Munster Team Talk Thread - Beirne After Reading

I think the Munster players who featured last night for Ireland did well in what was a god awful trouncing. I'd like to see Casey get a bit more than the customary 7 mins at the end of a game that we've won comfortably or last badly.

Shoving Crowley into the utility back is not doing him any favours either but I accept any player would prefer to be in the 23 than in the stands.

I don't think it's so much that he doesn't trust Casey, it's that the current system is built around JGP capabilities....which are starting to fade. Still has the capability of being brilliant, but having more and more off days as he ages.

Can see the point you’re making,

But,

Ireland only play about 10 matches a year,

I fully support the selectors choosing the absolute best available players to win every single match, taking it match by match.

There could be difficult decisions sometimes, like for example a player isn’t playing really well, and they might stick with the player through a rough patch to see if they would bounce back.

Realistically the squad will have been assessed before the campaign begins, so for example, the 15 and 23 for France would have been selected, and the substitution plan would have been decided a week or so before the match.

I’d wager the team for next week has already been selected by now, and substitution plan worked out also.

The coaches will go into the match with a plan to maximise the chance of winning and putting up four tries and a good points difference.

If that plan means keeping certain players on the pitch for a long time and giving the replacement few minutes then that’s fair enough.

The way I see it is they will have very frank discussions before and after matches about how they are perceived, and it’s up to the players to change that perception the selectors have about their ability.

I don’t think we should take a player off early and bring on a player that could weaken the team just to give the player some more game time.

If the selectors think a player is good enough to positively influence a match they will bring them on earlier.

I wouldn’t worry at all about damaging people’s confidence, it’s up to the players to deal with that and try their best to make the most of their opportunities.

It’s a results business, and it’s simple, the money the IRFU makes from the 6 Nations is the life-blood of the sport in Ireland, the better the results the more money.

If we were 20 points ahead it might make sense to make changes earlier, but that’s a different scenario.

The two half backs last night had a good game when all around them floundered. I think we might see a bit more of Wood again this season.

Highlights from Munster A v Ulster A

The full match is available on Access Munster

Aside from a rumour were we ever really in for him.

He needs to be getting more game time than he'd get here with Casey ahead of him. We have Coughlan & Jake O'Riordan too unless we were not keeping both of them and we have Barrett who is one of the standout players with this year's U20s