Munster Team Talk Thread - Beirne After Reading

Eod100

Rugby Paper reporting Munster might be interested in getting Kidney back. Dunno how accurate that is but interesting all the same. https://www.therugbypaper.co.uk/latest-news/345935/munster-to-line-up-kidney-for-van-graan/

OldRio

The game last night compared with the game last week were chalk and cheese.

I know it was two different teams with two different outlooks but that was dreadful last night. Castres didn't want to know and couldn't give a fiddlers. Yet Munster struggled.

JVG going is a blessing IMHO.

UAEguy2020

I’ll probably get **** for this and I know it’s a little left field but I would actually really like it if we went for Noel McNamara. It has a feel of a young but promising coach who came from nowhere to end up being very successful. Also let’s not forget he’s coached alot of the Munster youngsters as the u20s coach.

just has the feel of a coach that came from nowhere to be a legend. Granted it could also go tits up but isn’t that the case with most successful appointments, no risk no glory.

lawrencesummers

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118346079#Comment_118346079

Welcome to the forum noel.

UAEguy2020

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118346784#Comment_118346784

Ngl initially I was only pushing for him to be an attack coach and someone like Mike Prendergast to be the head coach (still think its unlikely we'll drag him from Racing 92 only to have the same role on less pay unless he just wants to come home) but the more I think about it the more I think with the young squad we have the more a coach like Noel McNamara might be exactly what we need. Especially when you consider he coached loads of these Munster youngsters when they were u20s in 2019. I feel we always go for the coach who's got the best CV or the coach who we know from the past and rarely do we go for the coach that's best for Munster Rugby.

Dunmoreroader

Jack O'Donoghue given MOTM accolade in a few publications for yesterday's performance - not the first time this year either. I continue to be baffled by his lack of Ireland call-ups. I know the competition for back row slots in the Ireland squad is ridiculous but he doesn't seem to be even in the conversation. What am I missing, what's he lacking?

Clegg

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118347023#Comment_118347023

Tbf I think you answered your own question. Ireland has quality backrows falling out of it's ears right now. JOD won MoTM playing at number 8. That puts him in direct competition with Jack Conan, the Lions number 8, and also Caelan Doris, a player who a lot of people think is a better 8 than Conan. At best that puts JOD to third on the depth chart. Probably fourth behind Coombes.

It's a similar story to Nick Timoney at Ulster. Quality player, but he's behind Josh Van Der Flier, who has been one of the best players in the country for the past 18 months. Then there's Will Connors who before his injury was seen as potentially even better than VDF.

TRC10

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118347023#Comment_118347023

Same story with Ruddock and Conan at Leinster for years. Top players, but O'Mahony and Stander were just better and delivered the goods consistently for Ireland and were test Lions. You can be an excellent player, but have a slightly better player ahead of you.

Same with McCloskey. Fantastic player, but Aki and Henshaw are just slightly better. In a different era he'd be first choice, but there's just better players ahead of him.

And to be fair, JOD has taken his game to a new level this season which I don't think we'd seen in previous seasons.

Poorside

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118346079#Comment_118346079

Won't be happening soon anyway, his family upped sticks this week and moved to SA.

UAEguy2020

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118347278#Comment_118347278

We'll see, it's a pretty significant job and quite an attractive one when you look at the young players Munster have so wouldnt rule it out. Munster would need to offer a pretty attractive package to convince him I'd say.

FrannoFan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118347023#Comment_118347023

It's that old one of who you leaving out?

Dorris awarded player of autumn series (from any team)

Conan lions number 8

Vdf an absolute machine

Good player in a competitive position. Probably doesn't make a full strength munster side (if you go pom, bierne, coombes back row). For me he looks a bit light for test rugby.

Dunmoreroader

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118348807#Comment_118348807

Certainly not lightweight; of the players you name, only Conan and Beirne are heavier with several lighter by 3/4 kgs. If you mean temperament, his serial Munster captaincy shreds that one. Not his lightness, no.

phog

I haven't seen the game on TV yet but at the game it looked so difficult to get a rhythm going it was so stop/start, some of it our own making. The 3rd scrum of the night happened on the 4th minute, that in itself tells it's own story.

I was happy with all decisions to go for the posts and in the end those decisions proved correct. I though a lot of ball died at ruck time for us and I can think of at least four penalties against us after we took ball into contact, hard to win games when you're losing the rucks on your own carry. Then we had a few sloppy passes and/or guys keeping the ball rather than pass.

Overall, we're 9 points from 10 which is better than I expected two weeks ago and I thin k we can another 8 or 9 on the return fixtures if we all field a team.

Poorside

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118348034#Comment_118348034

He has just signed a 2 year contract, and moved his family out so there's no "we'll see" it's not happening now. Maybe in the future.

aloooof

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118347177#Comment_118347177

Small quibble with this. VdF has been great this year, but he was pretty poor during the ANC, so I’m not sure that 18 months is accurate, particularly if we’re talking about an Irish context. Following the ANC, I don’t think he would’ve started the opening game of the 6 Nations this year, but for the injury to Doris. He’s been great since then, mind.

UAEguy2020

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118349394#Comment_118349394

It is a "we'll see" because if there's a better job with better money and a better position then things can change very quickly. I dont see Munster going for someone employed but writing it off completley would be naive/

aloooof

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118347248#Comment_118347248

JOD also had a brilliant 6 months or so from the start of the 2019/20 season, which was after his first pre-season following that awful injury. And sure we all know what happened right around then…

Poorside

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118349435#Comment_118349435

You mean like the job he has just taken and moved his life to?

UAEguy2020

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118349674#Comment_118349674

Because he’s contracted to the Sharks? When he took the job the position of Munster head coach wasn’t on the table, now it is so it’s a different ball game…

CONSI

I think Munster are going to try and find a stop gap coach until O'Gara is available, someone who knows what they are coming into for 2 years..the likes of a scott robertson isnt going to up stick from NZ for 2 years so I think thats where the Kidney talk is coming from

Cookiemunster

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118350145#Comment_118350145

Except that, if there's any substance to the rumours, Kidney is not being approached as a coach, but rather as a DOR. This whole ROG thing needs to be put to bed. He has no intention of returning to Munster and has pissed on the URC mutliple times recently in his Examiner column. And no coach will be let go to be replaced by him if they're in any way successful.

lawrencesummers

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118349034#Comment_118349034

I dont see how anybody can be happy with the decision to go for 3 points in front of the posts with 11 minutes left.

That was made for a scrum / tap and go and try to pressure then for the last 10 mins to secure a BP.

FrannoFan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118348987#Comment_118348987

That might be what the listed stats say but he doesn't have the power or athleticism of coombes/dorris/timoney who he is in competition with

phog

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118350646#Comment_118350646

11 minutes left means 69 minutes gone and only one try scored, I love your optimism that you think we could score 3 trys in 11 minutes after the way the previous 69 minutes had gone for us. Win the game, take your points.

DellyBelly

Must say I'm as optimistic about a Munster win over Leinster as Ihave been in for a while. The fact they are coming off a loss and Munster are on a winning streak gives me some confidence that they can do it...something to look forward to

lawrencesummers

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118350748#Comment_118350748

The game wasnt in the balance, we had a ten point lead.

The difference between a home QF and an away QF will be Bonus points and points difference.

They went down to 14 just after that. Had we gone for a try and pressurised them they were very close to a YC. It could have been 13 v 15 for the home stretch.

Cookiemunster

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118350830#Comment_118350830

Leinster battered Bath in their last match. And battered Connacht the week before. They didn't lose last week, they got a walkover given against them. Munster were very disjointed against Castres and have more players to come in who haven't played in two months to add to the guys who'll be playing just their second game in two months. I don't see the optimism or how two games is a winning streak.

The only thing is who Leinster will have available to them due to the Covid outbreak as a lot of players will still either be isolating or just out of isolation with no training. It might be a bit of a leveler.

thomond2006

The time to be aggressive was early in the game. Opting for 6-0 and then 9-0 set the tone.

It felt that one try would have opened up the game. Munster were unlucky DDA's try was chalked off.

phog

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118351231#Comment_118351231

Iirc, we went for the corner between the 6-0 and the 9-0 got turned over or lost the lineout, then opted for the kick at goal for the next penalty. From the was the game went I couldn't see us getting the BP win especially after the DDA's effort was disallowed so taking our points was the correct decision

Dunmoreroader

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118350686#Comment_118350686

Right, the try on the weekend really demonstrates that....😏