Munster vs Aironi, Saturday 7:30pm, RTE2

thomond2006

Munster Squad (27) D Hurley, F Jones, D Barnes, D Howlett, S Tuitupou, J Murphy, I Dowling, P Warwick, S Deasy, D Williams, P Stringer, W du Preez, Dave Ryan, M Horan, J Hayes, T Buckley, D Fogarty, D Varley, M O'Driscoll, I Nagle, B Holland, D Ryan, N Ronan, A Quinlan, P O'Mahony, T O’Donnell, D Leamy

I would like to see:

Du Preez
Varley
Buckley
Donnacha Ryan
MOD
Quinlan
POM
Leamy
Stringer
Warwick
Hurley
Tuitupou
Murphy (All our regular 13s are missing so he's there by necessity, played there last week.)
Howlett
Jones

Bench:
Fogarty
Ryan
Holland
TOD
Williams
Deasy
Barnes

Who knows what Aironi could be like? On paper they have a top quality pack and I read that Mercier at 10 is a quality goalkicker.

I'd take a close win.

PhatPiggins

Gather around young thomond2006. This is a story about a great game at Thomond Park, a game so great that it game it bacame known as "The Miracle Match"

There were many heros that day. John Kellys last minute try. Ronan O Gara's near flawless kicking.Jim Williams gladiator performance

But the greatest hero that day wore not the red of Munster but the red and white of Gloucester. To this man 33 minus 6 did not equal 27. No last minute penalties would be taken.

Welcome back Ludovic Mercier. We have missed you.

myflipflops

PhatPiggins wrote: »

Welcome back Ludovic Mercier. We have missed you.

Haha.

One of the most brain-dead decisions I have seen on a rugby pitch.

thomond2006

PhatPiggins wrote: »

But the greatest hero that day wore not the red of Munster but the red and white of Gloucester. To this man 33 minus 6 did not equal 27. No last minute penalties would be taken.

Welcome back Ludovic Mercier. We have missed you.

myflipflops wrote: »

Haha.

One of the most brain-dead decisions I have seen on a rugby pitch.

Elaborate please, I only jumped on the bandwagon recently.

myflipflops

thomond2006 wrote: »

Elaborate please, I only jumped on the bandwagon recently.

Munster needed to score at least 4 tries and win by 27 points plus in that game. That's precisely what they did.

However, with 10/15 minutes to go, Gloucester were awarded a penalty about 30 meters out and straight in front of the Munster posts. It would have been an easy kick and would have resulted in Gloucester qualifying.

Instead, stupidly, Mercier tapped the penalty quickly and ran it resulting in a very quick turnover of possesion and allowing Munster the chance to go on to qualify.

If i remember it right, as he went to tap it, a Gloucester player was coming up behind him shouting at him not to.

PhatPiggins

Spot on myflipflop.

They did a follow up interview with Mercier before the semi's and he said his wife left a message on his mobile after the game : "Ludovic, vous êtes un imbécile"

:pac: Talk about tough love

murphym7

PhatPiggins wrote: »

Gather around young thomond2006. This is a story about a great game at Thomond Park, a game so great that it game it bacame known as "The Miracle Match"

There were many heros that day. John Kellys last minute try. Ronan O Gara's near flawless kicking.Jim Williams gladiator performance

But the greatest hero that day wore not the red of Munster but the red and white of Gloucester. To this man 33 minus 6 did not equal 27. No last minute penalties would be taken.

Welcome back Ludovic Mercier. We have missed you.

That post really perked up my morning Phat - well written. Ha, good old Mercier.:D

Risteard

Link

Munster: F Jones; D Howlett, S Tuitupou, J Murphy, I Dowling; P Warwick, P Stringer; W du Preez, D Varley, T Buckley, M O'Driscoll, B Holland; D Ryan, N Ronan, D Leamy capt. Replacements: D Fogarty, M Horan, J Hayes, A Quinlan, P O'Mahony, D Williams, S Deasy, D Barnes

Glad to see Buckley and Du Preez starting but pretty annoyed that Ryan is not in second row. Could he be seen to replace Quinnie at 6 in the HC this season?

Everything else seems to be alright though I presume the centres are supposed to be the other way round. Great to see Jones back and Danny Barnes makes the bench.

PhatPiggins

Risteard wrote: »

Link



Glad to see Buckley and Du Preez starting but pretty annoyed that Ryan is not in second row. Could he be seen to replace Quinnie at 6 in the HC this season?

Everything else seems to be alright though I presume the centres are supposed to be the other way round. Great to see Jones back and Danny Barnes makes the bench.

MOD is a better second row then Ryan but with his athleticism I'd like to see him concentrate on 6 myself. Make or break season for Ryan.

Really like that pack, ball carriers from 1 to 8 and bar MOD all fairly dynamic too.

Stev_o

Im really worried about this match.

Extremely worried.

Terrified.

The reason?

RTE's panel plus commentators.

Prepare for a circus act people in professional punditry with half of the Italians names being mispronounced and probably the two dullest and by far worst commentators on the earth calling the plays in Nugent and that Turbidy sound alike. Think ill watch it with the mute button on.

thomond2006

Happy enough with the team bar Dowling starting and Denis Hurley not in the 23.

http://www.magnersleague.com/news/6148.php

15 LAHARRAGUE JULIEN
14 RUBINI GIULIO
13 QUARTAROLI ROBERTO
12 DES FOUNTAIN DYLAN
11 TONIOLATTI GIULIO
10 MERCIER LUDOVIC
9 TEBALDI TITO

1 DE MARCHI ALBERTO
2 ONGARO FABIO
3 PERUGINI SALVATORE
4 DEL FAVA CARLO ANTONIO
5 GELDENHUYS QUINTIN (c)
6 ERASMUS JACO
7 KRAUSE GARETH
8 WILLIAMS NICK

Replacements

16 DE MARCHI ANDREA
17 SANTAMARIA ROBERTO
18 MILANI LUIGI
19 BORTOLAMI MARCO
20 BIRCHALL ALDO
21 WILSON MICHAEL
22 BENETTIN ALBERTO
23 PIZARRO GABRIEL

I hope Aironi are as backwards on Saturday night as their team names. :pac:

Very strong pack with phatpiggins' hero at 10. Nick Williams makes his return to the ground where he scored a hattrick against the Dragons in Munster colours. I've got a sense of forboding that he'll have a stormer.

Really looking forward to this as nobody knows (not even the Aironi players and staff) know what kind of visiting side will turn up.

Stev_o

thomond2006 wrote: »

Happy enough with the team bar Dowling starting and Denis Hurley not in the 23.

http://www.magnersleague.com/news/6148.php

15 LAHARRAGUE JULIEN
14 RUBINI GIULIO
13 QUARTAROLI ROBERTO
12 DES FOUNTAIN DYLAN
11 TONIOLATTI GIULIO
10 MERCIER LUDOVIC
9 TEBALDI TITO

1 DE MARCHI ALBERTO
2 ONGARO FABIO
3 PERUGINI SALVATORE
4 DEL FAVA CARLO ANTONIO
5 GELDENHUYS QUINTIN (c)
6 ERASMUS JACO
7 KRAUSE GARETH
8 WILLIAMS NICK

Replacements

16 DE MARCHI ANDREA
17 SANTAMARIA ROBERTO
18 MILANI LUIGI
19 BORTOLAMI MARCO
20 BIRCHALL ALDO
21 WILSON MICHAEL
22 BENETTIN ALBERTO
23 PIZARRO GABRIEL

I hope Aironi are as backwards on Saturday night as their team names. :pac:

Very strong pack with phatpiggins' hero at 10. Nick Williams makes his return to the ground where he scored a hattrick against the Dragons in Munster colours. I've got a sense of forboding that he'll have a stormer.

Really looking forward to this as nobody knows (not even the Aironi players and staff) know what kind of visiting side will turn up.

Nice to see a lot of Italians in the lineup and not being completely full of foreigners. Think ill be supporting Aironi in the ML now, nice attitude for a club with one sexy jersey it has to be said!

thomond2006

Stev_o wrote: »

Think ill be supporting Aironi in the ML now, nice attitude for a club with one sexy jersey it has to be said!

Yeah, the All Whites look is cool.

I'd like the Eyetalians to do well this year. If they finish bottom you'll have those Scottish bigots moaning about the money wasted on two new Connachts*/Borders.




*I mean zero disrespect to anyone west of the Shannon!

Digifriendly

Stev_o wrote: »

Im really worried about this match.

Extremely worried.

Terrified.

The reason?

RTE's panel plus commentators.

Prepare for a circus act people in professional punditry with half of the Italians names being mispronounced and probably the two dullest and by far worst commentators on the earth calling the plays in Nugent and that Turbidy sound alike. Think ill watch it with the mute button on.

At least the match will be available for a much larger audience than was the case with Setanta. Here in NI RTE is watched widely and if you don't have satellite you can pick it up via an aerial - you only have to look at the Belast rooftops to see how many aerials are pointed towards Clermont Carn (Co. Louth) and this gives an indication how popular RTE is here. I for one will be tuning in.

thomond2006

Don't mind about RTE but Ralph Keyes is a useless co-commentator. He never says anything interesting, just endless stating the obvious.

pappyodaniel

Aironi have a fine big pack of forwards and I can see them giving Munster problems in the set piece esp. the scrum. I'm expecting Nick Williams to have a big bruiser of a game and fully expect him to bag a try.

Delighted to see Leamy back and captaining the side and I look forward to seeing the new guy in the centre Tuitupou.

PhatPiggins

pappyodaniel wrote: »

Aironi have a fine big pack of forwards and I can see them giving Munster problems in the set piece esp. the scrum. I'm expecting Nick Williams to have a big bruiser of a game and fully expect him to bag a try.

Delighted to see Leamy back and captaining the side and I look forward to seeing the new guy in the centre Tuitupou.

Munster's scrum looked very tight in the preseason games, McCarthy seems to be making a difference already, this will be a good test for them though.

PhatPiggins

History in the making. Hope Munster can improve from the preseason. Would like Aroni to be competitive.

thomond2006

These guys are no pushovers.

6 - 6, 21 minutes gone.

johnnysmack

Aironi look handy enough so far and Treviso had a good win against the Scarlets. If Aironi can stay with Munster then it'll be a good start to the league for the Italians.

thomond2006

Felix Jones try!! Nice pace.

11 - 6, missed conversion. 27 minutes gone.

B0X

Beautiful try from Aironi there.

thomond2006

What a try from Aironi. Larahargue in the corner.

Mercier with a gorgeous chip ahead into space and good passes along the line.

Mercier misses the conversion.

11 - 11.

Burgo

Lovely run!

wixfjord

T R Y eh Mark? :rolleyes:
Good game this, theyre not a bad side.

Micky Dolenz

Aironi ain't half bad. Munster give away an easy turnover.

wixfjord

Lads gonna make a bold prediction and say that Howlett wont be starting for Munster come the end of the season..

laugh

wixfjord wrote: »

T R Y eh Mark? :rolleyes:

LOL

Stev_o

RTE punditry. When you think it can't get worse, it just did.

On a side note Treviso beat Scarlets guys 34-28 f*cking brilliant result and what a great way for the League to start with one Italian win and the other squared with Munster. Happy days!

wixfjord

Mother of Jaysus George :rolleyes:

danthefan

Good stuff from Aironi so far, delighted to see them and Treviso are competative.

ShamoBuc

sloppy enough game so far. I would expext Munster to up it and pull away and win by 20 points

Micky Dolenz

Two quick tries put daylight between the sides.

Munster 23 Aironi 11 48 mins

Digifriendly

This match blanked out on Sky here in NI. Presume Connacht's match on TG4 was 'in the clear' due to Irish language rights for the whole of the island. Nevertheless there will be some angry rugby viewers here if this continues. At least Setanta's coverage covered NI as well as the south. Thank goodness for an aerial pointing south!

thomond2006

That's a joke digifriendly, I feel for all of ye.

It's now 26 - 17.

Mercier is a beautiful kicker out of hand, he'll win matches for Aironi IMO.

EDIT: Ronan Try! BP!

ShamoBuc

33 V 17 - Ronan 63 gone, great break by Howlett - he WILL be around I'm sure for another while!

thomond2006

33 - 17.

Williams on for Stringer.

Would like to see Barnes and Deasy on.

thomond2006

lol at Mark McDermott's "roaring" analysis.

Roanmore

thomond2006 wrote: »

lol at Mark McDermott's "roaring" analysis.

It's funny alright but we should give RTE some credit for trying to change things or do something different (alright copy Sky).

On another point the Munster scrum has been fairly solid, line out not so much.

Oafley Jones

That's three matches in a row where Tuitupou has had ice on the legs after coming off?

thomond2006

I'm kinda hoping Aironi get a try here, they deserve a losing bonus point for their efforts. They have played some really good stuff and showed good spirit.

Edit: TMO decision for Aironi try. Not given, held up. Very close though.

Niall Ronan is given the MOTM gong by Ralph Keyes.

Roanmore

No Try, Quinny called it straight away.

johnnysmack

Good win and puts money in my pocket with that winning margin, happy days!!

Oafley Jones

Decent win for us.

Off topic, but isn't there a rule against showing George's ad shilling sky given that he's on the panel.

thomond2006

Hook quoting Yeats:

"a hut of clay and wattles made"

toomevara

Munster may have downed Aironi, but surely shock of the opening round Treviso have beaten the Scarlets!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/welsh/8953476.stm

PhatPiggins

thomond2006 wrote: »

Hook quoting Yeats:

"a hut of clay and wattles made"

Hook hasn't commentated on a live Mumster game in 4 years and he's still spouting the same rubbish. Fortunately for us we've won a ML and 2 HC's in that period.

I much prefered TG4's coverage and I only speak about 20 words of Irish

thomond2006

Positives

The scrum - They've clearly worked on this in the summer. Both front rows did really well against a strong pack. Let's hope this wasn't a fluke and we can get some consistency in this area.

Howlett - One of his best games in Munster colours. Didn't put a foot wrong and was devastating in attack. Shedding that hair excess weight obviously helped.

Felix Jones - This lad looks pure class. I read that he was working on his kicking during his layoff and it's clearly paid off. Thankfully, he still sees running as his first option when he has time on the ball. If he continues in this vein of form he should break into the HEC XV.

Aironi - They'll definitely not be cannon fodder on the evidence of tonight's performance. Mercier should be Aironi's Dan Parks, a guy that will win games for them through effective kicking. Their pack looked very good with lots of strong ballcarriers. Off topic but good to see that Treviso did the business today.

Beau

Is there a highlights show on RTE for Magners League?

thomond2006

Beau wrote: »

Is there a highlights show on RTE for Magners League?

Setanta have a show on now called "The Breakdown".

I have sky plussed it so I'm not watching it right now but I assume that is showing highlights.

BBC Wales have a weekend review show called Scrum V on a Sunday. It's on 5pm on BBC2 Wales IIRC.

pajoguy

Felix would want to pull his socks up for the next match!:D