Munster vs Connacht, Fri 5th March 7:35pm, Eir Sport 1

Clareman

Wow we were made work for that but ultimately it was a semi final so that's what you'd expect.

Hopefully we'll get a lot of players a run in the next 2 dead rubbers

OldRio

irishgrover wrote: »

Good game of rugby, nothing too controversial to discuss. Thought the ref had a good game

2/10 must do better.

Utopia Parkway

Thornbury with 12 tackles 0 missed.
2 turnovers
3 line out steals
2 charge downs

theVersatile

Any clips of the Cloete/Carty incident? Seem to have missed it in the heat of the game.

Padkir

razorblunt wrote: »

Joy Neville isn’t exactly excelling at the TMO role in fairness.

That's understating it.

Not just tonight. Every game I've watched where she is TMO, she's too finnicky and harsh on minor things and misses or passes on the big issues.

TomsOnTheRoof

Connacht unlucky in places. Thornbury was immense. Haley surely must be close to a call up at this stage.

Clareman

Padkir wrote: »

That's understating it.

Not just tonight. Every game I've watched where she is TMO, she's too finnicky and harsh on minor things and misses or passes on the big issues.

I thought the opposite, she brings stuff to the refs attention and lets tehm make a decision rather than declare her opinion, it's not like she's part of a normal ref crew and building up a rapport with the rest of the team.

aloooof

That game fairly rattled along. Connacht disrupted Munster’s lineout and exiting kicks so much that they’ll have to be disappointed not to come away with the win; it feels like it should have been decisive. Connacht 2nd row both very, very good.

Felt Aki’s probably was a borderline yellow but they always feel a bit harsh when you see some other incidents that get a yellow.

Thought the ref was good, but he was definitely on the quick side to blow at the breakdown; Cloete and Cronin benefitted from 2 jackals that were blown fairly quickly.

Haley has been excellent of late. He’s had the occasional slight mistake, but he’s brought so much in the counter-attack, and his offloading this season.

Interested Observer

Thought that was a good game, enjoyed it. Connacht still 2% off, but they'd every chance of winning that. Some quality performances and some terrible discipline from them.

ElisaAtWar

There was just a simple little scenario where Bundee passed the ball to Porch. There was nothing wrong with the pass but it summed up Connacht in the last while. Porch took the pass and got bundled into touch. But he should have being taking an inside line for that pass. But he didn't know any better. And just strikes of poor coaching. As said playing Munster at their own game is pure stupid, but there was no clear idea what to do with the ball Thornbury provided. And that is a worry. I don't Andy Friend has provided any solutions. In fact I think Connacht has regressed under his tutelage. Hard words, but it's my belief. Maybe he was a sevens coach for a reason.

And this not to say Van Graan offers anything to Munster. It's still the deadbeat Munster it has always been.

thomond2006

I think tonight showed why Healy only got the one year extension. He's not quite there yet. He's had a lot of minutes this season and that will hopefully stand to him. The next two weeks should be used to have a look at Flannery and Crowley, though perhaps not at 10. Flannery might get a game at 15 with Conway and Daly back with Ireland (presumably) and Haley due a rest. Crowley has played some games at 12 this season.

JJ and Carbery look nailed on for the 23 for the final.

its_phil

ElisaAtWar wrote: »

There was just a simple little scenario where Bundee passed the ball to Porch. There was nothing wrong with the pass but it summed up Connacht in the last while. Porch took the pass and got bundled into touch. But he should have being taking an inside line for that pass. But he didn't know any better. And just strikes of poor coaching. As said playing Munster at their own game is pure stupid, but there was no clear idea what to do with the ball Thornbury provided. And that is a worry. I don't Andy Friend has provided any solutions. In fact I think Connacht has regressed under his tutelage. Hard words, but it's my belief. Maybe he was a sevens coach for a reason.

And this not to say Van Graan offers anything to Munster. It's still the deadbeat Munster it has always been.

Connacht are 8-6 with 10 bonus points. What nonsense are you talking about?

What you think sound like hard words, sounds like crap to the rest of us based on nothing with zero context given Connacht's history bar one season.

gally74

ElisaAtWar wrote: »

There was just a simple little scenario where Bundee passed the ball to Porch. There was nothing wrong with the pass but it summed up Connacht in the last while. Porch took the pass and got bundled into touch. But he should have being taking an inside line for that pass. But he didn't know any better. And just strikes of poor coaching. As said playing Munster at their own game is pure stupid, but there was no clear idea what to do with the ball Thornbury provided. And that is a worry. I don't Andy Friend has provided any solutions. In fact I think Connacht has regressed under his tutelage. Hard words, but it's my belief. Maybe he was a sevens coach for a reason.

And this not to say Van Graan offers anything to Munster. It's still the deadbeat Munster it has always been.

munster will maul and roll over most teams from 5 meters,

but they will win nothing when it comes to the buisness end of the compettion,

The Inbetween is mine

razorblunt wrote: »

Joy Neville isn’t exactly excelling at the TMO role in fairness.

Is it because she's pregnant Liam?

The Inbetween is mine

Utopia Parkway wrote: »

Thornbury with 12 tackles 0 missed.
2 turnovers
3 line out steals
2 charge downs

He was damn good against us tonight defensively... deserves the CJ Stander award.

Zzippy

Regarding the reffing. Thought the ref was decent but he was very quick to favour the jackal. Loughman and Cloete both benefited at times, Loughman in particular had hands on the ground before he got on the ball Aungier was trying to recycle. I don't know what Neville was looking at, but Cloete's contact with Carty was *at least* a penalty, it was careless, if not reckless, and high. The yellow for Bundee was harsh but understandable, I don't think Casey would have gathered so the knock on wasn't very material. You don't often see a yellow for that so far out the pitch. That was Neville too, ref had been happy to go with a penalty only. Ah well. It was a good fair contest and either side could have snatched it, Munster just about deserved it on merit. Story of the season.

randomname2005

Great game, disappointed for Connacht to fall short.
Hadn't seen the ref before. Though he did okay, missed a few things as all refs do, but not sure it would have changed the outcome unless the clote incident was red.

Would be great if there were more games like this on a regular basis in the pro 14

theVersatile

Best rugby of the night was played in the build up to our three pointer after HT. Lovely offloading. We also seem to get it in drips and drabs but not over eighty minutes, but there's a night and day difference between Munster now versus last season.

Jump_In_Jack

The yellow against Aki stalled the momentum of the game and was a poor call I thought. Penalty was all that should have been given.

Could someone explain why Cloete got his yellow for picking up the ball with no one competing with him?

Same for Aki’s penalty that gave Munster the soft 3 points.

If the rules mean you have to ruck over it for a teammate to pick it up behind you even when there is nobody from the other team trying to ruck against you it seems like a stupid rule that just slows down the game needlessly, or have I got it wrong?

randomname2005

Jump_In_Jack wrote: »

The yellow against Aki stalled the momentum of the game and was a poor call I thought. Penalty was all that should have been given.

Could someone explain why Cloete got his yellow for picking up the ball with no one competing with him?

Same for Aki’s penalty that gave Munster the soft 3 points.

If the rules mean you have to ruck over it for a teammate to pick it up behind you even when there is nobody from the other team trying to ruck against you it seems like a stupid rule that just slows down the game needlessly, or have I got it wrong?

Clote I think could have gone against him or the other Munster player basically diving over the top. And 5m out after a line break is yellow.

Aki was different. The ball was still in the ruck, under somebody standing over it so he couldn't pick it up

ElisaAtWar

gally74 wrote: »

munster will maul and roll over most teams from 5 meters,

but they will win nothing when it comes to the buisness end of the compettion,

I agree with that sentiment. But it doesn't take away from a lateral performance from Connacht. That was just simply where the biggest disappointment was

AbusesToilets

Porch's poor kick really killed Connacht. Try from nothing. Ref with some harsh calls at the end, the high tackle call on Carberry especially was poor imo.

leakyboots

Thought Cloete's one was harsh, ball was there to be picked up. He's caused mayhem on the deck since they changed the laws. I know he gets penalised but he wins so much ball. Billy Holland flopped in the ruck which could have been a penalty there.

Ben Healy had a poor night, awful actually bar a nice offload. Nothing really went right for him, including kicks. He's still young enough but you'd think that's him 3rd choice for the remainder of the season, this was the game to potentially grab the jersey.

Casey was good, a couple of sloppy kicks but very lively around the ruck and passing was snappy. Tackled his heart out too.

Haley continued his good form, worth a look internationally maybe? Great stepper, always good for an offload, handy in the air. His kicking is mixed is the only criticism I'd have, he sometimes kicks with the same low trajectory as James Lowe.

Cronin had a fine game, his form has been good too. Has the nose for a try and is a good groundhog, solid in the scrum. Wycherley has a bit of work to do to break in ahead of him and Killer. Loughman has done very little wrong this season too. We're well stacked at LH.

Daly had a night to forget. He's in a strange situation whereby he's in the national squad, not getting gametime and then not playing much with Munster. You'd think it's Conway/Earls/Haley for the final.

Lineout was a disaster, Connacht did a right number on us there, fair dues.

Gonna single out Archer too, he's been a brilliant servant and gets no plaudits. It's quite a while ago now but he used have an absolutely awful time in the scrums, he used ship fierce criticism. He has been regularly locking it down for years, without necessarily being dominant mind, but generally gets parity. He's one that has popped up with nice hands in play too, thrown an offload off the ground recently enough also. 225 caps is some going for a guy that looked like losing a contract around 8 years ago, not sure what his contract situation is but I think he's worth another season.

Ardillaun

I thought Connacht were going to be under pressure in the set-pieces but the scrum was solid and the lineout was dominant. Thornbury was incredible, esp. with the charge downs, real Itoje stuff. Blade has a lovely grubber kick.

Interested Observer

Jump_In_Jack wrote: »

The yellow against Aki stalled the momentum of the game and was a poor call I thought. Penalty was all that should have been given.

Could someone explain why Cloete got his yellow for picking up the ball with no one competing with him?

Same for Aki’s penalty that gave Munster the soft 3 points.

If the rules mean you have to ruck over it for a teammate to pick it up behind you even when there is nobody from the other team trying to ruck against you it seems like a stupid rule that just slows down the game needlessly, or have I got it wrong?

Cloete wasn't on his feet, you could clearly see him supporting his weight with a hand on the ground just before going for the ball. At that point he's out of the game.

Aki, the ball was in the ruck. You can't handle the ball in a ruck.

Shelflife

AbusesToilets wrote: »

Porch's poor kick really killed Connacht. Try from nothing. Ref with some harsh calls at the end, the high tackle call on Carberry especially was poor imo.

That penalty while hard on Wooton was correct, Wooton made contact with the head so it’s a high tackle.

There wasn’t a lot that Wooton could do about it but it’s still high and still a pen.

Overall I think Busby had a solid game, he kept a lid on a pot that was simmering nicely throughout the game and was consistent in his decisions.

Sure there were one or two that could have gone the other way , but that’s always the case in every game.

yerrahbah

Another iffy performance by Munster

Connacht really did a number on us at lineout time

I felt if we could have won a few more of our lineouts then our maul would have won us a few penalties

Fortunate enough with a few decisions, the Cloete flailing arm and the "high" tackle on Carbery in the corner spring to mind

Not a great performance by Healy, but this is essentially his first proper season so hopefully he learns from it.

ShineyShiney

Shelflife wrote: »

That penalty while hard on Wooton was correct, Wooton made contact with the head so it’s a high tackle.

There wasn’t a lot that Wooton could do about it but it’s still high and still a pen.

Overall I think Busby had a solid game, he kept a lid on a pot that was simmering nicely throughout the game and was consistent in his decisions.

Sure there were one or two that could have gone the other way , but that’s always the case in every game.

Thought he had a good game, was consistent with his decisions, I wouldn't be disappointed to see him reffing us again. Thought DDAs around the neck tackle on the 10 in the last 5 minutes right in front of him was a bad call and not in keeping with the rest of his game but generally a good game. I like Joy as a ref but I'm struggling with her as a tmo. Thought the high tackle on Carty, Daly taken out off the ball by cloete and Coombes obstruction all warranted a look.

Excellent game, disappointed to.come out the wrong side but well played Munster.

mun1

Good energetic game to watch , and excellent commitment form both sides.
Good runout for some of the munster squad players last night. Really thought Connacht were going to do it based on the respective starting teams.
Thought we would see more from Healy, Daly, Conway, Farrell, Wycherley .

Player wise , Winners on the night were Cronin, Casey, Cloete and Haley

Well done to Connacht for dong their homework in the line out , but their back play was worse than Munsters and with a lot of lovely passing across the field, they lacked the patience and accuracy to make the possession count. AKI is an absolute monster and would love to see him down at munster.

Had a close look at carty and while his skill levels are very good, his decision making and control go missing at crucial times.

Klyne, Beirne, POM, CJ, KOB , kilcoyne to come back into the pack for the final along with Murray (although I’d put Casey on a par with him) JJ, DDA, earls in the back line.
Even with those players back , the performances have been very inconsistent this season , so it will be some trick to win the final.

Shame the final is the week after 6N ends , but with the nature of the season , I’m thankful for any rugby to watch.

Padkir

Shelflife wrote: »

That penalty while hard on Wooton was correct, Wooton made contact with the head so it’s a high tackle.

There wasn’t a lot that Wooton could do about it but it’s still high and still a pen.

Overall I think Busby had a solid game, he kept a lid on a pot that was simmering nicely throughout the game and was consistent in his decisions.

Sure there were one or two that could have gone the other way , but that’s always the case in every game.

Just a question on the high tackle law as it might be my poor understanding.

It was a high tackle, yes, as he caught him around the neck, but without much force. Does the fact that the player was falling and only a foot from the ground not mitigate it down to no sanction?

For example, if it was high with more force, it might start at yellow card, then be mitigated down to a penalty only because of the falling player.

Why does the mitigation not go a step further if the original sanction was penalty only? Genuine question as it's always confused me and I always find it so harsh that you can win a penalty by slipping while trying to step someone, while they have no time to do anything to avoid it.