Advertisement
Help Keep Boards Alive. Support us by going ad free today. See here: https://subscriptions.boards.ie/.
If we do not hit our goal we will be forced to close the site.

Current status: https://keepboardsalive.com/

Annual subs are best for most impact. If you are still undecided on going Ad Free - you can also donate using the Paypal Donate option. All contribution helps. Thank you.
https://www.boards.ie/group/1878-subscribers-forum

Private Group for paid up members of Boards.ie. Join the club.
Hi all, please see this major site announcement: https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058427594/boards-ie-2026

Munster Team Talk Thread - Beirne After Reading

1…887888890892893…1097

Comments

  • #26672
    phog
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 26,511 ✭✭✭✭phog


    Shay McCarthy overtakes Dougie Fife's try for the fastest scored in the URC

    https://twitter.com/URCOfficial/status/1842669940022682086?t=OdPm6QfcNQtxK3wrsg5dzg&s=19


  • #26673
    aloooof
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,269 ✭✭✭✭aloooof


    The more I see that JOD try, the more I like it… Prendergast will surely be a future Ireland attack coach at some point, at least.



  • #26674
    phog
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 26,511 ✭✭✭✭phog


    I finally got to watch the game, a good game despite the awful conditions, rucks were messy but you'd expect that in a game between Ospreys and Munster and more so on a wet and windy night. I thought Coombes was excellent, again. Some of his mini breaks and offloads on a night like Saturday night were brilliant, his work load off the ball was superb too. Casey got MOTM but it could have gone to nearly any forward or to Crowley. Crowley/Munster played for territory especially with the wind behind them and forced the errors from Ospreys. Archer had a great game too, some of his handling was superb. While I was disappointed to see Adamson named as the ref and I wouldn't agree with all his decisions I thought he had a good game, especially given the conditions he had the ref the game under. Beirne is a brilliant captain, very patient with refs but seeks clarity on everything without being a pain in the hole.

    As @alooof just mentioned our BP Try was top notch on a night like Saturday, it wasn't just Murray, McCarthy and JOD it was the decoys and support runners too and of course the control of a slippery ball.

    Finally, to hold them scoreless was pleasing as we've coughed up a few soft scores already this season. Into round 3 and we're the only team to hold a team scoreless so far this season.



  • #26675
    aloooof
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,269 ✭✭✭✭aloooof


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122692569#Comment_122692569

    Had a quick flick thru myself last night again, and in fairness to him, I thought Bryan Fitzgerald had a good game as well, deserves a mention.



  • #26676
    phog
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 26,511 ✭✭✭✭phog


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122692589#Comment_122692589

    Yes, doesn't look our of place playing pro rugby. He got a bang to the head early in the first half, thought that and McCarthy's tackle both deserved a review



  • Advertisement
  • #26677
    Cookiemunster
    Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 13,223 Mod ✭✭✭✭Cookiemunster


    Sean O'Brien is one of the players being released back to the provinces from the EI tour. He'll be available this weekend.



  • #26678
    aloooof
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,269 ✭✭✭✭aloooof


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122692648#Comment_122692648

    Some bit of good news, and makes sense given he can cover wing or centre. We'll see what bodies are left standing come the weekend…



  • #26679
    phog
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 26,511 ✭✭✭✭phog


    We finished the game on Saturday night down a back, I don't know was it precautionary or did Nash pick up an injury but he was subbed off for Daly with about 8 mins left to play. Hodnett went to wing.



  • #26680
    Podge_irl
    Moderators, Sports Moderators, Paid Member Posts: 31,601 Mod ✭✭✭✭Podge_irl


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122692648#Comment_122692648

    He was unfortunately probably one of the weakest performers in the Force game though. I'd worry about having to rely on him if I was Munster - his defence left a lot to be desired.



  • #26681
    phog
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 26,511 ✭✭✭✭phog


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122693506#Comment_122693506

    I haven't seen the EI game, yet, but SOB has played numerous games for Munster at centre and on the wing, his defence isn't a huge concern. I hope I haven't gone and given him a commentators curse now if he does play next week.



  • Advertisement
  • #26682
    Podge_irl
    Moderators, Sports Moderators, Paid Member Posts: 31,601 Mod ✭✭✭✭Podge_irl


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122693666#Comment_122693666

    Fair enough, not seen him much for Munster. Hard to play in such a scratch team also.



  • #26683
    Cookiemunster
    Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 13,223 Mod ✭✭✭✭Cookiemunster


    Mixed injury news this week.

    The bad news.

    Following Munster’s win over Ospreys on Saturday, Oli Jager (neck) and Peter O’Mahony (hamstring) are both going for scans and are unavailable this weekend.

    Shane Daly is unlikely to be available this week as he continues to recover from an elbow injury.

    Thaakir Abrahams sustained a low-grade thigh injury against Zebre and is unavailable this week.

    Patrick Campbell will have surgery on a shoulder injury he sustained in AIL action last month.

    Josh Wycherley will visit a specialist this week for a neck injury.

    The hopeful news.

    Seán O’Brien returns from the Emerging Ireland tour to South Africa ahead of Saturday’s game.

    Mike Haley has a leg contusion and his availability will be determined later in the week.

    There is good news for Tom Ahern (ankle) and Alex Nankivell (shoulder) as they are both returning to training this week. Their respective availability for Croke Park will be determined later in the week.

    Ruadhán Quinn is following the return to play protocols and his availability will be determined later in the week.

    Billy Burns is increasing his training exposure this week and the out-half’s availability will be determined later in the week.



  • #26684
    phog
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 26,511 ✭✭✭✭phog


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122696549#Comment_122696549

    4 certain starters in the bad news list and a few more in the hopeful news that you'd hope would be available.



  • #26685
    aloooof
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,269 ✭✭✭✭aloooof


    You'd feel sorry for the injured lads like POM, pretty much the only opportunity they'd have gotten to play in Croker.



  • #26686
    letowski
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,415 ✭✭✭letowski


    Is Kilcoyne back also, I notice he is off the rehab list?

    Best case senario probably:

    Haley, Nash, Farrell, Nanks, O’Brien, Crowley Casey;

    Loughman, Scannell, Ryan, Kleyn, Beirne, JOD, Hodnett, Coombes

    Barron, Killer/K. Ryan, Archer, Ahern, Quinn, Murray, Burns, McCarthy



  • #26687
    snotboogie
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,851 ✭✭✭snotboogie


    It’ll be interesting to see what they’ll do if Haley is out. Will we go for Crowley at 15 or try to move Nash there?



  • #26688
    aloooof
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,269 ✭✭✭✭aloooof


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122699035#Comment_122699035

    Crowley's so important to us you'd imagine they'll try keep him at 10, but it is an interesting one, given how short we are.

    Iirc, Nash started a game at 15 last season, and I don't remember it going particularly well. (I think he was moved back to the wing mid-game). I wonder could Shay McCarthy cover there?

    If Burns had a bit more gametime under his belt, I'd have been happier with Crowley going to FB given the circumstances. In this case tho, I think you try to get Crowley at 10 if at all possible.



  • #26689
    snotboogie
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,851 ✭✭✭snotboogie


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122699201#Comment_122699201

    Just heard Rowntree on off the ball say that he expects Haley to start but Burns will probably miss out.



  • #26690
    phog
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 26,511 ✭✭✭✭phog


    On Saturday night in what was probably the worst weather of the weekend Casey had the highest number of passes (175) from Round 3.



  • #26691
    aloooof
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,269 ✭✭✭✭aloooof


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122703907#Comment_122703907

    That must be cummulative over the first 3 rounds, phog, is it?



  • Advertisement
  • #26692
    phog
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 26,511 ✭✭✭✭phog


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122703920#Comment_122703920

    You're right, I wondered how it could be so high and rechecked the tweet but his first tweet was from round 3 and then his next two were from cumulative.

    1000025176.jpg


  • #26693
    aloooof
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,269 ✭✭✭✭aloooof


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122703948#Comment_122703948

    Some interesting stats in there, anyways. Haley continues to be an excellent counter-attacker for us, he's really adding more metres and given much more licence to run it back than he did under JVG where he was tasked with a lot more kick return. Fwiw, he's got a good boot on him too, mind.



  • #26694
    FtD v2
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,805 ✭✭✭FtD v2


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122703970#Comment_122703970

    Would love to see an evolution in rugby stats more akin to what you see in the US sports, where things that speak more to actual meaningful game contributions were recorded rather than just pure volume stats that are typically just very highly correlated to minutes played etc.



  • #26695
    aloooof
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,269 ✭✭✭✭aloooof


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122703982#Comment_122703982

    With regards that, you could get a weighted average from the minutes played to get a more "normalised" stat across the board that wouldn't be as volume centric.

    I'd still expect Haley to feature favourably with metres carried and Casey with passes, tbh.

    And I'm sure I've made the point before, but for some stats, volume matters in an attritional game like rugby.



  • #26696
    FtD v2
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,805 ✭✭✭FtD v2


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122704014#Comment_122704014

    Yeah, I'm not passing comment on either Haley or Casey's stats specifically, just that to me, sheer volume stats don't tell a huge amount of the detail or necessarily speak to team or individual performance.



  • #26697
    aloooof
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,269 ✭✭✭✭aloooof


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122704024#Comment_122704024

    It's a pity the ESPN stats don't seem to be updated this season. They had some interesting ones.



  • #26698
    aloooof
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,269 ✭✭✭✭aloooof


    Paddy Power has us 14 point underdogs for the Leinster game. It feels like a bit of a free shot, I don't think anyone is expecting us to get anything out of the game with the injury list, to the point that even 1 point would be a good return.



  • #26699
    phog
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 26,511 ✭✭✭✭phog


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122706336#Comment_122706336

    I'd be disappointed if it's a 14 point difference at the final whistle but given our injury list I'm not expecting too much either.

    Whatever the score it's fantastic for the two squads to get to play there in a full stadium, shame the likes of POM will miss out on a chance to play there.

    Tom Farrell was interviewed during the week and he mentioned that he played GAA there while in school (Blanchardstown, I think).



  • #26700
    50HX
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 3,278 ✭✭✭50HX


    It could be the time we catch them all on the hop.

    Early card, forced early change of 10 for leinster,

    I don't see it but 7/1 is big odds in a 2 horse race & bookie is rarely wrong etc

    I'd like to see us within a score at 70mins, have at it then



  • Advertisement
  • #26701
    aloooof
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,269 ✭✭✭✭aloooof


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122706565#Comment_122706565

    If it was a bit like the trip to the Aviva in Rowntree's first season I'd be happy enough; we were really short cos of injuries that day too, but were within a score til the last 5 mins or so.



Advertisement