Cardiff vs Munster, Fri 25 March 7:05pm, Live on TG4/BBC2Wales

thomond2006

O'Gara and O'Connell In Munster Squad
23 March 2011, 1:50 pm
By The Editor

Paul O'Connell and Ronan O'Gara are both included in Munster's squad to face Cardiff Blues this Friday at the Cardiff City Stadium ko 7.05pm.

The full Munster squad trained in brilliant sunshine today at the University of Limerick and afterwards Tony McGahan named a 29 strong squad for the start of what will be a very busy few weeks for Munster.

McGahan speaking at the press conference spoke about the great buzz in the camp now that all the players are back & obviously on a high after their good end to the 6 Nations Campaign at the Aviva last weekend.

Munster’s last win away to Cardiff Blues was in November 2005 and the Welsh side represent a huge challenge for Munster as even though they hold top spot in the table Cardiff lie in fifth place with a game in hand.

Out of the 6 sides in contention for Magners League knockout stages Munster have to play 4 of them starting with the Blues, then Leinster, Scarlets and Ospreys.

The Munster 23 will be named at midday on Thursday.

Munster Squad:
Scott Deasy, Felix Jones, Doug Howlett, Keith Earls, Sam Tuitupou, Lifeimi Mafi, Johne Murphy,

Declan Cusack, Ronan O’Gara,

Conor Murray, Peter Stringer,

Wian Du Preez, Tony Buckley, Marcus Horan, Stephen Archer, John Hayes,

Damien Varley, Mike Sherry, Denis Fogarty,

Paul O’Connell, Mick O’Driscoll, Donnacha Ryan, Donncha O’Callaghan,

David Wallace, Peter O’Mahony, Niall Ronan, James Coughlan, Denis Leamy, Tommy O’Donnell.

http://www.munsterrugby.ie/news/8819.php

All the internationals are included. I wouldn't expect them all to start though, the last two years the frontline internationals haven't played in the ML fixture straight after the Six Nations. ROG maybe could start since he didn't play all the games and POC because he's only back since January. Warwick and Zebo are not included, no explanation as to why that is (would like to see Warwick and Mafi at centre again), perhaps they are looking to next season by leaving Warwick out.

With Leinster to come next week we'll probably see a mixture of first and second string players in the side with the everpresent internationals probably left out or benched, therefore we'll see the madmen centre partnership of Tuitupou and Mafi!

Very disappointed to see Nagle left out.

I'd like to see:
Du Preez, Varley, Buckley, POC, MOD, Leamy, TOD, Coughlan;
Murray, ROG, Murphy, Tuitupou, Mafi, Howlett, Jones

Bench: Sherry, Horan, Hayes, Ryan, POM, Stringer, Cusack, Deasy

That gives the likes of DOC and Wallace the chance to rest up for the big derby. MOD has been playing well and the backrow of Leamy, TOD and Coughlan has looked very good together. Hopefully Murray will get at least 20 minutes if he's on the bench.

Cardiff Blues will be without injured Wales flanker Sam Warburton for their Magners League clash against leaders Munster on Friday night.

Warburton limped off in the first half of Wales' 28-9 defeat to France in the Stade de France.

Blues will be without three more injured stars - wing Tom James, hooker Rhys Thomas and prop Taufa'ao Felise.

Cardiff will want a win as four of their five remaining matches are on the road.

Martyn Williams should figure after signing a one-year contract extension with the Blues this week.

The last six clashes between the two sides have all been won by the home side, while Munster's only previous win on Blues soil in the Magners League was 18-16 at the Arms Park on 4 November 2005.

Blues' only defeat in their last six Magners League matches was 13-32 in Ulster on 25 February.

The Blues most recent loss at Cardiff City Stadium in the Magners League was 15-37 to Ulster on 21 November.

Munster have lost only one Magners League encounter since November: 18-19 in Treviso on 13 February.

The Munstermen have lost on their last five visits to Wales in all competitions.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/my_club/cardiff_blues/9432690.stm

Cardiff have only two home games remaining with trips to all other three Welsh regions and Connacht to come so they will target a win here.

phog

We need to target this game too, an away win will keep us firmly on the top of the league, we don't have any easy match in the run to the end of the league but this one should be targetted as it's our first one back since the 6Ns and we really need to start a winning streak in Wales again.

TheJims

Big big games coming thick and fast.. gona be hard stretched to keep on top, and compete in the amlin!

I see us winning this weekend by a converted score thou!

thomond2006

Word on MFs is Murray will start at scrum half. Sherry will be on the bench (ahead of Fogarty) and Cusack will also be among the replacements.

If true about Murray it's bloody fantastic.

some_dose

If those rumours are true, then it is a great sign for 2 reasons: shows that Murray is up and coming and also shows that the management has perhaps woken up to the demands of the fans and are really giving the youth a go.

Would also really love to see Jones at fullback. Think he needs to show what he can do before the Leinster match.

thomond2006

some_dose wrote: »

If those rumours are true, then it is a great sign for 2 reasons: shows that Murray is up and coming and also shows that the management has perhaps woken up to the demands of the fans and are really giving the youth a go.

Would also really love to see Jones at fullback. Think he needs to show what he can do before the Leinster match.

Read somewhere that TOL "has failed to recover" from his injury as yet so he's out for the forseeable future. Meaning Murray (who seems to have overtaken Williams) will be at least benching in some key games.

I echo your thoughts on Jones. However my main hope for him tbh is to get through the rest of the season injury free so he can be a real asset in the future. I don't think we should expect too much from him at the moment, he has been out since September.

some_dose

I just hope that Jones still has that blistering pace. By all accounts on MF he played excellently for Munster A.

Podge_irl

Please tell me Nagle is injured and not actually being overlooked again?

If it's the latter that new contract looks like a terrible decision.

some_dose

Podge_irl wrote: »

Please tell me Nagle is injured and not actually being overlooked again?

If it's the latter that new contract looks like a terrible decision.

It has taken this long to get Murray starting matches (albeit through injury). Steps are being taken in the right direction, but very small ones. You're right though, Nagle should definitely be starting at this stage.

thomond2006

Podge_irl wrote: »

Please tell me Nagle is injured and not actually being overlooked again?

If it's the latter that new contract looks like a terrible decision.

AFAIK he's been overlooked. He played all the games during the Six Nations period and there was no word about an injury. Don't forget Holland has been overlooked too and he's been very good this season as well.

They obviously see Ryan having a future at Munster.

Podge_irl

thomond2006 wrote: »

They obviously see Ryan having a future at Munster.

Ryan's had a "future" at Munster for 5/6 years at this point. Shame.

Cpt_Blackbeard

thomond2006 wrote: »

I'd like to see:
Du Preez, Varley, Buckley, POC, MOD, Leamy, TOD, Coughlan;
Murray, ROG, Murphy, Tuitupou, Mafi, Howlett, Jones

Bench: Sherry, Horan, Hayes, Ryan, POM, Stringer, Cusack, Deasy

Horan will probably start as he is just making it back from injury and needs gametime. I can't see Archer being left out after his recent improvement either. Other than that, its a good team with a nice mix of young and old.

phog

Podge_irl wrote: »

Please tell me Nagle is injured and not actually being overlooked again?

If it's the latter that new contract looks like a terrible decision.

It looks like he's not on the injured list, I suppose it's a case of trying to ge t the mix right for an away game.

McGahan is relieved at last to have access to all but his injured players (Jerry Flannery, Ian Dowling, Barry Murphy, Tom Gleeson, Denis Hurley and Dave Ryan).

From here

GerM

some_dose wrote: »

If those rumours are true, then it is a great sign for 2 reasons: shows that Murray is up and coming and also shows that the management has perhaps woken up to the demands of the fans and are really giving the youth a go.

Think your second reason will have had little or nothing to do with any selection Murray is involved in. I'd say your first reason is a lot closer to the truth; Murray is a talent that cannot be ignored.

some_dose

PO'C, RO'G and MURRAY!!! starting :D:D

Conor Murray will lead the Munster back line when they resume their Magners League campaign with the game against Cardiff Blues at the City Stadium tomorrow evening (7.05pm).
Murray, who was handed his first start against the Dragons at the start of this month is partnered with Ronan O'Gara in a side that includes returning internationals, Keith Earls, Denis Leamy and Paul O'Connell.
In explaining what is undoubtedly a big call at nine, Tony McGahan said, "Conor has been a consistent member of the senior squad in training over the past twelve months because of International call ups and injuries to our half-back position."

"In this time he has gathered valuable training experiences from the more senior players in the squad which allowed him to play off the bench in last Six Nations window and start against the Dragons in our last Magners League game this year."

"He impressed the coaching staff and fellow players with an enthusiastic and mature display in his first professional start and deserves to be in the mix competing with Peter and Duncan for game time with Tomas's unfortunate bout of injuries."

All in all, McGahan makes ten changes to the starting XV from the one that played against the Dragons in Musgrave Park three weeks ago, one of those changes forced by Paul Warwick's return to Australia on family matters.

Elsewhere, the inclusion of Felix Jones at full-back means Johne Murphy switching to outside centre with Earls on the left wing in place of Simon Zebo.

Up front, it's all change in the front row with Wian du Preez, Damien Varley and Tony Buckley starting on this occasion, O'Connell comes in for Ian Nagle while the back row remains the same other than Niall Ronan, who returned from injury in the A game last week, replacing Donnacha Ryan who is named on the bench.

Munster: F Jones, D Howlett, J Murphy, L Mafi, K Earls, R O'Gara, C Murray, W du Preez, D Varley, T Buckley, P O'Connell capt, M O'Driscoll, J Couglan, N Ronan, D Leamy. Replacements: M Sherry, M Horan, S Archer, D Ryan, P O'Mahony, P Stringer, S Tuitupou, D Cusack.

http://www.munsterrugby.ie/news/8827.php

thomond2006

Cardiff Blues:
15 Chris Czekaj 14 Richard Mustoe 13 Casey Laulala 12 Dafydd Hewitt 11 Leigh Halfpenny 10 Ceri Sweeney 9 Lloyd Williams
8 Xavier Rush 7 Martyn Williams 6 Andries Pretorius 5 Paul Tito (c) 4 Michael Paterson 3 Scott Andrews 2 Rhys Williams 1 John Yapp

Replacements: 16 Kristian Dacey 17 Nathan Trevett 18 Sam Hobbs 19 Bradley Davies 20 Mamma Molitika 21 Tom Slater 22 Dan Parks 23 Jamie Roberts

http://www.cardiffblues.com/news/5055.php

Cardiff's internationals are named on the bench. Their strengths are their backrow and their back three by the looks of things. Laulala is a very good player but Hewitt is average.

Munster:
F Jones, D Howlett, J Murphy, L Mafi, K Earls, R O'Gara, C Murray,
W du Preez, D Varley, T Buckley, P O'Connell capt, M O'Driscoll, J Coughlan, N Ronan, D Leamy.

Replacements: M Sherry, M Horan, S Archer, D Ryan, P O'Mahony, P Stringer, S Tuitupou, D Cusack.

http://www.munsterrugby.ie/news/8827.php

Delighted with the selection. Great to see a youngster like Murray paired with the experienced man in O'Gara. Murphy at 13 is an interesting call, he was decent there at the beginning of the season but don't think it suits him tbh.

Hopefully we'll see big games from Murray and Jones.

I think we've a decent chance to win this. A win over in Wales would help Munster gather momentum for the big game next week.

Otacon

Looks like Earls on the wing may become 'his' place.

laft foot

Podge_irl wrote: »

Please tell me Nagle is injured and not actually being overlooked again?

If it's the latter that new contract looks like a terrible decision.

Now that the 6 nation is over id say Munster will really want to nail the Magners down so id say the youngsters will be taking a step back on to benchwarming duty unfortunately; although what is the point in playing Horan anymore; total journeyman and useless at scrum time imo

profitius

Good to see Murray and Jones starting and POM on the bench.

laft foot wrote: »

Now that the 6 nation is over id say Munster will really want to nail the Magners down so id say the youngsters will be taking a step back on to benchwarming duty unfortunately; although what is the point in playing Horan anymore; total journeyman and useless at scrum time imo

Disagree about Horan. He's been injured for 2 seasons but he was never useless scrummaging. Lets see how he does over the coming weeks.

thomond2006

laft foot wrote: »

Now that the 6 nation is over id say Munster will really want to nail the Magners down so id say the youngsters will be taking a step back on to benchwarming duty unfortunately; although what is the point in playing Horan anymore; total journeyman and useless at scrum time imo

He's been at Munster all his career, how is he a journeyman?

phog

The team for tomorrow night.

Munster: F Jones, D Howlett, J Murphy, L Mafi, K Earls, R O'Gara, C Murray, W du Preez, D Varley, T Buckley, P O'Connell capt, M O'Driscoll, J Coughlan, N Ronan, D Leamy.

Replacements: M Sherry, M Horan, S Archer, D Ryan, P O'Mahony, P Stringer, S Tuitupou, D Cusac

CouchSmart

Gonna be a great game. Both teams near full strength.

phog

laft foot wrote: »

Now that the 6 nation is over id say Munster will really want to nail the Magners down so id say the youngsters will be taking a step back on to benchwarming duty unfortunately; although what is the point in playing Horan anymore; total journeyman and useless at scrum time imo

Where do you the journeyman view of him from? Aside from injury Marcus has nearly always been in the No1 jersey for province and country.

laft foot

thomond2006 wrote: »

He's been at Munster all his career, how is he a journeyman?

By journeyman i mean hes been around for ages and imo hes useless at scrummaging; never really his forte; i always felt he take a step back at engage and try and collapse the scrum. Himself and Hayes were masters at it. Just my opinion lads

That's not what a journeyman is.

Horan's a fine scrummager. Not explosive, not destructive, but well able to hold his own.

laft foot

Deleted User wrote: »

That's not what a journeyman is.

Horan's a fine scrummager. Not explosive, not destructive, but well able to hold his own.

Fair point so; hes not a journeyman; disagree on the scrummaging though

ambid

Otacon wrote: »

Looks like Earls on the wing may become 'his' place.

Really interested by this. Is he no longer a 13? Murphy isn't a 13 either so this is really fascinating. For what it's worth, I love Earls on the wing as he seems to have all the skills needed for that position, and could see him develop into a world class winger. Moving from wing to centre to FB can't be good for his development. I really hope they keep him there.

With Earls, Howlett, Murphy and Jones, Munster really are developing excellent strength at the back. They just need a couple of centres.

Delighted to se Murray get another game too. He looks like a player.

Risteard

laft foot wrote: »

By journeyman i mean hes been around for ages and imo hes useless at scrummaging; never really his forte; i always felt he take a step back at engage and try and collapse the scrum. Himself and Hayes were masters at it. Just my opinion lads

Horan is hardly a poor scrummager. Not exactly going to demolish oppposition but he's not terrible. Hayes up until the last year/year and a half was always able to hold his own most of the time.

Both coped well at international level for Ireland over the years, being the scrummaging pair that won the grand slam and also on the team that came close to a few grand slams.

To call someone who's represented Ireland very well for a number of years a 'useless' scrummager is ridiculous.

buck65

The whole "Nagle is God he should F Off if not picked" crusade is a little ridiculous IMO. Here's a guy that apart from AIL watchers wasn't on the horizon last year and only made an impact in mid November and has played a few good games since for Munster.
Now that the internationals are back do we really expect to see him not return to his rung on the ladder?
He is a good player who has got a new contract for next year and will surely over the next few weeks get plenty of gametime to learn more.
He is by no means better yet than any of the Munster second rows picked for tomorrow, Nagle will get his chance at Munster but needs to develop physically a bit I think yet.

I disagree, every time he has been asked to play he's stepped up and hit the game harder than most around him.

Sometimes you need to ride the wave, and let someone like that keep up the performances. It's got to be frustrating for the lad.

durkadurka

Is Murray the young SH who did very well in the Magners a few weeks ago?

In musgrave i think?

yup, he's a serious prospect. Trusting him with next few starts could be a genius manoeuvre

durkadurka

Particluarly if you surround him with some experience like ROG etc.

CouchSmart

Also, delighted to see Jones back in the mix. If he remains injury free he could become a big player for Munster.

Brian P

laft foot wrote: »

Now that the 6 nation is over id say Munster will really want to nail the Magners down so id say the youngsters will be taking a step back on to benchwarming duty unfortunately; although what is the point in playing Horan anymore; total journeyman and useless at scrum time imo

Are you sure it's Marcus Horan you're talking about:rolleyes: Wasn't he part of the formidable pack who won us two Heineken cups?

CouchSmart

Paddy Power have Cardiff as favourites for this. Can't see that myself, I reckon Munster should win, could be a bit of money to be made too! Gonna be a good.

CatFromHue

cardiff blues in bight pink and the red army of munster in illumonious yellow.....my eyes, my eyes!!!

not a great start from munster

pappyodaniel

2mins 3-0
4mins O'Gara misses a sitter to draw level.
6mins Munster destroy Cardiff scrum.

pappyodaniel

Strange to see Alan Lewis referee a game between an Irish team and a Welsh team and the venue is Wales.

Burgo

Buckley off after 10 mins!

CIARAN_BOYLE

Burgo wrote: »

Buckley off after 10 mins!

Anyone know what happened to him, Coughlan try

duckysauce

well done by earls

CatFromHue

why did buckley go off?

nice break from earls, but amateur defending from cardiff

pappyodaniel

^^ wtf? Irish commentary so can't confirm whether it's permanent.

Sweet break from Earls offloads to Coughlan.
14min 3-5

SuprSi

Great try. Earls got a bit lucky, he should've given it earlier but there was great support. Crazy game of rugby so far, really entertaining.

LuckyGent88

What a break from Earls there and the off-load then for Coughlin to get the try

O'Gara converts

thomond2006

Munster have scored 2 tries yes?

pappyodaniel

YES! Temporary blood replacement for Mushy. He's now back on the field.

18mins 6-7 Cardiff peno
19mins John Yapp gets yellow card for striking Micko. Dirty play.
20mins O'Gara converts peno 6-10

CatFromHue

buckely back, must have been a blood sub.

its a good match up between earls and halfpenny

john yapp sin binned from punching mick o driscoll

Burgo

Buckley back on, looked to be a cut above his right eye. 1 try for munster unless the stream im watching is slow !

TheRevolution

thomond2006 wrote: »

Munster have scored 2 tries yes?

No one try. 10-6, Cardiff Blue is in the bin for punching Mick O'Driscoll.