Munster v Leinster URC Sat 2nd 7pm RTE

[cormac]

When this clearout has barely even raised a murmur on munsterfans.com you know it's a complete nothing incident.

[OTT]

In fairness, the complaints are originating from the nuttier corners of the Munster support - most are far more concerned with things that actually happened, with the structure of their province, coaching, bringing through younger players etc. You can't judge a support base by the lunatic fringe

You’re right there. I popped my head into mf and not sure there’s one post there about it but most of the heads are missing so they are obviously still in their stupor somewhere.

[mildlyinterested]

When this clearout has barely even raised a murmur on munsterfans.com you know it's a complete nothing incident.

ah TRK has his talking points out now so i'd expect when munster fans re-emerge they'll be bleating about it.

[wixfjord]

He was certainly in from the side.

Its one of the key tactics used by Irish sides, get to the ruck quickly and come in from the side before the ref is certain that the ruck has formed. All Irish teams, in particular Leinster and Munster, do it and constantly. So people getting their umbrage on about it is a bit weird

I'm not getting umbrage on at all. The stuff about Toner 'targeting' Coombes or it being a cheap shot is just nonsense.

Nobody in their right mind believes Dev meant to injury anyone, but to ignore that it's clearly a penalty offence is just one eyed.

The first penalty offence is the Munster prop rolling north to south which is exactly what the ref penalised.

Sure.

That doesn't mean what Toner did is legal though.

We can go on about the biased nonsense that Munster fans are spouting.

But you've also got a majority of posters on here who don't seem to want to recognise that a clear in from the side offence is a penalty!

[wixfjord]

I find it really weird that people are zeroing in on this. There’s another prominent Munster fan who talks shite all the time but seems to have gained a reputation as being an authority just by virtue of having a respectable job and being incapable of not posting any thought that comes into his head who was complaining about it too. Far too much noise for a a nothing incident.

That dude is an arrogant pr!*k I have to say. Some of his comments after the game were hilarious.

[fourthirtythree]

In fairness, the complaints are originating from the nuttier corners of the Munster support - most are far more concerned with things that actually happened, with the structure of their province, coaching, bringing through younger players etc. You can't judge a support base by the lunatic fringe

I have popped down to MF and the response to the game there is measured, balanced, and critical without descending into hyperbolae in general. TRK is a bellend but I would never have read what he said if it wasn't posted here.

As an aside I was hoping that this game would showcase some younger Munster players, in particular Ahern, Kendellan, and Coombes. Most supporters have the mindset that we would want Munster players pushing for Irish selection.

[curates_egg]

If you want to see a reckless clean out, look at Herbst's no-arms flying missile from the side on Leavy's prone knee, which has sadly diminished him greatly as a player. Herbst should have had a long ban after that IMO, and should certainly have not have been given an extension with Ulster the next season.

Dev, on the other hand, wraps both his hands around Coombes' torso and lifts. Beyond being a bit diagonal, I can see nothing wrong with Toner's clear out.
It's an unfortunate outcome, and hopefully Coombes will not be out for too long. Thankfully it's only his ankle, and he seemed to be able to run on it afterwards. Unlike what was done to Leavy.

he wasnt given an extension, he was released shortly afterwards.

His contract ended at the end of that season. But he came back the following season in autumn to provide joker cover for part of the season (while he was with the Bulls). At least, I thought I remembered that. I certainly remember being outraged that the IRFU greenlighted it.

Edit: I didn't imagine it. https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/spor ... 51009.html
It was a disgrace that he was asked back. And outrageous that it was approved by the IRFU.

[the spoofer]

I'm not getting umbrage on at all. The stuff about Toner 'targeting' Coombes or it being a cheap shot is just nonsense.

Nobody in their right mind believes Dev meant to injury anyone, but to ignore that it's clearly a penalty offence is just one eyed.

The first penalty offence is the Munster prop rolling north to south which is exactly what the ref penalised.

Sure.

That doesn't mean what Toner did is legal though.

We can go on about the biased nonsense that Munster fans are spouting.

But you've also got a majority of posters on here who don't seem to want to recognise that a clear in from the side offence is a penalty!

Because it wasn't in my view. Wide gate, wide entry point.

[curates_egg]

As for Thomas Savage, the author of the Three Red Kings blog, I would wonder whether what he has written about Toner is not libelous. I would hope Leinster lawyers have looked at it in any case.

That guy is a poundshop bully, who deserves some comeuppance.

[Hoofhearted]

As for Thomas Savage, the author of the Three Red Kings blog, I would wonder whether what he has written about Toner is not libelous. I would hope Leinster lawyers have looked at it in any case.

That guy is a poundshop bully, who deserves some comeuppance.

I feel sorry for him. He seems to have built his entire personality around being a fan of Munster rugby. That's a bit sad.

[paddyor]

. There’s another prominent Munster fan who talks shite all the time but seems to have gained a reputation as being an authority just by virtue of having a respectable job and being incapable of not posting any thought that comes into his head who was complaining about it too. Far too much noise for a a nothing incident.

I’m just reading your post now and I nearly pissed myself , if it’s the same chap I’m thinking of. He’s a f%~king expert in everything not just Law. I’d say he’s about 50ish but you just know he was there in 78 yeah right!

Ah the yacht loving barrister. I muted him a while ago and his twitter account is private now.

[Oldschoolsocks]

Lads, whatever about the injury which was unfortunate, it's quite clearly in from the side. That's not even a debate.

He was certainly in from the side.

Its one of the key tactics used by Irish sides, get to the ruck quickly and come in from the side before the ref is certain that the ruck has formed. All Irish teams, in particular Leinster and Munster, do it and constantly. So people getting their umbrage on about it is a bit weird

Is he in from the side though, I thought “the gate” was the body of the tackled player, no? Because if that’s what the gate is Dev enters the ruck inside the line of the tackled players boot.

Of course if “the gate” is something else then I might be wrong.

[RoboProp]

As for Thomas Savage, the author of the Three Red Kings blog, I would wonder whether what he has written about Toner is not libelous. I would hope Leinster lawyers have looked at it in any case.

That guy is a poundshop bully, who deserves some comeuppance.

I feel sorry for him. He seems to have built his entire personality around being a fan of Munster rugby. That's a bit sad.

Just had my first (and last look) at his Twitter, bang of the Comic Book Guy from the whole thing

[the spoofer]

As for Thomas Savage, the author of the Three Red Kings blog, I would wonder whether what he has written about Toner is not libelous. I would hope Leinster lawyers have looked at it in any case.

That guy is a poundshop bully, who deserves some comeuppance.

I feel sorry for him. He seems to have built his entire personality around being a fan of Munster rugby. That's a bit sad.

Just had my first (and last look) at his Twitter, bang of the Comic Book Guy from the whole thing

I'd say go easy as he obviously reads this forum.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

To be fair to him those comments aren’t reflective of his usual stuff. He seems like a good guy but lost the plot a bit because of how badly Munster were dominated and because of a potential injury.

[ronk]

Lots of booing from where I was sitting in the ground but much of it was frustration rather than coherent objections.

I get why Munster fans were frustrated at losing a key player to injury at the time. Most accept it as a rugby incident now.

[the spoofer]

Just one other small thing. Fineen Wycherely really needs to cut out the hard man act and concentrate on playing better. Yes, of course second rows want to impose themselves but I think he focuses more on that than on adding real value through his play.

[Xanthippe]

Just one other small thing. Fineen Wycherely really needs to cut out the hard man act and concentrate on playing better. Yes, of course second rows want to impose themselves but I think he focuses more on that than on adding real value through his play.

Fineen is still living off the reputation he gained with de faithful from one late tackle nearly 3 and a half years ago!!!

[Flash Gordon]

In fairness, the complaints are originating from the nuttier corners of the Munster support - most are far more concerned with things that actually happened, with the structure of their province, coaching, bringing through younger players etc. You can't judge a support base by the lunatic fringe

Completely right. Munster mates are all in that space and looking forward to the post JVG era. Best policy is just to ignore that stuff, though I 100% think we should continue to use your "Dirty Dev" nom de guerre!

[LeRouxIsPHat]

I'll try to move on after this but my legal pal has popped up again on twitter and I saw that he was trying to argue that Dev violated law 9.20d: "a player may lever the jackler out of the contest at the ruck but must not drop their weight onto them or target the lower limbs".

The video examples that WR give both involve targeting the lower limbs so I think that's what they're really aiming to stamp out.

He replied to someone saying "Toner absolutely dropped his weight onto him". My own legal opinion of that, is that it's nonsense. If that's the case you could never clear someone out and then land on top of them. I think the spirit of the law, although unclear, is that you don't just collapse on someone who's over the ball but have to make a dynamic movement instead, which is exactly what Dev did.

It's pissed me off that anyone would accuse Dev of being dirty after the incredibly clean career he has had (not to mention the lack of any foul play in the incident itself!) for such a long time, and that anyone could judge the incident without making any reference to what had happened on the other side to trap Coombes' leg.