Connacht vs Munster, Sat 16th April 19.15, Sportsground. Sky Sports 5/TG4

kuang1

Yeah I would say it was good entertainment too.

freyners

jm08 wrote:

Pat Lam failed with the Blues, he has no pressure on him for Connacht to perform. If Munster lost that game v. Grenoble last week in the manner that Connacht lost it, Foley would have got huge criticism. Everyone will think Connacht is great if they make the final of the PRO12. Everyone has forgotten that Munster made them last year.

This post is horse**** of the highest calibre. There was a quite a bit of pressure on lam. People here and in the media were crying out that EOS wasnt considered for the role and lams coaching credentials and experiences was dragged through the muck by some. In his first year the sniping grew louder from those who watched least.

And if munster lost the game in grenoble like connacht last week I'm sure me and lot of posters here would still be be recovering from the shock of munster playing progressive rugby to level much criticism

Felix Jones is God

.ak wrote: »

Well no, I'm not. If you want to debate the point, fine, go for it, but the one liners and accusations isn't really a discussion, is it?

Then give it up, you've accused the guy of something and have no basis in fact for it, just your verbal gymnastics, but will let you at it, not worth the time or effort ak

.ak

Felix Jones is God wrote: »

Then give it up, you've accused the guy of something and have no basis in fact for it, just your verbal gymnastics, but will let you at it, not worth the time or effort ak

Well no, I've given an opinion and fleshed it out with my thoughts. Clearly more than what you're willing to do.

Felix Jones is God

.ak wrote: »

Well no, I've given an opinion and fleshed it out with my thoughts. Clearly more than what you're willing to do.

Well, no, I'm going on what the guy actually said...your thoughts and musings are irrelevant

Padkir

.ak wrote: »

Complaining about an incident is one thing. Foley is suggesting bias against a particular player, that's calling the ref's professionalism into it, he isn't saying he's made a mistake, he's clearly calling him a cheat, but doing so by paraphrasing to protest himself. It's not great tbh.

Completely true. Pat Lam got called up and fined for this re his comments on Leighton Hodges last year; hopefully there's consistency here with Foley, as he's doing the same thing albeit trying to hide it a bit better.

jm08

.ak wrote: »

Complaining about an incident is one thing. Foley is suggesting bias against a particular player, that's calling the ref's professionalism into it, he isn't saying he's made a mistake, he's clearly calling him a cheat, but doing so by paraphrasing to protest himself. It's not great tbh.

From that report, it seems that Foley made official complaints about Woodhouse which the referring boss agreed with, so how can the powers that be defend Woodhouse?

I maybe missing something here, but where did Foley call him a cheat? This is what Foley is quoted as saying in the42.ie

“It was a key area of interpretation,” said Foley. “We obviously have the value of a replay, but it just seems that it’s two games away from home that Jamesie has been yellow-carded by Ben, so maybe that’s something to look at in the future.”

All he says is that Whitehouse has yellow carded Cronin in 2 away games (factual) and that Munster need to examine that.

thomond2006

Felix Jones is God wrote: »

Christ, this post stinks worse than last nights game

Felix Jones is God wrote: »

I don't think anybody called it a great game
A great Connacht performance, yes, but not a great game, no sir, nor even close

Felix Jones is God wrote: »

Now you're just putting words in his mouth, give it up,

Felix Jones is God wrote: »

Then give it up, you've accused the guy of something and have no basis in fact for it, just your verbal gymnastics, but will let you at it, not worth the time or effort ak

Felix Jones is God wrote: »

Well, no, I'm going on what the guy actually said...your thoughts and musings are irrelevant

The only point you seem to have made in 5 posts is you didn't think it was a great game. This post stinks, give it up x 2, irrelevant?

jm08

Padkir wrote: »

Completely true. Pat Lam got called up and fined for this re his comments on Leighton Hodges last year; hopefully there's consistency here with Foley, as he's doing the same thing albeit trying to hide it a bit better.

Lam accused Hodges of making inapproriate comments (was it that Connacht would pay for not sorting out his parking for him?).

Foley said that Woodhouse had carded Cronin twice in away games and you think Foley is accusing Woodhouse of cheating

thomond2006

I'm really impressed by Johnny Holland. For a player with only a couple of starts he really looks promising. He's a very good goal-kicker by the looks of things with touchline conversions in his last three matches. His passing is good (offload to JOD was a standout moment in the game). His main weakness right now appears to be kicking out of hand. With Keatley struggling and uncertainty regarding Bleyendaal, it's great to see another option at 10.

There, a positive post!

jm08

freyners wrote: »

This post is horse**** of the highest calibre. There was a quite a bit of pressure on lam. People here and in the media were crying out that EOS wasnt considered for the role and lams coaching credentials and experiences was dragged through the muck by some. In his first year the sniping grew louder from those who watched least.

And if munster lost the game in grenoble like connacht last week I'm sure me and lot of posters here would still be be recovering from the shock of munster playing progressive rugby to level much criticism

I think Tony Ward was the only one who was crying out for EOS to be given a chance. Some people would have had question marks over Lam because of his failure with the Blues (which is a bit of a mess anyway), but he had done really well with Samoa.

I think Eddie is a good pundit, but I think he may be a poor coach and his man-management skills leave a lot to be desired.

Felix Jones is God

thomond2006 wrote: »

The only point you seem to have made in 5 posts is you didn't think it was a great game. This post stinks, give it up x 2, irrelevant?

Ok, I'll make it simple as I can for you.
It was posted here that Foley accused the ref of being biased and and a cheat.... Both are incorrect and the product of an overactive imagination.... That relevant enough for you?

thomond2006

Felix Jones is God wrote: »

Ok, I'll make it simple as I can for you.
It was posted here that Foley accused the ref of being biased and and a cheat.... Both are incorrect and the product of an overactive imagination.... That relevant enough for you?

Thank you. FWIW I don't really agree with .ak.

Felix Jones is God

thomond2006 wrote: »

Thank you. FWIW I don't really agree with .ak.

Good, else you'd have to return your John Hayes pj's forthwith

ClanofLams

jm08 wrote: »

Some people would have had question marks over Lam because of his failure with the Blues (which is a bit of a mess anyway), but he had done really well with Samoa.

Lam''s 'failure' with the blues has been over exaggerated anyway. They have reached the semi finals twice in the last ten years, one of those times was in Lam''s second last season. His last season was a bit of a disaster alright but they did have a Connachtesque injury crisis and ultimately finished 12th. In the three seasons since his departure they have finished 10th twice and 14th last season.

Padkir

jm08 wrote: »

... you think Foley is accusing Woodhouse of cheating

Yes, I do and I'm not the only one. You don't just casually mention that while in the next breath saying that he thought the yellow was 'incredibly harsh'. It amounts to the same thing, implying that Ben has it in for Cronin, he just disguised it a bit better than Lam to try avoid getting into trouble while deflecting blame for a poor performance off himself.

shuffol

jm08 wrote: »

From that report, it seems that Foley made official complaints about Woodhouse which the referring boss agreed with, so how can the powers that be defend Woodhouse?

I maybe missing something here, but where did Foley call him a cheat? This is what Foley is quoted as saying in the42.ie



All he says is that Whitehouse has yellow carded Cronin in 2 away games (factual) and that Munster need to examine that.

It doesn't require an over active imagination to suggest that Foley is implying that the Whitehouse is somehow out to get Cronin.

"so maybe that’s something to look at in the future" Since Foley obviously disagreed with the card yesterday I'd be very surprised if this line is referring to something Munster need to address. To me it sounds like he's hinting at some sort of conspiracy.

jm08

ClanofLams wrote: »

Lam''s 'failure' with the blues has been over exaggerated anyway. They have reached the semi finals twice in the last ten years, one of those times was in Lam''s second last season. His last season was a bit of a disaster alright but they did have a Connachtesque injury crisis and ultimately finished 12th. In the three seasons since his departure they have finished 10th twice and 14th last season.

His sacking was pretty horrible actually.

Blues' Pat Lam hits out at racist criticism | Stuff.co.nz

www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/.../Blues-Pat-Lam-hits-out-at-racist-criticism
Apr 11, 2012 - An emotional Pat Lam has hit out at racial criticism being fired about as a reason for the failings of his Blues team.

sheep?

thomond2006 wrote: »

I'm really impressed by Johnny Holland. For a player with only a couple of starts he really looks promising. He's a very good goal-kicker by the looks of things with touchline conversions in his last three matches. His passing is good (offload to JOD was a standout moment in the game). His main weakness right now appears to be kicking out of hand. With Keatley struggling and uncertainty regarding Bleyendaal, it's great to see another option at 10.

There, a positive post!

He's also highlighted by poor Ian's form.

I'd certainly be looking forward to seeing for of Holland at 10 next season.

thomond2006

sheep? wrote: »

He's also highlighted by poor Ian's form.

I'd certainly be looking forward to seeing for of Holland at 10 next season.

No doubt his star is helped by Keatley's form, but my main encouragement is his performances despite his inexperience at this level. He took to the big stage at the Aviva pretty well and that was only his 3rd start for Munster. His apparent goal-kicking ability is a huge plus, missed kicks have been a killer this year in certain games.

CatFromHue

sheep? wrote: »

He's also highlighted by poor Ian's form.

I'd certainly be looking forward to seeing for of Holland at 10 next season.

What has happened to Keatley is just amazing, almost unbelievable.

Even yesterday he came on and made a big mistake.

jm08

Padkir wrote: »

Yes, I do and I'm not the only one. You don't just casually mention that while in the next breath saying that he thought the yellow was 'incredibly harsh'. It amounts to the same thing, implying that Ben has it in for Cronin, he just disguised it a bit better than Lam to try avoid getting into trouble while deflecting blame for a poor performance off himself.

Lam accused Hodges of corruption as he said that he would give decisions against Connacht so that they would lose the game because they had not arranged good parking for him.

That was very inappropriate of Hodges to say and do that. Lam's mistake was not just reporting him.

If Foley is not charged and fined for inappropriate comments about the referee, will you agree that your imagination (as well as .ak's) is way too over active?

jm08

shuffol wrote: »

It doesn't require an over active imagination to suggest that Foley is implying that the Whitehouse is somehow out to get Cronin.

"so maybe that’s something to look at in the future" Since Foley obviously disagreed with the card yesterday I'd be very surprised if this line is referring to something Munster need to address. To me it sounds like he's hinting at some sort of conspiracy.

Maybe he was hinting at this (from examiner in January posted earlier).

He has made his views known about Welsh officials Leighton Hodges and Ben Whitehouse to the competition’s refereeing commissioner Ed Morrison and received a positive response.

sheep?

thomond2006 wrote: »

No doubt his star is helped by Keatley's form, but my main encouragement is his performances despite his inexperience at this level. He took to the big stage at the Aviva pretty well and that was only his 3rd start for Munster. His apparent goal-kicking ability is a huge plus, missed kicks have been a killer this year in certain games.

Sorry, yeah I should point out I wasn't diminishing Holland's recent outings, just trying to tie in Ian's recent form.

I really do think we would have lost 2 weeks ago had Holland stayed on, or at the very least increased the odds of Munster winning.

irishgrover

jm08 wrote:

Lam accused Hodges of making inapproriate comments (was it that Connacht would pay for not sorting out his parking for him?).

FYI: If my memory serves me correctly....Hodges turned up late for a game earlier in the season. The stewards would not let him park where he normally does, as by that time, the public had been let into the grounds and it was unsafe to do so. Hodges did not like what he perceived to be a disrespectful parking space, and stated to the stewards that "this will cost you 7 points"..... The stewards later reported the conversation to Lam as they were of the opinion the Hodges was not joking and was at the time very put out, Lam in turn at the time reported it to the pro 12 refs. Fast forward a few months and Hodges, whilst acting as an assistant ref, "overruled" an inexperienced ref, who was about to blow up a game Connacht were winning and made one of the most outrageously wrong calls in memory, which lead to a try in the 87 minute or something daft, and cost Connacht a game....... Afterwards Lam retold what had previously happened, which could be inferred to question Hodges impartial professionalism and was done for it and fined by the pro 12....

Back on topic, it was a great game. It is understandable if a minority if Munster fans think differently. However regardless of how Munster did or did not play, it was still a wonderful game. Primarily because of the expansive, sometimes suicidal brand of attacking rugby the Connacht play, it makes for great entertaining rugby games, that are a pleasure to behold. **** it, even the interview with John "we got balls" Muldoon was the best post game interview of the season....

I wish Munster, and all the Irish teams well, but to be honest I am almost gloating in watching others slowly realise that we are not in contention for the league because we are lucky, or because of the world cup, or because of the 6 nations. I was getting so fed up with being patronised by press and supporters explaining we are were we are because of missing players on other teams and when the 6 nations was over and the big boys came back to play we would get a pat on our heads and get put back in our box...


We are where we are because of great leadership, great individual ball handling skills and following a system that everyone believes in. We have been playing like this all season but up to Christmas feck all people were aware of it because only the Italians were getting less TV coverage.

Do I think that we are the best team in the league bar none, or that we will be a power house in pro 12 or Europe next year, or that we are the new Munster, no I don't.
But for now I think we are the dog's bollix and were are fully deserving of it...
(Sorry that was a bit ranty :-) )

Yeah_Right

jm08 wrote: »

His sacking was pretty horrible actually.

Blues' Pat Lam hits out at racist criticism | Stuff.co.nz

www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/.../Blues-Pat-Lam-hits-out-at-racist-criticism
Apr 11, 2012 - An emotional Pat Lam has hit out at racial criticism being fired about as a reason for the failings of his Blues team.

That article has nothing to do with his sacking from the Blues. Nothing. That's just him getting upset because he had recruited badly, let a lot of talent get away, the team was playing like **** and some morons on the internet and talkback radio were making racist comments. The article is from the beginning of April so maybe 6 or 7 weeks into the season.

jm08

Yeah_Right wrote: »

That article has nothing to do with his sacking from the Blues. Nothing. That's just him getting upset because he had recruited badly, let a lot of talent get away, the team was playing like **** and some morons on the internet and talkback radio were making racist comments. The article is from the beginning of April so maybe 6 or 7 weeks into the season.

It was more than internet stuff though. What about the racist texts from Mark Anscombe's phone to him?

Edit: In May of 2012, the Blues announced that they were advertising the position of head coach.

ClanofLams

Yeah_Right wrote: »

That article has nothing to do with his sacking from the Blues. Nothing. That's just him getting upset because he had recruited badly, let a lot of talent get away, the team was playing like **** and some morons on the internet and talkback radio were making racist comments. The article is from the beginning of April so maybe 6 or 7 weeks into the season.

That's a very harsh assessment. As I said they reached the semi finals in 2011 and haven't come close to doing do since. His last season was very bad but they had a crazy injury crisis and no great progress was made in the following three seasons. Also the racism was more than some clowns online.

Anyway no interest in continuing to debate his tenure there so will leave it at that.

Yeah_Right

jm08 wrote: »

It was more than internet stuff though. What about the racist texts from Mark Anscombe's phone to him?

Edit: In May of 2012, the Blues announced that they were advertising the position of head coach.

I'm a born and bred JAFFA (Just Another Fcuker From Auckland) and 20 years a Blues fan and this is the first I've heard about Anscombe sending racist texts. Sources please.

Yeah in May. After another month of losses.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I'm happy for Lam. He was a great servant of Auckland, NZ and Samoan rugby. 2012 was a disaster for the Blues and as head coach it was his responsibility. Yes there were injuries but with that talent pool! The team regressed. Same as Leinster with MOC and Munster with Foley.

I'm glad Lam is having success with Connacht. I enjoy watching them.

Buer

CatFromHue wrote: »

What has happened to Keatley is just amazing, almost unbelievable.

Even yesterday he came on and made a big mistake.

I mentioned it earlier in the season when it occurred but being booed off by his own side's support in his home ground was something that was always going to be difficult to come back from. That moment must have really hurt his confidence.