Following on from here
New Munster chat thread folks. warning deserved there. https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=109477571#post109477571
It was good to see both Ahern and EO'C start at Lock v Lions.
For next season I hope they persist with Ahern at lock and get as much minutes as possible into Edogbo and EO'C.
It might be in everyone's interest to use Beirne more sparingly next season.
I see Max Clein has been given a 1 year contract. Tbf, he looks a reasonably physical prospect, but he needs to see some minutes in order to ascertain his level.
20 years ago today we won our first Heineken Cup.
Unfortunately for me, I couldn't get to the game though my wife and family got to witness it live, I on the other hand, was pleading with a hotel in Kilkenny to show the game in their bar. Thankfully, sense prevailed and our group got to see it.
Very nervous start with Biarritz getting a dodgy try but Stringer eventually stole the show with his try from a scrum.
Glory Glory Munster
Great memories but a bittersweet anniversary in some ways. Wonder will we get to a final again within the next 20 years say.
I'm hopeful, 20 years is a long time in rugby.
Which is just as well with the way things are looking for us at the moment… ;)
I didn’t get to go to that game. Had an exam that morning that I failed anyway so should have gone to Cardiff
Everyone I knew was at the game I rmeber waiting in Dolans by myself for anyone on a day trip to come home
We've been close a few times, the QF v Toulouse was up there with our loss to Wasps in the old Lansdowne Rd for excitement
Best atmosphere of any game I've ever been to, was a magic day out. The next one will be nearly as sweet
I forgot just how good (&French) that Biarritz team was.
BR was Lièvremont (c), Harinordoquy, Betsen and Dusatoir on the bench.
https://www.therugbyjournal.com/rugby-blog/serge-betsen
Poor old Thierry was also playing in the 08' final for Toulouse.
Axel, Wallace, Leamy & Quinlan we salute you - s.u.a.f
Could be worse. Biarritz are currently 10th in ProD2!
Federico Martín Aramburú, Argentine international was on the bench that day for Biarritz. He was shot dead by two young fascists in Paris after a row in a cafe on a 6N weekend in 2022. Shaun Hegarty was with him as Biarritz were having a reunion.
Remember the year Wasps beat us in a semi in Dublin, or Ulster's famous win over Colomiers? Historically speaking we've not made a bad job of staying somewhat competitive by comparison to some clubs
Even under the much-maligned Van Graan, we made 2 Semi-Finals in his first 2 seasons. We'd kill for that now.
Oh my God
That is shocking. Poor man.
Van Graan clearly wasn't our issue back then, although many of us thought it was, we were foolish to think our bad luck at the time was purely down to him. Last year, despite the Rowntree debacle we still made it to the quarters which was an achievement in itself. We were also just two Tadhg Beirne yellow cards away from finishing second in our Champions Cup pool and having a home R16 and potentially a home QF this season
We could really do we seeing some home knock-out CC fixtures.
The last one at home was in 2022 vs Exeter in the 2-legged round of 16. The year before that, we hosted Toulouse in an empty Thomond Park because of Covid. Prior to that you have to go back to 2018, and the Andrew Conway Toulon game.
It's a long stretch without those extra gate receipts.
that was a bastard of a day in lansdowne road, I got sunburned all down one side of my face lol
Yep, especially for those on the east terrace. Also, during the game I hadn't realised the stadium clock was stopping for stoppage so when Leota scored, I really thought we had time to get another score.
Highs and lows
Was there too, a sickener of a day result wise. Weather was roasting. That was a good Wasps team, we had some good games against them. Remember another one when they were still rebuilding Thomond in the lashing rain
Yellow cards killed us that day.
Was in the terrace end that after a v v heavy night out before & it was like a sauna.
M7 was partially opened that time & traffic was mental coming back...cars were boiling as lads left them running when stuck in standstill traffic 🙄
Dallaglio was yellow carded, I think Marcus Horan scored a try. Probably the worst rain we've ever had in Thomond
Our coaches need to take a long hard look at our players and realise that some of them, most notably Tadhg Beirne, are liabilities and need to be either not selected for the big match days or just given their P45s and be done with it.
We've also gone from having 2 European games in our home ground to just 1 because of the format changes and keeping a handful of southern supporters happy
Is it mushroom season already??
Beirne a liability? Surely that's a typo?
Absolutely not, check the history, mind you there isn't a rugby fan in the world that would agree with it.
A bizarre opinion.
RS has a long history of, shall we say, 'out there' opinions so it's not really that surprising he thinks that.
Not that I necessarily agree but didn't he go through a stretch of games of continuously giving away penalties?
(Beirne is the greatest Munster Lock in history)
The man gives away more silly penalties than any other player I've ever seen. The one he gave away V Toulon that he got a yellow card for effectively lost us the game. The one V Bath set the tone for the rest of the game. He's a complete liability to us
Beirne isn't even the most egregious penalty conceding lock in the Munster team (Fineen) or the Irish team (Joe McCarthy). This obsession is just absurd at this stage.
Whatever about the heat of the moment, calling by far our best player "a liability" at this point is just ridiculous carry on.
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