Pro12: Ulster vs Munster, Fri 30 Dec 7:05pm; Live on BBCNI/RTE2

thomond2006 · 28-12-2011 1:51pm #1

It includes all the notables other than Peter O'Mahoney who is recovering from a jaw injury, the rested Danny Barnes who after 11 starts thus far (plus three appearances off the bench), benefits from Munster's player welfare policy and those not available for selection thru IRFU policy.

The squad train today in Cork and the side to play Ulster will be announced tomorrow at lunchtime.

Munster Squad:
Johne Murphy, Denis Hurley, Sean Scanlon, Luke O'Dea, Danny Barnes, Simon Zebo,
Tom Gleeson, Will Chambers, Lifeimi Mafi
Ian Keatley, Scott Deasy,
Duncan Williams, Tomas O'Leary,

Denis Fogarty, Sean Henry, Damien Varley
Marcus Horan, Wian du Preez, John Ryan, Stephen Archer, D Kilcoyne, BJ Botha,
Billy Holland, Mick O'Driscoll, Ian Nagle,
Niall Ronan, Dave O'Callaghan, Tommy O'Donnell, Denis Leamy, Paddy Butler, James Coughlan,

( Unavailable for selection - IRFU player management policy: Donncha O'Callaghan, Paul O'Connell, Donnacha Ryan, Conor Murray, Ronan O'Gara, Keith Earls).

Danny Barnes is rested but they obviously didn't proofread that squad haha. Also "thru"? What kind of idiot writes this? Use proper words ffs. :mad::D

I'd like to see:
du Preez, Varley, Botha, MOD, Nagle, Leamy, TOD, Butler;
Williams, Deasy, Zebo, Mafi, Chambers, LOD, Scanlon

Bench: Henry, Kilcoyne, Archer, Holland, DOC2.0, TOL, Keatley, Hurley

I think Deasy should get a start at 10 and see how he gets on tbh! Gleeson has never done anything when he got a chance so I'd put Chambers back in.

The back three all played well on Monday so it would be harsh to drop any of them. Please oh please start Nagle! Ronan has played a lot of rugby recently so I'd rest him.

Ulster Squad:
Adam D'Arcy, Stefan Terblanche, Peter Nelson, Simon Danielli, Chris Cochrane, Michael Allen, Craig Gilroy, Ian Whitten, Darren Cave, Chris Farrell,
Ian Humphreys, Ruan Pienaar, Ian Porter, Paul Marshall,

John Afoa, Paddy McAllister, Adam Macklin, Callum Black, Jerry Cronin, Nigel Brady, Andi Kyriacou, Niall Annett,
Johann Muller, Lewis Stevenson, Tim Barker, Dan Tuohy, Neil McComb,
Willie Faloon, Chris Henry, Pedrie Wannenburg, Robbie Diack, Ali Birch

MCannon77 · 28-12-2011 1:59pm

My team would be:

Du Preez, Varley, Botha, MOD, Nagle, Leamy, TOD, Butler;
O Leary, Keatley, Zebo, Mafi, Chambers, O' Dea, Scanlon

CatFromHue · 28-12-2011 2:03pm

No Ferris or Best for Ulster.

What's the story with Spence, is he injured?

Or now included in the Ireland players bracket?

shuffol · 28-12-2011 3:33pm

Spence is injured

CatFromHue · 28-12-2011 3:36pm

Do you know what's wrong with him?

I did a quick search on the Ulster website but saw no mention of any injury to him. Hence the Ireland speculation.

phog · 28-12-2011 8:18pm

thomond2006 wrote: »

( Unavailable for selection - IRFU player management policy: Donncha O'Callaghan, Paul O'Connell, Donnacha Ryan, Conor Murray, Ronan O'Gara, Keith Earls).

Are Ireland in camp or is it just rest, if only rest wouldn't Earls be better off playing, he has only 3 games under his belt since coming home from the W/C.

thomond2006 · 28-12-2011 8:21pm

Ireland camp I think. I thought he would be available to play in any case.

shuffol · 28-12-2011 9:33pm

CatFromHue wrote: »

Do you know what's wrong with him?

I did a quick search on the Ulster website but saw no mention of any injury to him. Hence the Ireland speculation.

It was reported in the papers as an ankle injury, dont think its too serious, picked it up away to Aironi, the guy was probably due a rest anyway

thomond2006 · 29-12-2011 12:26pm

Ulster:
A D'Arcy; C Gilroy, D Cave, I Whitten, S Terblanche; I Humphreys, R Pienaar;
P McAllister, A Kyriacou, J Afoa, J Muller (Captain), D Tuohy, P Wannenburg, W Faloon, C Henry

Replacements: N Brady, C Black, A Macklin, L Stevenson, A Birch, P Marshall, C Farrell, P Nelson

Not available due to injury/sickness: Jared Payne (achilles), Paddy Wallace (hand), Declan Fitzpatrick (neck), Luke Marshall (ankle), Paddy Jackson (ankle), Nevin Spence (ankle), Tim Barker (sickness), Simon Danielli (sickness)

Not available due to IRFU Player Management Programme: Tom Court, Rory Best, Stephen Ferris, Andrew Trimble

Munster:
D Hurley; L O'Dea, T Gleeson, L Mafi, J Murphy; I Keatley, D Williams;
W du Preez, D Varley, S Archer; I Nagle, M O'Driscoll capt; Dave O'Callaghan, T O'Donnell, J Coughlan.

Replacements: D Fogarty, M Horan, J Ryan, B Holland, P Butler, T O'Leary, S Deasy, W Chambers.

Not available (injury): David Wallace (knee); Troy Smith (knee); Felix Jones (foot); Jerry Flannery (calf); Doug Howlett (achilles); Darragh Hurley (back); Mike Sherry (ankle); Peter O'Mahony (jaw); Denis Leamy (hip), Declan Cusack (shoulder); Sean Scanlon (shoulder).

Not available for selection (IRFU policy): Paul O'Connell, Donncha O'Callaghan, Donncha Ryan, Conor Murray, Ronan O'Gara, Keith Earls,

15 changes for Ulster, 12 changes for Munster.

Scanlon is injured so he's not included, good to see O'Dea still in.

danthefan · 29-12-2011 12:27pm

With home advantage and a decent side out Ulster should win imo.

Tox56 · 29-12-2011 12:31pm

Is Tuohy being selected and not being stopped by IRFU because he isn't in the squad for this training thing? Or am I reading too much into this?

thomond2006 · 29-12-2011 12:36pm

Tox56 wrote: »

Is Tuohy being selected and not being stopped by IRFU because he isn't in the squad for this training thing? Or am I reading too much into this?

Well if he's playing in this he's not in the training camp.

Tox56 · 29-12-2011 12:38pm

thomond2006 wrote: »

Well if he's playing in this he's not in the training camp.

Is that as significant as I think it is?

Hagz · 29-12-2011 1:13pm

TBH, if Tuohy isn't in the training camp, the word disgraceful comes to mind. 3rd best lock atm.

JustinDee · 29-12-2011 1:38pm

phog wrote: »

Are Ireland in camp or is it just rest, if only rest wouldn't Earls be better off playing, he has only 3 games under his belt since coming home from the W/C.

Squad start camp today at Carton until Saturday afternoon.

Podge_irl · 29-12-2011 1:41pm

DOC and Ryan in camp but not Tuohy. Sigh

Benny Cake · 29-12-2011 1:41pm

Niall O'Connor

Like the look of the Munster 15.. Can't wait to get a proper look at Nagle lining up against Tuohy!

thomond2006 · 29-12-2011 1:51pm

A weakened Munster has a habit of going to places like Ravenhill and being competitive. I can see us getting at least a losing bonus point.

wixfjord · 29-12-2011 1:51pm

Ulster should win this handy enough judging by the two teams and McLaughlin's presumed insistence that he's targeting it.

shuffol · 29-12-2011 2:36pm

Podge_irl wrote: »

DOC and Ryan in camp but not Tuohy. Sigh

Yeah can we read into this that Tuohy isnt in Kidneys plans for the 6N or is at least behind the two mentioned above, depressing if so

phog · 29-12-2011 2:52pm

Considering the injuries and the Irish camp I'm happy enough with the team, great to see O'Dea get another start, would have loved to see Scanlon tart again but he's out injured. Nagle starting in Ravenhill is a big call for him, hopefully, he'll do himself proud. Would liked to have TOL start ahead of Williams as I think it will be a tough day for the SH, would also have Butler get another chance at 8 but with DOC and TOD at 6&7 then Coughlan was needed for experience.

Hard to see past an Ulster win but Munster really need to keep pressure on the top 2 spots of the table so a win would be great for us, Leinster will surely get a 5 pointer in the Sportsground and put a lot of daylight between them and 2nd & 3rd spot.

profitius · 29-12-2011 2:56pm

thomond2006 wrote: »

Munster:
D Hurley; L O'Dea, T Gleeson, L Mafi, J Murphy; I Keatley, D Williams;
W du Preez, D Varley, S Archer; I Nagle, M O'Driscoll capt; Dave O'Callaghan, T O'Donnell, J Coughlan.

Replacements: D Fogarty, M Horan, J Ryan, B Holland, P Butler, T O'Leary, S Deasy, W Chambers.

Its a good mix of youth and experience. Pity Scanlon got injured the other day.

Interesting to see the tightheads for Munster. Archer and Ryan, 2 Irish props who they'll be trying harder to get up to speed in the next year and a half.

Good chance for DOC2, TOD and Nagle. Its also good to see O'Dea getting another start. In some ways he has been more impressive than Zebo so far. And Tom Gleeson gets a rare opportunity. From the little I've seen of him over the years hes about Danny Barnes' standard. A solid player.

CatFromHue · 29-12-2011 3:53pm

thomond2006 wrote: »

A weakened Munster has a habit of going to places like Ravenhill and being competitive. I can see us getting at least a losing bonus point.

Just had a quick look at the player profiles on Munsters website and the last time the players below played in Ulster is listed:

ROG 01/02
POC 01/02
Earls never
DOC 04/05
David Wallace 04/05
Flannery 06/07

Munster have lost 5 times in the last 8 I think in Belfast.

Ulsters Christmas interpro fixtures has really annoyed me. All the possible Ireland match ups have been eliminated (Cronin v Best, Tuohy v Toner, Cave v Earls, McFadden v Cave, and so on).

Cpt_Blackbeard · 29-12-2011 8:07pm

Not a bad team considering we are missing ~20 players. Hopefully we can manage to comprehensively beat Ulster as, they deserve nothing more from this season after the insult they dealt the league - sponsors and fans alike - with the team that was picked to lose to Leinster.

Nagle to pick up where he left off last against Ulster with a MOM performance. You heard it here first.

PhatPiggins · 29-12-2011 8:40pm

Cpt_Blackbeard wrote: »

Not a bad team considering we are missing ~20 players. Hopefully we can manage to comprehensively beat Ulster as, they deserve nothing more from this season after the insult they dealt the league - sponsors and fans alike - with the team that was picked to lose to Leinster.

Nagle to pick up where he left off last against Ulster with a MOM performance. You heard it here first.

Without a doubt, but it'll probably be followed with another 6 weeks of isolation though.

GerM · 29-12-2011 9:12pm

Cpt_Blackbeard wrote: »

Not a bad team considering we are missing ~20 players. Hopefully we can manage to comprehensively beat Ulster as, they deserve nothing more from this season after the insult they dealt the league - sponsors and fans alike - with the team that was picked to lose to Leinster.

And what of the insult the league/IRFU continually deals them where they've been down to play Munster and Leinster only 5 or so days apart for the 5th year in a row? Last year they tried to put out relatively strong teams in both games and shipped 30 points in both.

Cpt_Blackbeard · 29-12-2011 9:47pm

GerM wrote: »

And what of the insult the league/IRFU continually deals them where they've been down to play Munster and Leinster only 5 or so days apart for the 5th year in a row? Last year they tried to put out relatively strong teams in both games and shipped 30 points in both.

Then they should follow the correct procedures in order to get the fixtures amended next year, rather than throwing a game. There is nothing worse in sport than deliberately throwing a game, and what McLaughlin wasn't far off.

I won't delve into the sensationalism I had originally written but, what McLaughlin did what nothing sort of disgusting.

danthefan · 29-12-2011 10:00pm

Cpt_Blackbeard wrote: »

GerM wrote: »

And what of the insult the league/IRFU continually deals them where they've been down to play Munster and Leinster only 5 or so days apart for the 5th year in a row? Last year they tried to put out relatively strong teams in both games and shipped 30 points in both.

Then they should follow the correct procedures in order to get the fixtures amended next year, rather than throwing a game. There is nothing worse in sport than deliberately throwing a game, and what McLaughlin wasn't far off.

I won't delve into the sensationalism I had originally written but, what McLaughlin did what nothing sort of disgusting.

Every province had effectively thrown games. Kidney used to treat the ML with utter contempt. Leinster have sent shadow teams over to Wales a few times. Would you give over with the drama.

Tox56 · 29-12-2011 10:00pm

Cpt_Blackbeard wrote: »

Then they should follow the correct procedures in order to get the fixtures amended next year, rather than throwing a game. There is nothing worse in sport than deliberately throwing a game, and what McLaughlin wasn't far off.

I won't delve into the sensationalism I had originally written but, what McLaughlin did what nothing sort of disgusting.

They hardly put in a pathetic performance. They played well, and kept up with Leinster for much of the game. They were in a score of Leinster deep into the game, but for the last period, where Leinster pulled away.

People were saying it was a disgrace as it wouldn't be a contest and Leinster would just waltz to victory. That didn't happen. It was a close game for the majority, and the scoreline does not reflect the match.

If I was a supporter who paid money to watch that, I would not be complaining and asking for my money back, I thought it was a good, competitive game.

wixfjord · 29-12-2011 10:03pm

Cpt_Blackbeard wrote: »

GerM wrote: »

And what of the insult the league/IRFU continually deals them where they've been down to play Munster and Leinster only 5 or so days apart for the 5th year in a row? Last year they tried to put out relatively strong teams in both games and shipped 30 points in both.

Then they should follow the correct procedures in order to get the fixtures amended next year, rather than throwing a game. There is nothing worse in sport than deliberately throwing a game, and what McLaughlin wasn't far off.

I won't delve into the sensationalism I had originally written but, what McLaughlin did what nothing sort of disgusting.

Ah here. I think that's delving into sensationalism to a fair degree already! Whatever you think about mclaughlins decision, it is based in logic. All the provinces need to manage resources they have and with two games in four days that was what he felt would be best usage of resources.

GerM · 29-12-2011 10:06pm

Cpt_Blackbeard wrote: »

I won't delve into the sensationalism I had originally written but, what McLaughlin did what nothing sort of disgusting.

Woofer · 30-12-2011 12:07pm

how can i get tickets to this? its sold out

Digifriendly · 30-12-2011 12:53pm

Munster

Woofer wrote: »

how can i get tickets to this? its sold out

Think that maybe you've answered your question. You could maybe take a chance and turn up in the hope that somebody has a spare ticket not being used by anyone else.