Munster Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread.

totallegend · 06-12-2011 07:39PM

Clementine Helpless Scalpel wrote: »

Fionn Carr

I'm sure you're kidding but his appearance against Glasgow makes him ineligible afaik

GerM · 06-12-2011 07:45PM

Well, on another note, Dowson and Ashton have both been suspended for both of Northampton's games against Castres which could and should see them drop points and put an end to their HEC hopes. If they've nothing to play for I can see them putting out a weakened side in their final HEC game and concentrating their energies on the AP. All not lost for Munster by a long way.

CIARAN_BOYLE · 06-12-2011 07:47PM

totallegend wrote: »

I'm sure you're kidding but his appearance against Glasgow makes him ineligible afaik

You're right he was on the bench for that game so he is ineligible.

My mistake I thought it was DKearney on the bench.

Saw a suggestion somewhere else that POM plays wing, he did it in the AIL semi last year

If Munster can bring home 5 points in the next two games I'd be reasonably happy with them/

Fireball07 · 06-12-2011 08:13PM

GerM wrote: »

Well, on another note, Dowson and Ashton have both been suspended for both of Northampton's games against Castres which could and should see them drop points and put an end to their HEC hopes. If they've nothing to play for I can see them putting out a weakened side in their final HEC game and concentrating their energies on the AP. All not lost for Munster by a long way.

Well that is good news. But it's Llanelli I'm really worried about.

CIARAN_BOYLE wrote: »

You're right he was on the bench for that game so he is ineligible.

My mistake I thought it was DKearney on the bench.

Saw a suggestion somewhere else that POM plays wing, he did it in the AIL semi last year

If Munster can bring home 5 points in the next two games I'd be reasonably happy with them/

Well I don't think POM going to wing is a realistic option, it's not one I'd be happy with anyway. Howlett being gone is a massive blow but O'Dea or Zebo will have to do.

phog · 06-12-2011 08:17PM

CIARAN_BOYLE wrote: »

That was my first thought as well, I'm sure Leinster could let go their 6th choice back three player at the moment, is it allowed to play for two RDPro12 teams in one season?

[/B]
It only talks about permit players but does that apply to other players? Does anyone know. If Carr couldn't play in the Pro12 well he couldn't just play in the Heineken for Munster at any rate.

Carr could play for Lunster, Leinster in the Pro12 and Munster in the H/C, problem solved.

TopOfTheRight · 06-12-2011 08:17PM

I'd start TOL on the wing ahead of someone like O'Dea with no experience, TOL's defence against North or Lamont could be just what we need really

Fireball07 · 06-12-2011 08:25PM

TopOfTheRight wrote: »

I'd start TOL on the wing ahead of someone like O'Dea with no experience, TOL's defence against North or Lamont could be just what we need really

Not a bad idea, but I think it's unlikely to happen tbh.

I forgot that they said Zebo was out too, so we're looking at a back 3 of Murphy-Hurley-O'Dea?

What's the story with Mafi? Maybe one of the centres could go to the wing if the 3 are available.

I wonder what it would take for Bowe to come to Munster... We're going to need someone there for the next few seasons. Obviously Zebo and O'Dea are coming through but I like having someone experienced in the backline.

TopOfTheRight · 06-12-2011 08:30PM

Assuming Zebo is out and Mafi is fit then i'd imagine Barnes will go to the wing and Mafi slot in at 12, Barnes could be a serious liability out there defending against Lamont or North though!

durkadurka · 06-12-2011 08:32PM

This is unbelievable. I think were gonna see stuffed up the jumper rugby the like of which has never been seen before this weekend.

TopOfTheRight · 06-12-2011 08:35PM

durkadurka wrote: »

This is unbelievable. I think were gonna see stuffed up the jumper rugby the like of which has never been seen before this weekend.

And i cant wait! In front of the fire watching up-the-jumper-rugby all day is what the winter is all bout for me

Risteard · 06-12-2011 08:37PM

It should be noted that O'Dea is not in the HC squad currently unless Munster decide to add him. This is the squad I think:

Backs: Scott Deasy, Doug Howlett, Denis Hurley, Johne Murphy, Simon Zebo, Danny Barnes, Will Chambers, Tom Gleeson, Keith Earls, Lifeimi Mafi, Ronan O'Gara, Ian Keatley, Tomas O'Leary, Conor Murray, Duncan Williams, Peter Stringer, Forwards: Denis Fogarty, Damien Varley, Michael Sherry, Sean Henry, Marcus Horan, John Hayes, Stephen Archer, Wian du Preez, BJ Botha, John Ryan, Paul O'Connell, Donncha O'Callaghan, Michael O'Driscoll, Ian Nagle, Donnacha Ryan, Niall Ronan, Billy Holland, Tommy O'Donnell, Peter O'Mahony, Dave O'Callaghan, Denis Leamy, James Coughlan

So looking at those outside backs and assuming that rumours are true about Mafi and Zebo being injured we are left with: Deasy, Hurley, Murphy, Barnes, Chambers, Gleeson and potentially Keatley and O'Leary as outside backs.

My preference would be Hurley at FB and TOL and Murphy as wingers with Chambers and Barnes in the centre. Stretched fairly thin tbh.

Benny Cake · 06-12-2011 08:38PM

durkadurka wrote: »

This is unbelievable. I think were gonna see stuffed up the jumper rugby the like of which has never been seen before this weekend.

In a strange way, this might actually work out for us.. Play to our strengths, Rodge kicking for the corners & keep it tight at all costs...

irishbucsfan · 06-12-2011 08:39PM

Is Mafi not out?

Personally would prefer to see him on the wing if he's fit.

Fireball07 · 06-12-2011 08:40PM

TopOfTheRight wrote: »

Assuming Zebo is out and Mafi is fit then i'd imagine Barnes will go to the wing and Mafi slot in at 12, Barnes could be a serious liability out there defending against Lamont or North though!

Hmm...I think Barnes is okay defensively. I have no idea what O'Dea is like.

Another outside possibility (probably even less likely than TOL going to wing) is Keatley going to full-back and Murphy and Hurley being the wingers.

Without being disrespectful to those players, will it be the worst back 3 we've put out against the best team in our group in over 10 years?

durkadurka wrote: »

This is unbelievable. I think were gonna see stuffed up the jumper rugby the like of which has never been seen before this weekend.

As long as we win, I don't care. One advantage is that when the backs are to the wall like this, we can produce bigger performances.

ROG will need to have a great game, we'll need to have all our ball-carriers playing and on form and we'll need to defend with huge intensity. I think the performance is a possibility but it'll be extremely tough.

TopOfTheRight · 06-12-2011 08:44PM

Keatley at FB could be an option alright, i'm just not sure if Barnes has the pace or physicality to play on the wing against two of the biggest and fastest wingers in europe

When was Mafi's last game anyone?

Risteard · 06-12-2011 08:47PM

TopOfTheRight wrote: »

Keatley at FB could be an option alright, i'm just not sure if Barnes has the pace or physicality to play on the wing against two of the biggest and fastest wingers in europe

When was Mafi's last game anyone?

Game against Castres I think.

I don't think we'll see Keatley at FB considering we have to guys fit that play there in Hurley and Murphy. If Keatley is to be fitted in it would probably be at 12, as we saw in the last few minutes against Ospreys.

durkadurka · 06-12-2011 08:48PM

The worry is that because it's going to be pretty easy to predict the Munster game plan it might be very easy to defend against.

thomond2006 · 06-12-2011 08:48PM

Jesus we're fairly stretched! Awful news about Dougie....

Darragh Hurley's Munster career is as good as done I'd say, it's a shame because he seemed decent when he was fit.

Fireball07 · 06-12-2011 08:59PM

Risteard wrote: »

It should be noted that O'Dea is not in the HC squad currently unless Munster decide to add him. This is the squad I think:

So looking at those outside backs and assuming that rumours are true about Mafi and Zebo being injured we are left with: Deasy, Hurley, Murphy, Barnes, Chambers, Gleeson and potentially Keatley and O'Leary as outside backs.

My preference would be Hurley at FB and TOL and Murphy as wingers with Chambers and Barnes in the centre. Stretched fairly thin tbh.

What's the rules regarding replacements?? I mean Howlett is out for the season, and Stringer's gone to Saracens, are we allowed bring O'Dea in for him? I don't want to see Deasy or Gleeson having to play, I don't think they're good enough.

I'd probably go along with you're choices tbh.

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Is Mafi not out?

Personally would prefer to see him on the wing if he's fit.

Does anyone actually know?? Has he been on the injured list recently?

TopOfTheRight wrote: »

Keatley at FB could be an option alright, i'm just not sure if Barnes has the pace or physicality to play on the wing against two of the biggest and fastest wingers in europe

When was Mafi's last game anyone?

Possibly not...but we're fairly stuck.

Risteard wrote: »

Game against Castres I think.

I don't think we'll see Keatley at FB considering we have to guys fit that play there in Hurley and Murphy. If Keatley is to be fitted in it would probably be at 12, as we saw in the last few minutes against Ospreys.

Yeah but we have 2 centres too, I don't think Keatley should be chosen there ahead of Barnes. Though I suppose if Mafi's not fit, and Barnes was moved to wing, it could be an option.

durkadurka wrote: »

The worry is that because it's going to be pretty easy to predict the Munster game plan it might be very easy to defend against.

This is true. But if you execute your own plan well enough, it's not easy to stop. We have to get dominance in the set-piece. That'll set up the platform and we might end up getting penalties, etc. from there. Take any chances that come our way and see what happens.

GerM · 06-12-2011 09:06PM

Fireball07 wrote: »

Does anyone actually know?? Has he been on the injured list recently?

Mafi took part in training today with the rest of the squad. However, Varley sat it out and Fogarty was packing down in his place.

Fireball07 · 06-12-2011 09:09PM

GerM wrote: »

Mafi took part in training today with the rest of the squad. However, Varley sat it out and Fogarty was packing down in his place.

Some good news... I think we'll need Mafi.

I hope Varley is fit though, Fogarty has some strong points but we have to secure our own lineout ball.

TheQuizMaster · 06-12-2011 09:20PM

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

Munster will always be able to field some sort of team, even in situations where we're badly hit with players, that being said, Munster have had an awful injury profile over the last 3 years, perhaps it's no worse than other teams but it's still pretty bad.

Horan - heart problems ................
Flannery - fairly much missed two/three seasons
Buckley - succession of injuries
POC - several serious injuries
POM - neck injury last season
Wallace - knee injury
Leamy - several knee or cruciate (?) injuries
TOL - bad ankle injury, bad back injury, bad eye injury
Tipoki - retired with knee injury(?) (had comeback of sorts in NZ?)
Dowling - retired with hip injury
Barry Murphy - retired with ankle injury
Howlett
Earls - carried groin injury for first half of last season, iirc
Jones - neck injury, knee injury

In addition, guys on the fringe of the squad
Barnes - broken elbow last season, broken hand this season
Borlase - hip injury,
Hurley - eye injury, achilles injury
Sherry - ankle injury
Nagle - ankle injury
Ryan - broken arm?
Troy Smith - knee injury

I know every squad has long term absentees, and I know most pro players play despite a niggle or a strain every other week but you'd hardly say we'd been blessed.

Horgan - out for season
O'Driscoll - out for season
Stan Wright - out for season
Luke Fitzgerald - out for most of season
Rob Kearney - out for most of season
Berquist - out for most of season
Sean O'Brien - out for months
Dominic Ryan - out for months
Kevin McLaughlin - out for months
CJ van der Linde - out for months
Leo Cullen - out for months
Gordon D'arcy - out for months
Shane Jennings - out for months
Shaun Berne - out for months
Macken - out for months
Eamonn Sheridan - out for months
Andrew Conway - Injured multiple times in season
Ian McKinley - Retired due to injury
Fogarty - retired due to injury

Thats Leinster from the last two years. I think its the same for every team to be honest, its just the way rugby is going.

danthefan · 06-12-2011 09:21PM

Now I love a good old Leinster/Munster pissing contest as much as the next man but honestly...

CatFromHue · 06-12-2011 09:23PM

If Mafi is fit I'd have him on the wing. He's played there at a high level before whereas Barnes is too inexperienced to be going up against Lamont or North. Barnes is still finding his feet so I'd keep him at 12.

I wouldn't put TOL out there either. It'd be too much of a positional change and I know if he were on the wing I'd be targeting him all day! Realistically Munster need to get a losing bonus point at least from this game.

TheQuizMaster · 06-12-2011 09:25PM

danthefan wrote: »

Now I love a good old Leinster/Munster pissing contest as much as the next man but honestly...

I was just using an example of a team whose injuries i am familar with to make the point that injuries are becoming a common part of the game.

CIARAN_BOYLE · 06-12-2011 09:25PM

TheQuizMaster wrote: »

Horgan - out for season
O'Driscoll - out for season
Stan Wright - out for season
Luke Fitzgerald - out for most of season
Rob Kearney - out for most of season
Berquist - out for most of season
Sean O'Brien - out for months
Dominic Ryan - out for months
Kevin McLaughlin - out for months
CJ van der Linde - out for months
Leo Cullen - out for months
Gordon D'arcy - out for months
Andrew Conway - Injured multiple times in season
Ian McKinley - Retired due to injury
Fogarty - retired due to injury

Thats Leinster from the last two years. I think its the same for every team to be honest, its just the way rugby is going.

Add in Macken and Sheridan who have pretty bad injury records as well and Shaun Berne who was injured for most of last season

danthefan · 06-12-2011 09:29PM

TheQuizMaster wrote: »

I was just using an example of a team whose injuries i am familar with to make the point that injuries are becoming a common part of the game.

They've always been a part of the game, no more so now than 6 or 7 or 8 years ago.

Podge_irl · 06-12-2011 09:31PM

Fireball07 wrote: »

What's the rules regarding replacements?? I mean Howlett is out for the season, and Stringer's gone to Saracens, are we allowed bring O'Dea in for him? I don't want to see Deasy or Gleeson having to play, I don't think they're good enough.

You can make two injury "joker" replacements. The replaced player is then unavailable for the rest of the tournament. You can add 3 (I think, maybe 2) additional players for the knock outs.

danthefan · 06-12-2011 09:34PM

Podge_irl wrote: »

You can make two injury "joker" replacements. The replaced player is then unavailable for the rest of the tournament. You can add 3 (I think, maybe 2) additional players for the knock outs.

It is 3, but one must be a front row. And I think there's only one joker in the pools.

Podge_irl · 06-12-2011 09:39PM

danthefan wrote: »

It is 3, but one must be a front row. And I think there's only one joker in the pools.

Indeed. Turns out not a one of my statements was accurate.

It's one medical joker in the pools. The replaced player can then return to the squad in the place of the joker.

Munster Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread.

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