Home Pro 14 Semi-Final, Sat 18/5 @ The RDS, 14.30

[D2 Blue]

Strange atmosphere at the RDS today. No disrespect to Munster but the result never really looked in doubt after about 20 mins.
Although the crowd were getting behind the team, it really felt flat. Probably because of last week. Maybe that was just in the north stand and I was surrounded by munster fans. Had a bit of craic with them anyway.
Plenty of positives from the game, mainly Josh coming back and playing everyone else off the field.
I'm not sure if that level of performance will be enough to see off Glasgow but I've every faith in Leo and co to get them ready.
After looking at the comments on mf.com, its funny that I took a similar view of our performance last week that they took of Munster's performance today.
Not sharp enough, some bad decision making, the ref, not managing yellow cards (both ways) better.
Still, at least there's a chance of redemption next week.

And nearly forgot a special mention of the three front row amigos out on the wing. It was some excellent handling and passing from Ciano to Tadhg to Nugget for the try. Great to see Fardy out on the touchline to sell the dummy. Great finishing from Sean Cronin as always. Once he gets a run from inside the 22 he's rarely stopped.

[blockhead]

Strange atmosphere at the RDS today. No disrespect to Munster but the result never really looked in doubt after about 20 mins.
Although the crowd were getting behind the team, it really felt flat. Probably because of last week. Maybe that was just in the north stand and I was surrounded by munster fans. Had a bit of craic with them anyway.
Plenty of positives from the game, mainly Josh coming back and playing everyone else off the field.
I'm not sure if that level of performance will be enough to see off Glasgow but I've every faith in Leo and co to get them ready.
After looking at the comments on mf.com, its funny that I took a similar view of our performance last week that they took of Munster's performance today.
Not sharp enough, some bad decision making, the ref, not managing yellow cards (both ways) better.
Still, at least there's a chance of redemption next week.

And nearly forgot a special mention of the three front row amigos out on the wing. It was some excellent handling and passing from Ciano to Tadhg to Nugget for the try. Great to see Fardy out on the touchline to sell the dummy. Great finishing from Sean Cronin as always. Once he gets a run from inside the 22 he's rarely stopped.

Yes Yes. Healy to Furlong to Cronin... try! Classic Leinster.

[suisse]

After last season's semi loss to Racing, POM spoke to the media about how sick he is of losing semis. Munster have played, and lost, 3 semis since then. As with the Racing defeat, he was utterly anonymous as usual. Ruddock was an animal out there. Carried hard and made the number of tackles you expect from your blindside. Not 9. Conan is, by some distance, the best 8 available to Ireland. I like Stander. He's very good at what he does best but he has no right to that jersey now. Despite accusations about biased selections, I don't think Schmidt will change his 6 or 8.

Conway is a knobend. But it's always good when your rivals have a played you dislike. The guy could have won a handful of medals had he stayed, living in South Dublin. Instead, he boards a bus back to Limerick (jaysus) looking forward to watching another Final on t.v.

Larmour showed some great touches at 15. He's still a little rabbits in headlights and every half you're guaranteed a bizarre wayward pass to nowhere like the one to Cronin. But he's young and he's learning. If Rob is fit I'd start him next week but no worries over Larmour in the future. Thought Ringrose had a better game than some here are saying. Slipped one tackle but made up for it seconds later with a huge smash on Carbery. Tore 'em apart at one point, too.

This was a bad game for any Munster players in 50/50 calls with Leinster counterparts for Ireland. Earls was menacing. He looked threatening. Farrell was good and I thought Carbery looked really dangerous. His footwork os excellent. Our D took care of him but he despite being smacked backwards numerous times, he comes back for more. And more.

[ronk]

Discipline was really poor for Munster. Gave away a ton of penalties, many unnecessary. Could have had more in the bin.

Plenty of niggle too, leaving gaps in the defense to get a shot at someone.

[ronk]

This was a bad game for any Munster players in 50/50 calls with Leinster counterparts for Ireland. Earls was menacing. He looked threatening. Farrell was good and I thought Carbery looked really dangerous. His footwork os excellent. Our D took care of him but he despite being smacked backwards numerous times, he comes back for more. And more.

Carbery had a few good kicks. Good footwork isn’t enough at outhalf, there’s a back line outside you watching you dance.

[Gearzbox2]

Very clinical stuff yesterday from our lads...
Probably have to go up a level or 2 for these Glasgow lads next week which we are more than capable of

That game started at ferocious pace and I remember one passage went on for nearly 5 minutes!!!
We handled Lowe’s yellow very well, think we only conceded 3 and one scrum penalty as we only had 7 in the scrum

Our back row were simply immense, Conan hands down the best 8 in Ireland...JVDF superb and Rhys was a horse for 80
The front row superb, around the park and that try!!!!
Lowe was great, his hit and try were outstanding at the end
Bench had a good impact too
Johnny was like a man possessed which was great to see
Lineout needs a few tweaks, we looked a bit spooked in a couple with POM moving around

A side note on them...CJ Stander apart from one decent carry isn’t in Conan’s league
Pom just goes missing, Carbery, they can have him, thought Ross B outplayed him
Conway needs to leave the big boys alone, Lowe pulled his pants down
Thought Kilcoyne played well and I like the look of Kleyn, bit of a cheap shot merchant but you need them
Munsters discipline is atrocious and I think this always falls on the coach and how that’s kept

On to Glasgow next week!!!!

[joooooe]

Jimmy Jimmy

https://twitter.com/Murray_Kinsella/sta ... 4556597249

Watched that about 50 times.

https://youtu.be/r6l_9reaLz0

[joooooe]

I loved Loved LOVED that, with the clock in the red and having faced down a Munster penalty-line-out, and with the memory of having turned over the ball at the same stage last week to concede 3, Leinster went for it; going up the line, simple line out, through the phases and earning a penalty to score with the last kick of the half.

That must have been so demoralising for Munster.

[Blueberry]

Great afternoon, Leinster in a different league to Munster. If I were a Munster fan I would be really worried. They barely have a Munster player on the pitch, Murray is continuing to struggle, POM is drifting and bar Earls I don't see a top grade performer anywhere in the side ATM. Still not sold on Carbery as a 10. Don't underestimate the impact of the de-Munsterisation of the province. They have serious problems and Van Grann is going to continue to make it worse. Right now bar Earls not a single player I would have in the Ireland team. Hats off to JVDF, super performance.

[Peg Leg]

Back to Swede'n with you

[bails]

Conway showed himself to b3 a real p***k.

He goaded players continuously, even had a row with Porter, who was a sub warmining up while Ross Byrne took a shot at goal. He seemed to be at Porter about where he was standing, despite Porter being off the pitch.

Made me wonder was it a deliberate attempt to rile Leinster players, as they managed in Thomond, but then I remembered, Conway is just a mouthy git, who probably realizes he made a wrong decision a few years ago, and wants to blame everybody else for it.

[Blueberry]

In fairness to some of these guys it must be hard as a born and bred Leinster head it to be stuck down in Munster with the issues they have and realising that winning anything is miles away. It must be frustrating and this will boil over. Conway only has himself to blame but it can't be easy.

[Oldschool]

Strange atmosphere at the RDS today. No disrespect to Munster but the result never really looked in doubt after about 20 mins.
Although the crowd were getting behind the team, it really felt flat. Probably because of last week. Maybe that was just in the north stand and I was surrounded by munster fans. Had a bit of craic with them anyway.
Plenty of positives from the game, mainly Josh coming back and playing everyone else off the field.
I'm not sure if that level of performance will be enough to see off Glasgow but I've every faith in Leo and co to get them ready.
After looking at the comments on mf.com, its funny that I took a similar view of our performance last week that they took of Munster's performance today.
Not sharp enough, some bad decision making, the ref, not managing yellow cards (both ways) better.
Still, at least there's a chance of redemption next week.

And nearly forgot a special mention of the three front row amigos out on the wing. It was some excellent handling and passing from Ciano to Tadhg to Nugget for the try. Great to see Fardy out on the touchline to sell the dummy. Great finishing from Sean Cronin as always. Once he gets a run from inside the 22 he's rarely stopped.

Yes Yes. Healy to Furlong to Cronin... try! Classic Leinster.

You should add that last line to your"notes" at the bottom of your posts.
I'd use it myself but it's not appropriate to nick other people's moments of genius.

[Oldschool]

This was a bad game for any Munster players in 50/50 calls with Leinster counterparts for Ireland. Earls was menacing. He looked threatening. Farrell was good and I thought Carbery looked really dangerous. His footwork os excellent. Our D took care of him but he despite being smacked backwards numerous times, he comes back for more. And more.

Carbery had a few good kicks. Good footwork isn’t enough at outhalf, there’s a back line outside you watching you dance.

Carbery gave some very quick, slick, flat passes to his outside backs yesterday, especially in the first half when Munster had more ball.
Then he realised his mistake.

[Oldschool]

Very clinical stuff yesterday from our lads...
Probably have to go up a level or 2 for these Glasgow lads next week which we are more than capable of

That game started at ferocious pace and I remember one passage went on for nearly 5 minutes!!!
We handled Lowe’s yellow very well, think we only conceded 3 and one scrum penalty as we only had 7 in the scrum

Our back row were simply immense, Conan hands down the best 8 in Ireland...JVDF superb and Rhys was a horse for 80
The front row superb, around the park and that try!!!!
Lowe was great, his hit and try were outstanding at the end
Bench had a good impact too
Johnny was like a man possessed which was great to see
Lineout needs a few tweaks, we looked a bit spooked in a couple with POM moving around

A side note on them...CJ Stander apart from one decent carry isn’t in Conan’s league
Pom just goes missing, Carbery, they can have him, thought Ross B outplayed him
Conway needs to leave the big boys alone, Lowe pulled his pants down
Thought Kilcoyne played well and I like the look of Kleyn, bit of a cheap shot merchant but you need them
Munsters discipline is atrocious and I think this always falls on the coach and how that’s kept

On to Glasgow next week!!!!

POM just goes missing.
That's a bit harsh.
POM spends most of his time in midfield or on the wing waiting for the play to come his way.
He's an experienced player and reads the game so well that he knows the play will eventually come back to where he's waiting.
This level of unseen work (if you are watching the game on TV) is unusual.
Why real Munster fans don't get on his case I don't understand. A bit of honest appraisal wouldn't go amiss.
What is more worrying is that Joe et al don't seem to get it either.

[Twist]

I just saw the gratuitous fat shaming by Scannell when he got his yellow card. There’s no place for that. If the fat community aren’t accepted on the rugby field, where are we to go??


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Enjoyed that!

It was a brilliant contest for a while but the way we took control in the second half was incredible considering the effort we put in last week. The pack laid the foundations but Johnny was great off the bench (and gave two fingers to me about him lacking pace now), hope we use him like that again in future. I'm not suggesting that Ross is first choice now, but when we have back to back games I think Johnny can bench in the easier one from now on.

I honestly think that the main reason we didn't pull away sooner was because of how bad the ref was. People are talking about Munster's discipline but their poor discipline also kept them in the game because they were allowed to go off their feet all day long (just watched it back and even Josh was shouting to the ref about it) and only dominated the scrum because Kilcoyne was allowed to do his usual trick and Munster kept wheeling it. Adamson hadn't a notion about the scrum, or anything else for that matter. Some of the missed calls from the officials were quite incredible, the knock forward by James Ryan in a lineout was a particular highlight.

So I'm not worried about the scrum and in open play our forwards were immense. Lineout is a worry though, Cronin looked lost at times. That move down the short side was great though, the timing/line from VDF was great and I'd say it wasn't something that Munster could have spotted in their analysis. I think Josh overran Cronin slightly but if he hadn't it would have been a brilliant try.

Thought it was noticeable that Luke was hanging the ball up for guys to run straight on to which meant they stayed closer to our support. We were still a bit lateral out wide but it wasn't as bad as last week, hopefully that was tactical and not just because we had go forward.

Our defence is confusing me at the moment. Last week we struggled with the Sarries midfield even though they didn't do anything complicated, and this week we struggled a few times but then at others we managed to blitz Joey. I think it might be that our centres are slightly slow off the line off set piece, but then in open play our forwards are so quick off the line that we can swallow up the opposition midfield, not sure though. Hastings likes to run sideways and find gaps so I reckon there'll be opportunities for Henshaw and Ringrose to nail him well behind the gainline next week. He had it really easy against Ulster and I reckon that could be to our advantage next week.

Munster didn't offer anything beyond brute force and niggle early on. Their back three were non existent in attack, not sure why they've stopped working off Farrell. When they did make breaks in the first half they were incredibly poor at using the numbers out wide, really basic stuff. Thought it was telling that POM didn't really answer the question he was asked in his interview but instead just said that the two coaches were great guys and would be missed. Maybe he just misheard the question (can't remember what it was exactly) but it felt to me like he thought they had been shafted. Now Felix isn't doing a good job right now, but that doesn't mean he wasn't shafted either.

[wixfjord]

I just saw the gratuitous fat shaming by Scannell when he got his yellow card. There’s no place for that. If the fat community aren’t accepted on the rugby field, where are we to go??


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

'Don't make me run onside, I'm full of chocolate'!

[fourthirtythree]

Enjoyed that!

I honestly think that the main reason we didn't pull away sooner was because of how bad the ref was. People are talking about Munster's discipline but their poor discipline also kept them in the game because they were allowed to go off their feet all day long (just watched it back and even Josh was shouting to the ref about it) and only dominated the scrum because Kilcoyne was allowed to do his usual trick and Munster kept wheeling it. Adamson hadn't a notion about the scrum, or anything else for that matter. Some of the missed calls from the officials were quite incredible, the knock forward by James Ryan in a lineout was a particular highlight.


.

Watched the game for the first time at about 3 last night knowing the result and it looked really comfortable in retrospect.
someone here was complimenting ttje coaching team for sorting our scrum out: they didn't. Our scrum was comfortable when the ref was on munster's loose head side, wheeled and penalty when not. When Porter came on he complained before a scrum and the ref said "yes, that's why I'm coming round this side to look." he did, Munster took Kilcoyne off straight away.

Do refs not watch matches on the telly or something? What do they expect to happen with Kilcoyne at loosehead.

[cormac]

To add to the James Lowe legend he slotted a penalty kick from about 45m out during the warm-up. No kicking tee, just dug a hole in the ground with his boot in the old style, stood it straight up and thwack. Bisected the posts.