Racing 92 vs Munster, Sun 12th Jan 3:15pm, BT Sport

thomond2006

RACING 92
15. Brice Dulin, 14. Teddy Thomas, 13. Virimi Vakatawa, 12. Henry Chavancy (c), 11. Juan Imhoff, 10. Finn Russell, 9. Teddy Iribaren,
1. Eddy Ben Arous, 2. Camille Chat, 3. Ben Tameifuna, 4. Boris Palu, 5. Dominic Bird, 6. Wenceslas Lauret, 7. Bernard Le Roux, 8. Antonie Claassen.

Replacements:
16. Teddy Baubigny, 17. Hassane Kolingar, 18. Cedate Gomes Sa, 19. Donnacha Ryan, 20. Fabien Sanconnie, 21. Maxime Machenaud, 22. Ben Volavola, 23. Olivier Klemenczak,

MUNSTER RUGBY
15. Mike Haley, 14. Andrew Conway, 13. Chris Farrell, 12. Rory Scannell, 11. Keith Earls, 10. JJ Hanrahan, 9. Conor Murray,
1. Dave Kilcoyne, 2. Niall Scannell, 3. Stephen Archer, 4. Jean Kleyn, 5. Billy Holland, 6. Peter O'Mahony (c), 7. Jack O'Donoghue, 8. CJ Stander.

Replacements:
16. Kevin O'Byrne, 17. Jeremy Loughman, 18. John Ryan, 19. Arno Botha, 20. Chris Cloete, 21. Craig Casey, 22. Dan Goggin, 23. Shane Daly,

Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)

AR1: Christophe Ridley (England)

AR2: Paul Dix (England)

TMO: Rowan Kitt (England)

Pool 4 standings:
Racing 17
Saracens 14
Munster 11
Ospreys 2

Richie_Rich89

Real look of knife to a gunfight off that Munster backrow. O'Donoghue is a fine 6/8 but doesn't appear to have the instincts of an openside. O'Mahony doesn't possess the physical tools for blindside. It would be much better in my opinion to put him at 7 and ask him to use his reading of the game to support play. Stander is such a hard worker, and can pull out inspirational moments, but he's not really a footballer, which is a problem from your number 8. Putting him in at blindside would be a better fit. He could get to work without having to make too many decisions.

Winning the backrow battle is almost invariably key to any Irish success on the rugby field. I'm not sure this unit, in this configuration, has it in them to have enough positive influence. For me, 6. Stander, 7. POM, 8. Botha was the combination to go for, especially on this fast, fake pitch, where ball-carrying and winning momentum has heightened importance. You'd have another carrier to take the pressure off Stander (he's always better with another backrow carrier alongside him), and having two brutes with him would free up O'Mahony to concentrate on the cerebral stuff.

Jump_In_Jack

Would rather CJ 6, POM or Cloete 7 and JOD 8.

mfceiling

Hate to say it but Munster could get absolutely hockeyed here.

sydthebeat

mfceiling wrote: »

Hate to say it but Munster could get absolutely hockeyed here.

That's how I see it currently.

Munster aren't playing well, finding it hard to score tries (7 so far versus Ospreys 11 is embarrassing)

If racing open up it could be very ugly.

Squidgy Black

Will require a massive performance from Munster to keep this a close game. Bench isn't exactly the strongest either if things start to go pear-shaped, the decision to go without a lock could turn out to be a big one.

I think they have it in them but will need everything to go right and bank on their defence.

budhabob

Jump_In_Jack wrote: »

Would rather CJ 6, POM or Cloete 7 and JOD 8.

Personally I don't want cloete anywhere near a medium important game, let alone a season defining one.

budhabob

For some reason I feel like a win is on the cards today, even given the clear disadvantage in terms of teams named.

Probably just supporter mist, but still, I'm calling a Munster win now.

Bridge93

Munster by 3. Racing as expected with the named teams to have all the eye catching moments etc but munster with their defence to cling on. Racing brilliant yet flaky and Munster to pick off their inevitable mistakes

yerrahbah

I'll believe JJ is starting when I see him on the field at kick off

thomond2006

Donnacha Ryan out.

Big loss to not have him out there starting.

budhabob

thomond2006 wrote: »

Donnacha Ryan out.

Big loss to not have him out there starting.

Great news

Nervous about this one but a win isn't beyond Munster. Intensity needs to be there for 80 minutes and the pack need to give JJ some time on the ball and breathing room.

PhlegmyMoses

Benjamin Kaysar has strikingly good English for a Frenchie.

Buer

PhlegmyMoses wrote: »

Benjamin Kaysar has strikingly good English for a Frenchie.

He played for Leicester for a few season.

PhlegmyMoses

Buer wrote: »

He played for Leicester for a few season.

Yeah, I think it is more the lack of a strong french accent maybe.

swiwi_

LOL. Barnes trying to make the scrum mark with his studs. Welcome to artificial turf Wayne.

Larbre34

My missus just goes "Dulin, du Vin, du Boursin"

Lol.

Clegg

There was zero need for Russell to take that quickly. Was also a poor pass. Died a death just before it reached the recipient.

Buer

Clegg wrote: »

There was zero need for Russell to take that quickly. Was also a poor pass. Died a death just before it reached the recipient.

Ah, it was into his hands and he didn't have to reach. Player was looking downfield as ball reached him.

Munster have started just how they need. Strangle this for a bit with a couple of three pointers and Racing will Racing.

Exactly the start Munster needed.

Professor Genius

Murray is an awful weak point.

Squidgy Black

Strange to hear a French crowd go quiet for a kicker

Panda Killa

0-6..keep grinding...I'll take a tight game all day long!!

Buer

Professor Genius wrote: »

Murray is an awful weak point.

He's not. He put in a poor kick. Before that he had a very good opening 10 minutes and ran the show for Munster's drive leading to the first score.

budhabob

Buer wrote: »

He's not. He put in a poor kick. Before that he had a very good opening 10 minutes and ran the show for Munster's drive leading to the first score.

This!

Buer

Munster get the next score and I don't see Racing really getting into the game.

Clegg

Munster doing what Ulster should have done yesterday.

budhabob

If JJs hamstrung is ok after some of the tackles he's been involved in he's the finest.

Clegg

That's garbage from Kleyn.

Idiot.

PhlegmyMoses

Idiotic from Kleyn

Professor Genius

Kleyn you donkey

swiwi_

Professor Genius wrote: »

Murray is an awful weak point.

Not really. The weak link for me is scannell at 12. Wouldn’t be out of place on a league pitch. Munster could really do with a more creative inside centre.

mark_jmc

Absolutely criminal from kleyn

Burkie1203

Clegg wrote: »

That's garbage from Kleyn.

Idiot.

Why s he shaking his head. It was clearcut

BonnieSituation

Muppet

Dunney848

Murray varying the point of attack well with skip passes off the base. Looking very good today

Professor Genius

mark_jmc wrote: »

Absolutely criminal from kleyn

Ultimately for Munster to become successful again they will need to de-southafricanize completely.

leakyboots

POM invisible as usual

PhlegmyMoses

Russell has to release that

budhabob

Professor Genius wrote: »

Ultimately for Munster to become successful again they will need to de-southafricanize completely.

Bull**** comment

theVersatile

leakyboots wrote: »

POM invisible as usual

Well timed comment.

budhabob

Unreal tracking and tackle by POM. Hopefully didn't get injured in the process

Squidgy Black

budhabob wrote: »

Bull**** comment

Don't bother biting, you're just giving them the attention they crave.

budhabob

Squidgy Black wrote: »

Don't bother biting, you're just giving them the attention they crave.

Fair point, well made

Professor Genius

Good use of scannells big boot there

ScrubsfanChris

Farrell is having a mare in defense. Handed off about 3 times now.

PhlegmyMoses

Video director is annoying here. Would rather see a wider angle more often and keeps panning to the crowd and missing lineouts.

Clegg

Professor Genius wrote: »

Ultimately for Munster to become successful again they will need to de-southafricanize completely.

Not so much get rid of South African players but rather get rid of mediocre South African players. Stander and Coetzee at Ulster are examples of players that add a lot to the provinces. But there are others that haven't reached the mark.

Cloete is a good poacher, but that's the only notable part of his game. And Kleyn is a lump that hits hard and that's it. One of the more pointless Ireland caps in recent memory.

Professor Genius

Why is Earls so slow? Is he injured if have the wheels just gone with age?

Professor Genius

Clegg wrote: »

Not so much get rid of South African players but rather get rid of mediocre South African players. Stander and Coetzee at Ulster are examples of players that add a lot to the provinces. But there are others that haven't reached the mark.

Cloete is a good poacher, but that's the only notable part of his game. And Kleyn is a lump that hits hard and that's it. One of the more pointless Ireland caps in recent memory.

Well I would also include the Saffer management