Munster vs Edinburgh, Fri 5th Sept 7:35pm; TG4/BBCALBA

thomond2006

Teams will probably be announced today.

Munster:
Ronan O'Mahony; Andrew Conway, Johne Murphy, Andrew Smith, Simon Zebo; Ian Keatley, Duncan Williams;
John Ryan, Kevin O'Byrne, BJ Botha; Donncha O'Callaghan Capt., Billy Holland, CJ Stander, Sean Dougall, Shane Buckley.

Replacements: Duncan Casey, Alan Cotter, Stephen Archer, Dave Foley, Tommy O'Donnell, Cathal Sheridan, Johnny Holland, Ivan Dineen.

Points of note:

- Killer and Cronin not used but we knew that early in the week.
- Duncan Casey not fit to start or is he simply being managed for the bigger fish to come?
- No Donnacha Ryan, he badly needs matches.
- Copeland presumably not risked after his knock last week but it's very interesting to see Shane Buckley thrown in with TOD on the bench. I would have thought TOD at 6 with Stander at 8 would make sense but obviously Buckley has impressed the management.
- Williams ahead of Sheridan which some people called after last week.
- Murphy at 13 after he was pretty awful there at times last year. He is never going to be at 13 in a big match so why put him there now. Dineen should be there instead and Murphy either used in the back three or benched. Also if Smith is thought to put first choice 13 then surely he should be playing there.
- ROM at 15, would rather put Zebo as he is potentially our best 15 in the squad when we have plenty of good wingers.

Edinburgh Rugby team v Munster, Friday 5 September, Thomond Park, Limerick, kick-off 7.35pm

15 Jack Cuthbert

14 Dougie Fife
13 Sam Beard
12 Andries Strauss
11 Tim Visser

10 Greig Tonks
9 Sean Kennedy

1 Alasdair Dickinson
2 Ross Ford (Captain)
3 John Andress
4 Fraser McKenzie
5 Ollie Atkins
6 Tomas Leonardi
7 Hamish Watson
8 Cornell Du Preez

Substitutes

16 James Hilterbrand
17 Rory Sutherland
18 W P Nel
19 Ben Toolis
20 Mike Coman
21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne
22 Nick McLennan
23 Phil Burleigh

Andress at TH eh, that will be interesting. The only player I recognise on their bench is Nel, I'm guessing most of the rest of them are plastic Scots?

.ak

ssaye2

Edinburgh: 15 Jack Cuthbert, 14 Dougie Fife, 13 Sam Beard, 12 Andries Strauss, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Greig Tonks, 9 Sean Kennedy, 8 Cornell Du Preez, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Tomas Leonardi, 5 Ollie Atkins, 4 Fraser McKenzie, 3 John Andress, 2 Ross Ford (capt), 1 Alasdair Dickinson.
Replacements: 16 James Hilterbrand, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 WP Nel, 19 Ben Toolis, 20 Mike Coman, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Nick McLennan, 23 Phil Burleigh.

Date: Friday, September 5
Kick-off: 19:35 BST
Venue: Thomond Park
Referee: Leighton Hodges (Wales)
Assistant referees: Nigel Correll (Ireland), John Carvill (Ireland)
Television match official: Jude Quinn (Ireland)

http://www.pro12rugby.com/news/15450.php#.VAg5NqOTKVE

ssaye2

http://www.munsterrugby.ie/news/18977/

Munster: Ronan O'Mahony; Andrew Conway, Johne Murphy, Andrew Smith, Simon Zebo; Ian Keatley, Duncan Williams; John Ryan, Kevin O'Byrne, BJ Botha; Donncha O'Callaghan Capt., Billy Holland, CJ Stander, Sean Dougall, Shane Buckley. Replacements: Duncan Casey, Alan Cotter, Stephen Archer, Dave Foley, Tommy O'Donnell, Cathal Sheridan, Johnny Holland, Ivan Dineen.

budhabob

ssaye2 wrote: »

http://www.munsterrugby.ie/news/18977/

Munster: Ronan O'Mahony; Andrew Conway, Johne Murphy, Andrew Smith, Simon Zebo; Ian Keatley, Duncan Williams; John Ryan, Kevin O'Byrne, BJ Botha; Donncha O'Callaghan Capt., Billy Holland, CJ Stander, Sean Dougall, Shane Buckley. Replacements: Duncan Casey, Alan Cotter, Stephen Archer, Dave Foley, Tommy O'Donnell, Cathal Sheridan, Johnny Holland, Ivan Dineen.

Has ROM played much at full back? Havent seen anything of O'Byrne, also I was of the opinion that Buckley was more of a 6.

thomond2006

budhabob wrote: »

Has ROM played much at full back? Havent seen anything of O'Byrne, also I was of the opinion that Buckley was more of a 6.

ROM played at 15 for most of the B&I Cup last year, so there's a continuity to his selection there.

Buckley is more of a 6 I believe but Stander is first choice 6 with POM gone and Copeland will likely take Buckley's spot when he's back fit.

budhabob

thomond2006 wrote: »

ROM played at 15 for most of the B&I Cup last year, so there's a continuity to his selection there.

Buckley is more of a 6 I believe but Stander is first choice 6 with POM gone and Copeland will likely take Buckley's spot when he's back fit.

Buckley has done well by all accounts in the preseason, and the 7s. I liked what I saw in the u20 matches a couple of years ago, big physical unit - prone to be hot headed.

irishbucsfan

budhabob wrote: »

Buckley has done well by all accounts in the preseason, and the 7s. I liked what I saw in the u20 matches a couple of years ago, big physical unit - prone to be hot headed.

He's great for 70 minutes a game!

(I kid, I haven't forgiven him for those England matches, but he's a good young player)

thomond2006

irishbucsfan wrote: »

He's great for 70 minutes a game!

(I kid, I haven't forgiven him for those England matches, but he's a good young player)

Please remind me, what did he do?

matthew8

I think it was something like a yellow card and a penalty try while leading them 16-8 in the JWC that changed the game.

Tox56

matthew8 wrote: »

I think it was something like a yellow card and a penalty try while leading them 16-8 in the JWC that changed the game.

The same thing happened two years in a row I think

Fireball07

Didn't see the match thread, when posting about this but yeah, interesting enough team. And most interesting will be to see Foley's style.

Who is O'Byrne?
Why is Murphy at 13 rather than Smith? Especially when you've got Dineen on the bench, it just doesn't make sense.
Good to see Buckley getting a start, although I didn't think 8 was his preferred position. Slightly surprised that Stander isn't at 8 with Buckley at 6.

Not a very strong team at all though, you're looking at between 2 and 4 players 1st choice players in the positions they'll be in later in the season (Zebo, Keatley, Stander, Botha- that's leaving the possibility of Keatley/Stander being moved/dropped)

And it's a decent enough Edinburgh team, plenty of experience there. We'll be up against it for sure.

Cookiemunster

Fireball07 wrote: »

Didn't see the match thread, when posting about this but yeah, interesting enough team. And most interesting will be to see Foley's style.

Who is O'Byrne?
Why is Murphy at 13 rather than Smith? Especially when you've got Dineen on the bench, it just doesn't make sense.
Good to see Buckley getting a start, although I didn't think 8 was his preferred position. Slightly surprised that Stander isn't at 8 with Buckley at 6.

Not a very strong team at all though, you're looking at between 2 and 4 players 1st choice players in the positions they'll be in later in the season (Zebo, Keatley, Stander, Botha- that's leaving the possibility of Keatley/Stander being moved/dropped)

And it's a decent enough Edinburgh team, plenty of experience there. We'll be up against it for sure.

It's about as strong as expected though with players being held back due to the IRFU protocols.

The Lost Sheep

Fireball07 wrote: »

Didn't see the match thread, when posting about this but yeah, interesting enough team. And most interesting will be to see Foley's style.

Who is O'Byrne?
Why is Murphy at 13 rather than Smith? Especially when you've got Dineen on the bench, it just doesn't make sense.
Good to see Buckley getting a start, although I didn't think 8 was his preferred position. Slightly surprised that Stander isn't at 8 with Buckley at 6.

Not a very strong team at all though, you're looking at between 2 and 4 players 1st choice players in the positions they'll be in later in the season (Zebo, Keatley, Stander, Botha- that's leaving the possibility of Keatley/Stander being moved/dropped)

And it's a decent enough Edinburgh team, plenty of experience there. We'll be up against it for sure.

O Byrne is formerly Highfield. was with Bohs last season or two. Always had Buckley as 8 IMO but was always moved to 6 for better players once he started playing above age grade.

Fireball07

Cookiemunster wrote: »

It's about as strong as expected though with players being held back due to the IRFU protocols.

Yeah, I guess so.


Where are Hurley, Jones & Butler though? They could have been useful additions, certainly would have preferred Murphy at 15/14, with Hurley/Dineen at 12 and Smith at 13.

CatFromHue

Alot more of the Edinburgh team will be playing their second or third game of the season tonight while alot of the key guys for Munster will only be making their first.

Edinburgh have went well in pre season whereas Munster's been disjointed, as it is for all the provinces, and that's a pretty weak/inexperienced front row for Munster so I can see an upset here.

Buer

I can see it being a standard early season game with a lot of rust, errors and a lack of accuracy.

Munster to close it out in unspectacular fashion 21-12.

kingtiger

is there a dual language option on BBC Alba?

former legend

Why is Casey on the bench?

Big Nelly

I guess BBC Alba is not available on UPC?

Cookiemunster

kingtiger wrote: »

is there a dual language option on BBC Alba?

There is supposed to be a red button English option on BBC Alba this year, but you have to be in the UK to get this option.

Big Nelly wrote: »

I guess BBC Alba is not available on UPC?

In Ireland it has to be tuned in through other channels on a Sky / satellite box, so isn't available on UPC.

kingtiger

Cookiemunster wrote: »

There is supposed to be a red button English option on BBC Alba this year, but you have to be in the UK to get this option.

Fantastic thanks

I should be able to get the dual language with my Sat box

found this

http://www.mnetv.tv/newsroom/newsStory.aspx?id=1394

Akrasia

I dunno about the newer sky boxes, but the old ones automatically defaulted to the English EPG and if you take out the sky card and you should be able to pick up BBC Alba on free to air.

I'm not confident about this game. Munster have started very slow the last few seasons and we've another new coach this year with presumably a whole new defensive and offensive system to get to grips with

thomond2006

former legend wrote: »

Why is Casey on the bench?

He's only played a bit part in pre-season.

stunmer

Can anyone recommend a decent pub on the Dublin - Belfast road to watch it?

Will be driving up and would love to be able to call in to grab a bite to eat and watch the match somewhere.

phog

stunmer wrote: »

Can anyone recommend a decent pub on the Dublin - Belfast road to watch it?

Will be driving up and would love to be able to call in to grab a bite to eat and watch the match somewhere.

The Dublin branch of MRSC go to Break for the Border if it's not too far out of the way for you.

thomond2006

Looking at ticketmaster it looks like the stands will be 3/4 full. The question is how many season ticket holders turn up. The tickets are cheaper than last season so hopefully there will be some walk ins.

Fireball07

thomond2006 wrote: »

Looking at ticketmaster it looks like the stands will be 3/4 full. The question is how many season ticket holders turn up. The tickets are cheaper than last season so hopefully there will be some walk ins.

I own a season ticket for the first time ever... but it's not looking like I will not be able to go

Which seems like an awful waste. Hopefully there will be a decent crowd all the same. Lots of disruptions traffic-wise around the city with the whole Granny thing.

former legend

Fireball07 wrote: »

I own a season ticket for the first time ever... but it's not looking like I will not be able to go

Which seems like an awful waste. Hopefully there will be a decent crowd all the same. Lots of disruptions traffic-wise around the city with the whole Granny thing.

Is that some sort of bizarre Limerick euphemism?

Fireball07

former legend wrote: »

Is that some sort of bizarre Limerick euphemism?

http://www.rte.ie/news/2014/0905/641657-granny-limerick/

former legend

Fireball07 wrote: »

http://www.rte.ie/news/2014/0905/641657-granny-limerick/

Well that just raises even more questions. WTF is that about like? Absolutely mental.

Fireball07

former legend wrote: »

Well that just raises even more questions. WTF is that about like? Absolutely mental.

I don't really know tbh. Apparently it was in Liverpool, and was a huge success... it does a tour of loads of different cities afaik and since we're the City of Culture, someone organised it. One of my friends was involved in getting it here, but I haven't got the full lowdown on what it's all about....


Apparently it was the reason for this yesterday (which got a lot of attention around the world):

Fireball07

Fireball07 wrote: »

http://www.rte.ie/news/2014/0905/641657-granny-limerick/

I checked this about 9 times to make sure it wasn't a link to waterfordwhispers.

Utterly mental!

phog

Fireball07 wrote: »

I own a season ticket for the first time ever... but it's not looking like I will not be able to go

Which seems like an awful waste. Hopefully there will be a decent crowd all the same. Lots of disruptions traffic-wise around the city with the whole Granny thing.

I'd be hopeful that some of those that came into the city would head out to Thomond Park after the evening parade.

I doubt many will bother travelling just for the game with so many of the streets closed

shebzie

I have BBC alba on my new sky hd box could I change the language there anyway

thomond2006

At the top of the stand. Small crowd.

thomond2006

They've replaced Cara COME ON O'Sullivan. This season is already great!

ssaye2

Munster Scrum destroyed against the head

Anatidaephobia

Ryan got destroyed there.

Swan Curry

That looked painful,I'm glad Ryan made it out of that.

ssaye2

Conway tries to bounce someone and stripped of the ball

ssaye2

Butchered chance by Edinburgh in 22

errlloyd

Edinburgh with some delish play, should have finished.

Anatidaephobia

Very fast paced game so far. Defence of both teams making mistakes.

CatFromHue

New refs jersey :cool:

ssaye2

6 nil edin

Swiwi.

Oh I see phil burleigh on the Edinburgh bench. He's a handy enough player

Quiet empty stadium suiting Edinburgh better so far, they're more used to it!

Should be hanged for throwing a forward pass there!

Molester Stallone II

Looked like 2 forward passes there

ssaye2

Forward pass from turnover could have been Edin try