Munster Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread.

DDC1990 · 25-05-2011 09:08AM

PhatPiggins wrote: »

What would people think about Munster giving Leinster a guard of honour onto the pitch on Saturday?

I think it would be appropriate + it would fire the Munster lads up even more

Don't see why not. Clap them on then Bate them off!!!

Gwan Munster. Any Idea about the team?

theboss80 · 25-05-2011 10:37AM

Judgement Day wrote: »

Would some body please start the match thread! n.

Who will get it done first Thomond or Couchsmart?

C'mon Thomond

ormond lad · 25-05-2011 10:43AM

no match thread yet, so il post it here
munsterrugby.ie
No Surprises In Munster Squad
25 May 2011, 11:12 am
By The Editor
All the usual suspects, with the exception of Tony Buckley, have been included in the 26 strong Munster squad for the Magners Grand Final against Leinster on Saturday, a game that should see David Wallace win his 200th cap.

Buckley has been ruled out with a shoulder injury that was operated on earlier in the week.
Munster Squad: P Warwick, S Zebo, F Jones, D Barnes, K Earls, D Howlett, L Mafi, J Murphy, C Murray, T O'Leary, P Stringer, R O'Gara, S Archer, W du Preez, J Hayes, M Horan, M Sherry, D Varley, D O'Callaghan, P O'Connell, M O'Driscoll, D Leamy, N Ronan, D Ryan, J Coughlan, D Wallace.

Judgement Day · 25-05-2011 01:00PM

No last hurrah for Alan Quinlan so.

Tomtom364 · 25-05-2011 02:12PM

Judgement Day wrote: »

No last hurrah for Alan Quinlan so.

The way he went off at the last match, clapping to the crowd and going down the guard of honor first (and leading the team out if i remember corectly).
He already knew he wouldn't be out again. I'd say barring any injurys, it was already decided that that would be his final game.

EDIT: Hopefully see him in a babas jersey during the summer maybe?

Leroy Lita · 28-05-2011 06:14PM

Conor Murray and Felix Jones to be in the World Cup squad for Ireland?
yay or nay?

id take Murray before O'Leary and in my opinion, Jones is as good as Kearney.

DDC1990 · 28-05-2011 06:25PM

Guys, I cant see why we're looking for a new Center?

Mafi and Barnes looked like a Top class partnership.
Bar one missed tackle from Barnes that let O'Driscoll through, Barnes was strong carrying the ball, great in the tackle and protected the ball in rucks.

Mafi has looked like his old self. Havn't seen him play like that since Tipoki was his partner. Set up plenty of attacks and shut McFadden and O'Driscoll down.

Leroy Lita · 28-05-2011 06:28PM

still think Munster need a new centre. Mafi aint gona be as good as that everyday and I feel that Barnes needs to bulk up a bit. saying that , Barnes is one wiry and tough lad.

Amazotheamazing · 28-05-2011 06:53PM

Leroy Lita wrote: »

Conor Murray and Felix Jones to be in the World Cup squad for Ireland?
yay or nay?

id take Murray before O'Leary and in my opinion, Jones is as good as Kearney.

Nah, Kearney has proved himself at the highest international level, Jones still has it all to prove, but he deserves his chance to do so now, imo.

PhatPiggins · 28-05-2011 07:39PM

Leroy Lita wrote: »

Conor Murray and Felix Jones to be in the World Cup squad for Ireland?
yay or nay?

id take Murray before O'Leary and in my opinion, Jones is as good as Kearney.

Ah here come off of it. Jones has played 10 good ML games, Kearney was one of the stars of the last Lions tour.

Sherry looked the goods again today. Varley is nuggety but his lineouts are still a bit ropey, will do well to hold on to his starting spot next season.

jolley123 · 29-05-2011 08:05PM

Though I'd inform you that the Munster documentary - Limerick love affair is coming on now on Setanta Ireland.

I'm sure it will be even better to watch this time.;)

Amazotheamazing · 29-05-2011 08:30PM

Even leaving aside Munster's win yesterday, we've had a great league. Has any team won it before only losing three games? What do Munster need to do to make a great league team into a team that can challenge for HEC's?

phog · 29-05-2011 08:57PM

I really dont see a big block in us challenging for the H/C, we played poorly during our H/C games but there's bags of evidence to show that we can play better than we did.

We beat Ulster and Leinster twice this season, Osprey's 3 times, and we beat Toulon, London Irish and Brive.

The two biggest diappointments for me during the season were Toulon away and the Amlin semi, we just didn't turn up and were well beaten. a few rubs of the green and we might have pulled something out of the bag in those matches but overall, we didn't play to out best and H/C demands your best.

*** Over the course of the season we've used over 50 players, scored 74 tries and a total of 757 points.

*** these are not my stats so I hope they're correct, too tired to verify now.

GerM · 29-05-2011 09:01PM

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

Even leaving aside Munster's win yesterday, we've had a great league. Has any team won it before only losing three games? What do Munster need to do to make a great league team into a team that can challenge for HEC's?

Given the chopping and changing of the format, it's hard to make comparisons. Ospreys won it before only losing 3 games. Leinster won the inaugural tournament without losing a single match also although that was with the old two pool format so meant they only had to play about 11 games. I would put that on par with Munster's achievement but the league is of a higher quality now than it was then so Munster's season probably edges it.

What do Munster need to do? Trust in their current resources. Give them the correct exposure to develop. ROG will be 35 next season. If Keatley is to be his successor, ROG should see a lot of bench time whether he likes it or not in the ML. The same for David Wallace and POM. Butler needs to be looked at also. Munster badly need to develop a no. 8 for the long term or they'll be looking at bringing in a NIQ player for that also in 2 years. McGahan has said they'll be looking to bring in a centre over the summer but with Barnes stepping up it might be a more canny move to look at a back row player. This is the area they were beaten in when it came to the HEC and Amlin crunch matches. A top class blind side could make a massive difference to their performances in those games.

PhatPiggins · 29-05-2011 10:39PM

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

Even leaving aside Munster's win yesterday, we've had a great league. Has any team won it before only losing three games? What do Munster need to do to make a great league team into a team that can challenge for HEC's?

How many ML games were you genuinely impressed with Munsters performance? I think we played a lot of decent but unspectacular rugby helped in part by our huge squad of largely decent players(with the obvious exceptions). What we were serving up on average over the course of the ML is not close to HC winning standards.

It easy to get caught up in the moment after beating Leinster but there is a lot to be done to that team before we can dream of challenging for the HC i.e.scrum needs serious over haul, lineouts used to be a weapon now just about getting parity, we only have one excellent ball carrier in the back 5 and he's 34, we're now completely reliant on ROG playing well to win against the best teams, need a real backs coach.

Made a lot of progress in developing 4/5 new players but I'd imagine next season will be a transitional one.

Amazotheamazing · 29-05-2011 10:56PM

PhatPiggins wrote: »

How many ML games were you genuinely impressed with Munsters performance? I think we played a lot of decent but unspectacular rugby helped in part by our huge squad of largely decent players(with the obvious exceptions). What we were serving up on average over the course of the ML is not close to HC winning standards.

It easy to get caught up in the moment after beating Leinster but there is a lot to be done to that team before we can dream of challenging for the HC i.e.scrum needs serious over haul, lineouts used to be a weapon now just about getting parity, we only have one excellent ball carrier in the back 5 and he's 34, we're now completely reliant on ROG playing well to win against the best teams, need a real backs coach.

Made a lot of progress in developing 4/5 new players but I'd imagine next season will be a transitional one.

I'd agree with a lot of that but this season was also a transitional one. To some extent we're healthier now than we were last september.

phog · 30-05-2011 07:29AM

From the IT.

GERRY THORNLEY at Thomond Park

RUGBY: DAT OL’ man river, He mus’ know sumpin’, But don’t say nuthin’, He jes’ keeps rollin’, He keeps on rollin’ along.

As with Munster, so too there’s life in the mighty Bull yet. There he was, 37 years young, helping to earn his side a penalty try in the 79th minute.

His work-rate, especially in defence, had been incredible too. Normally, he don’t say nuthin’ either, but there he was, about an hour or so later, agreeing to a post-match rendezvous with the massed huddle of reporters in the bowels of Thomond Park; assuredly a first in 17 seasons. A Kodak moment, if ever there was one, and to prove the point James Coughlan took a picture of this historic event on his iPhone.

They use him selectively these days, but Munster’s scrum resurgence in the League semi-final and final has coincided with John Hayes’ recall to the frontrow. In the likes of the veteran bull and younger bolters in Conor Murray and Felix Jones, Munster have muddied the World Cup waters, and after all his achievements in the game, Hayes seems utterly relaxed in his own skin about what the future may or may not hold.

Asked whether he had played his last game for Munster, Hayes smiled and shrugged. “I don’t know, that’s the honest answer. I’ll just wait and see how it goes. I feel fine now, but it’s like anything, when you get a win things don’t hurt. But it’s the end of the season and I’m looking forward to a break now.

As for the World Cup, he simply said: “We’ll wait and see.” Right now, all that’s on his agenda is going back to the family farm. “I’ll go straight home because it’s a busy time of the year and I have to get jobs done. Straight home and I’ll get to do them, if the weather holds anyway. It would want to clear up a small bit!”

The key to his longevity, he reckons, is “in my case I actually started late, and I’m not saying that’s the right thing for any young fella but that definitely did help me, I suppose, in terms of development.”

Hayes took a little umbrage at the notion that lasting the full 80 might send a message to the watching Irish management. “I’ve played 80 minutes all my career so it’s nothing new to me, like. I’ve been doing it for years. I haven’t done it much this year, maybe, but I have done it every other year.”

Generously acknowledging what a great season Mike Ross has had, Hayes also had some sympathy for Leinster. “There’s no doubt, we’ve been there before, and if you play big matches every week it does take its toll. They had a huge game last week and there was travel involved, whereas we had two weeks to prepare. It was just a matter of getting the two weeks right, of not going off the boil and keeping that balance right.

“It’s just good to get the win. It’s been a long season, obviously it’s been disappointing in Europe but we’ve been good in the Magners but finishing the league stages on top doesn’t get you anything so it was important to get the knockout wins.”

Asked if Munster would welcome having Hayes around the set-up even if he did retire, Denis Leamy smiled broadly when commenting: “I think he probably deserves a rest, to be fair, after however long he’s been around, 13-14 years here at the top and he deserves his break. If the guy does decide to come back to rugby and around here he’ll be welcomed back with open arms. A legend.

“Just a great example as a player. Kept his head down, quiet, never complained, shied away from all media and cameras and just did his job incredibly well and dealt with criticism and dealt with the highs and everything so well – just a great example to young players and the hardest man you could ever meet. Really, really made of steel.”

A gentle giant of a man.

phog · 30-05-2011 07:34AM

Another piece on Cappamore man from the Examiner

JOHN HAYES popped up on the outside, five metres from the Leinster line and with the clock running deep into the second half as Munster went in search of a final try to land another piece of silverware for the province.

It could have been Twickenham, 11 years and a day ago, as Munster tried to win their arm-wrestle with Northampton in their first Heineken Cup final. But this was the 38-year-old Hayes at Thomond Park on Saturday, putting in yet another titanic shift to help his team win the 2010-11 Magners League title.

"Absolutely incredible isn’t it," Munster head coach Tony McGahan said following the 19-9 win over Leinster. "For him to keep going the way he does and what he has done for Munster and Ireland for so long (is amazing). For him to finish off the game and get a pushover try against a quality scrum like Leinster’s was fantastic."

It was only Hayes’ third full 80 minutes of the season and his first full run since October 29, as the veteran tight-head prop with more than 200 appearances for Munster and 100-plus for Ireland has been carefully managed through the latter seasons of his distinguished career. Yet McGahan had no thoughts of replacing him midway through an epic battle with Leinster.

The coach explained: "He was travelling pretty well, we keep a close eye on him and see how he is moving around but he was throwing himself around like a young man."

Hayes’ work-rate and commitment to the cause continues to impress team-mates and with talk of the Bruff prop possibly stepping away from the game to return full-time to his farm, Paul O’Connell said: "He’s an incredible character. To be left out there for 80 minutes at the end of the season and to get the pushover in the end, it’s great for him. He’s been an incredible servant to Munster rugby, and he’s a model for every young Academy player, in terms of being a no-fuss player. He just does his job and does it very well."

As for the Bull putting himself out to pasture, O’Connell said of his famously low-profile team-mate: "You’ll have to ask him that, if you can ever get an interview off him."

Remarkably, Hayes was in the mood to talk, so, had he played his last game for Munster? "I don’t know, that’s the honest answer. I’ll just wait and see how it goes. I feel fine now, but it’s like anything, when you get a win, things don’t hurt. But it’s the end of the season and I’m looking forward to a break now."

It would, he agreed, be a great way to bow out if it was to be he last game for Munster, adding: "It was a great match, a great way to finish the season, anyway."

And there is still the chance he will wear green again, for Declan Kidney and Ireland at this autumn’s World Cup in New Zealand. "We’ll wait and see," he said with a smile.

"I’ve played 80 minutes all my career so it’s nothing new to me. I’ve been doing it for years. I haven’t done it much this year, maybe, but I have done it every other year."

For now, though, there are matters to attend to back on the farm: "I’ll go straight home because it’s a busy time of the year and I have to get jobs done."

This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Monday, May 30, 2011

ormond lad · 30-05-2011 01:17PM

As the match thread is closed il post them here.
Irish Independents player ratings, doesn't say who came up with them.

Players Ratings
Monday May 30 2011
Munster:
15 FELIX JONES 7
Lively showing from the young full-back whose return from injury has been extremely productive and gives him an outside World Cup shot.
14 DOUG HOWLETT 8
Took his try superbly and unleashed a wonderful second-half break that cut Leinster apart down the middle.
13 DANNY BARNES 6
Caught out a couple of times but showed commendable commitment.
12 LIFEIMI MAFI 7
Dangerous throughout, this was more like the Mafi of 2007/08 as he ran onto the ball with pace and purpose.
11 KEITH EARLS 7
Excellent work for crucial try and rounded off a fine season with another good showing.
10 RONAN O'GARA 7
Outplayed his rival for the Ireland No 10 shirt. Was a firm hand on the tiller.
9 CONOR MURRAY 7
The breakthrough player of the season looked comfortable and deserves a chance in the August World Cup warm-up matches.
1 MARCUS HORAN 5
Part of a decent scrummaging effort but responsible for an ill-advised body check on O'Driscoll.
2 DAMIEN VARLEY 5
A feisty display in the loose but the hooker's worth is diluted by line-out wobbles. Test standard if he can hit his jumpers.
3 JOHN HAYES 8
Magnificent display by the old warrior who was still going strong for the penalty try at the end. Will be 38 in November but, based on this, should have a third World Cup campaign under his belt before blowing out his candles.
4 DONNCHA O'CALLAGHAN 6
Rounded off his good season with another full-hearted display, and was a solid option in the line-out, but his second-half yellow card put his team under pressure.
5 PAUL O'CONNELL 8
An excellent showing by the captain. A rallying figure in the pack with numerous carries. Bodes well for his World Cup.
6 DONNACHA RYAN 7
Threw himself into the fray with commendable zeal and was even more effective when moved into his natural position of second-row.
7 DAVID WALLACE 9
Marked his 200th Munster appearance with an all-action, man-of-the-match display. Sean O'Brien had got all the plaudits this season, but Wallace showed why he's still a major force.
8 JAMES COUGHLAN 9
Pushed Wallace close for man of the match while outplaying Lions No 8 Jamie Heaslip. Dark horse for the World Cup, if he gets the chance to perform in August.
REPLACEMENTS
MIKE SHERRY (7): Talented young hooker played a big part in Munster's penalty try.
WIAN DU PREEZ (7): Improved the Munster scrum when he came on, the South African has been one of Munster's better overseas signings.
DENIS LEAMY (6): Great man to bring off the bench when the contest is in the balance. Intense physicality keeps the Tipperary man in the World Cup picture.
COACH
TONY McGAHAN 8
The Magners League coach of the year had his men at the perfect pitch and deserved this reward for his work in bringing players through over the season. Can enjoy his summer before continuing Munster's restoration work in 2011/12.

irishbucsfan · 30-05-2011 01:28PM

Would have given Mafi more than a 7 TBH. Best performance I've seen from him in years.

Also would question whether ROG "Outplayed his rival for the Ireland No 10 shirt." But then, given the team I support, I would

PhatPiggins · 30-05-2011 01:31PM

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Would have given Mafi more than a 7 TBH. Best performance I've seen from him in years.

Also would question whether ROG "Outplayed his rival for the Ireland No 10 shirt." But then, given the team I support, I would

I thought Mafi had a stormer in attack but both he and Barnes were caught out badly a few times by BOD. 7 is about fair.

onlyrocknroll · 30-05-2011 01:40PM

Jones was better than Howlett surely? He made some wonderful tackles.

I'd agree that it isn't obvious that ROG outplayed Sexton, I've yet to rewatch the match but he did get flattened a lot.

Harsh on Varley too I think give the wind, but I guess it didn't effect Strauss. But given that he was good in the loose and the line just misfired a few time a six would have been more appropriate IMO.

Clareman · 30-05-2011 01:42PM

Poor Bull getting a year older in the space of 1 article

wixfjord · 30-05-2011 01:58PM

Haven't been on since Saturday lads, due to moving and broadband issues, and I was dissapointed to see the Leinster v Munster match thread had been closed!

Anyway, my first time in Thomond on Sat, and it's a magnificent stadium, one of the best I've been to. Got great seats right on the halfway and half way up the second tier, and though myself and my mate were surrounded by Munster fans, the atmosphere was brilliant!

Pity about the result, but we were beaten by the better team on the night.

Despite being the only two blues in what was a sea of red, we had very little trouble, bar a few jibes at the end which were to be expected, and all in all had a great evening (except the result!). I'll be back next year hopefully!

buck65 · 30-05-2011 02:14PM

Sexton did little wrong tbf, O Gara was brave in the tackle but still missed a couple. I would have had them equal, maybe Sexton edged it.

GerM · 30-05-2011 02:18PM

buck65 wrote: »

Sexton did little wrong tbf, O Gara was brave in the tackle but still missed a couple. I would have had them equal, maybe Sexton edged it.

Hook's article today is a great one for the laugh. ROG was a heroic defender put the pretender back in his place apparently. :eek:
Can always count on George for a giggle. Looking forward to seeing them alternate in the WC.

I would have to worry about the number of blows ROG takes to the head these days. He must be in the same scenario as BOD in terms of blows to the head. He has smacked his skull off the ground badly 4 or 5 times in the past 2 seasons now. Sometimes think he'd be better off not trying to be brave and moving out one or two when he can. Unfortunately I'm not sure it would have much impact as it seems players seek him out purposely.

Monty Burnz · 30-05-2011 02:55PM

GerM wrote: »

Unfortunately I'm not sure it would have much impact as it seems players seek him out purposely.

Who would have thought it? The scoundrels!

irishbucsfan · 30-05-2011 02:57PM

GerM wrote: »

Sometimes think he'd be better off not trying to be brave and moving out one or two when he can..

He's not quick enough.

buck65 · 30-05-2011 02:58PM

Hook is a clown. I actually have stopped listening to him on TV and wait for the other pundits to speak. White noise.

Riskymove · 30-05-2011 02:58PM

The best rating I saw over the weekend was Jim Glennon giving Joe Schmidt 9/10

Man of the Match?

Munster Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread.

Comments