Munster vs CONNACHT match thread

Buer

Utopia Parkway wrote: »

I don't think anyone can take anything from that game. It was a shambles. It'll do Munster no good ahead of playing Leinster next week anyway. Connacht might actually take more from it in the end if it helps their discipline ahead of the new season.
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Think that's a pretty fair assessment. Munster would have been happy with that beforehand. 13 men meant they could just have a training exercise in reality and will have expended no real energy with a short turnaround.

But they also didn't have an opportunity to get any cohesion or fluidity due to the nature of the game. The one thing that stood out in the 10 minutes that I watched was the lack of smarts. Poor enough execution and, if they just wanted to kill the clock, they should have just poked it into the acres of space and touch afforded by only 13 men covering the opposition field.

Still going to be a full blooded semi final and certainly not beyond Munster to pinch it.

ClanofLams

bennyl10 wrote: »

Clearly Munster will need to improve next week, but if Munster play anything like last week they'll make a game of it.

Munster have been piss poor here, had 2 yellows, and have still put 50 on the board,

without Bundee connacht havent had a lot today, of course discipline hasnt helped

They have beaten Leinster one out of the last eight, when James Lowe was sent off after half hour in Thomond.

Making a game out of it is the most they can hope for but would be surprised if they keep within 10 of Leinster.

thomond2006

I missed the last 15 minutes, I assume little of note happened? A farcical game all told.

Quinn Roux will want to forget today. If the captain sets the tone for his team then he had a nightmare. Unlike the one of red cards he was involved in multiple incidents. Some headless penalties which eventually lead to Conor Oliver copping a team yellow card. Soon after Connacht's prospects ended.

Munster's first half after the AP red card was terrible fare. They seemed to lose as much cohesion as Connacht did at the time when Connacht were bulling and there for the taking. Munster should have had an unassailable lead by the break.

DDA was very good I thought. He's got a bit of everything: Power, pace, hands and workrate. He and Farrell are going to be crucial on Friday, if Leinster nullify them I'm not sure how Munster can win.

aloooof

I think the main question for the starting 15 next week is who starts at 7. TOD was poor last week, Cloete never seems to be too far away from giving away a penalty (this week by needlessly getting involved when cooler heads were needed) and JOD has only had 20 mins or so off the bench.

We’ve had some issues with out maul D against both Leinster and Connacht so I think I’d favour JOD.

thomond2006

6-2 split with POM/JOD/CJ starting and Holland/Cloete/JOS on the bench.

TomsOnTheRoof

aloooof wrote: »

I think the main question for the starting 15 next week is who starts at 7. TOD was poor last week, Cloete never seems to be too far away from giving away a penalty (this week by needlessly getting involved when cooler heads were needed) and JOD has only had 20 mins or so off the bench.

We’ve had some issues with out maul D against both Leinster and Connacht so I think I’d favour JOD.

I'd agree with you on JOD. Looked powerful when became on and adds a more dynamic threat than Cloete. Also less inclined to give away silly penalties.

thomond2006

Cloete will be an ideal impact sub, it's just you don't know if it's going to be a positive or negative one.

OldRio

Just watched the game on TG4. The main thing to take out of that was..............

Aki is unbelievable.

Richie_Rich89

aloooof wrote: »

This suggests there was contact with neck/head:

https://twitter.com/MicilGlennon/status/1300082931134758913

Looks like incidental contact to me. Murray's head would be tilted the other way if it was direct to the head. As it is his head has come forward and potentially hit Papali'i because his body is being driven backwards. Papali'i's playing with fire trying such a dominant upright tackle, but it's not a red card, for me.

Poorside

Richie_Rich89 wrote: »

Looks like incidental contact to me. Murray's head would be tilted the other way if it was direct to the head. As it is his head has come forward and potentially hit Papali'i because his body is being driven backwards. Papali'i's playing with fire trying such a dominant upright tackle, but it's not a red card, for me.

It's a shoulder to the head, spin it however you want, that's a red card

Brief_Lives

Poorside wrote: »

It's a shoulder to the head, spin it however you want, that's a red card

with force....
with that much force you need to execute the tackle lower, but i'm sure richie knows that....

Poorside

thomond2006 wrote: »

6-2 split with POM/JOD/CJ starting and Holland/Cloete/JOS on the bench.

I'd start Cloete, he had a bloody good game today and has the bit of mongrel we need.
Only change I'd make is to start Killer if he's fit.

Richie_Rich89

Poorside wrote: »

It's a shoulder to the head, spin it however you want, that's a red card

To me it looks more like pectoral muscle to shoulder than shoulder to head. There might be some incidental head contact subsequently. It's all a bit unclear.

Poorside

Richie_Rich89 wrote: »

To me it looks more like pectoral muscle to shoulder than shoulder to head. There might be some incidental head contact subsequently. It's all a bit unclear.

To me it looks like you're talking out your gluteus maximus.

Burkie1203

Richie_Rich89 wrote: »

To me it looks more like pectoral muscle to shoulder than shoulder to head. There might be some incidental head contact subsequently. It's all a bit unclear.

It's not even debatable. He will get 4 weeks minimum.

Superfoods

Richie_Rich89 wrote: »

Looks like incidental contact to me. Murray's head would be tilted the other way if it was direct to the head. As it is his head has come forward and potentially hit Papali'i because his body is being driven backwards. Papali'i's playing with fire trying such a dominant upright tackle, but it's not a red card, for me.

It was a clear red card.

Squidgy Black

Always impresses me that no matter what, someone always bites. You've got it down to a tee Richie.

Buer

Poorside wrote: »

I'd start Cloete, he had a bloody good game today and has the bit of mongrel we need.
Only change I'd make is to start Killer if he's fit.

As a Leinster fan, I'd be delighted if Munster started Cloete. He doesn't have the power for the better teams and is worth a moment of terrible discipline in most games. Classic case of small man syndrome.

Poorside

Buer wrote: »

As a Leinster fan, I'd be delighted if Munster started Cloete. He doesn't have the power for the better teams and is worth a moment of terrible discipline in most games. Classic case of small man syndrome.

He's an absolute menace at the breakdown and that is clearly very important with the new focus, being a bit shorter than most 7's is an advantage right now, lower centre of gravity is a bonus for him.
And to say he doesn't have the power is miles off the mark.

budhabob

Buer wrote: »

As a Leinster fan, I'd be delighted if Munster started Cloete. He doesn't have the power for the better teams and is worth a moment of terrible discipline in most games. Classic case of small man syndrome.

Cloete wrecks my head as a munster fan, and to be honest I wouldnt have him anywhere near the starting 15. He's definitely not underpowered though, his "beast" lift today was case in point.

I'd start JOD next week for sure.

Akrasia

Poorside wrote: »

I'd start Cloete, he had a bloody good game today and has the bit of mongrel we need.
Only change I'd make is to start Killer if he's fit.

Colete does give a few penalties away per match but he’s such a tenacious and disruptive player when his head is in the game And with the new interpretation of the breakdown he has the potential to win a lot more turnovers than he concedes


I’d start him on Friday if we have the same aggressive game plan we had against Leinster last week

Akrasia

VANG1 wrote: »

Aki. He gave it to a player from the losing team last week?

Aki deserved to be man of the match. If it wasn’t for him I think Munster would have put 60+ points on the board

He was incredibly powerful and dynamic and was involved in almost every positive move Connacht made since he came on. And I say all this as a massive Tadhg Beirne fan

b.gud

b.gud wrote: »

Reckon this Connacht side are going to put in a better performance than some are expecting. Still think that given the strength of the side and the fact they have something to play for means it will be a Munster win. I reckon Munster by 6

Look at this idiot suggesting it would be a close game, what was he thinking

I, thankfully as it turns out, didn't get a chance to watch the full game as I had a family occasion. But in the 25 minutes I saw, through a very dodgy stream, here's a few thoughts I had.

Munster really came out of the blocks and showed that they meant business today and that they wanted to guarantee that semi final spot. The red card really put a halt to any chances of it being a good contest as it just got scrappy after that. On the red card there was 1 angle where it looked like the initial contact was to the shoulder but the angle that the TMO said was best definitely looked like initial contact to the head, all things considered I think it's fair to say that it was a red. Didn't see the Delahunt one so can't comment on that one.

I thought Blade looked quite lively in the bits I saw of him, will be good to see him and Marion push each other on. De Buitler looked very dodgy in defence in the couple of attempts I saw him make. Connacht really need to work on their discipline at the breakdown between this week and last week their penalty count has been too high around the breakdown.

I don't know how Toland keeps getting work he is just so bad as a commentators half the time he hasn't a clue who is doing what on the pitch and gets it totally wrong. The way the commentators were determined to talk about how impressive Papali'i was no matter what I think they must have been talking to connachta for their prep work on Connacht


Also after reading through the thread its good to see that everyone has used the break provided by covid to do some soul searching and come back to interpro threads with a a newfound sense of zen and reasoned thinking in their posts

Superfoods

Why didn’t Munster give some of the younger players a chance?

The Lost Sheep

Superfoods wrote: »

Why didn’t Munster give some of the younger players a chance?

which younger players and Munster were only province with something to play for over the weekend .....

Yeah_Right

Poorside wrote: »

It's a shoulder to the head, spin it however you want, that's a red card

How come Murray didn't go for an HIA? If it was a clear shoulder to the head, surely he should have been checked out.

Bazzo

I presume any bans can run over the next 4 weeks like they did during covid? :pac:

mun1 wrote: »

Job done . pretty handy training run in the end .
Not great preparation for next week though and couldn’t get over the 50 point mark, which should have been the target based on the team they put out.

pity Connaught could make a game of it, second red settled the contest.
No injuries hopefully , Roll on next week where a much tougher challenge awaits.
Ireland should make sure aki gets a decent rest for a bit.

Hopefully Mounstar make more of a game if it next week than Connacht did this week.

phog

Poor enough fare from both teams but Connacht's discipline was awful, the worst I've seen from them. I thought they'd have the benifit of playing under Frank last week but they couldn't cope, a team YC within minutes of kickoff is almost unheardof. I think their discipline got worse when Aki arrived on, he seemed to bring in a niggle to the game that wasn't there before he was subbed on. No issue with any of the cards but if Beirne's was yellow then Aki should have followed him later on, lying across a ruck, hand on ball and Connacht win a penalty. I suppose it goes to show that the ref has far too much to be watching and has to make fast calls.

Very happy with the result and that we seemed to come through this game without the sort of injuries we picked up against Leinster but it's hardly a game that you'd keep to rewatch on a rainy day.

connachta

b.gud wrote: »

determined to talk about how impressive Papali'i was no matter what I think they must have been talking to connachta for their prep work on Connacht

Papali'i did look good. Carries, ball stripped off, impressive power.

We always knew he'd struggle for tackling technique and lasting fresh.

He's the perfect n°20, so

Zzippy

On reflection, I think the Pro14 should hold a hearing and award Connacht that game yesterday. James Cronin came on when he should have been serving his one month ban. A 20-0 bp win will do... :pac:

On a serious note, though, how was he allowed to serve a ban while Munster had no games? They will need to give Papali'i and Delahunt min 6 week bans to ensure they miss any games if that's the case.