Mumha Ulaidh Match Thread (Munster-Ulster for non-Gaels)

Pink Fairy

Fireball07 wrote: »

Enjoyable game last night, even if it was at a ridiculous time.


Good to get a BP win, but it was tense stuff at times. The wind was absolutely ridiculous, goalkicking into it was pretty much a write-off.


Stander was superb, our best player imo. Cronin had a fine game, Chisholm was very effective, TOL looked very good bar one poor box kick. Keatley was pretty good, as were Zebo and Saili, although Saili missed two crucial tackles.

Ulster play some nice rugby, lovely offloading; Jackson pulling the strings at 10, he had a great game. McCloskey was class too though, he made ground every time. Impossible to put Gilroy down, he's so elusive, caused us major problems. Callum Black came on and was popping some lovely passes to create overlaps.


I think we just about deserved the win. I would have been furious if we had lost because of kicking it out too early. The stadium clock was obviously wrong because it had definitely hit 80 before he kicked it. That's pretty inexcusable I would say.

One of those tackles would be the Gilroy one that led to a try?
I only saw the incident once, but Saili was going high, had Gilroy by the neck and seemed to let go, looked as of he did so deliberately so as not to give away a pen. I'd like to see the incident again though

Fireball07

Pink Fairy wrote: »

One of those tackles would be the Gilroy one that led to a try?
I only saw the incident once, but Saili was going high, had Gilroy by the neck and seemed to let go, looked as of he did so deliberately so as not to give away a pen. I'd like to see the incident again though

That may be true, but he should never have been going high in the first place. Gilroy had been slipping through tackles all evening. He was his man and he missed a tackle which led to a try; responsibility is on him.


He does look electric in attack though, he has a great step, a lovely pass and his burst of acceleration is ridiculous.


Although Gerhard's pace is just unbelievable, he absolutely skinned Trimble on the outside. His all-round game is still a bit lacking though, not sure if he'd get ahead of Conway. Does anyone know what the story with ROM is? He was probably better than both last season.

shootermacg

Fireball07 wrote: »

Although Gerhard's pace is just unbelievable, he absolutely skinned Trimble on the outside. His all-round game is still a bit lacking though, not sure if he'd get ahead of Conway.

I think VDH has the potential to be the best winger Munster has, to be honest, good basics, amazing feet, possibly the fastest in the squad. I think he's still finding his feet confidence-wise. I'd rate him higher than Zebo, although Zeebs has the confidence to roam about.

Fireball07

shootermacg wrote: »

I think VDH has the potential to be the best winger Munster has, to be honest, good basics, amazing feet, possibly the fastest in the squad. I think he's still finding his feet confidence-wise. I'd rate him higher than Zebo, although Zeebs has the confidence to roam about.

I don't know if his basics are that good tbh. He's a poor kicker, and sometimes his handling lets him down. Defensively, there are still 1 or 2 question marks too, particularly positioning.

When he gets the ball in hand, he's class tbf.


Zebo is a far better player atm though, he's got a beautiful pass and stood in at first receiver a few times again yesterday. Also strong in the air and has a cannon of a left boot. Tackling has improved a lot recently too, and he has so much confidence in himself, which is a good thing.

phog

Fireball07 wrote: »

Enjoyable game last night, even if it was at a ridiculous time.


Good to get a BP win, but it was tense stuff at times. The wind was absolutely ridiculous, goalkicking into it was pretty much a write-off.


Stander was superb, our best player imo. Cronin had a fine game, Chisholm was very effective, TOL looked very good bar one poor box kick. Keatley was pretty good, as were Zebo and Saili, although Saili missed two crucial tackles.

Ulster play some nice rugby, lovely offloading; Jackson pulling the strings at 10, he had a great game. McCloskey was class too though, he made ground every time. Impossible to put Gilroy down, he's so elusive, caused us major problems. Callum Black came on and was popping some lovely passes to create overlaps.


I think we just about deserved the win. I would have been furious if we had lost because of kicking it out too early. The stadium clock was obviously wrong because it had definitely hit 80 before he kicked it. That's pretty inexcusable I would say.

Saili jumps out of the defensive line too much for my liking, a bit like BOD used to do. He and Zebo seemed to have a great spark between them, after a few games together I'd hope to see a bit more cohesion in attack.

In the lead up to TOL kicking the ball out in the full, Saili was pulled back from running support to CJ, it should have been a penalty to Munster. That might have made the last few minutes less of the heart attack stuff.

CatFromHue

Fireball07 wrote: »

I think we just about deserved the win. I would have been furious if we had lost because of kicking it out too early. The stadium clock was obviously wrong because it had definitely hit 80 before he kicked it. That's pretty inexcusable I would say.

It was pretty close on the clock on TV, I wasn't sure if they'd blow it up or not as it looks like it crosses the line at at 79:58. I was also surprised that they didn't go for another pick and go just before the kick too tho.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sfb0OskqcQ

phog

CatFromHue wrote: »

It was pretty close on the clock on TV, I wasn't sure if they'd blow it up or not as it looks like it crosses the line at at 79:58. I was also surprised that they didn't go for another pick and go just before the kick too tho.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sfb0OskqcQ

The problem with another pick and go is we were dangerously close to giving them a 5m scrum for carrying the ball back over the try line and touching it down or it becoming unplayable.

Kick was about the right option especially if they thought the stadium clock was correct.

phog

Match stats from ESPN

On a side note, I hate their new format.

CatFromHue

It's become terrible, I very rarely look at it anymore.

phog

Ivan O'Riordan has put some photos from the game on his Facebook account

CatFromHue

Zzippy

CatFromHue wrote: »

That's the old "My wife thinks I'm on a work trip, weyhey!" face...

Utah_Saint

why was the attendance soo poor for this game? Are Munster games generally this poorly attended?

apologies if this has been covered already but can't be @ssed going back through all the posts :P

sioda

Rubbish kick off time tbh last year same fixtures was packed

Utah_Saint

sioda wrote: »

Rubbish kick off time tbh last year same fixtures was packed

it was a strange time to kick off...

surprised the teams agreed to it especially if it had potential to be a 15k+ game. Means less money for Munster at the gates..!

accidentprone1

Highlights:

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Utah_Saint wrote: »

it was a strange time to kick off...

surprised the teams agreed to it especially if it had potential to be a 15k+ game. Means less money for Munster at the gates..!

I assume it was arranged so as not to clash with the Word Cup match that was on at 8.

Zzippy

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

I assume it was arranged so as not to clash with the Word Cup match that was on at 8.

And dictated by tv

phog

Utah_Saint wrote: »

it was a strange time to kick off...

surprised the teams agreed to it especially if it had potential to be a 15k+ game. Means less money for Munster at the gates..!

Do they have much say?

When it was being scheduled there was a strong possibility that Ireland could be playing in the 3rd/4th playoff game.

During this world cup there were 5 Pro12 games on Friday evenings with 6 o'clock kick offs, Munster at home got two of those. There are 12 teams in the league so the load could have been spread a bit better.

aimee1

phog wrote: »

Do they have much say?

When it was being scheduled there was a strong possibility that Ireland could be playing in the 3rd/4th playoff game.

During this world cup there were 5 Pro12 games with 6 o'clock kick offs, Munster at home got two of those. There are 12 teams in the league so the load could have been spread a bit better.

Both werent friday night games though?

bannerman2005

aimee1 wrote: »

Both werent friday night games though?

They were both Friday night games. Glasgow and Ulster. Brutal time for attending and thats even working in Limerick city.

aimee1

bannerman2005 wrote: »

They were both Friday night games. Glasgow and Ulster. Brutal time for attending and thats even working in Limerick city.

Thats crap actually to hit one club twice.

ulster_Beef

rrpc wrote: »

But it's irrelevant to a discussion about Paddy. Hopefully he can improve. I've seen him better so it could just be a blip.

No matter how great PJ plays (getting the back line ticking, game control, kicking from hand etc), he will always be known for poor kicking off the tee unfortunately.

shootermacg

ulster_Beef wrote: »

No matter how great PJ plays (getting the back line ticking, game control, kicking from hand etc), he will always be known for poor kicking off the tee unfortunately.

Keatley has a name for being the worst kicker of a ball and that's including front row forwards. But his kicking has been really good so far this season, so it can definitely be worked on.

jacothelad

ulster_Beef wrote: »

No matter how great PJ plays (getting the back line ticking, game control, kicking from hand etc), he will always be known for poor kicking off the tee unfortunately.

Unless Ulster replace their kicking coach - one Neil Doak by name and a player who had a kicking success of about 30% when playing for Malone. Look back to the game that opened the Aviva and see how Jackson kicked compared with the way he does now. Not the same at all.

ulster_Beef

jacothelad wrote: »

Unless Ulster replace their kicking coach - one Neil Doak by name and a player who had a kicking success of about 30% when playing for Malone. Look back to the game that opened the Aviva and see how Jackson kicked compared with the way he does now. Not the same at all.

Logan... sack Doak? Haha :mad: That'll be the day.

I await his next appointment of *whatever* jobs for the boys title

Utah_Saint

ulster_Beef wrote: »

Logan... sack Doak? Haha :mad: That'll be the day.

I await his next appointment of *whatever* jobs for the boys title

Logan has been really quiet over the past 6months...

maybe he's re-writing his 'World Domination' business plan....:pac:

ulster_Beef

Utah_Saint wrote: »

Logan has been really quiet over the past 6months...

maybe he's re-writing his 'World Domination' business plan....:pac:

Last post before getting a mod warning as this isnt the Ulster thread ha...

Is this the plan you refer to?

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/rugby/ulster-rugby/shane-logan-ulster-can-be-the-best-rugby-club-on-planet-30978460.html

It may not be about the game, but itll give the Munster boys on here something to laugh at too

awec

Logan should be following Doak out the door.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

ulster_Beef wrote: »

No matter how great PJ plays (getting the back line ticking, game control, kicking from hand etc), he will always be known for poor kicking off the tee unfortunately.

This is why it's important to have more than one player capable of kicking in your starting 15. Particularly when it comes to the Ireland squad.

Maybe Ulster should nick ROG off Racing?