Munster vs Cardiff Blues, Saturday 4 Dec 2010 5pm; Live on TG4

thomond2006

O'Connell Included In Munster Squad
2 December 2010, 4:00 pm
By The Editor

Paul O'Connell makes it into the Munster squad for the first time this season, named in the 29 man squad for the Magners League round 10 clash against the Cardiff Blues in Thomond Park Stadium.

The match has been brought forward to a 5pm kick off as Munster officials make every effort to have the game played despite the adverse weather conditions.

The pitch at Thomond Park Stadium has been covered since yesterday with Stadium officials confident that the game will go ahead as temperatures are forecast to rise slightly on Friday and Saturday.

The squad was forced to change their training on Tuesday from UL to Garryowen and today they again had to move from CIT to the excellent all weather facility at Colaiste Stiofain Naofa.

The team will be named tomorrow at midday.

Munster Squad:
Wian du Preez, Dave Ryan, Damien Varley, Mike Sherry, Tony Buckley, Peter Borlase, John Hayes, Mick O’Driscoll, Ian Nagle, Donncha O’Callaghan, Paul O’Connell, Alan Quinlan, Billy Holland, Niall Ronan, David Wallace, Denis Leamy, Peter O’Mahony,

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

http://www.munsterrugby.ie/news/8344.php

Dunno where the old match thread disappeared to so I'll start a new one.

Donnacha Ryan and Coughlan are absent from the squad. I'm assuming both are injured as Ryan's suspension has ended at this stage.

Just as Cian Healy and Heaslip were rested by Leinster, I'd expect the Munster players like DOC and Wallace who featured heavily in the AIs to be rested from this game.

With that in mind, I'd like to see:

Du Preez, Varley, Buckley, MOD, Nagle, Quinlan, Ronan, Leamy;
Stringer, ROG, J Murphy, Tuitupou, Earls, Howlett, Warwick

Bench: Sherry, Ryan, Hayes/Borlase, POC, O'Mahony, TOL, B Murphy, Hurley

PhatPiggins

I hope POC is left out of the match day squad. I know we need him back for the HC but he looked no where near match fit last week. I'd let him play another AIL game before easing him back into the red jersey.

I really don't want to see a repeat of the Flannery situation.

thomond2006

PhatPiggins wrote: »

I hope POC is left out of the match day squad. I know we need him back for the HC but he looked no where near match fit last week. I'd let him play another AIL game before easing him back into the red jersey.

I really don't want to see a repeat of the Flannery situation.

The "piece of meat" argument comes into play here.

I have a bad feeling they could bring him back too early.

My team is based on the premise that POC is 100% good to go, I should have made that clear.

PhatPiggins

No I think your team, as always, is a realistic mix of personal preference and reality. I think that's likely to be the exact 22, though I wouldn't be surprised to see Mafi in there somewhere.

irishbucsfan

I'd say at this stage the Munster guys can't wait each week to log onto boards.ie and read Thomond's posts to find out whether or not they're starting.

phog

Slight fall of snow overnight in Limeirck, hopefully, we wont get much more and the game goes ahead as scheduled.

murphym7

PhatPiggins wrote: »

I hope POC is left out of the match day squad. I know we need him back for the HC but he looked no where near match fit last week. I'd let him play another AIL game before easing him back into the red jersey.

I really don't want to see a repeat of the Flannery situation.

100% agree PP. POC needs more time to ramp up to full fitness, the piece of meet theory will be proven or not tomorrow evening. Obviously they want him back on the field against the Ospreys - this will be a huge mistake. I would much prefer to have a fully fit POC for the 6N and the later stages of the ML & HC than risk him coming back to early.

On the match, I have a bad feeling of a losing bonus point for some reason, hope I am very wrong.

thomond2006

irishbucsfan wrote: »

I'd say at this stage the Munster guys can't wait each week to log onto boards.ie and read Thomond's posts to find out whether or not they're starting.

:cool:

If a college student whose level of rugby extended to 3 a side in the backyard when he was a child (not that long ago) can predict a team, anyone can.

I'm honestly waiting for the day when I walk into UL gym and the Munster players recognise me. I better stop wearing my "thomond2006" badge, I've been getting funny looks lately.

thomond2006

Munster:
J Murphy; L Mafi, K Earls, S Tuitipou, D Hurley; R O'Gara, P Stringer;
W du Preez, D Varley, T Buckley; M O'Driscoll, D O'Callaghan; A Quinlan, N Ronan, D Leamy captain.

Replacements: M Sherry, D Ryan, J Hayes, P O’Connell, D Wallace, T O’Leary, P Warwick, B Murphy

Wow, really happy with that team. I assume Howlett is being rested.

Mafi on the wing could be a really good option for us. I'll have my eye on him, he really needs to prove himself.

The two interesting selection issues are 9 and 15. T McG maybe feels the need to shake things up.

http://www.munsterrugby.ie/news/8355.php

CARDIFF BLUES:
15. Chris Czekaj 14. Richard Mustoe 13. Casey Laulala 12. Tom Shanklin 11. Gavin Evans 10. Dan Parks 9. Richie Rees
8. Xavier Rush 7. Sam Warburton 6. Mamma Molitika 5. Paul Tito 4. Michael Paterson 3. Taufa'ao Filse 2. Gareth Williams 1. Gethin Jenkins

Bench: 16. Rhys Williams 17. Tom Davies 18. Sam Hobbs 19. Bryn Griffiths 20. Ben White 21. Tom Slater 22. Ceri Sweeney 23. Dafydd Hewitt

http://www.cardiffblues.com/rugby/4869.php

On another note, irishbucsfan, you better delete your post. I've let the side down this week! :pac:

phog

thomond2006 wrote: »

Munster:
J Murphy; L Mafi, K Earls, S Tuitipou, D Hurley; R O'Gara, P Stringer;
W du Preez, D Varley, T Buckley; M O'Driscoll, D O'Callaghan; A Quinlan, N Ronan, D Leamy captain.

Replacements: M Sherry, D Ryan, J Hayes, P O’Connell, D Wallace, T O’Leary, P Warwick, B Murphy

Wow, really happy with that team. I assume Howlett is being rested.

Mafi on the wing could be a really good option for us. I'll have my eye on him, he really needs to prove himself.

The two interesting selection issues are 9 and 15. T McG maybe feels the need to shake things up.

http://www.munsterrugby.ie/news/8355.php

CARDIFF BLUES:
15. Chris Czekaj 14. Richard Mustoe 13. Casey Laulala 12. Tom Shanklin 11. Gavin Evans 10. Dan Parks 9. Richie Rees
8. Xavier Rush 7. Sam Warburton 6. Mamma Molitika 5. Paul Tito 4. Michael Paterson 3. Taufa'ao Filse 2. Gareth Williams 1. Gethin Jenkins

Bench: 16. Rhys Williams 17. Tom Davies 18. Sam Hobbs 19. Bryn Griffiths 20. Ben White 21. Tom Slater 22. Ceri Sweeney 23. Dafydd Hewitt

http://www.cardiffblues.com/rugby/4869.php

Two decent enough teams, Munster should win unless we allow Rush to run almost the lenght of the field like we did last year without putting a finger on him:(

Will be great to see O'Connell back in the Munster jersey again.

Ian_K

thomond2006 wrote: »

J Murphy; L Mafi, K Earls, S Tuitipou, D Hurley; R O'Gara, P Stringer

This makes me

Risteard

I wonder does this mean that Stringer is now first choice?

phog

I would have a slight concern with Mafi on the wing, hopefully, he'll prove me wrong.

thomond2006

Risteard wrote: »

I wonder does this mean that Stringer is now first choice?

It can't be because TOL is working his way back to fitness/match sharpness, he played 70+ minutes against Dragons.

I like this. At the moment it is Stringer's jersey and TOL shouldn't walk back in without producing on the pitch.

On another note, bye bye Conor Murray. We'll see ya in February.

CatFromHue

earls should get a good test in the centre, lualua is a very good player.

the midfield battle should be good as both sets of centres are international class.

actually there is a lot of internationals on show.

considering donnacha o callaghan is now playing his fifth game on consecutive weekends and will be playing the next two as well, you can nearly gaurantee that o connell will come on at the hour mark.

theKramer

phog wrote: »

I would have a slight concern with Mafi on the wing, hopefully, he'll prove me wrong.

They put him on the wing a few times last year towards the end of the season and he did quite well.
Since he is the last to receive the ball on the wing, he cant kill any moves before they have a chance to begin by running headless into contact
I think his style is more suited to the wing, where you want someone to have a go....

thomond2006

CatFromHue wrote: »

earls should get a good test in the centre, lualua is a very good player.

Laulala is a class act. I'd have him at Munster in a heartbeat.

onlyrocknroll

CatFromHue wrote: »

considering donnacha o callaghan is now playing his fifth game on consecutive weekends and will be playing the next two as well, you can nearly gaurantee that o connell will come on at the hour mark.

I wonder why DOC wasn't rested? Is it because Nagle and Holland had a pretty tough few weeks too (especially considering their age.) If so I think that's the wrong decision given that we really need DOC over the next two weeks.

irishbucsfan

Mafi on the wing. Thank god. Hope he stays there.

And in fairness to him he was good there in that game he played at the end of last season. The only good game he's had for Munster since Tipoki left.

Otacon

irishbucsfan wrote: »

And in fairness to him he was good there in that game he played at the end of last season. The only good game he's had for Munster since Tipoki left.

...and the HC 1/4 Final against the Ospreys.

Like the look of the backline. I hope Murphy makes his presense felt. Outside ROG, there are no real kickers in there so hopefully that means plenty of hard running.

CIARAN_BOYLE

onlyrocknroll wrote: »

I wonder why DOC wasn't rested? Is it because Nagle and Holland had a pretty tough few weeks too (especially considering their age.) If so I think that's the wrong decision given that we really need DOC over the next two weeks.

Nagle and Holland are being rested for the B&I cup double thats coming up, its more important than the HEC double

At least that that is what it looks like to me:p

irishbucsfan

I would expect Munster to go excellently in the B&I Cup this year.

They could put out a seriously good team... Ryan, Sherry, Archer, Nagle, Holland, O'Mahoney, O'Donnell, Butler, Murray, Cusack, Zebo, Deasy, Murphy, Right Winger, Fullback

My Munster knowledge was exhausted at the end there.

thomond2006

irishbucsfan wrote: »

I would expect Munster to go excellently in the B&I Cup this year.

They could put out a seriously good team... Ryan, Sherry, Archer, Nagle, Holland, O'Mahoney, O'Donnell, Butler, Murray, Cusack, Zebo, Deasy, Murphy, Right Winger, Sean Scanlon

My Munster knowledge was exhausted at the end there.

Scanlon added to your team. Don't know about the winger. I'd say whatever winger isn't needed by the 1st XV will drop down, that's what been happening so far this season (with Denis Hurley).

I think Sherry will make a lot more appearances for the senior side this season. There's been no mention of Denis Fogarty's recovery date and Flannery is pretty much crocked at this stage.

irishbucsfan

thomond2006 wrote: »

Scanlon added to your team. Don't know about the winger. I'd say whatever winger isn't needed by the 1st XV will drop down, that's what been happening so far this season (with Denis Hurley).

I think Sherry will make a lot more appearances for the senior side this season. There's been no mention of Denis Fogarty's recovery date and Flannery is pretty much crocked at this stage.

JHW has been covering the bench for Leinster and starting for the A team. I can see that being done with Sherry.

Maybe its time for a B&I Cup thread? I'd love to see a Munster A - Leinster A B&I Cup final. The competition would find a much bigger audience if that was to happen. Maybe we should bring in Sepp Blatter to rig it so it definitely happens.

PhatPiggins

thomond2006 wrote: »

Scanlon added to your team. Don't know about the winger. I'd say whatever winger isn't needed by the 1st XV will drop down, that's what been happening so far this season (with Denis Hurley).

I think Sherry will make a lot more appearances for the senior side this season. There's been no mention of Denis Fogarty's recovery date and Flannery is pretty much crocked at this stage.

Scanlon is useful alright and a proper 15 not just a converted one like Deasy or Hurley.

Haven't they lost a game already? Which must scupper their chances a bit.

Digifriendly

irishbucsfan wrote: »

JHW has been covering the bench for Leinster and starting for the A team. I can see that being done with Sherry.

Maybe its time for a B&I Cup thread? I'd love to see a Munster A - Leinster A B&I Cup final. The competition would find a much bigger audience if that was to happen. Maybe we should bring in Sepp Blatter to rig it so it definitely happens.

How strong are Leinster A? Didn't Ulster A beat them with something to spare at Donnybrook a couple of weeks ago?

Risteard

Presuming Barnes would slot in at wing. Is he still injured?

irishbucsfan

Digifriendly wrote: »

How strong are Leinster A? Didn't Ulster A beat them with something to spare at Donnybrook a couple of weeks ago?

http://leinsterrugby.ie/newsroom/5466.php

Certainly not as strong as Munster A. I don't know who played for the Ravens (not in the article) but I'd imagine it will become very strong in the next few years as they blood more and more of the talent they've got.

An Ulster A - Munster A final would be just as satisfactory. Even if, as a Leinster fan, I would like to see Leinster do well in the competition.

Raiser

Seeing as this was brought forward to 5pm - Are S4C not showing it now ? Says Munster V Gleision on the Sky EPG?

Have no TG4 here right now......

ShamoBuc

Can you get TG4 on line?

That's a very strong line up and an impressive bench. Win plus bonus point coming up - hopefully - to extend our lead at the top!

Raiser

Must try TG4 online - Meant to say above the S4C time is down as 8.25 thanks though!!!

thomond2006

Parks penalty.

0-3

ShamoBuc

Blues take an early 3 point lead - the cheek of them!!!

thomond2006

Argh lost lineout 5 metres out.

thomond2006

What the **** was that from Ronan???

A forward going for a drop goal.... with 4/5 backs outside him.

:mad::mad::mad:

ShamoBuc

Full of confidence, to drop from there,

ShamoBuc

some sloppy mistakes - not straight from the lineout, knock on - game is open enough though

thomond2006

lol at TG4 commentator: "Cherry Sweeney" :D

Sharkey 10

Is it just me or does there seem to be straw on the pitch?

some_dose

Hurley :mad:

thomond2006

Still 0-3.

So many errors.

wixfjord

Jesus I really rate Laulala. Cracking player.

ShamoBuc

I think there was a layer of straw over/under the covers - helps insulation/ take the frost apparently, saving the ground.
Half an hour gone - still to score. They are defending reasonably well.
6-0 down and down to 14 - Buckley yellowed - a score or two is needed before HT.

thomond2006

Buckley in the bin, cynical foul.

Parks pen, 0-6.

LuckyGent88

Sharkey 10 wrote: »

Is it just me or does there seem to be straw on the pitch?

was thinking that myself...must have been using some for protection for the pitch from the frost or the ice in the terraces for the spectators.

i know they havent played together for a while but they are making some amount of mistakes. all over them really but getting no rewards due to the mistakes.

Probably play better with 14 like the scarlets game now!!!

wicklowdub

John Hayes looks knackered already

some_dose

Someone should teach these lads to catch a bloody ball once in a while! :mad:

wixfjord

Mother of god Mafi needs a brain badly!

Tom10

Pitch is in a terrible state there tonight

ShamoBuc

when is backwards forwards? Ref is annoying me a little

laugh

ShamoBuc wrote: »

when is backwards forwards? Ref is annoying me a little

He couldn't be accused of being a homer anyway. The refs will be skittish until the world cup now.