Munster Team Talk Thread - Beirne After Reading

Sexton said after the game that Munster had softened them up. It is a fair assessment.

I think we should have won last week and I hope the players know it and learn from it.

Four points of reference as a difference

1. front row around the pitch.

- Furlong pass

- Sheehan carry (under the posts) before the 2nd Lowe try

2. 2nd rows.

- Ross Molony was magnificent yesterday. His pivot play in midfield was fantastic. It adds so many layers to what a team can do in attack. When all your players are that comfortable you pose many questions of a defence, which creates mistakes and space. Ryan and Molony picked off a lineout each at crucial times too.

3. Backrow.

- the biggest impact in the QF was the number of turnovers but too much of the positive stuff came on the wrong side of the ball. The Leinster backrow as a unit offer a good chunk of everything, the balance is far better.

4. Scrum half.

- In general Murray too often kills the tempo. JGP made a few big mistakes yesterday but the pace at which the game was played came from him. And Leinster were comfortable with it, Toulouse were not. This is how the game has changed since the 2019 RWC.

But a lot of that comes from what the forwards deliver. Toulouse had 40% possession in both QF and SF according to rugbypass website.

The difference is how Munster and Leinster used that 60% is stark

Toulouse yesterday were a shadow of the team that played Munster and Leinster had learned how to beat them from that game and Jonny stated that they had the answers given to them. As for the atmosphere in the stadium yesterday was not in the same league as the Munster game. A lot yesterday was in and out to the bar all game or on the phone to their mates or video of players.

I thought a mod waded into the Munster forum last week to demand no discussion on Leinster or their players.

Or does that not apply to Leinster boys crowing about their match ?

No, you should bring it to the match thread or the Leinster thread if you wish.

Results are paramount, obviously. But of course atmosphere matters.

They gave up a mountain of turnovers, and were generally sloppy with the ball in possession, butchering multiple try scoring chances in the first half.

… because Munster won a mountain of turnovers and were excellent in defence.

Credit where it’s due.

The players Munster were missing is obviously a huge factor too - that Leinster team was more or less full strength bar Baird (and maybe Larmour, but he seems to have fallen off the face of the planet in the last year). Munster's injured list has been well documented. It's not a complete 1-1 analysis.

Like Burkie mentions Munsters backrow and it's unbalanced nature (offering more in D than going forward), completely sidestepping the fact that Coombes, Hodnett, and to a lesser extent, JOS were all unavailable through injury. We played the backrow Vs Toulouse out of necessity, nobody else was available - Jack Daly was on the bench like!!! Our next available backrows were Daniel Okeke and then Conor Moloney (or one of the other Wasps extras).

Same with second row skill and front row power - Beirne and Kilcoyne are huge losses in this regard.

God forbid someone have opinions on a forum. An actual discussion might break out - the horror!