornley mentioned in the Indo. that Hagan is supposedly going to Leinster and Ross going to Munster.

If Wright gets back fit, its a great move for Leinster and shows great forward thinking. Whereas we get 4 years of rugby and the hope that Borlase comes good.

PhatPiggins

Cpt_Blackbeard wrote: »

Ya Thornley mentioned in the Indo. that Hagan is supposedly going to Leinster and Ross going to Munster.

If Wright gets back fit, its a great move for Leinster and shows great forward thinking. Whereas we get 4 years of rugby and the hope that Borlase comes good.

Hagan has done plenty of interviews stating he didn't enjoy his time at Leinster and that he couldn't see him self ever returning. Nothing disrespectful but fairly clear in his opinions.

buck65

So did Robbie Williams about reforming Take That. It's amazing how things change. Just need a little patience.

colster

PhatPiggins wrote: »

Hagan has done plenty of interviews stating he didn't enjoy his time at Leinster and that he couldn't see him self ever returning. Nothing disrespectful but fairly clear in his opinions.

Thats incorrect, he said he didn't enjoy his time at UCD.

colster

buck65 wrote: »

So did Robbie Williams about reforming Take That. It's amazing how things change. Just need a little patience.

Didn't Cronin say the same about joining Leinster.

donfers

colster wrote: »

Thats incorrect, he said he didn't enjoy his time at UCD.

lads, anyone hear the rumours we are signing quade cooper and census johnson?

Amazotheamazing

donfers wrote: »

lads, anyone hear the rumours we are signing quade cooper and census johnson?

Was there gold found under Musgrave park or something, doubt we could afford Cooper.

Cpt_Blackbeard

donfers wrote: »

lads, anyone hear the rumours we are signing quade cooper and census johnson?

Hopefully not Johnson. Ross would be an equally good short term measure. We need to build for the future.

Quade-Cooper would be nothing more than a journey man. Fantastic player, but again he would just stop youngsters coming through. It would never happen with ROG there either.

I'd much prefer Nonu/Smith and Ross tbh. We could probably use a backrow too.

PhatPiggins

Cpt_Blackbeard wrote: »

Hopefully not Johnson. Ross would be an equally good short term measure. We need to build for the future.

Quade-Cooper would be nothing more than a journey man. Fantastic player, but again he would just stop youngsters coming through. It would never happen with ROG there either.

I'd much prefer Nonu/Smith and Ross tbh. We could probably use a backrow too.

:pac::pac::pac::pac::pac::pac:


The rumours about Cooper and Johnson are nothing. Peter O Reilly used them as examples of the foreign imports we're going to be forced to bring in as a result of our poor academy/schools system.

TheHighRoad

PhatPiggins wrote: »

Hagan has done plenty of interviews stating he didn't enjoy his time at Leinster and that he couldn't see him self ever returning. Nothing disrespectful but fairly clear in his opinions.

I played GAA with Hagan so know him quite well. He doesn't harbour any animosity for Leinster rugby and actually said that being in the Leinster set up restored his faith in rugby because it was completely unlike what he had expected it would be like after his experiences in UCD. In fact one of the lads from our old team was only down in Galway recently and came across him and Hagan said he'd back to Leinster in a heartbeat if he was offered(nothing to do with Connacht more to do with his family and friends all being here)Really don't know where you saw those interviews but knowing him I very much doubt they're him.

CIARAN_BOYLE

TheHighRoad wrote: »

I played GAA with Hagan so know him quite well. He doesn't harbour any animosity for Leinster rugby and actually said that being in the Leinster set up restored his faith in rugby because it was completely unlike what he had expected it would be like after his experiences in UCD. In fact one of the lads from our old team was only down in Galway recently and came across him and Hagan said he'd back to Leinster in a heartbeat if he was offered(nothing to do with Connacht more to do with his family and friends all being here)Really don't know where you saw those interviews but knowing him I very much doubt they're him.

I don't think its interviews that say it, instead an article quotes him about his problems in UCD and talks about problems with Leinster, I've seen a ton of articles like that that makes a reader think that the problems with UCD linked in with problems with Leinster, he says schools rugby cliques annoyed him at UCD, the reporter mentions if this is so then no wonder he didn't succeed in rugby at Leinster

CatFromHue

i could see cliques in under 20 rugby as people tend to associate with people they know when put in a new environment. it happened to some degree in my u-20 team.

i seriously doubt it happens in the full senior team though. i mean can you imagine bod, cullen, and luke fitz (blackrock) not wanting to talk to darcy or kearney (clongowes) or that girvan dempsey always sat by himself as he was the only ternure guy in the dressing room!!!

profitius

CatFromHue wrote: »

i seriously doubt it happens in the full senior team though. i mean can you imagine bod, cullen, and luke fitz (blackrock) not wanting to talk to darcy or kearney (clongowes) or that girvan dempsey always sat by himself as he was the only ternure guy in the dressing room!!!

Poor SOB would feel more at home in Munster!

TheHighRoad

profitius wrote: »

Poor SOB would feel more at home in Munster!

I don't know if the abundance of Pres and Con elite Cork boys would take him in!

PhatPiggins

TheHighRoad wrote: »

I played GAA with Hagan so know him quite well. He doesn't harbour any animosity for Leinster rugby and actually said that being in the Leinster set up restored his faith in rugby because it was completely unlike what he had expected it would be like after his experiences in UCD. In fact one of the lads from our old team was only down in Galway recently and came across him and Hagan said he'd back to Leinster in a heartbeat if he was offered(nothing to do with Connacht more to do with his family and friends all being here)Really don't know where you saw those interviews but knowing him I very much doubt they're him.

Really because when I met him last week he said he'd defriended you from Facebook and blocked your mobile number. I might have just caught him on a bad day though.

durkadurka

PhatPiggins wrote: »

Really because when I met him last week he said he'd defriended you from Facebook and blocked your mobile number. I might have just caught him on a bad day though.

Miaow!!!!' who's telling the truth???

thomond2006

Meanwhile, Munster’s Amlin Challenge Cup quarter-final against Brive at the Stadium Municipal Amédée Domenech is on Saturday, April 9th (1.0pm).

Sky Sports have elected to only broadcast live the all English quarter-final of Harlequins and Wasps at Twickenham on Friday, April 8th (7.45pm).

Amlin Challenge Cup quarter-finals: Thursday, April 7th – La Rochelle v ASM Clermont Auvergne, Stade Marcel Deflandre (7.45pm, live on Eurosport). Friday, April 8th – Harlequins v Wasps, The Stoop (7.45pm, live on Sky Sports); Stade Francais v Montpellier, Stade Charlety (7.45pm, live on FR4). Saturday, April 9th: Brive v Munster, Stadium Municipal Amédée Domenech (1pm, live on Eurosport).

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2011/0128/1224288457753.html

ffs

Cpt_Blackbeard

Rautenbach only got a 3 week ban for his blatent stamp on Wally's head. Absolute farce when you look at what POC got for a swinging arm.

http://www.rte.ie/sport/rugby/2011/0127/rautenbachf_londonirish.html

Here's a clip of the stamp from rugbydump:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSuV1CNutm8

Monty Burnz

TheHighRoad wrote: »

I don't know if the abundance of Pres and Con elite Cork boys would take him in!

Pres and Con? Pres and Christians, I think ya meanz.

buck65

He should have been red carded. Happened in front of the ref. His ban is immaterial to me, this decision kept Irish in the game and had they won with 15 men on the field I would be seething.