Munster Team Talk Thread - Snymans are(n't) Forever

Defunkd wrote: »

Gla have their 5pts (no surprise) to go top and i think the positions won't change after today.

Munster are on 58. Glasgow are on 61

Munster's run in is a bit better than Glasgow
Glasgow
Home to Cheetahs 5 points
Home to Ulster 4 points
Away to Leinster 0/1 points
Home to Edinburgh 4 points

Munster
Home to Zebre 5 points
Home to Blues 5 points
Away to Treviso 4 points
Home to Connacht 4 points


That would leave Glasgow on 74/5 and Munster on 76

Munster have a way higher PD than Glasgow
We have to beat Treviso away and connacht at home, but they are do-able

Munster should win in Treviso if they send their first team. Send a similar line up to tonight and they may well lose.

The other issue is that Leinster could completely phone it in now they've topped the pool. Glasgow could well get a win in Dublin. Last season, Treviso won in Dublin and Connacht put 40 on Leinster once top spot was secured.

Defunkd wrote: »

I see them getting 5 from Edi while we will get 4 from Blues. Treviso are not the walkover they were up to recently. We, even at full complement, do not travel well which doesn't bode well for that game.
I hope i'm wrong but i think we've surrendered the lead and we won't get it back.

Munsters away form has been really good in the 2nd half of the season. I think we can afford to drop 2 bps and still top the group on pd

Akrasia wrote: »

Munsters away form has been really good in the 2nd half of the season. I think we can afford to drop 2 bps and still top the group on pd

We beat Conn; destroyed Dragons by 1 pt (7-8)...Dragons!; beat a poor Glou and scraped past Osp last week despite beating them by 30 or 36 pts in the first leg. Our away form has improved in a minute way.

Our home performances have been good but overall, the 18/19 season won't be remembered for travelling well.

Cookiemunster wrote: »

Nice interview with Ian Keatley in the 42 this morning.
https://www.the42.ie/ian-keatley-interview-4518673-Mar2019/

Not getting at you personally but the whole hero whorshipping of Keatley is getting a bit over the top, he was an average player for Munster at best, never shone, JJ Hanrahan was always far superior, I was in Thomond Park when he was booed and while it wasn't in keeping with the Munster ethos I felt in a way it was fully deserved, there's far better number tens than him out there and I'm glad the management finally coped on to that

GoneHome wrote: »

Not getting at you personally but the whole hero whorshipping of Keatley is getting a bit over the top, he was an average player for Munster at best, never shone, JJ Hanrahan was always far superior, I was in Thomond Park when he was booed and while it wasn't in keeping with the Munster ethos I felt in a way it was fully deserved, there's far better number tens than him out there and I'm glad the management finally coped on to that

https://twitter.com/BigDunc123/status/1101945273851564032?s=19

Mike Oxlong wrote: »

Hyperbolic rubbish

The first 2 paragraphs are spot on actually. Booing one of your own is incredibly poor form and should be called out for what it is. Anyone who does it or condones it shouldnequally be called out. It’s complete BS.

Also, anyone who thinks JJ was far superior to Keatley is way off. JJ has been consistently mediocre for years. Keatley has it in him to be anything from mediocre to very good.

GoneHome wrote: »

Not getting at you personally but the whole hero whorshipping of Keatley is getting a bit over the top, he was an average player for Munster at best, never shone, JJ Hanrahan was always far superior, I was in Thomond Park when he was booed and while it wasn't in keeping with the Munster ethos I felt in a way it was fully deserved, there's far better number tens than him out there and I'm glad the management finally coped on to that

JJ is not anywhere near Keatleys superior. At all.
Keatley had a notion of what game management actually is for one thing.

Since coming back all JJ has shown is that the decision to let him go to begin with was the correct one. He may well have potential at center/15 but he’s not a 10 at this level.

The fact he was behind Keatley all last year is further proof of this.

Anyone who booed Keatley at Thomond that day has no place going to games in Munster, and no place at a sporting event in general. It was absolute thuggery. He had a poor game, as did many others and there was no need for it.

He went and got MoTM over there a year later for god sake.

Myself, and I’m sure a lot others, would have liked a chance to give someone who was nothing but an absolute professional at all times in Munster, a chance to give him a proper send off, and without it, would love nothing more than to see him succeed at treviso!

I’ve read a lot of utter crap on this site, but your post takes the absolute biscuit!

This is pedantic I know, but Keatley wasn't actually boo-ed. He was jeered. Call it as it was.

There was what we'll term an ironic cheer went up when substituted. I was there and it was nowhere near what some are making out. It came from roughly around the dugout area of the East Terrance, a very small minority but enough to hear further down the terrace mind. Disgusting behaviour that has no place.

Around me it was actually Axel Foley people were directing their ire at, not Keatley, who had been out of sorts for weeks. They were furious that Keatley wasn't substituted. Tough situation for Keatley to be in, being played when you patently need time off to get the head back. He was a great servant for us

Faugheen, you're on a windup about the atmosphere at Thomond. The reason it was like that at the Leinster match was because of the way Leinster didn't go out there to play rugby that day and lost their heads. You don't think if Munster went to the Horseyhouse and played that way the fans wouldn't do the same?

Ye'd want to look a bit closer to home and your attendances in a city of well over a million and Irish rugby on the crest of a wave and can't get a decent crowd for many Pro14 games. How many were at the Cheetahs match?

Edit: I'll answer my own question - 10,057 reported. If there was 10,057 at that game then I'm the chairperson of the Official Luke Fitzgerald Fanclub!

Buer wrote: »

The 32 year old who is on a bigger salary was let go.

Do you know what the salaries were or are you assuming? or are you trying to turn it into a fiscal decision to release him? Ffs, fanboys want to call it anything but what it is.

Defunkd wrote: »

Do you know what the salaries were or are you assuming? or are you trying to turn it into a fiscal decision to release him? Ffs, fanboys want to call it anything but what it is.

Do you actually think the experienced pro with a handful of test caps was on a lower salary than the guy who has never nailed down a spot for a team let alone be capped?

I've no particular affinity for either of them but there is no comparison between what Keatley and Hanrahan have actually done in a red jersey. But Keatley is approaching retirement and there are several other options at least one of whom is clearly a better option at 10 than him. It makes no sense to retain his services regardless of whether he's better than Hanrahan or not.

Hanrahan is still only 26 and could become a useful player for Munster and nail down a spot eventually. Keatley is 32 in a few weeks and will only slow down from this point. But if you asked me who would I start tomorrow if Munster had a crunch match, it would be a simple decision for me.

Fanboys Ted!