ERCC: Ospreys vs Munster, Sat 16th Nov 5:30pm, BT Sport

thomond2006

Ospreys:
15. Cai Evans
14. Hanno Dirksen
13. Tiaan Thomas-Wheeler
12. Scott Williams
11. Tom Williams
10. Luke Price
9. Shaun Venter

1.Rhodri Jones
2.Scott Otten
3. Ma’afu Fia
4.Marvin Orie
5. Lloyd Ashley
6. Dan Lydiate ©
7.Olly Cracknell
8. Morgan Morris

Replacements
16. Ifan Phillips
17. Nicky Smith
18. Gheorghe Gajion
19. Bradley Davies
20. Sam Cross
21.Aled Davies
22. James Hook
23. Kieran Williams

The following players were unavailable for selection:
Adam Beard, Alun Wyn Jones, Bradley Davies, George North, Justin Tipuric and Owen Watkin.

The following players were unavailable for selection due to injury:
Gareth Anscombe
Harri Morgan
Cory Allen
Dan Evans
James King
Rhys Henry
Ben Glynn
Luke Morgan
Keelan Giles
Sam Parry
Gareth Evans

Munster:
Mike Haley; Andrew Conway, Chris Farrell, Rory Scannell, Keith Earls; Tyler Bleyendaal, Conor Murray;
Jeremy Loughman, Niall Scannell, John Ryan; Jean Kleyn, Billy Holland; Peter O’Mahony (C), Tommy O’Donnell, CJ Stander.

Replacements: Kevin O’Byrne, James Cronin, Stephen Archer, Tadhg Beirne, Arno Botha, Alby Mathewson, Sammy Arnold, Dan Goggin.

Dave Kilcoyne's injury allows Jeremy Loughman to get the start at loosehead in a surprise selection over James Cronin. Kleyn and Holland start in the second row with Beirne in reserve. All eyes on Tyler Bleyendaal who gets the nod at 10 with Carbery and Hanrahan unavailable. Rory Scannell will act as the backup outhalf.

No internationals available for the Ospreys so this really has to be a BP win for Munster. On paper this should be a routine victory.

thomond2006

Saracens have named a weakened side alright.

This pool is set up for Munster. BP win tomorrow and a win over Racing next weekend and we're in business.

aloooof

thomond2006 wrote: »

Saracens have named a weakened side alright.

This pool is set up for Munster. BP win tomorrow and a win over Racing next weekend and we're in business.

Familiar looking name, but Manu Vunipola must be there 5th, 6th choice 10 in practice?

td1

Hoping for a good start tomorrow to set up a lively 'welcome home' for Zeebs and Donnacha! Slightly off topic, but are any of you MRSC members still waiting on your membership packs?

Shefwedfan

Munster should be getting a bonus point win, Osprey are a mess at the moment.

This group is falling apart quickly if Saracens are going to throw it. Munster should be aiming for top spot with home qtr and semi

aloooof

Shefwedfan wrote: »

Munster should be getting a bonus point win, Osprey are a mess at the moment.

This group is falling apart quickly if Saracens are going to throw it. Munster should be aiming for top spot with home qtr and semi

From what looked like the group of death when the draw was made, it's quickly become very winnable for Munster. Having Saracens at home first in the back-to-backs is advantageous as well. Throw in Racing's poor start to the season too. A bonus point win this weekend, and a win over Racing next and we'd been in very good shape.

Shefwedfan

aloooof wrote: »

From what looked like the group of death when the draw was made, it's quickly become very winnable for Munster. Having Saracens at home first in the back-to-backs is advantageous as well. Throw in Racing's poor start to the season too. A bonus point win this weekend, and a win over Racing next and we'd been in very good shape.

It is funny how things work out, Racing and Saracens who would normally be the English and French clubs to concentrate on both competition might swap to concentrate only on their respective leagues, no harm to Osprey but they are not going to do much.



It's Munster to lose, a HC final in Montpellier v Lsinter would be nice

Clegg

Ospreys lost a home game to the bleedin Kings!! Munster should be looking to win by at least 30.

John_Mc

td1 wrote: »

Hoping for a good start tomorrow to set up a lively 'welcome home' for Zeebs and Donnacha! Slightly off topic, but are any of you MRSC members still waiting on your membership packs?

Mine arrived this morning

BIGT4464

thomond2006 wrote: »

Saracens have named a weakened side alright.

This pool is set up for Munster. BP win tomorrow and a win over Racing next weekend and we're in business.

Saracens havent picked that weak a team it seems, although main Internationals are all missing. Racing to win easy.

Munster BP win

BIGT4464

A win over Racing next week will not be easy. But I feel we can do it with the crowd behind us. SUAF

2smiggy

I'd be happy to get a win away this week , before talking about winning next week !!

phog

In the Heineken Cup you have to win your 3 home games then go looking for any point you can get in the away games.

A win tomorrow will be a great start to our cup season.

It's a bit of a kick in the teeth to the Ospreys that they are being forced to sit out their Internationals, no wonder some Welsh fans never got behind the idea of regions.

thomond2006

phog wrote: »

In the Heineken Cup you have to win your 3 home games then go looking for any point you can get in the away games.

A win tomorrow will be a great start to our cup season.

It's a bit of a kick in the teeth to the Ospreys that they are being forced to sit out their Internationals, no wonder some Welsh fans never got behind the idea of regions.

Tomorrow isn't really looking for any point we can get territory. Ospreys are down a huge amount of players and the forecast looks decent.
Anything less than 5 points isn't an acceptable outcome.

molloyjh

phog wrote: »

In the Heineken Cup you have to win your 3 home games then go looking for any point you can get in the away games.

A win tomorrow will be a great start to our cup season.

It's a bit of a kick in the teeth to the Ospreys that they are being forced to sit out their Internationals, no wonder some Welsh fans never got behind the idea of regions.

The issue there isnt the regions. It's the stupid and pointless 3rd place playoff. I'd imagine of not for that they'd have at least some back.

Buer

I actually thought Munster would have it tough enough tomorrow but I didn't realise that no RWC player would feature for the Ospreys. It makes a mockery of the tournament somewhat but Munster should grab the opportunity with both hands.

There's a very realistic situation where the Ospreys, Saracens and Racing have all lost 2 of their first 3 games if the selection policies continue.

I suspect Saracens will improve their selection significantly by round 3, however. Regardless of their comments, they're going to give it a shot and will want to make some sort of effort to defend their title. But two defeats in the opening three rounds seems quite a strong possibility for them giving Munster a huge change of securing qualification and a home knock out match.

phog

thomond2006 wrote: »

Tomorrow isn't really looking for any point we can get territory. Ospreys are down a huge amount of players and the forecast looks decent.
Anything less than 5 points isn't an acceptable outcome.

If we had the coaching setup in place earlier or if we didn't have the WC this year and the full squad was in preseason I'd be a 100% in agreement with you. But seeing some of the errors we're making and not being able to get a BP win against Ulster last week just has me doubtful that a BP win tomorrow is a gimmie.

thomond2006

phog wrote: »

If we had the coaching setup in place earlier or if we didn't have the WC this year and the full squad was in preseason I'd be a 100% in agreement with you. But seeing some of the errors we're making and not being able to get a BP win against Ulster last week just has me doubtful that a BP win tomorrow is a gimmie.

We're 17 point favourites at the bookies for a reason.
Ospreys are not Ulster. There's a malaise around the team and you only need to read the reactions to the Ospreys' lineup announcement to see it. They are down a crazy amount of players. There's really no excuse why Munster shouldn't secure the maximum today.

Shefwedfan

phog wrote: »

If we had the coaching setup in place earlier or if we didn't have the WC this year and the full squad was in preseason I'd be a 100% in agreement with you. But seeing some of the errors we're making and not being able to get a BP win against Ulster last week just has me doubtful that a BP win tomorrow is a gimmie.

Osprey are a mess, if Munster don’t get a bonus point they shouldn’t be thinking of winning the competition

pappyodaniel

Loughman's form has been very good of late so it's nice to see him rewarded with a start in a big game.

molloyjh

Yeah, Ospreys are a shambles. There isnt a huge difference between this Ospreys selection and the one Munster got the TBP win over a few weeks back. The Munster selection on the other hand is markedly stronger with Scannell, Kleyn, Beirne, POM, Stander, Murray, Farrell, Earls and Conway all back. This has to he a 5 pointer. If it isn't then Munster would need to be asking serious questions of themselves. They are more than good enough to win this very comfortably.

Bassfish

Anyone know if highlights are being broadcast free to air anywhere? None on tg4 tonight.

Former Former

Bassfish wrote: »

Anyone know if highlights are being broadcast free to air anywhere? None on tg4 tonight.

Virgin have the rights now

baas baa

Good to see Loughman getting a start, thought he was the standout forward in his u20s crop but the attempted shift to TH gave his career a stuttering start. One of the younger crop of looseheads along with Byrne and O'Sullivan I'm hopeful will push on and transition to test level.

Shefwedfan

Have BT hired all RTÉ people for Ireland province games?

Bassfish

Former Former wrote: »

Virgin have the rights now

Just saw there's a highlights show on Monday night on Virgin Media, way too long after the fact!

AlfaZen

Some strange decisions from the referee already.

2smiggy

Warns them against dummying at the base, yet still gives them the penalty. Very odd

ScrubsfanChris

Shocking pass from Haley

Clegg

ScrubsfanChris wrote: »

Shocking pass from Haley

Yep. But not just from him either. There was a pass to Bleyendall that was basically lobbed in the air to him and he did very well to catch it. Slowed down that backline move a lot before it ever got to Haley.

kuang1

Why is Stephen Merchant in the commentary booth?

super_furry

Looking at that crowd, you have to wonder how sustainable Welsh provincial rugby is.

c.p.w.g.w

super_furry wrote: »

Looking at that crowd, you have to wonder how sustainable Welsh provincial rugby is.

Terrible look for the Premier Club Rugby Competition in the NH

AlfaZen

c.p.w.g.w wrote: »

Terrible look for the Premier Club Rugby Competition in the NH

Put the game on at the same time as a Euro 2020 qualifier for Wales. You’d have to wonder how smart the admin are in this competition.

Clegg

Farrell completely murdered the Ospreys 13 at that ruck.

Clegg

Two stupid decisions from Munster. Scannell didn't need to kick that and there was no need to go high for the tackle.

ScrubsfanChris

What did Scannel think he was doing with that kick? Seriously

shootermacg

This is getting frustrating.

ScrubsfanChris

Another gift

AlfaZen

Should have been a penalty not just knock on!

budhabob

Powerful direct play for the past 5 minutes. Not much invention but it worked

Utah_Saint

Are there more Munster fans at ospreys home ground?!

Faugheen

AlfaZen wrote: »

Should have been a penalty not just knock on!

He clearly tried to catch the ball.

Hopefully there’s more but I’m still seeing the same one-out running that we saw last year. After TOD broke the line there was space out wide but Farrell just takes it at first receiver and runs straight.

Munster will have too much for Ospreys but very little has changed

Clegg

That's forward from Scannell no?

c.p.w.g.w

ospreys offside the whole time during that try, only called once

shootermacg

Well done Munster, sometimes you need to play direct rugby.

corny

"Push, push"....they're ignoring you ref. Penalise them.

Faugheen

Why have referees decided to completely ignore the rules around coming in the side at rucks and mauls in the last year or so?

It’s a free for all at the moment. Saw it in all three games today.

ScrubsfanChris

It's taken a while but the attack is starting to gel

Utah_Saint

Faugheen wrote: »

Why have referees decided to completely ignore the rules around coming in the side at rucks and mauls in the last year or so?

It’s a free for all at the moment. Saw it in all three games today.

Ulster got pinged for it today. Glous got pinged last night for it.

c.p.w.g.w

You'd hope all the tackles ospreys are making will catch up with them in the 2nd half