Munster Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread.

Benny Cake · 03-12-2011 06:13PM

Delighted for Stringer, hope he establishes himself as a first teamer over there..

ed7890 · 03-12-2011 06:14PM

Good move for Stringer, fair play to him, he deserves a good turn, I hope he gets on great

Podge_irl · 03-12-2011 06:23PM

Wonder what would happen if he got a career ending injury while over there. I guess it wouldn't matter as he's contracted to Munster for after he comes back but it's an interesting question at least.

Good move for Stringer and Saracens really.

rebel.ranter · 03-12-2011 06:28PM

Great news for Stringer, he deserves to be first choice some where. He has provided some real classic Munster moments throughout his career, ankle taps, cheeky tries in the HCup final. Legend!

wp_rathead · 03-12-2011 06:55PM

..we could have done with Stringer here in the Sportsground..
but best of luck to Strings in new club

CIARAN_BOYLE · 03-12-2011 07:09PM

wprathead wrote: »

..we could have done with Stringer here in the Sportsground..

Might happen next season, I'm pretty sure that there is a RDPro12 rule that says a player can only play for one team in the league in a single season.

phog · 03-12-2011 10:05PM

Oh no :mad:

Tweeted by Ml Corcoran

Doug Howlett is almost certain to miss Rounds 3 and 4 of the Heineken Cup with suspected achilles injury #rterugby #munsterrugby #ercrugby

durkadurka · 03-12-2011 10:07PM

Jesus that's the whole back three gone .

thomond2006 · 03-12-2011 10:11PM

oh god no

Amazotheamazing · 03-12-2011 10:15PM

Dear Jesus that's a disaster, a complete disaster, an utter disaster. I was actually reasonably hopeful about those games but that's it.

thomond2006 · 03-12-2011 10:24PM

It was interesting that Ryan was subbed off rather than DOC for Paulie, that would suggest that DOC is in line to start next week.

With Dougie out, I hope Hurley is retained at 15 and not moved back to the wing. Normally if Earls was close to fitness there would be mention of that on the Munster website or in the press, I haven't seen any news of Earls in either (open to correction). There was no news as to why Mafi has been absent in the last 2 weeks. He might be an option as a winger, I wouldn't want to see Zebo man marking George North.

porterbelly · 03-12-2011 10:31PM

wprathead wrote: »

..we could have done with Stringer here in the Sportsground..
but best of luck to Strings in new club

My thoughts exactly. What we'd give for someone of his calibre and experience to boss our pack around.

Amazotheamazing · 03-12-2011 10:46PM

thomond2006 wrote: »

It was interesting that Ryan was subbed off rather than DOC for Paulie, that would suggest that DOC is in line to start next week.

With Dougie out, I hope Hurley is retained at 15 and not moved back to the wing. Normally if Earls was close to fitness there would be mention of that on the Munster website or in the press, I haven't seen any news of Earls in either (open to correction). There was no news as to why Mafi has been absent in the last 2 weeks. He might be an option as a winger, I wouldn't want to see Zebo man marking George North.

Hurley will have to be kept on North, imo. Keep Murphy at fullback, and move Barnes to the other wing with Mafi and Chambers in the centres.

I'd take Ryan being subbed as an indication he'll start next week, ie, no point in him being wrecked after this week.

durkadurka · 03-12-2011 10:49PM

Is the home game first?

Benny Cake · 03-12-2011 10:54PM

durkadurka wrote: »

Is the home game first?

No, away to Scarlets first

thomond2006 · 04-12-2011 01:24AM

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

Hurley will have to be kept on North, imo. Keep Murphy at fullback, and move Barnes to the other wing with Mafi and Chambers in the centres.

I'd take Ryan being subbed as an indication he'll start next week, ie, no point in him being wrecked after this week.

On Ryan/DOC, maybe you're right.

I think Murphy is a better wing than Hurley in terms of pace/attack, so I'd put him on the left wing and leave Hurley at 15. I think Murphy is good enough defensively to handle North, although I expect McGahan to go with your idea.

Jonathan Davies and Scott Williams are a huge threat in the centres so we'll need our best defenders at centre. Mafi is a must to combat Davies, who will run hard and straight all day.

I'd go for:
du Preez, Varley, Botha, Ryan, POC, POM, Ronan, Coughlan;
Murray, ROG, Murphy, Mafi, Chambers, Barnes, Hurley

Bench: Fogarty, Horan, Archer, DOC, Leamy, TOL, Keatley, Zebo

We really need Earls back, no matter what way you line them up that is a backline that lacks pace.

Podge_irl · 04-12-2011 01:58AM

Scarlets first up really is a do or die game for Munster at this point. I know they're used to having them as the last game of the group but this really is vital. If Scarlets come out of the head to head on even level points then they are in prime position to top the group with games at home to Saints and away to a likely disinterested Castres. Munster will still have a fairly decent chance to qualifying second so it wouldn't be the end of the world. Scarlets could still easily slip up against Castres actually so there are options, but they wouldn't like not being in control of their destiny.

The loss of Howlett is an issue, but you would still have to think they have the pack to take the Scarlets.

GerM · 04-12-2011 10:42AM

Win the set piece and the forward battle and you win the game. The backs need to make their tackles when called upon. Earls wouldn't make Munster any stronger for this particular game. In fact, I think the Scarlets would look to target him. Their back line will only be as good as the ball they get.

totallegend · 04-12-2011 11:33AM

GerM wrote: »

Win the set piece and the forward battle and you win the game. The backs need to make their tackles when called upon. Earls wouldn't make Munster any stronger for this particular game. In fact, I think the Scarlets would look to target him. Their back line will only be as good as the ball they get.

Yeah, the Scarlets back line will rip Munster to shreds if they get any sort of quality ball - the problem for them is their pack is very weak. They have a decent front row but of their loose forwards, only Ben Morgan would make the Munster team so there is real gap in quality there. Munster need to keep it tight, Scarlets won't have the hard edge necessary to take the ball by force. If they can do that, then a win is a real possibility.

Is there any confirmation of Howlett's injury yet? He seemed to be the only source of real cutting edge in the first two games, would be a massive blow. Would the likely back-three be Murphy-Hurley-Barnes, or would they risk Zebo?

Amazotheamazing · 04-12-2011 01:09PM

thomond2006 wrote: »

On Ryan/DOC, maybe you're right.

I think Murphy is a better wing than Hurley in terms of pace/attack, so I'd put him on the left wing and leave Hurley at 15. I think Murphy is good enough defensively to handle North, although I expect McGahan to go with your idea.

Jonathan Davies and Scott Williams are a huge threat in the centres so we'll need our best defenders at centre. Mafi is a must to combat Davies, who will run hard and straight all day.

I'd go for:
du Preez, Varley, Botha, Ryan, POC, POM, Ronan, Coughlan;
Murray, ROG, Murphy, Mafi, Chambers, Barnes, Hurley

Bench: Fogarty, Horan, Archer, DOC, Leamy, TOL, Keatley, Zebo

We really need Earls back, no matter what way you line them up that is a backline that lacks pace.

Realistically, we're not going to run through anyone this season, or at least, over the next two weeks. We need to pick our most defensive backline and shut the game down.

GerM · 04-12-2011 04:21PM

Rumour from MF is that Howlett has ruptured his achilles.

TopOfTheRight · 04-12-2011 04:35PM

Any news on felix jones?

thomond2006 · 04-12-2011 04:36PM

GerM wrote: »

Rumour from MF is that Howlett has ruptured his achilles.

If that's the case, he's gone for the year and at his age you'd fear for his career.

He doesn't deserve that at all, he's been super for Munster for the 4 years or so he's been around.

Benny Cake · 04-12-2011 04:52PM

Disastrous if this is true about Dougie, one of my favourite player & arguably our best ever import...

Fireball07 · 04-12-2011 05:01PM

If that's true, it's a massive blow to our chances of qualifying from our pool. Howlett's been in great form and we're already without Earls and Jones, meaning we'd be without our first choice back 3. And Howlett's the best of the lot.

Zebo-Hurley-Murphy is nowhere near as threatening as Earls-Jones-Howlett.

phog · 04-12-2011 05:14PM

GerM wrote: »

Win the set piece and the forward battle and you win the game. The backs need to make their tackles when called upon. Earls wouldn't make Munster any stronger for this particular game. In fact, I think the Scarlets would look to target him. Their back line will only be as good as the ball they get.

Ireland's top try scorer from the W/C wouldnt make Munster stronger :eek:

GerM · 04-12-2011 05:29PM

phog wrote: »

Ireland's top try scorer from the W/C wouldnt make Munster stronger :eek:

What a simplistic way of looking at things.

For Earls to be effective it means that Munster would be spreading the ball to him. Playing that game against Llanelli would be suicidal.

If they were all fit or still playing, the ideal back three for Munster next weekend would be Dowling, Howlett and Payne. Two of them aren't world beaters but they would be absolutely rock solid and make all their tackles and be positionally perfect. Wales showed already how their backs can target Earls. Munster will have to win the game up front and go through the pack and set piece. The back three next week should be the best players defensively. As Northampton showed, the back three might not win you the game against Llanelli but they will certainly lose you the game if they're not solid defensively.

phog · 04-12-2011 06:17PM

GerM wrote: »

What a simplistic way of looking at things.

For Earls to be effective it means that Munster would be spreading the ball to him. Playing that game against Llanelli would be suicidal.

If they were all fit or still playing, the ideal back three for Munster next weekend would be Dowling, Howlett and Payne. Two of them aren't world beaters but they would be absolutely rock solid and make all their tackles and be positionally perfect. Wales showed already how their backs can target Earls. Munster will have to win the game up front and go through the pack and set piece. The back three next week should be the best players defensively. As Northampton showed, the back three might not win you the game against Llanelli but they will certainly lose you the game if they're not solid defensively.

Another way of looking at it would be he's a great finisher and has gas so on the few occasions that we get turn over ball or a chance to score then he might very well be the guy we need. I seriously doubt he'll be any weaker defensively than what we have available.

phog · 04-12-2011 06:24PM

An update of sorts fro Munster Rugby

Howlett Out Of Scarlet Games
4 December 2011, 5:47 pm By Pat Geraghty

Doug Howlett will have a scan and see a specialist early this week to determine the exact nature of the injury he sustained against Ospreys on Saturday. Share

Initial examination suggest he's damaged his Achilles tendon and he has definitely been ruled out of Munster's upcoming Heineken Cup matches against Scarlets.

Cpt_Blackbeard · 04-12-2011 06:46PM

Hopefully it won't be as bad as feared. We've had enough horrible luck with injuries. If its the rupture that is feared, hopefully McGahan will further use it to give gametime to youth.

With a fit Hurley, Murphy and Earls all able to cover 11/15/14, we should be looking to give both Zebo and O'Dea plenty of gametime in the back 3 beside 2 established players.

Munster Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread.

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