Edinburgh vs Munster, Sat 3 May 5pm; TG4/BBCALBA

thomond2006

15 Jack Cuthbert

14 Tom Brown
13 Matt Scott
12 Andries Strauss
11 Tim Visser

10 Carl Bezuidenhout
9 Greig Laidlaw CAPTAIN

1 Alasdair Dickinson
2 Ross Ford
3 Willem Nel
4 Grant Gilchrist
5 David Denton
6 Mike Coman
7 Tomas Leonardi
8 Cornell Du Preez

Substitutes
16 James Hilterbrand
17 Wicus Blauuw
18 Simon Berghan
19 Ben Toolis
20 Dimitri Basilaia
21 Grayson Hart
22 Piers Francis
23 Sam Beard

Munster:
Simon Zebo, Gerhard VD Heever, Johne Murphy, Denis Hurley, Andrew Conway, JJ Hanrahan, Conor Murray,
James Cronin, Duncan Casey, John Ryan, Donncha O'Callaghan, Paul O'Connell Capt., CJ Stander, Tommy O'Donnell, Paddy Butler.

Replacements: Damien Varley, Dave Kilcoyne, Alan Cotter, Dave Foley, James Coughlan, Duncan Williams, Ian Keatley, Luke O'Dea.

11 changes, I didn't expect that many! Great back three but that centre partnership is makeshift to say the least.

Great to see Luke O'Dea back involved after a string of injuries.

awec

Zebo to 15 - has he many starts there?

CIARAN_BOYLE

awec wrote: »

Zebo to 15 - has he many starts there?

I think this will be his fourth Munster start at 15 not to mention a long and illustrious international career as a full back :rolleyes:

former legend

Not a bad Embra team for this either.

15 Jack Cuthbert
14 Tom Brown
13 Matt Scott
12 Andries Strauss
11 Tim Visser
10 Carl Bezuidenhout
9 Greig Laidlaw CAPTAIN
1 Alasdair Dickinson
2 Ross Ford
3 Willem Nel
4 Grant Gilchrist
5 David Denton
6 Mike Coman
7 Tomas Leonardi
8 Cornell Du Preez
Substitutes
16 James Hilterbrand
17 Wicus Blauuw
18 Simon Berghan
19 Ben Toolis
20 Dimitri Basilaia
21 Grayson Hart
22 Piers Francis
23 Sam Beard

CatFromHue

Edinburgh have been stuttering a bit recently but they still have the ability to beat Munster if Munster don't perform.

10/11 Edin 13 - 16 Muns
11/12 Edin 29 -14 Muns
12/13 Edin 18 - 23 Muns

So there's been some close games in Scotland recently even though in general Edinburgh haven't been great.

They've had some good results at home too in beating Dragons, Treviso, Connacht, Leinster, Ospreys, and only had narrow losses to Ulster, Cardiff, and Glasgow. Only Lanelli you could say have beaten them well, on the scoreboard anyway, up there.

David Denton at second row for Edinburgh!!

razorblunt

Denton at second row, Scott back and Visser keen to make to an impact. Should be a decent game.

Mahatma Geansai

Very exciting Munster team outside of the Centre pairing; the backline consists of 5 wingers. The team is very young outside of the second row and centres too. It appears that we may be looking at Zebo as a 15 for next season and its great to see LOD back involved too.

I had thought that we'd be playing a stronger team to try and really attack the Pro12 as our season in Europe is over, but that is largely a second choice team.

phog

Too many wingers on the Munster team for my liking and while I'm delighted to see Luke back, he's another winger on the sub bench.

I wouldn't be too concerned if Earls was there but he's not named on the match day squad.

thomond2006

phog wrote: »

Too many wingers on the Munster team for my liking and while I'm delighted to see Luke back, he's another winger on the sub bench.

I wouldn't be too concerned if Earls was there but he's not named on the match day squad.

It's not as if Laulala has been overworked either, nor Earls. Dineen has fallen off the radar completely too, he hasn't played since Ulster away in January. Pretty bizarre selection.

Grimebox

Mahatma Geansai wrote: »

Very exciting Munster team outside of the Centre pairing; the backline consists of 5 wingers. The team is very young outside of the second row and centres too. It appears that we may be looking at Zebo as a 15 for next season and its great to see LOD back involved too.

I had thought that we'd be playing a stronger team to try and really attack the Pro12 as our season in Europe is over, but that is largely a second choice team.

Is Jones moving on?

thomond2006

Grimebox wrote: »

Is Jones moving on?

He's under contract until 2015.

Molester Stallone

Grimebox wrote: »

Is Jones moving on?

Blasphemy!

kub

What are Munster playing for this evening? Just that I was watching last night's game and all the commentators mentioned that the final will be between Leinster and Ulster?

So are we only playing for 3rd or 4th position now?

Fireball07

kub wrote: »

What are Munster playing for this evening? Just that I was watching last night's game and all the commentators mentioned that the final will be between Leinster and Ulster?

So are we only playing for 3rd or 4th position now?

Semi-final?


We're going to be playing Glasgow away in the other semi-final, most likely. If Glasgow somehow lost, and we won our two, we'd be playing them at home, but that's very unlikely.

A win tonight secures 3rd spot, and means we won't be playing Leinster in the semi-final.

CatFromHue

If Edinburgh were to win tonight then the Munster Ulster game next week would be to decide who's 3rd and who's 4th

phog

kub wrote: »

What are Munster playing for this evening? Just that I was watching last night's game and all the commentators mentioned that the final will be between Leinster and Ulster?

So are we only playing for 3rd or 4th position now?

I'd say they were predicting the s/final pairings, Leinster v Ulster, Glasgow v Munster.

If Munster get 10 points from their remaining two games and Glasgow fail to get a minimum of a losing BP then we'd get a home S/final. It would be a shock to see Glasgow lose to Zebre and not get a losing BP but Munster should try and get the 10 points anyway. Easier said than done but nothing is impossible.

Anatidaephobia

Fast paced start. Camera angle is a bit odd.

thomond2006

Ah Murphy

Anatidaephobia

Murphy seems to make a lot more silly mistakes when he's at 13. That was a basic pass you'd expect anyone to catch.

umop.episdn

A bit scrappy as yet, but I'm surprised at the lack of atmosphere.....and try to embra

Anatidaephobia

Try Embra. Cuthbert went straight between the centres. I expect we'll see more of that tonight.

umop.episdn

Think the embra No8 just had his nose broken by O'Connell as he slipped off the tackle

Tox56

Nice to see a bit of pace there from Conway

thomond2006

Nice try, marginal pass from TOD in the buildup!

Anatidaephobia

Conway try after a nice play of passing. Good passes from ToD and Stander.

Grimebox

How small is that try area

molloyjh

Created by Murphy, nice little fade that drew the man.

umop.episdn

Nice delayed pass by Stander too, great speed by Conway, but rubbish defending

Anatidaephobia

Monster clearance from Murray.

.ak

Lovely try by Conway. Read the play well and absolutely skinned the 10 on the inside.

sydthebeat

Is it only my tv or does that ref have navy hair?

former legend

Looks ok. ..

.ak

How they didn't score a try in the ruck before that I'll never know. As good as refusing to take a shot on an open goal.

umop.episdn

Couldnt disallow that try

Anatidaephobia

12-10 Edinburgh.

P_1

Stadium looks a lot better than Murrayfield in an Edinburgh Rabbo match context

thomond2006

Stander has been everywhere so far.

Anatidaephobia

That was some nice play. Probably should have scored a try.

thomond2006

That's two penalties given away by Cronin.

umop.episdn

Not a pretty game, Murphy isn't a first cousin to an outside centre & Zebo is wasted at fullback

thomond2006

What happened to Casey?

sydthebeat

thomond2006 wrote: »

That's two penalties given away by Cronin.

Unforgivable at this level not to get back on side after that phase.

thomond2006

Headless from Laidlaw!

Discipline is very poor from Munster.

.ak

umop.episdn wrote: »

Not a pretty game, Murphy isn't a first cousin to an outside centre & Zebo is wasted at fullback

Why do you say that? Murphy is having a great game, doing exactly what you want an outside centre to do; creating space and distributing well.

molloyjh

Can't believe Edinburgh turned that over. Up to then their defense was truly awful. How many tackles did they miss?

Anatidaephobia

That was poor from whoever lost that ball. They just handed it away.

.ak

Anatidaephobia wrote: »

That was poor from whoever lost that ball. They just handed it away.

Yeah but they almost scored a try too. Infact, I wouldn't be surprised if that touched the white wash. You live and die by the sword etc

Tox56

.ak wrote: »

Why do you say that? Murphy is having a great game, doing exactly what you want an outside centre to do; creating space and distributing well.

?! He dropped a standard pass under no pressure and missed the tackle that led to their first try. He drew the man nicely for Conway's try but he's far better on the wing

thomond2006

Good try after a lot of possession!

What a first 40 from Stander. 2 try assists and has been a lot of good carries.

Anatidaephobia

Good pass from Stander!

umop.episdn

.ak wrote: »

Why do you say that? Murphy is having a great game, doing exactly what you want an outside centre to do; creating space and distributing well.

His defensive game at centre isn't up to scratch at all, his handling seems off a little and....as I say it....he has a major part in that try.....as you were....nothing to see here!