Babbling 'brook

I'm not sure Scott Buckleys performances with the exception of one great outing vs Wasps have merited more than he's got. He's a 23 year old hooker with 27 matches (5 Heineken Cup games) under his belt. I do agree that there's no point signing a mediocre NIQ hooker - maybe thats the reason - there w...

I like seeing Munster suffer as much as the next man but still think they should be able to sign a NIQ hooker. If we are down to Barron or Scannell for Ireland then we are in serious bother anyway. Munster have signed hookers for each of the last 3 seasons. They have a decent panel of hookers. If t...

I would have said prior to his stint with Bath that he just didn't have a knack for coaching as a head coach, his main failings being a] he couldn't get players to respond emotionally; and b] he couldn't put together a gameplan that exposed weaknesses in strong teams and provided Munster with the a...

No coach/ manager has the complete skill set. Not JvG, not McFarland, not Leo, not ROG, but even Joe or Nienaber. It’s whether the skill set they have is suitable and effective for the team they lead- for that moment. What Leo Cullen has done brilliantly is surround himself with the right people - ...

A lot of those players came later in his stint and were maybe more reactive. Some of these players looked a lot better after he left. Not all, some did better. He tended to pick limited players with competitive spirits, akin to MOCs picking AIL ahead of raw youth. I spent years trying to figure out...

Without wading too far into this I think the real pity for Munster is the wasted years with JVG. Feel like there'd be a fraction of this discussion if someone like Rowntree had gotten the job in 2017 and the increased energy in the academy had started sooner I'm a bit torn. I think when you actuall...

I don't understand the Ben Murphy to Connacht move. At Leinster you'd have JGP needing rest periods. Fintan Gunne is coming through who looks class but he's only played twice for Leinster as it stands - you've just Luke McGrath who I think being kind - is a great club man but maybe isn't a great scr...

hmmmm, not sure about some of this .... PBC and CBC regularly beat Michaels and Rock in Caaark ..... "regularly" as in most of the time. The question Munster should be asking is why those players don't seamlessly transition to the Munster Academy in same as the way that the Gunnes, McErle...

The article is behind a Paywall so I can't read it but surely the fact we are winning away from home where we have far less fans shows actually that fans are less important. What dots does he use to connect our win in Loftus Versfeld to poor atmosphere at Thomond Park.

Sorry I misread that - GT's point was that the fans need to improve??....thats an odd one.

Thornley on munster today suggests that thomand park crowd need to up their game given Munsters success on the roads vs realitve failure at home. He'd better take cover. What's he talking about? They've lost two home games all season, both against European semi finalists. The performances in the Ba...

Thornley on munster today suggests that thomand park crowd need to up their game given Munsters success on the roads vs realitve failure at home. He'd better take cover. Yes and No I would say. We've played 6 matches at Thomond Park this year. The biggest defeat was a 9-3 defeat to Leinster. We als...

My god reading back on my posts I feel the need to point out - English is in actual fact my first language - typing on the phone and losing my train of thought makes a few sentences unreadable

Meddling in the provinces backfired hugely. I think the moves from Leinster to other provinces 99% of the time have been utter failures. Likes of Cian Prendergast or Tadhg Beirne who weren't in Leinster academy or seniors have tended to work well. But actual senior Leinster lads leaving to move dir...

How did you end up playing the Lions away last year and this year again?

For us we play the Sharks/Stormers and Bulls/Lions as our pairings and they've remained constants for 3 seasons.

2022 - Bulls/Lions away
2023 - Stormers/Sharks away
2024 - Bulls/Lions away

For example if he frames the question as "we all agree that Leinster have an unfair advantage, how do we fix it?", rather than "what can the IRFU do to help the other three provinces become more competitive?" it feeds into a different narrative. Its that word thats the most dama...

WRT Scannell, he was always seen as a "something different" 12 back when that was still a thing. Nobody really talks about that now. Thats a 10/12/15 role for a 6-2 split IMO. Bringing in De Allende brought into sharp focus what Scannell didn't bring whatever his merits. You couldn't drop...

Its a fair point on the team quality alright - looking back to last season I had forgotton the 62-7 loss to Bulls. But then again you also beat the Lions away last season with a very comparable team to the one that lost at the weekend which (maybe unfairly) sets that as the expectation. I didn't rea...

Maybe it's because Stormers have never beaten Munster but I never think of them as a massive powerhouse side (despite making last two finals). I think they're very beatable. La Rochelle who you beat out the gate beat them in Cape Town. Ospreys beat them in Cape Town. Munster and Glasgow and Benetton...

deco wrote: ↑April 21st, 2024, 4:23 pm What a pleasure to have sound Munster contributors like Dougie and Sugary_tae on here.

Appreciate that Deco. Sound for saying that.