Babbling 'brook

Munster "chip on the shoulder" and "backs to the wall" is nonsense. They had the Irish international pack from about 2000 to 2008 with the addition of some excellent overseas players. They had a top class 10 and some experienced backs. The fabled Munster fight and aura was actua...

Really happy to have rugby back in TP again. After the Covid hit years I don’t think I’ll ever take going to a match for granted. The squad is a very exciting one, and really highlights how hard the EI tour hit Munster as 7 of the 9 players that toured have been named in the squad. Imo this is not ...

ELVs introduced in 2009 to punish poor/puke rugby. Munster have not won a European Cup since 2008. I don't think it's a surprise Munster have not been successful since as they have never evolved. And before someone mentions South Africa winning the World Cup - they did it with a squad of 23 South A...

It was a great defensive display. It seemed to be wave after wave of Cheetahs attack but they couldn't break the Irish defence in open play. I read that EI had about 30% possession. That looked accurate. When they did attack they looked very good and in a different class to the Cheetahs but they cou...

Its a brutal run of games for an underperforming team bit that's the reality of the URC. Changes were needed for years now but they continued to plod along and the kicker is it would have been much easier to make those changes in previous years.

Great win, we were very good in second half. Protected our ball much better and played heads up rugby. Cross kicks from Henshaw, Sexton, JOB and Ngatai. I thought Cormac Foley was impressive when he came on (one loose offload aside). Looked like an upgrade on Luke McGrath Foley looks a quality play...

I'm not exactly an expert on the premiership but to me it looks like the league is in serious trouble. Too many clubs with too much debt and the danger is a snowball effect could happen. -There's usually 6 matches per week. That could be cut to 5 meaning less tv money. -There might be a bigger gap o...

EMERGING IRELAND V AIRLINK PUMAS: Toyota Stadium, Bloemfontein, Wednesday 5th October, 2022, KO 4.00pm (Irish time) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzOQPKnvoZA 15. Chay Mullins (Connacht/IQ Rugby) 14. Ethan McIlroy (Ulster/Ballynahinch) 13. Antoine Frisch (Munster) 12. Cathal Forde (Connacht/Cori...

In the matches so far this season Crowley has made a big impact when replacing Healy. Carbery has done the opposite. So as of now the rankings would be 1 Crowley, 2 Healy and 3 Carbery. As for young players, at least now there are some coming through but yes it will take time to replace the mid 20s ...

Gotta say I'm loving this version of Zebre though. 21-0 down after 25 minutes in years gone by was probably going to end up 60+. To win the next 55 minutes 0-5 is some achievement. These guys aren't watching the scoreboard and are just playing from first minutes to last. That's a great base to star...

This match against Zebre will tell us where Munster are at the moment. I expect a lot of aggression but technically it's hard to see major improvements in a week. Judging by the first 2 performances it looks like it could be a rocky few months coming up. The easy thing for Rowntree to do was continu...

It wouldn't suprise me, should the Nigels, in the context of Wasps having to be relegated and Worcester to close up shop, rather than go down the route of promoting the likes of Ealing Pathfinder and the Cornish Pirates into the Prem, start a push some kind of arrangement, whereby the Irish, South ...

I thought it was a bit strange that there was a minute silence for the death of queen Elizabeth before the game, considering it didn't affect either team (or rugby in general). Does anyone know if this was a URC directive? I thought I was seeing things. Crazy that it was allowed happen. Is it reall...

Laighin Break wrote: ↑September 18th, 2022, 7:30 pm I thought it was a bit strange that there was a minute silence for the death of queen Elizabeth before the game, considering it didn't affect either team (or rugby in general). Does anyone know if this was a URC directive?

I thought I was seeing things. Crazy that it was allowed happen.

Zero offloads from Munster..... Dancing at the disco, bumper to bumper Wait a minute! Where's me jumper? Where's me jumper? Where's me jumper? Oooh no. Oh no. Oh no. Oh no. 7 offloads (9th most in league), 22 defenders beaten (3rd most), 404m run (4th most). That's with all the handling and breakdo...

The overall system Prendergast is installing will have much more of a cutting edge than was there previously. It will at least give Munster a punchers chance of beating the best. Under JVG it could be summed up by '80%'. A style that could consistently beat 80% of teams but was also consistently lo...

Zero offloads from Munster..... Dancing at the disco, bumper to bumper Wait a minute! Where's me jumper? Where's me jumper? Where's me jumper? Oooh no. Oh no. Oh no. Oh no. 7 offloads (9th most in league), 22 defenders beaten (3rd most), 404m run (4th most). That's with all the handling and breakdo...

The overall system Prendergast is installing will have much more of a cutting edge than was there previously. It will at least give Munster a punchers chance of beating the best. Under JVG it could be summed up by '80%'. A style that could consistently beat 80% of teams but was also consistently los...

Talented Cardiff side. They should be much better this season but it's a double edged sword signing Welsh Internationals as they're usually not arsed about playing for their regions.

I thought the decision was fair. Foley said he was just organising his forwards but that's a weak excuse. His own team mate was screaming at him to kick the ball out but he was still trying to take every second he could. He gambled and lost.