Munster Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread.

Munster A vs Ayr in B&I Cup:
Sean Scanlon; Luke O’Dea, Tom Gleeson, JJ Hanrahan, Ronan O’Mahony; Declan Cusack, Duncan Williams; David Kilcoyne, Duncan Casey, Christy Condon; Dave Foley, Ian Nagle; Billy Holland Capt., Tommy O’Donnell, Paddy Butler.

Replacements: James Rael, Peter Borlase, Dave O’Callaghan, Brian O’Hara, Cathal Sheridan, Cian Bohane, Corey Hircock.

Borlase back from injury. Cathal Sheridan is now 4th choice number 9 with Stringer away.

Yeah Sheridan is from Sligo.

Only 22 man squads?

We really are having a hooking crisis with Henry out too. If the bad luck continues, hopefully the prodigal son/ judas will come home. If he is going to sit on the bench getting splinters, he might as well do it at home.

I liked this article in the telegraph :



Will Greenwood: Heineken Cup teams must hold their concentration in 'Fergie time'

Cup veteran: Ronan O'Gara is the epitome of Munster never giving up the fight
Photo: GETTY IMAGES
By Will Greenwood
Last Updated: 10:12PM GMT 09/12/2011
It’s called Fergie Time. Manchester United may not have managed it in the Champions League this week, but Sir Alex Ferguson’s sides so often manage a great escape when it comes to the final minutes.

They understand that as the sands of time run out, the weight of expectation can all but crush those in the lead.

Rugby is no different, even if the red zone comes after 80 minutes. The losing side have a desperation that makes them dangerous, and if you want proof of what can happen, then you only need to look at the first two rounds of the Heineken Cup when games and fortunes have turned around in ‘Fergie Time’.

Go back a few Sunday afternoons, and Glasgow were behind at home to Bath. The clock ticked on, and they were going nowhere offensively. Fly-half Duncan Weir pulled back in the pocket for a speculative dropped goal. It was half charged down and if you had paused the moment there you would have seen there was no way Richie Gray, the Glasgow second row, should have got to it first. But that’s the beauty of ‘Fergie Time’ – it warps reactions and changes perceptions.

There was, it has to be said, an element of luck in that the Glasgow players were suddenly played onside by Bath’s half charge-down. They were also helped by the fact that Nick Abendanon forgot that a rugby ball is oval, not round. He sprinted straight at it, it bounced funny, he missed it. Gray lolloped past him, gathered the ball and scored. Glasgow won while Bath weren’t sure what the hell had just happened.

Earlier that weekend, Leinster had been outplayed by Montpellier. They were bullied all day, and yet still found themselves in with a chance at the end. Gordon D’Arcy, though, knocked on under the Montpellier posts and it looked as if their chances were gone. All Montpellier needed to do was dot the ball down and claim a scrum from the infringement. Their scrum had been dominant, they would reckon on winning it and kicking the ball dead. Instead, in the panic of the final countdown, Montpellier kicked it weakly off sideways.

Leinster took a quick line-out – even though I am still trying to figure out how referee Dave Pearson thought he was giving the French any advantage – and launched one final attack. Rémy Martin, the Montpellier back row, conceded a penalty that Johnny Sexton nailed the ball between the uprights. So Leinster got an away draw and in France that is as good as a victory.

If you want another example of Irish luck, look no further than our third moment of ‘Fergie Time’ during the first weekend of the tournament. Munster played an amazing get-out-of-jail-free card when Northampton should have been home and free. Had the referee not done them in the eye all night, the game would have been over by the 70-minute mark. But it wasn’t, and as the time faded, so too did Northampton’s youngsters.

Territory conceded, penalties given away, errors made, and with them Munster’s red army marched up field. They turned the screw, they stayed calm, they trusted each other and they did their jobs like true professionals. In the end, they went through 41 phases of possession before Ronan O’Gara, the greatest player the Heineken Cup has known, stepped back and delivered the fatal blow. His ruthlessness was Fergie-esque in its precision. Years and years of heartache has taught this team that there is always time, always a sniff.

Just to show it was no fluke, Munster did it again in week two. After the clock had gone beyond the 80-minute mark, O’Gara dropped another goal to win 27-24 at Castres. It didn’t come after 41 phases, but that doesn’t matter. What counts is that they didn’t snatch at their chance, they were patient, and they got what they needed.

And don’t think it is just about winning games. It’s not. In the scoring structure of the cup, getting a losing bonus point or snatching a draw can make a tremendous difference at the end of round six. Look at the Ospreys against Treviso, when they came from eight behind and slotted a touchline penalty in the 79th minute to draw.

Or Saracens who, when trailing 15-3 to Biarritz, kept plugging away. In the old days the game would have been dead, but not on Saturday. In the end Alex Goode crept over for Saracens to snatch an away losing bonus point that I think will hurt Biarritz.

This weekend, the red zone will be looming once again. Players need to embrace the pressure, prepare for its twists and understand what they need to do as a team. If they crawl into a ball and abdicate responsibility then they can join the other zillion hard-luck stories from the world of sport.

As harsh as it can seem, ‘Fergie Time’ teaches the greatest sporting lesson you can ever learn: the knowledge that there is no such thing as a lost cause and you always have time to make the right calls to win a game. All you have to do is keep trying and not panic.

Yeah its not fergie time as I understand it, but he wanted a nice headline...

Rog is the greatest hec player ever in my view. he seems to fcuking live for it.

kevinh2011 wrote: »

It is Fergie time already lose tomorrow and Munster can forget about the quarter finals. I'd be worried about them even having the Amlin cup to look forward to.

I don't think that's what Fergie time means...

And I'd also have to disagree with your point. If we get a losing bonus point tomorrow, we should still be well set. We'd have to win in Thomond Park, of course. But if we win our last 2 games, we'll have a great chance. Northampton are understrength against Castres and if they lose that, all their hopes are gone and it might make the away game there easier. And Castres could be gone for their match at Thomond Park too, which is one we'd also have to win.

A bonus point tomorrow and we'll be in a good position. Obviously it'd be great to win it but it's a heavily weakened Munster side away from home. But we're still very hard to beat at home and I usually am confident going into home games.

kevinh2011 wrote: »

How would be well set with a losing bonus point? That means even with winning our last three games we wouldnt be guaranteed of qualifying as group winners or even as best runners up. Lose today and we'll have to beat Northampton away in the last group match which will be a BIG ask.

The fact of the matter is a -3 deficit from this game (LBP for us and don't allow Scarlets 4 trys) and denying Scarlets a LBP at when we play them in Thomond will put us in a good position... Remember as well that Northampton are not really at "home in their last pool game. They've moved in to Milton Keynes to cash in on the extra capacity and might live to regret it, no matter what systems they have in place there will be a decent Munster contingent in attendance..

Benny Cake wrote: »

The fact of the matter is a -3 deficit from this game (LBP for us and don't allow Scarlets 4 trys) and denying Scarlets a LBP at when we play them in Thomond will put us in a good position... Remember as well that Northampton are not really at "home in their last pool game. They've moved in to Milton Keynes to cash in on the extra capacity and might live to regret it, no matter what systems they have in place there will be a decent Munster contingent in attendance..

The fact of the matter is if we get a losing bonus point today and deny Scarlets a 4 try bonus point its -4 deficit not -3. Then we still have to win our last three games and still not be guaranteed qualification. A win today is vital.

Benny Cake wrote: »

The fact of the matter is a -3 deficit from this game (LBP for us and don't allow Scarlets 4 trys) and denying Scarlets a LBP at when we play them in Thomond will put us in a good position... Remember as well that Northampton are not really at "home in their last pool game. They've moved in to Milton Keynes to cash in on the extra capacity and might live to regret it, no matter what systems they have in place there will be a decent Munster contingent in attendance..

The scheduling is going to work out great for us because Castres are going to play their home game against the Scarlets at Stade Pierre Antoine, which has been a fortress for them.

Moving the game against Munster to Toulouse was a huge bonus for Munster.

So, ROG is playing his 100th game in the HC.

Your favourite ROG Heineken Cup moments?

I always forget ones but his kick against Gloucester to get the winning margin right, a last-minute kick to beat Saracens, his try that sealed the win against Leinster in 2006, drop goal off his weak leg against Perpignan 2 years ago and the drop goals against Northampton and Castres this year.

I'm sure I'm missing some great ones.

Ah christ Robson is commentating.