Pro12: Munster vs Leinster, Sat 31 March 7:30pm, Live on RTÉ2

Teferi · 01-04-2012 2:40am

I am absolutely delighted we won so I can criticise the ref without seeming bitter but Nigel Owens had an absolute shocker. It seemed like he was making the rules he would follow up as he went along. Seriously, some of the stuff he was calling or not calling just made for terrible rugby for both sides.

I think he deserved Man of the Match because he was the person on the field who made the most impact on the game.

I'll do a review of the actual match tomorrow.

durkadurka · 01-04-2012 3:29am

Ok I've just left the residents lounge in the hotel, practically apologizing for what happened . Consoling Munster fans with ' you'll be grand , paulie will be back next week.

There's big long term problems .

Had an absolutely brilliant evening. Great Craic in The north terrace, Munster fans rejoicing when o Leary went off! Great atmosphere .
GAme changed when we emptied our bench.

More to say tomorrow when sober.

Luke , please learn to pass the fcuking ball. I could have killed him. and Johnny sometimes it's ok to kick. Like when its in our 22.

But generally leinster were pretty dominant in the second half.

Very drunk now

tolosenc · 01-04-2012 4:06am

Ultimately, O'Gara's waywardness from the tee is what cost Munster. He needs to be dropped.

Clegg · 01-04-2012 4:54am

Dylan Hartley

tolosenc wrote: »

Ultimately, O'Gara's waywardness from the tee is what cost Munster. He needs to be dropped.

Indeed.

ROG was the 3rd best outhalf on the pitch yesterday.

Munster need Laulala at 13 in a desperate way. I'm not having a go at Earls here either. He had a decent game but he'd be so much more effective on the wing. Munster could have a very good backline next year, Earls/Downey/Laulala/Howlett/Jones.

Thats a decent unit. Downey isn't very good but if he's been brought in to get Munster over the gainline in midfield. Thats all he needs to do to be effective.

I also think Howlett may take a lesser role in proceedings. It's probably going to be his last year at Munster so they should use that time in further developing.

CoDy1 · 01-04-2012 5:27am

Leinster

The most obvious thing that everyone should have learned from this game is that Madigan is too good to be just Sextons understudy. The lad needs to be playing 1st team rugby, I honestly think he could be better then Sexton.

Any stupid D4tresshead who thinks he should be kept in Leinster as a benchwarmer is blindly putting province over national team. And also runs the risk of being called a 'Kidney'.

Other than that, well deserved win for Leinster, as predicted the bench made the difference. Pissed off as a Munster fan, Leinster still had to bring on the big guns to finish it off in the end. Job well done for the goys. HC next Sunday with our own big guns back. Hopefully a different story!

The Aussie · 01-04-2012 7:17am

tolosenc wrote: »

Ultimately, O'Gara's waywardness from the tee is what cost Munster. He needs to be dropped.

Is that from Munster or Ireland???

I can appreciate he might have made a few bad financial decisions during the so called Boom and has to play for a few extra years, but now its the province and country paying for it.

CoDy1 wrote: »

The most obvious thing that everyone should have learned from this game is that Madigan is too good to be just Sextons understudy. The lad needs to be playing 1st team rugby, I honestly think he could be better then Sexton.

+1.
A 2 hour trip down the N7 could solve a lot of problems for everyone.

Sandwlch · 01-04-2012 7:47am

CoDy1 wrote: »

Any stupid D4tresshead who thinks he should be kept in Leinster as a benchwarmer is blindly putting province over national team. And also runs the risk of being called a 'Kidney'.

Absolutely keep Madigan at Leinster - but certainly not as a bench warmer. The only question is whether it is him or Sexton to develop as a 2nd five-eighth. To replace Darcy. The sooner the better. Good for Leinster, good for Ireland.

(And BTW, how come Joe seems to escape the criticism that Kidney gets when selecting Darcy?)

And I aint stupid.

The Aussie · 01-04-2012 7:50am

CIARAN_BOYLE wrote: »

I can't agree with you there. Let the best players kick, being the 10 should not mean you have to be the kicker when there is a kicker of the quality of McFadden in the team

Where does the idea come from that the Fly Half has to do all the Kicking, we (Australia) had a Second Rower in the form of John Eales kicking for years, who ever is the best man for the job gets it.

Sandwlch · 01-04-2012 7:53am

The Aussie wrote: »

I can appreciate he might have made a few bad financial decisions during the so called Boom and has to play for a few extra years, but now its the province and country paying for it.

ROG should be the first on the list of the IRFU wage cut rather than giving him the extra few years. Give it to the likes of Madigan and Fitzgerald instead, and continue what has been a successful policy of investing in keeping the future talent at home and under your control.

Like Darcy, great days in the past for province and country, but ROG is a has been at this stage. Is even having a negative impact by holding Keatley back.

Benny Cake · 01-04-2012 8:28am

Leinster

tolosenc wrote: »

Ultimately, O'Gara's waywardness from the tee is what cost Munster. He needs to be dropped.

For Keatley? Get real.......:rolleyes:

dougieruggie · 01-04-2012 8:52am

In my opinion ROG is now the fourth best outhalf in the country after Sexton, Madigan and Humphreys (in that order).

The Leinster backrow was pure class turning over ball at will.

I'm glad I can say this because now that Leinster won it wont seem like I'm looking for 'excuses' but Nigel Owens was diabolical last night. Let Munster away with murder and was a joke at scrum time. There were a number of penalties at scrum time that should have been given to Leinster and Horan alone should have yellow carded. Munster at times were using their hands on the ground in front of Owens and he didn't blow them up, it was really a home sided affair in the reffing. His standards seem to be really slipping. Also thought Murphy deserved a yellow for tugging on Nacewas shirt when he was running in for the try but not even a penalty? outrageous. Then Fitzgerald (i think) gets taken out in the air and subsequently gets penalised (wtf). There were so many bad calls against Leinster.

Was it Owens who reffed Munster's home game with Norhampton as well?

thomond2006 · 01-04-2012 9:00am

Leinster

An interesting stat:

Not since Munster vs Leinster in the then Magners League in April 2009, have both sides scored a try in this fixture.

Benny Cake · 01-04-2012 9:02am

Leinster

thomond2006 wrote: »

An interesting stat:

Not since Munster vs Leinster in the then Magners League in April 2009, have both sides scored a try in this fixture.

Thats crazy...

How many lineouts did we turn over last night? Felt like about ten million from where I was sitting :mad:

irishbucsfan · 01-04-2012 9:40am

Dylan Hartley

D'Arcy was very good yesterday. Got through loads of work on the ground. People are looking for him to be an attacking threat when Leinster have no interest in putting him into that situation.

It's great having the D'Arcy/O'Driscoll partnership back. It's like having another back row. They work so hard together. It's also great having McFadden there to come on with Madigan to add another attacking threat.

Delighted to have a fully fit team going into the Cardiff game. Hopefully White is fit enough to wear that 18 jersey.

rrpc · 01-04-2012 9:43am

Dylan Hartley

CoDy1 wrote: »

The most obvious thing that everyone should have learned from this game is that Madigan is too good to be just Sextons understudy. The lad needs to be playing 1st team rugby, I honestly think he could be better then Sexton.

Any stupid D4tresshead who thinks he should be kept in Leinster as a benchwarmer is blindly putting province over national team. And also runs the risk of being called a 'Kidney'.

OK, I'll bite (and I'm not from D4

)
Madigan has started more games for Leinster this season then Sexton has. As long as Sexton is the starting OH (or even the bench OH) for Ireland, this will continue.

Madigan is clearly enjoying his rugby at Leinster and thriving under Joe Schmidt, why would he move?

What he really needs is for Kidney to put him on the bench for Ireland and drop ROG. I doubt it will happen though.

Banbridgeman · 01-04-2012 9:44am

irishbucsfan wrote: »

D'Arcy was very good yesterday. Got through loads of work on the ground. People are looking for him to be an attacking threat when Leinster have no interest in putting him into that situation.

It's great having the D'Arcy/O'Driscoll partnership back. It's like having another back row. They work so hard together. It's also great having McFadden there to come on with Madigan to add another attacking threat.

Delighted to have a fully fit team going into the Cardiff game. Hopefully White is fit enough to wear that 18 jersey.

I think it's gotten to the stage now where Leinster's entire bench is impact. People always talked about the impact the forward replacements and Boss/redden can bring, now surely you've got to include the likes of Madigan and McFadden alongside them. It must be terrifying for opposition when Madigan comes on because they just know when they're on their last legs the tempo will be upped again

irishbucsfan · 01-04-2012 9:48am

Dylan Hartley

If the IRFU want to offer Madigan a central contract I'd be happy to see him go. Until then he'll be going nowhere.

I'm sure he has the ambition to stay at Leinster. I think we could see a nice battle between himself and the long fellow. And Madigan can continue his education of ROG by showing him how to handle being a backup without bitching in the press every other week!

rrpc · 01-04-2012 10:12am

Dylan Hartley

Banbridgeman wrote: »

I think it's gotten to the stage now where Leinster's entire bench is impact. People always talked about the impact the forward replacements and Boss/redden can bring, now surely you've got to include the likes of Madigan and McFadden alongside them. It must be terrifying for opposition when Madigan comes on because they just know when they're on their last legs the tempo will be upped again

Plus Madigan plays a different game to Sexton. He can pop up anywhere in the line and make a break and the DG he scored last night was so unexpected that not one Munster player even tried to block him down.

I'd charactarise him as 'cheeky'

. Does the unexpected all the time and really tests defences.

justsomebloke · 01-04-2012 10:13am

Dylan Hartley

Sandwlch wrote: »

And BTW, how come Joe seems to escape the criticism that Kidney gets when selecting Darcy?

The winning helps

gcgirl · 01-04-2012 10:19am

rrpc wrote: »

Banbridgeman wrote: »

I think it's gotten to the stage now where Leinster's entire bench is impact. People always talked about the impact the forward replacements and Boss/redden can bring, now surely you've got to include the likes of Madigan and McFadden alongside them. It must be terrifying for opposition when Madigan comes on because they just know when they're on their last legs the tempo will be upped again

Plus Madigan plays a different game to Sexton. He can pop up anywhere in the line and make a break and the DG he scored last night was so unexpected that not one Munster player even tried to block him down.

I'd charactarise him as 'cheeky' . Does the unexpected all the time and really tests defences.

Your spot on on the drop goal it was brilliant it basically came out of nowhere

irishbucsfan · 01-04-2012 10:24am

Dylan Hartley

Leinster had an advantage for a penalty and there was nothing out wide. There was no risk involved in the drop goal if it had missed.

GerM · 01-04-2012 10:25am

It would be pointless for Madigan to go south. ROG will be in that jersey for another 2 years. Going south would see him sitting on the bench and getting nowhere. We can all see how much Keatley has gone backwards since the end of the WC and his game time has become very infrequent. His talent is being wasted, these guys can't play AIL much either as they're on benchwarming duty and the new rules dictate only 2 contracted players so for long stretches they're playing literally no rugby.

Madigan is in the best place possible right now to develop. His progress has been huge over the past 18 months. For him to leave would be madness. His game is coming along but he still lacks the control required. Last night he looked very good but he was in cruise control with ball on a plate. Different when he needs to dig things out and play a territorial game to relieve pressure. He'll get there though and needs game time to do that which he's getting at Leinster and won't in Munster. He's the 5th highest Leinster player this season in terms of game time getting almost twice as much as Sexton. If he went south, he'd sit on the bench and stagnate and work with poorer coaches for an outhalf.

GerM · 01-04-2012 10:31am

irishbucsfan wrote: »

D'Arcy was very good yesterday. Got through loads of work on the ground. People are looking for him to be an attacking threat when Leinster have no interest in putting him into that situation.

It's great having the D'Arcy/O'Driscoll partnership back. It's like having another back row. They work so hard together. It's also great having McFadden there to come on with Madigan to add another attacking threat.

Agreed, D'Arcy has entered that zone where he needs to do something spectacular to get credit but I thought he was very good last night. Made some hard yards in contact and worked himself into the ground at rucks and defensively. I was worried when he came off originally. Game seemed to be used as a training exercise for BOD. He saw very little ball but worked hard, tackled and rucked and played for 80 minutes. I think the game was just to get him through a full game and build match fitness. He wasn't used in attack and was a decoy for most of the night.

Fishooks12 · 01-04-2012 10:50am

I would have liked to see Madigan in red but the more I see of him to more I think he'll be a pain in Sextons side a lot sooner than people think.

Owens was a joke, as he often is, yet he's still lauded as one of the "best in the game"

It was clear as day that Horan was taking a beating off Ross. Carding both of them was a joke and a cop out

badbeatcentral · 01-04-2012 11:00am

MADIGAN IS GODIGAN

danthefan · 01-04-2012 11:04am

I thought D'Arcy was poor with ball in hand. He seemed to slow/stop going into contact and he never passed. He did some great work at rucks and defended well though.

jacothelad · 01-04-2012 11:15am

Cpt_Blackbeard wrote: »

Do I detect a hint of jealousy of your more successful cousins?

Don't worry. Ulster will get their time in the sun. It may even happen next week. If not, I'm sure the IRFU will continue to assist Ulster in their goal of competing with the big boys.

Admiration, of Leinster and Munster, not envy. You need to think positively. Not everyone has your mind set. Munster didn't lose the game because of lack of leadership, which was the point of the post. They lost it because Leinster had a full deck from which to select. Munster didn't - and selected Marcus Horan, once a fine player - now a liability at the top level. He was the difference between the sides while he was on the pitch. He won't start against Ulster. While I would of course be more than happy for Ulster to win next week, history shows us that such an outcome is unlikely. Munster with POC, Du Preez, Ryan etc are a more formidable team. Don't be such a curmudgeonly and defensive pirate Captain.

01-04-2012 11:39am

Cpt_Blackbeard wrote: »

Do I detect a hint of jealousy of your more successful cousins?

Don't worry. Ulster will get their time in the sun. It may even happen next week. If not, I'm sure the IRFU will continue to assist Ulster in their goal of competing with the big boys.

There's at least a decent chance that next week we might be partying like it's 1999

danthefan · 01-04-2012 11:39am

jacothelad wrote: »

Admiration, of Leinster and Munster, not envy. You need to think positively. Not everyone has your mind set. Munster didn't lose the game because of lack of leadership, which was the point of the post. They lost it because Leinster had a full deck from which to select. Munster didn't - and selected Marcus Horan, once a fine player - now a liability at the top level. He was the difference between the sides while he was on the pitch. He won't start against Ulster. While I would of course be more than happy for Ulster to win next week, history shows us that such an outcome is unlikely. Munster with POC, Du Preez, Ryan etc are a more formidable team. Don't be such a curmudgeonly and defensive pirate Captain.

What? With the way the game was reffed that's just completely wrong. Leinster got basically no advantage out of it because Owens refused to see he was the issue.

Tox56 · 01-04-2012 11:56am

Dylan Hartley

I haven't read the whole thread, but most people seem to be suggesting Madigan should go to Munster. Surely if he was going to move, he would be best served to go to Ulster? A young, exciting backline, where 10 is probably the weakest area. He would probably have a field day there.

For now though, I think he would be best served to stay in Leinster. People seem to forget, 1 injury at 10 and that's it, we have nobody (once Berquist leaves). As has been said already, Madigan has played more for Leinster than Sexton this year, and if Sexton gets injured he moves straight in.

Sexton picks up an injury in the QF, Madigan plays a HEC Semi-Final for the defending champions, why would he move somewhere else? Joe has proven he trusts him, not least by taking off Sexton early yesterday (who was playing very well), and giving Madigan a good run.

He's only just turned 23, and we need to see how he develops before sending him off. Give him a few more years, possibly getting a few HEC games and constant Rabo play where he can earn an Irish bench spot, and then we will talk. There is no need to offload him anywhere soon.

Pro12: Munster vs Leinster, Sat 31 March 7:30pm, Live on RTÉ2

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