Munster vs Connacht, Sat 6th May 5:15pm, TG4

thomond2006

Munster: Andrew Conway, Alex Wootton, Jaco Taute, Dan Goggin, Keith Earls; Ian Keatley, Angus Lloyd;
James Cronin, Rhys Marshall, Stephen Archer; Darren O'Shea, Billy Holland capt.; Jean Deysel, Conor Oliver, Jack O'Donoghue.

Replacements: Niall Scannell, Dave Kilcoyne, John Ryan, Peter O'Mahony, Tommy O'Donnell, Conor Murray, Tyler Bleyendaal, Francis Saili.

15 Tiernan O'Halloran (126)
14 Danie Poolman (84)
13 Tom Farrell (8)
12 Craig Ronaldson (66)
11 Cian Kelleher (12)
10 Jack Carty (79)
9 Kieran Marmion (119)

1 Denis Buckley (117)
2 Shane Delahunt (27)
3 Conor Carey (10)
4 Quinn Roux (56)
5 Andrew Browne (154)
6 Eoin McKeon (106)
7 James Connolly (22)
8 John Muldoon (301) (captain)

Replacements:

16 Dave Heffernan (83)
17 JP Cooney (49)
18 Finlay Bealham (81)
19 Sean O'Brien (38)
20 Naulia Dawai (11)
21 John Cooney (38)
22 Marnitz Boshoff (3)
23 Darragh Leader (52)

Injured/unavailable: Tom McCartney, Ronan Loughney, Ultan Dillane, Nepia Fox-Matamua, Steve Crosbie, Bundee Aki, Peter Robb, Stacey Ili, Matt Healy, Niyi Adeolokun, Josh Rowland.

letowski

Like the balance in the Munster backrow. Buckets of pace in the back 3 too.

wp_rathead

Dat Munster Bench doe

Yourself isit

May 6th

Zzippy

Connacht will need a good lead before the Munster bench comes into play. Have a feeling morale and confidence is low in the Connacht squad. Can't see past a good Munster win, keep a winning mentality going into the playoffs. Probably Connacht's second last game of the season.

Ah jeez, I sound like PTH...

Diabhal Beag

Couple of crossfield Carty kicks into Poolman and we're cruising this. Good to see Carey back before the play offs.

So I was down in Galway on a Guinness tasting tour at the weekend and who did I see along the banks of the Corrib but our own Zzippy out fishing with Connacht's first son John Muldoon.

I said "lads.. what's the crai....

ScrubsfanChris

After hearing about Jean Deysel's injury after the Saracens game its good to see him back playing before the season ends. Taught we'd seen the last of him.

leakyboots

Wootton v Kelleher is a nice little subplot, two speedsters

Wegians89

leakyboots wrote: »

Wootton v Kelleher is a nice little subplot, two speedsters

ToH v Conway too from an Irish tour point of view and looking forward to the battle at 7 as well

leakyboots

Maybe it's my own bias but Conor Oliver looks to be a right little diamond, could do with bulking up a bit but still only 21 and looks to be a right nuisance at the breakdown and superb linkman. Reminds me of JvdF, great engine on him too

phog

The two people I fear most in that Connacht team are Buckley and Muldoon both are excellent at the breakdown. It will be interesting to see how our halfback pairing get on, not the strongest but I'm looking forward to seeing them nonetheless.

No lock on the bench for us but Deysel can cover there if he lasts the full 80.

Wegians89

leakyboots wrote: »

Maybe it's my own bias but Conor Oliver looks to be a right little diamond, could do with bulking up a bit but still only 21 and looks to be a right nuisance at the breakdown and superb linkman. Reminds me of JvdF, great engine on him too

Honestly think he'll be starting next season, he's a bit short and light for a breakrow, but think he has the talents to get past that

thomond2006

DOCII is seeing a specialist on his knee injury so Munster could be down another lock cover for the playoffs.

wp_rathead

thomond2006 wrote: »

DOCII is seeing a specialist on his knee injury so Munster could be down another lock cover for the playoffs.

I'm sure the IRFU will let ye sign another NIQ forward

(Tongue firmly in cheek here incase WWIII sets off)

irishbucsfan

wp_rathead wrote: »

I'm sure the IRFU will let ye sign another NIQ forward

Munster are short a 2nd row so they've signed Dan Carter

thomond2006

wp_rathead wrote: »

I'm sure the IRFU will let ye sign another NIQ forward

(Tongue firmly in cheek here incase WWIII sets off)

We'll be fine as long as there isn't another injury: Holland, Ryan and DOS.

budhabob

thomond2006 wrote: »

We'll be fine as long as there isn't another injury: Holland, Ryan and DOS.

Whens Kleyn expected back?

thomond2006

budhabob wrote: »

Whens Kleyn expected back?

All I know is he's done for the season.

ScrubsfanChris

Wegians89 wrote: »

Honestly think he'll be starting next season, he's a bit short and light for a breakrow, but think he has the talents to get past that

At 6ft he's not exactly tiny but he is noticeably slimmer than he contemporaries.

freyners

Buckley vs Cronin could be a Japan decider

Wegians89

ScrubsfanChris wrote: »

At 6ft he's not exactly tiny but he is noticeably slimmer than he contemporaries.

It's not tiny but he could come up against a lot of backs bigger then him at that height, not that size matters too much

budhabob

thomond2006 wrote: »

All I know is he's done for the season.

Oh.....I for some reason thought it was 6-8 weeks, reported back in Feb / early march, so I was expecting him back. Must have totally misread or made it up.

Zzippy

Deleted User wrote: »

So I was down in Galway on a Guinness tasting tour at the weekend and who did I see along the banks of the Corrib but our own Zzippy out fishing with Connacht's first son John Muldoon.

I said "lads.. what's the crai....

]

Tsk! You need glasses Venjur, that was Bundee, ya feckin' eejit...

Buer

ScrubsfanChris wrote: »

At 6ft he's not exactly tiny but he is noticeably slimmer than he contemporaries.

Not tiny for the man in the street. That would still make him very short for a professional back row player.

Munster site has him at 1.83m. You'd be hard pushed to find many back row players that short these days. Unless he develops freakish lower body power which allows him to play like Xavier Rush or Thomas Waldrom, he'll need to really work on link play and speed at the breakdown and make that the focal point of his game.

letowski

Putting on weight will be a big part of the off season for Oliver. Playing at 15st. for a backrow forward is too light.

leakyboots

Lads he's 21, still plenty of time to fill out

johnnyryan89

phog wrote: »

The two people I fear most in that Connacht team are Buckley and Muldoon both are excellent at the breakdown. It will be interesting to see how our halfback pairing get on, not the strongest but I'm looking forward to seeing them nonetheless.

No lock on the bench for us but Deysel can cover there if he lasts the full 80.

That's my one worry especially with his style of play and coming back from injury I can't see him lasting 80mins.

wp_rathead

15 mins to kick off, not that big a crowd so far

Erik Shin

Expect a BP win for Munster today, can't see Connacht being competitive today .

BBDBB

Score updates would be appreciated periodically please

ScrubsfanChris

Still 0-0

Does it sound like there's a child screaming into a microphone at times or is it just me?

Erik Shin

Piece of piss 7-0 Earls

Just getting walked through all season while we're static and going backwards with the ball.

Really poor.

Utopia Parkway

Appalling defence from Connacht. A schools team would be embarrassed to concede such a simple score.

Erik Shin

Anyone else want to hear Marie Theresa chat to Rassie as Gaelige....

Erik Shin

Erik Shin wrote: »

Anyone else want to watch Marie Theresa chat

Yes

Zzippy

Poor from Ronaldson, bit in and let Keatley step outside him

Zzippy

TOH making Earls look like a prop there

Akrasia

Zzippy wrote: »

TOH making Earls look like a prop there

He's fast but Earls was obstructed and couldn't get to the tackle

shootermacg

Some game!

Zzippy

Akrasia wrote: »

He's fast but Earls was obstructed and couldn't get to the tackle

Hey! I expect to lose this match and I've given up on the season already. Let me have one moment of fun...

Erik Shin

Never a forward pass

ScrubsfanChris

Jesus. There was no need to throw a skip pass, especially from a front row.

Zzippy

Erik Shin wrote: »

Never a forward pass

Would have been fine in NFL

Erik Shin

Zzippy wrote: »

Would have been fine in NFL

North Fahad League?.

Erik Shin

Now you're sucking Deysel

How was that a maul... ffs.

Erik Shin

Who does Angus Lloyd love more than anyone in the world?!?

letowski

Damian Varley has a voice of a RTE regional news reporter.

Erik Shin

Jaco loved that.... sacking the QB.... NFL ref there boys