Munster Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread II

CatFromHue

You can check the attendances for the English teams on the Aviva Premiership website.

http://www.premiershiprugby.com/premiership/stats/attendance.php

70% of Saracens attendance came from 2 games though! Their usual home attendance is very poor. As been said already I'm not sure how many long term fans they have any more.

The Aviva does look on average to be better than the Rabo. Sale, who are third bottom on the table, have an average home attendance of 7900. That looks around approx the same if not slightly higher than what the Ospreys, Cardiff, and Lanelli get. The Dragons, Connacht, Edinburgh, and Glasgow wouldn't get that high.

So it's only really the top three Irish sides would rank anywhere on that table. Some of the English teams numbers are skewed as London Irish, Quins, and Saracens all have played in front of big numbers in Twickenham or Wembley.

thomond2006

Pool 7: Aberavon, Munster, Plymouth, Rotherham

Munster’s B&I Cup Fixtures (weekends of)
Round 1 12-14 Oct.
Plymouth v Munster
Round 2 19-21 Oct.
Munster v Aberavon
Round 3 7-9 Dec.
Rotherham v Munster
Round 4 14-16 Dec.
Munster v Rotherham
Round 5 11-13 Jan. 2013
Aberavon v Munster
Round 6 19th Jan. 2013
Munster v Plymouth

http://www.munsterrugby.ie/news/10610.php

phog

thomond2006 wrote: »

Pool 7: Aberavon, Munster, Plymouth, Rotherham

Munster’s B&I Cup Fixtures (weekends of)
Round 1 12-14 Oct.
Plymouth v Munster
Round 2 19-21 Oct.
Munster v Aberavon
Round 3 7-9 Dec.
Rotherham v Munster
Round 4 14-16 Dec.
Munster v Rotherham
Round 5 11-13 Jan. 2013
Aberavon v Munster
Round 6 19th Jan. 2013
Munster v Plymouth

http://www.munsterrugby.ie/news/10610.php

see post #357

These are the same week-ends as the H/Cup weekends.

totallegend

phog wrote: »

These are the same week-ends as the H/Cup weekends.

Makes sense to do it that way; the full squad will be available to provinces so fringe guys won't be required for the first team, hence available for B&I Cup.

Amazotheamazing

Penney taking his first sessions today, seriously excited about the coming season.

thomond2006

Quint2010

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

Penney taking his first sessions today, seriously excited about the coming season.

Hopefully he will improve them but don't forget Schmidt's first few matches with Leinster were very ordinary so if it doesn't start well don't be panicking!

Amazotheamazing

Quint2010 wrote: »

Hopefully he will improve them but don't forget Schmidt's first few matches with Leinster were very ordinary so if it doesn't start well don't be panicking!

Ah, I'll refrain from any judging until next May, barring player revolt. We've lost a lot of experience and have a mountain to climb regardless.

totallegend

Quint2010 wrote: »

Hopefully he will improve them but don't forget Schmidt's first few matches with Leinster were very ordinary so if it doesn't start well don't be panicking!

I really hope Penney gets as much leeway in his first season as possible.

The comparison with Schmidt is valid enough, but don't forget Schmidt took over a team that had just got to the semis of the HC, finished top of the Magners table and was very settled (Schmidt didn't have to integrate any new players).

Penney has to take over a team who have come off the back of a disappointing HC, a pretty humiliating exit from the league playoffs and he then has to figure out how he's going to work Downey, Laulala and Stander into the team, manage the continuing transition from older guys like ROG, Howlett and DOC etc etc.

It's a fairly massive task and I just hope people aren't baying for blood if he doesn't get it right straight away.

theKramer

thomond2006 wrote: »

They definitely wont win any beauty contests
Hope they can win where it counts :-) Looking forward to seeing how we play next season. I will be so happy to (hopefully) see the end of the side to side BS we saw the last cpl of years...

Ballyv24

thomond2006 wrote: »

Any idea when this was taken.. Must be photoshopped, because I work in Castletroy and the sun has not been seen in weeks.

Amazotheamazing

totallegend wrote: »

I really hope Penney gets as much leeway in his first season as possible.

The comparison with Schmidt is valid enough, but don't forget Schmidt took over a team that had just got to the semis of the HC, finished top of the Magners table and was very settled (Schmidt didn't have to integrate any new players).

Penney has to take over a team who have come off the back of a disappointing HC, a pretty humiliating exit from the league playoffs and he then has to figure out how he's going to work Downey, Laulala and Stander into the team, manage the continuing transition from older guys like ROG, Howlett and DOC etc etc.

It's a fairly massive task and I just hope people aren't baying for blood if he doesn't get it right straight away.

I think people will be reasonably patient but will want a real return to aggression rugby if nothing else. We were reasonably consistent under McGahan but never really raised our game for big games, barring the NZ and Oz games, I think most people would take some inconsistency if we performed better in big games.

CatFromHue

totallegend wrote: »

The comparison with Schmidt is valid enough, but don't forget Schmidt took over a team that had just got to the semis of the HC, finished top of the Magners table and was very settled (Schmidt didn't have to integrate any new players).

He did but for what ever reason everyone seemed to forget that not only did Cheika leave at the end of the previous season but so did the team manager and the defence coach. Mal O Kelly, Jackman, Dempsey, Simon Keogh, and Ronan McCormack (I think) also left and then John Fogarty had to retire at the start of Schmidts first season. Shaun Berne and Cullen were out injured too.

I thought it was mad that he was getting as much criticism as alot of the guys who were out injured or had left would have been playing those games at the start of the season while the internationals were away.

phog

The Echo is saying that the two new coaches will base themselves in Cork and CJ Stander has tweeted that he is looking for a place in Limerick.

Cpt_Blackbeard

phog wrote: »

The Echo is saying that the two new coaches will base themselves in Cork and CJ Stander has tweeted that he is looking for a place in Limerick.

Its very odd. There is loads of talk about moving to a single base, but it looks like everything is being equally spread out between Cork and Limerick.

jm08

Cpt_Blackbeard wrote: »

Its very odd. There is loads of talk about moving to a single base, but it looks like everything is being equally spread out between Cork and Limerick.

Axel running the (forward) show in Limerick and Penney/Mannix in Cork with the backs/kiwis. BJ & Wian are in Limerick, so maybe they thought it better to put CJ in Limerick. Easy enough to move him later as he doesn't have kids in schools etc (thats if he says longer than 2 years)!

the_blackstuff

They really need to nail this training base down. A professional setup like munster can't really operate like this. Its going to cause a lot of hassle tho without a better road network between limerick and cork. Its not really ideal going through some of the sessions they do and then sit on your back side driving between either city. There is so much talk now about certain type of car seats adding to lower back and hamstring problems its not ideal.

geotrig

totallegend wrote: »

I really hope Penney gets as much leeway in his first season as possible.

The comparison with Schmidt is valid enough, but don't forget Schmidt took over a team that had just got to the semis of the HC, finished top of the Magners table and was very settled (Schmidt didn't have to integrate any new players).

Penney has to take over a team who have come off the back of a disappointing HC, a pretty humiliating exit from the league playoffs and he then has to figure out how he's going to work Downey, Laulala and Stander into the team, manage the continuing transition from older guys like ROG, Howlett and DOC etc etc.

It's a fairly massive task and I just hope people aren't baying for blood if he doesn't get it right straight away.

hope he gets as much leeway as possible as well, remember he is coming in as the new guy into a setup having never worked with any of these guys before ,Schmidt was already part of the leinster setup before being promoteds,so i would expect it to take a small bit longer to get all the gears going for munster

theKramer

geotrig wrote: »

hope he gets as much leeway as possible as well, remember he is coming in as the new guy into a setup having never worked with any of these guys before ,Schmidt was already part of the leinster setup before being promoted,so i would expect it to take a small bit longer to get all the gears going for munster

No Schmidt came directly from Clermont Auvergne. He was never in the Leinster setup before he took over as head coach.
I think Penney will get more leeway, as everyone can see Munster are not in great shape, whereas Leinster had just won a Heineken Cup.....

.ak

geotrig wrote: »

hope he gets as much leeway as possible as well, remember he is coming in as the new guy into a setup having never worked with any of these guys before ,Schmidt was already part of the leinster setup before being promoteds,so i would expect it to take a small bit longer to get all the gears going for munster

Schmidt came to Leinster directly from Clermont and started at Head Coach. He wasn't promoted.

But the comparisons stop there really. I hope Penney reinvigorates the squad, but he won't have it as easy as Schmidt as totallegend has pointed out.

theKramer

the_blackstuff wrote: »

They really need to nail this training base down. A professional setup like munster can't really operate like this. Its going to cause a lot of hassle tho without a better road network between limerick and cork. Its not really ideal going through some of the sessions they do and then sit on your back side driving between either city. There is so much talk now about certain type of car seats adding to lower back and hamstring problems its not ideal.

Doesnt look like its going to happen right away. This article in the Examiner says that we are at least 2 yrs away from one base, but the decision on which location to use will be made sometime in August.

geotrig

theKramer wrote: »

No Schmidt came directly from Clermont Auvergne. He was never in the Leinster setup before he took over as head coach.
I think Penney will get more leeway, as everyone can see Munster are not in great shape, whereas Leinster had just won a Heineken Cup.....

my bad, i thought he was, brain is getting old these days

theKramer

If we see a discernible gameplan from the start, with decent back play, I think a lot of ppl will be happy

totallegend

Cpt_Blackbeard wrote: »

Its very odd. There is loads of talk about moving to a single base, but it looks like everything is being equally spread out between Cork and Limerick.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/rugby/munster-get-three-home-base-varsity-offers-201161.html

CatFromHue

Interesting that LIT have gotten involved. For those that don't know it's situated right beside Thomond Park.

ormond lad

totallegend wrote: »

http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/rugby/munster-get-three-home-base-varsity-offers-201161.html

Definately a 2 horse race.
LIT is nowhere near CIT/UL and i dont see eactly where they would put the facility that would be built. LIT only has 1 rugby pitch(unless they use the back pitch in thomond as well) and unlike the other 2 doesnt have a gym thats any good and doesnt have a running track.

Aidric

totallegend wrote: »

http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/rugby/munster-get-three-home-base-varsity-offers-201161.html

Don't see the need for wasting money on an independent consultants report. UL is head and shoulders above the other two. It's a no brainer.

ormond lad

Aidric wrote: »

Don't see the need for wasting money on an independent consultants report. UL is head and shoulders above the other two. It's a no brainer.

Facilities in CIT are prob as good as UL and decision is certainly is not a no brainer

Cpt_Blackbeard

Its great to see that the decision is being taken seriously. As long as politics are not involved we can be hopeful that the right decision is made - Limerick or Cork it doesn't matter. UL has an advantage due to superior facilities at present, but if CIT will pay for a state-of-the-art complex out of its own pocket then it has a great chance of getting the training centre.

Hagz

Loads of photos from pre-season training
http://www.inpho.ie/app/WebObjects/INPHO-Shop.woa/wo/3.0.27.23