Stade Francais vs Munster, Sat 9th January 4:45 Irish time; Sky Sports

thomond2006

Stade Francais:
15. Hugo Bonneval; 14. Julien Arias, 13. Waisea Vuidarvuwalu, 12. Paul Williams, 11. Josaia Raisuqe; 10. Morné Steyn, 9. Julien Dupuy;
1. Zak Taulafo, 2. Laurent Sempéré, 3. Paul Alo Emile, 4. Hugh Pyle, 5. Paul Gabrillagues, 6. Sekou Macalou, 7. Sylvain Nicolas, 8. Sergio Parisse

16. Laurent Panis, 17. Heinke Van der Merwe, 18. Rabah Slimani, 19. Gerhard Mostert, 20. Jonathan Ross, 21. Julien Tomas, 22. Jules Plisson, 23. Jonathan Danty

Munster:
Andrew Conway; Keith Earls, Francis Saili, Rory Scannell, Simon Zebo; Ian Keatley, Conor Murray;
Dave Kilcoyne, Mike Sherry, BJ Botha; Dave Foley, Mark Chisholm; Robin Copeland, Tommy O'Donnell, CJ Stander - capt.

Replacements: Niall Scannell, John Ryan, Mario Sagario, Billy Holland, Jack O'Donoghue, Tomás O'Leary, Denis Hurley, Ronan O'Mahony.

It's a must win game for Munster to stay alive in Europe as they travel to the current Top14 champions. Stade Francais, currently 11th in the Top14, must put their domestic struggles aside to continue their progress in Europe.

budhabob

thomond2006 wrote: »

Stade Francais:

Munster:

It's a must win game for Munster to stay alive in Europe as they travel to the current Top14 champions. Stade Francais, currently 11th in the Top14, must put their domestic struggles aside to continue their progress in Europe.

Team just announced on Twitter:
MunXV #StaVMun Conway; Earls, Saili, RScannell, Zebo; Keatley, Murray; Kilcoyne, Sherry, Botha; Foley, Chisholm; Copeland, TO’D, Stander(c)

Replacements #StaVMun NScannell, JRyan, Sagario, BHolland, O’Donoghue, O’Leary, Hurley, RO’Mahony

I'm glad Scannell has been retained. And other than Copeland starting its pretty much as expected.

phog

budhabob wrote: »

Team just announced on Twitter:
MunXV #StaVMun Conway; Earls, Saili, RScannell, Zebo; Keatley, Murray; Kilcoyne, Sherry, Botha; Foley, Chisholm; Copeland, TO’D, Stander(c)

Replacements #StaVMun NScannell, JRyan, Sagario, BHolland, O’Donoghue, O’Leary, Hurley, RO’Mahony

I thought Billy would start ahead of Foley but other than that team very much as expected.

We just need the win now

molloyjh

budhabob wrote: »

Team just announced on Twitter:
MunXV #StaVMun Conway; Earls, Saili, RScannell, Zebo; Keatley, Murray; Kilcoyne, Sherry, Botha; Foley, Chisholm; Copeland, TO’D, Stander(c)

Replacements #StaVMun NScannell, JRyan, Sagario, BHolland, O’Donoghue, O’Leary, Hurley, RO’Mahony

Earls back in the wing and Scannell at 12. Thats a pretty decent back line.

thomond2006

Bleyendaal unavailable again...

irishbucsfan

Jamie Heaslip

That's a fine team. Maybe a bit lacking in depth, particularly if something happens to Murray/Keatley, but I'm looking forward to this one now.

S12b

thomond2006 wrote: »

Bleyendaal unavailable again...

Do ye have the receipt for him??

thomond2006

Stade Francais team not announced yet but they have a lot of injuries at the moment.

Limerick Dude

thomond2006 wrote: »

Bleyendaal unavailable again...

Beyond a joke at this stage...:mad:

CatFromHue

Jamie Heaslip

Munster win and I think they'll get one of the best second place spots.

I can't see Stade being up to much next week of they lose and Treviso are ****e, they've no wins this season in either Europe or the Pro12

stadedublinois

thomond2006 wrote: »

Stade Francais team not announced yet but they have a lot of injuries at the moment.

Especially at hooker, Bonfils and de malmanche are long term injuries, Sempéré is doubtful and Burden isn't registered. That only leaves Panis from the academy.

The backrow too with Alberts, Burban and Lakafia but the "espoirs" Ugena and Macalou in the backrow have been impressive.

molloyjh

thomond2006 wrote: »

Bleyendaal unavailable again...

That's crazy. There's simply no way his contract should be renewed. He was due to arrive in 1 1/2 seasons ago and has only managed 5 games so far (4 at 10), only scoring in 1 of them. He can't be seen as anything but a flop at this stage, for reasons beyond his own control but a flop none the less.

former total

Jamie Heaslip

molloyjh wrote: »

That's crazy. There's simply no way his contract should be renewed. He was due to arrive in 1 1/2 seasons ago and has only managed 5 games so far (4 at 10), only scoring in 1 of them. He can't be seen as anything but a flop at this stage, for reasons beyond his own control but a flop none the less.

He is on contract until the end of next season anyway so we're stuck with him one way or another. He might come good, but this quad injury is ridiculous. Either he's completely f**ked or it's not being managed properly.

Bazzo

thomond2006 wrote: »

Bleyendaal unavailable again...

How much time has he spent unavailable overall at Munster? I'm inclined to think it's 80-90%. Disaster really....

CatFromHue

Jamie Heaslip

It's only the two injuries he's had.

The neck one which lasted all last season and the quad one which is coming and going this season.

Munster's problem though is if they do get rid of him, contract aside, they'll have to bring someone new in and will it be a case of the Devil you know with that one.

damemcd

Hope Keatley keeps up his form for ye, was delighted for him in Ravenhill.

Akrasia

Jamie Heaslip

I was hoping they would rest Parisse

Digifriendly

Munster

Akrasia wrote: »

I was hoping they would rest Parisse

Very unlikely as he's probably their best go forward ball carrier.

Akrasia

Jamie Heaslip

Digifriendly wrote: »

Very unlikely as he's probably their best go forward ball carrier.

I know, I was just hoping.

He's such a monumentally good player that our chances of winning are so much higher when he's not there.

slingerz

Jamie Heaslip

Blyendaal should be on the first plan back to NZ. He has been minded beyond belief and still cannot get over this quad issue.

awec

Bleyendaal is lucky he's not a horse.

thomond2006

former total wrote: »

He is on contract until the end of next season anyway so we're stuck with him one way or another. He might come good, but this quad injury is ridiculous. Either he's completely f**ked or it's not being managed properly.

It's becoming Munster's version of a week too soon. What sounds like a minor injury has been persisting for weeks. While I hesitate to wish this, surely there is a contractual 'out' for Munster here if Bleyendaal continues to remain unavailable. Tbf Munster have already backed the player after his first season was a write off.

Mahatma Geansai

thomond2006 wrote: »

It's becoming Munster's version of a week too soon. What sounds like a minor injury has been persisting for weeks. While I hesitate to wish this, surely there is a contractual 'out' for Munster here if Bleyendaal continues to remain unavailable. Tbf Munster have already backed the player after his first season was a write off.

As he is a project player, I would imagine that he has a 2 year contract with the option of a 3 year.

Bazzo

Mahatma Geansai wrote: »

As he is a project player, I would imagine that he has a 2 year contract with the option of a 3 year.

It was announced as 3 years here unless they always announce as 3 years but in reality it's a 2 year with an option of an extra year?

thomond2006

Mahatma Geansai wrote: »

As he is a project player, I would imagine that he has a 2 year contract with the option of a 3 year.

My point is, his unavailability at some stage had to come to a point where Munster have the power to tear up the contract, regardless of the contract length.

Disclaimer: I don't wish it on the player.

kuang1

ROG very optimistic about tomorrow:

wrote:

Munster will win there tomorrow. Whether they can pick up a fifth point is the issue. Their season comes down to this 80 minutes. It’s that stark. Stade’s season doesn’t. Munster’s hunger will be over-powering but with Stade, it’s impossible to second-guess their approach — both tactical and psychological. They’re an off-the-cuff, high-tempo outfit that can light the place up or stumble around aimlessly. Anthony Foley knows that Munster can still make 20 points in the pool, but 19 has been enough in plenty of other seasons to make the knockout phase. That will be the approach — secure four points and see what the last 20 brings. It’ll be open if Stade have their way, but Munster’s need is greater.

Akrasia

Jamie Heaslip

thomond2006 wrote: »

My point is, his unavailability at some stage had to come to a point where Munster have the power to tear up the contract, regardless of the contract length.

Disclaimer: I don't wish it on the player.

It's hard to believe that there aren't some kind of extraordinary measures we could take to make sure Tyler gets fit again and can contribute to the team before his contract expires?

aimee1

thomond2006 wrote: »

20. Jonathan Ross

thats some injury crisis ........

kuang1

Munster

kuang1 wrote: »

ROG very optimistic about tomorrow:

This isn't the first game this season that Munster have needed to win, and they've lost some of the other ones. Not sure the logic here is sound.

That said, neither team has great form coming into this, but if Keatley holds it together and the pack provide some kind of platform that back line could do some damage.

Should be an exciting game, looking forward to it!

aimee1

Deleted User wrote: »

This isn't the first game this season that Munster have needed to win, and they've lost some of the other ones. Not sure the logic here is sound.

That said, neither team has great form coming into this, but if Keatley holds it together and the pack provide some kind of platform that back line could do some damage.

Should be an exciting game, looking forward to it!

Is that as strong as possible team from Stade? Decent props on the bench.

aimee1

Munster

aimee1 wrote: »

Is that as strong as possible team from Stade? Decent props on the bench.

Yeah Stade seem to be focusing on Europe this year, but Munster really should put them away handily enough. It's an incredibly soft group, the double header loss is a blip that should be rectified tomorrow.