Munster Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread.

ambid · 19-11-2011 09:02PM

durkadurka wrote: »

Leamy wasn't on very long.

phog wrote: »

what's your point?

durkadurka wrote: »

It was a joke.

I thought it was pretty funny. It made me laugh anyway.

Great result for Munster. It's funny how many of us are not really fully satisfied by positive results away in France - whether Leinster's draw last week or Munster's win this week. I was looking up Heineken results in the early 2000s and how hard it was for Irish sides to get out of their pool, but now Irish sides are so competitive and Irish standards are so very high.

It's great to see O'Mahony and Chambers emerging, and Ryan finally forcing himself into the first team. It's great to see Munster so competitive despite having a lot of injuries.

Sky keep talking about Munster being in transition with young players like Ryan (who is 27!), but aside from O'Mahony, Barnes, and Chambers the rest of the team aren't that young. I would just love to see more young players emerge to take some of the strain from O'Connell, O'Gara, and Howlett. Great result though Munster.

phog · 19-11-2011 09:10PM

durkadurka wrote: »

It was a joke.

sorry, missed the post you were replying to.

MaryKing · 19-11-2011 09:16PM

ambid wrote: »

I thought it was pretty funny. It made me laugh anyway.

Great result for Munster. It's funny how many of us are not really fully satisfied by positive results away in France - whether Leinster's draw last week or Munster's win this week. I was looking up Heineken results in the early 2000s and how hard it was for Irish sides to get out of their pool, but now Irish sides are so competitive and Irish standards are so very high.

It's great to see O'Mahony and Chambers emerging, and Ryan finally forcing himself into the first team. It's great to see Munster so competitive despite having a lot of injuries.

Sky keep talking about Munster being in transition with young players like Ryan (who is 27!), but aside from O'Mahony, Barnes, and Chambers the rest of the team aren't that young. I would just love to see more young players emerge to take some of the strain from O'Connell, O'Gara, and Howlett. Great result though Munster.

Great win. Yesterday, morning most would have taken a point (bearing in mind its an away game and in France). Last night changed that - and to come away with a win was just fantastic. Same for Leinster last week just getting that bit more in France.

I hope Ian Keatley is learning from Ronan O'Gara how to do this.

Don't forget Felix Jones & Mike Sherry are also out injured - so its not all doom and gloom.

messi1985 · 19-11-2011 09:35PM

Great result for Munster. It's funny how many of us are not really fully satisfied by positive results away in France - whether Leinster's draw last week or Munster's win this week. I was looking up Heineken results in the early 2000s and how hard it was for Irish sides to get out of their pool, but now Irish sides are so competitive and Irish standards are so very high.

It's great to see O'Mahony and Chambers emerging, and Ryan finally forcing himself into the first team. It's great to see Munster so competitive despite having a lot of injuries.

Sky keep talking about Munster being in transition with young players like Ryan (who is 27!), but aside from O'Mahony, Barnes, and Chambers the rest of the team aren't that young. I would just love to see more young players emerge to take some of the strain from O'Connell, O'Gara, and Howlett. Great result though Munster.[/QUOTE]

well said.. fantastic win.. france never an easy place to go, and after last it was defo a must win.. bring on the double header!!!

messi1985 · 19-11-2011 09:37PM

sory ambid, made a balls at quoting u!!

agree

phog · 19-11-2011 09:40PM

MRSC16 Tweeted

Two out of Two for the day. Munster "A" beat Neath 23-9 today in the B&I Cup. Great day for Munster Rugby!

irishbucsfan · 19-11-2011 09:43PM

I think if Castres can beat Northampton in either game it will make things much easier on Munster in the return leg, because NH will be out and concentrating on the AP.

Games against Scarlets really are the important ones now, I think Castres will be done with the H Cup at this stage. I really think Munster only need to beat Llanelli at home if that happens as well. Hopefully Northampton will be playing the proper Castres team in their proper home and will lose that game.

phog · 19-11-2011 09:48PM

irishbucsfan wrote: »

I think if Castres can beat Northampton in either game it will make things much easier on Munster in the return leg, because NH will be out and concentrating on the AP.

Games against Scarlets really are the important ones now, I think Castres will be done with the H Cup at this stage. I really think Munster only need to beat Llanelli at home if that happens as well. Hopefully Northampton will be playing the proper Castres team in their proper home and will lose that game.

I think Castes go to Franklin Gardens first so they may have the towel thrown in for the return fixture.

Fireball07 · 19-11-2011 09:49PM

irishbucsfan wrote: »

I think if Castres can beat Northampton in either game it will make things much easier on Munster in the return leg, because NH will be out and concentrating on the AP.

Games against Scarlets really are the important ones now, I think Castres will be done with the H Cup at this stage. I really think Munster only need to beat Llanelli at home if that happens as well. Hopefully Northampton will be playing the proper Castres team in their proper home and will lose that game.

I don't know if Munster can afford losing to Llanelli either time tbh. Northampton will always be a difficult prospect at home, and you certainly couldn't rely on getting a win there. Plus Llanelli look like a side that can get bonus points and if Castres defend like they did today against Llanelli, I'd expect Llanelli to get 4 tries. Munster will have to go all out against Llanelli in both games...if they can scrape a victory in any form, they should pretty much have the group wrapped up. It will be incredibly tough but Llanelli, despite being an excellent side, aren't as intimidating at home as Northampton imo. Still if both teams got 4/5 points over the 2 games, it wouldn't be the end of the world but I just hope they give everything they can to try and win both.

durkadurka · 19-11-2011 09:52PM

I predict munster go to Northampton needing a point or something. Itll be another epic.

shuffol · 19-11-2011 09:57PM

Irregardless of whether Northampton are out of it or not they'll be going all out to beat Munster at home, you get the feeling theres a bit of blood between the sides.

messi1985 · 19-11-2011 09:57PM

no doubt in my mind that even if northampton are out of HC by the time we meet them, they will wanna beat us, i know every game u wanna win but bringing munster home, and having the chance to deny us a place in quarters, esp after rodges drop goal........ castres prob will lie down if out and field a weakened team and focus on top14 but no chance of northampton doing that

CiaranMT · 19-11-2011 10:16PM

Any word on POM?

shuffol · 19-11-2011 10:25PM

CiaranMT wrote: »

Any word on POM?

Just looked like concussion, I'd say he was due a rest anyway.

sock puppet · 19-11-2011 10:39PM

shuffol wrote: »

Irregardless of whether Northampton are out of it or not they'll be going all out to beat Munster at home, you get the feeling theres a bit of blood between the sides.

I'd say you're right. They looked absolutely devastated last week. Even accounting for the nature of the loss it's still odd to see a side looking so crushed after a first round loss away.

munsternumber1 · 19-11-2011 10:57PM

is it just me or is Fogarty brutal, how is he the only reserve hooker in the country we can find

Clareman · 19-11-2011 11:06PM

I can understand the whole "transition" thing, we've pretty much a new front & back row, new scrum half and a new full back, add into that the first year that we miss out on the quarter finals it's only natural to assume that changes are happening, we've also changed the way we play. In regards to the next couple of games, if we were playing the Scarlets back to back in the Rabo we'd expect to win both, the HEC is a completely different kettle of fish though and it's rare that teams win the back to back games, 6 points out of the next 2 games will put us in a great place and should be an achievable goal, imvho I think 9 points are on offer but there's no point in getting carried away.

If I'm doing my maths right and Munster get 6 points, that'll have us on 15 points, giving the Scarlets 4 points, that'll have them on 13, the most NH could be on would be 12, the most Castres could have would be 11, I can see Castres and NH being out of it come February after taking a win off each other so they'll have no interest in risking injuries, this pool is ours for the taking, hopefully we'll be back in the playoffs again.

Clareman · 19-11-2011 11:09PM

munsternumber1 wrote: »

is it just me or is Fogarty brutal, how is he the only reserve hooker in the country we can find

I think you're being a bit harsh on him, he didn't have the easiest of tasks today coming into the back row, also Sherry is around, and Fla will be back soon (hopefully)

twinytwo · 19-11-2011 11:11PM

Clareman wrote: »

I think you're being a bit harsh on him, he didn't have the easiest of tasks today coming into the back row, also Sherry is around, and Fla will be back soon (hopefully)

even leaving out today, he couldnt hit a barn door in the lineout, a professional player he is not.

munsternumber1 · 19-11-2011 11:21PM

twinytwo wrote: »

even leaving out today, he couldnt hit a barn door in the lineout, a professional player he is not.

agreed its not just today hes just not good enough and that goes for a number of munsters players, how there contracts keep getting renewed is beyond me

porterbelly · 19-11-2011 11:26PM

Thought Barnes was very poor, looked a bit too much for him the past couple of weeks. Chambers played well though, looks a decent signing now. Don't know how the powers that be will like to see 2 NIQ centres and 2 NIQ props, both positions the national team are struggling in.

Great win for Munster though, out of dodge 2 weeks in a row, but who gives a ****, they might not be the Munster of old but they're 2 from 2 in 2 tough games and in pole position for Q-final spot. Castres will pack it in now so it should be a shoot out with the Scarlets

durkadurka · 19-11-2011 11:34PM

If castres do indeed pack it in then northampton are totally still in it, because they could beat them back to back.
Very interesting group .

razorblunt · 19-11-2011 11:37PM

twinytwo wrote: »

even leaving out today, he couldnt hit a barn door in the lineout, a professional player he is not.

Yep agreed, he has to be worrying about his future too with 3 ahead of him (injuries to Flannery permitting), wouldnt judge him on today though coming into the backrow though.

ed7890 · 19-11-2011 11:57PM

Agree about Fogs, he grand in the loose, but he's not good at set pieces. His throwing is no good, and he's very light in the scrum.

Barnes had a bad game but I wouldn't be too hard on him, 1 bad european game isn't the end of the world, he's still learning.

ambid · 20-11-2011 12:39AM

CiaranMT wrote: »

Any word on POM?

shuffol wrote: »

Just looked like concussion, I'd say he was due a rest anyway.

Wonder how Munster management will handle the concussion. Jackman complained about concussions not being taken seriously and the assessment tests being rubbish, so players played when they should have been recovering from head injuries. Concussions then led to physical and mental health problems for both him and John Fogarty.

I hope they give O'Mahony a couple of weeks off to recover properly, but suspect he'll be starting again next week.

Either way, he looks like a terrific player. Now if Butler and O'Donnell can also make the step up then Munster will be in a very strong position.

shuffol · 20-11-2011 12:55AM

POM does put in one hell of a shift.

EKClarke · 20-11-2011 03:02AM

Have to say Hurley has been suspect for a few trys. I've counted at least 3. It will be suicide to to play him against the Scarlets. What other options do Munster have?

Podge_irl · 20-11-2011 04:30AM

Clareman wrote: »

I can understand the whole "transition" thing, we've pretty much a new front & back row, new scrum half and a new full back, add into that the first year that we miss out on the quarter finals it's only natural to assume that changes are happening, we've also changed the way we play. In regards to the next couple of games, if we were playing the Scarlets back to back in the Rabo we'd expect to win both, the HEC is a completely different kettle of fish though and it's rare that teams win the back to back games, 6 points out of the next 2 games will put us in a great place and should be an achievable goal, imvho I think 9 points are on offer but there's no point in getting carried away.

I think Munster getting 6 points and Scarlets 4 is fairly optimistic. Of the two, Llanelli seem far more likely to score tries. They've definitely grown since last year.

Last year in the ML Munster won by 1 points at home and 7 away but both were close, fairly low scoring games. The previous year Munster won by 2 away and 6 at home. So they're on a pretty good winning streak, but no blow out games (none of the games had try bonus points). Expecting Munster to get a try bonus at home and Scarlets to get none is fancy imo.

phog · 20-11-2011 09:48AM

Report from Munsterrugby.ie

Tries from Ronan O'Mahony and Simon Zebo and the accurate boot of JJ Hanrahan helped Munster to a 23-9 British & Irish Cup win over Neath at The Gnoll yesterday Share
Hanrahan landed two first half penalties and converted O'Mahony's try to leave his side 13-9 up at the break.Neath's three penalties coming from Dai Langdon.

The home side were reduced to 14 at the start of the second half when their flanker Gareth Gravell was sin-binned, Hanrahan's subsequent penalty pushing Munster into a seven point lead.

In the 55th minute, a quick tap and go from scrum-half Duncan Williams ended in a try for Zebo with Hanrahan once again adding the extras and though Munster had to withstand a late Neath onslaught their defence held up admirably.

Munster: L O'Dea; R O'Mahoney, C Hircock, T Gleeson, S Zebo; JJ Hanrahan, D Williams; D Kilcoyne, S Henry, S Archer; D Foley, I Nagle; B Holland capt, T O'Donnell, P Butler. Replacements: A Cotter, D Casey, B Hayes, B O'Hara, P Stringer, J Holland (Cork Con), D Moroney (UL Bohs).

shuffol · 20-11-2011 12:16PM

Would like to see Zebo get a run of pro 12 games before the next round of HEC matches to see whether he can lay down a marker for the left wing, he's looked impressive in his few cameos to date, is there a reason why he's seen little gametime this season?

Munster Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread.

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