Munster Team Talk Thread - Beirne After Reading

Hopefully Loughmans and TA are just knocks....but knowing our luck they're both pregnant!

Casey was superb today, incredibly impressive to hit the ground running over the last 2 games at the same high level he was playing pre injury. I think his game has gone up another level this season. Such a shame he missed out on the 6N.

Munster moved into the Champions Cup quarter-finals after beating Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle 25-24 in dramatic fashion at Stade Marcel-Deflandre.

Here’s how the Munster players rated:

Thaakir Abrahams – 8

His moment of magic got the Munster show on the road, he was solid in the backfield and electric with ball in hand before going off injured.

Calvin Nash – 9

Arguably his best performance in red. Harried, chased and made big defensive interventions. Immense. 9

Tom Farrell – 7

Struggled at times to cope with Teddy Thomas and UJ Seutini’s marauding running threat, but grew into the game. 7

Sean O’Brien – 8

Made up for a loose pass with a stunning hand off of Jack Nowell and he got better as the game went on. 8

Andrew Smith – 7

Coughed up a cheap yellow under pressure, but didn’t let it faze him and weeks after leaving Connacht he played a big role, scoring a try and winning a big turnover.

Jack Crowley – 8

His drop-goal summed up a day when he delivered a calm, accurate display amidst the chaos of a European epic.

Craig Casey – 9

Started with a few fizzing passes and his confidence was evident throughout, took his try brilliantly.

Jeremy Loughman – 6

Forced off injured after 13 minutes.

Diarmuid Barron – 8

Made a couple of huge defensive interventions in the first half and was reliable out of touch.

Oli Jager – 8

Munster’s scrum held its own for the most part and he put in a big shift, forcing Teddy Thomas back inside was a big moment.

Jean Kleyn – 7

Looked gassed at times on his first start in months, but made his physicality count. Hands let him down on occasion.

Tadhg Beirne – 9

A captain’s performance from the Kildare man who was relentless in his refusal to give in to the more powerful Frenchmen. Some huge defensive interventions.

Peter O’Mahony – 7

Industrious as ever, O’Mahony didn’t take a backward step all night and carried the fight to La Rochelle.

John Hodnett – 9

Superb display from the openside who made a succession of big defensive plays and covered an abundance of ground.

Gavin Coombes – 8

Won’t have done his Ireland hopes any harm here, Coombes produced a superb performance. His try was just reward.

Replacements:

Niall Scannell – 7

Came on for the final 14 minutes and put in a shift.

Josh Wycherley – 8

On after 12 minutes and did brilliantly against a far bigger opponent at the scrum.

Stephen Archer – 7

A big 27 minute shift including plenty of solid scrums.

Fineen Wycherley – 6

Had an anxious wait at the finish as they reviewed his tackle, but could breathe a sigh of relief. Industrious.

Tom Ahern – 8

Made a couple of big plays after coming on, going hard in the air and in contact.

Conor Murray – 7

Calmness personified, his kicking game was key to the build-up to the drop-goal. 7

Rory Scannell – 7

Solid as a rock in the midfield after coming on for Abrahams.

Alex Kendellen – 5

Most of his time after coming on was spent in the sin-bin.​

His international ambitions will have been Dented by his and his teams performances over the last year. I certainly hope none of the provinces would consider him, he hasn't quite reached the depths of disdain of Eddie O'Sullivan

things will get worse for ROG after this. You could see Aldritt was absolutely despondent and the whole team just waiting for a mistake as they went through the phases, which duly arrived. The team look finished which inevitably comes back on the coach. They’ve a fight to stay in the top 14 now, nevermind silverware.

I love ROG but he got over his skis in the last while and maybe stayed a season too long at LAR. Coaching is extremely fickle and anyone can become yesterday’s man very fast.

Ian Costello to Murray Kinsella

"Those moments, he [Abrahams] went between two world-class backs. He’s pretty sore now and he has six days to recover for the next one.”

So hopefully he's ok for next week

Or maybe the Hino guys have returned to moan about team selection and pet hate ROG, or score the players with only county mentioned Kildare. Could be a long day.

Munster win yesterday and a cork win today would cap off a good weekend.

Next few days might be tough if you're not from munster or cork though 😅

Bordeaux are a very strong team based on the first half, but there are certainly chinks in their armour. Cant see Ulster finding a way back into the match, but here's hoping.

Rewatched the first half again this morning, Smith's YC annoyed me yesterday and it's not any better today knowing the result and then the YC & Pen Try later in the game was a total joke. Sandwiched in between was a penalty against Nash for not rolling away, he couldn't get away any quicker and pinged even though ref let both teams away with murder at the breakdown. The penalty was reversed as there an earlier clash to head on SOB.

ROG on Munster's win

Did I tell ye I love a DG ♥️

Match confirmed.

It mightnt be as bad as hate, but there are a number of posts saying he's "gotten above his station" etc. - scroll up this page.