Leinster v Munster, URC Final Round, Sat. 21st May, 7:15pm, Aviva

[Blueberry]

This is a nothing game for us. Who care's who the ref is. Hopefully we have 5 more games this season and this one is by a long long way the least important.

Just means my blood pressure goes up.............

[ronk]

This is a nothing game for us. Who care's who the ref is. Hopefully we have 5 more games this season and this one is by a long long way the least important.

Well someone paid for the free ticket I've been given for this game.

[Blueberry]

This is a nothing game for us. Who care's who the ref is. Hopefully we have 5 more games this season and this one is by a long long way the least important.

Well someone paid for the free ticket I've been given for this game.

Think it should be in the terms and conditions that Murphy reffing = grounds for refund.

[curates_egg]

This is a nothing game for us. Who care's who the ref is. Hopefully we have 5 more games this season and this one is by a long long way the least important.

All the other teams that have something to play for.

[Morf]

Didn't we have Jonker as TMO against Sharks, where is son plays? Don't think they can complain so much

It was son in law and I think Jonker filled in after another TMO pulled out but still not great for optics.

[blockhead]

This is a nothing game for us. Who care's who the ref is. Hopefully we have 5 more games this season and this one is by a long long way the least important.

Well we haven't lost 3 league games in a row since 2008. And Munster haven't beaten us in the Aviva since 2014. Like to keep the status quo.

[Morf]

It's too late for Leinster to go down down so from section perspective you can do whatever you want.

[the spoofer]

Still though... at least it's not Fitzgibbon.

small mercies, although it's taken years of therapy to erase him from my memory..........

Please send on your therapists number.

[outcast eddie]

.

[Dexter]

I'm sure he'll be professional about it, but I did groan when I saw his name. He's just not a very good ref. But hopefully he'll have one of his better games.

Anyone have the stats for Leinster's win/loss ratio with him in charge?

He falls at nearly all of the classic referee failings:
- terrible at understanding the scrum
- ruck time (hands in ruck, off their feet, in at the side)
- yellow/red card inconsistency
- poor overall match management (as a result of the above, frustration creeps in, leads to lots of niggle, players policing the game as the referee has lost control)


Cardiff fans have an excellent resource here on referees, here's Frank's profile.. tells the story really.
https://www.cardiffrfcfans.com/analysis ... ereeID=420

If I was a betting man, I'd be backing yellow cards..

Jaysus... 37 pens in one game! 3 games with 30+ pens... 5 games with 4 or more cards, with reds in all of them... a game with 5 YCs and 1 RC...

Doesn't really indicate a good record at keeping control of games

[jezzer]

Didn't we have Jonker as TMO against Sharks, where is son plays? Don't think they can complain so much

It was son in law and I think Jonker filled in after another TMO pulled out but still not great for optics.

It was more the way Joker took centre stage and steered the ref that stuck in the craw.

[jezzer]

Didn't we have Jonker as TMO against Sharks, where is son plays? Don't think they can complain so much

It was son in law and I think Jonker filled in after another TMO pulled out but still not great for optics.

It was more the way Jonker took centre stage and steered the ref that stuck in the craw.

[Experimental]

DDA gonna be out with injury

[Ruckedtobits]

Whether in the UPC or EPCR competitions, the benefits of developing our Academy players by both training them with the Senior Squad and selecting them alongside Senior players throughout the season is very evident and highly pertinent as we face into knock-out territory.

JVG's reluctance to expose his younger players to selection earlier in the year now feeds into the challenges he faces in selecting replacements for high profile absentees.

[wixfjord]

Whether in the UPC or EPCR competitions, the benefits of developing our Academy players by both training them with the Senior Squad and selecting them alongside Senior players throughout the season is very evident and highly pertinent as we face into knock-out territory.

JVG's reluctance to expose his younger players to selection earlier in the year now feeds into the challenges he faces in selecting replacements for high profile absentees.

Does it?

This year JVG has changed tact and consistently selected young players, including Nash, Crowley, Healy, Casey, Kendellen, Hodnett, Coombes, Ahern, Wycherly, Barron.

The big issue is at TH where he has for some reason refused to bring in Knox, but they've their two first choices available there for the weekend.

So what challenges are you referring to?

[Serb]

Yeah, spot on. You definitely could have levelled accusations of not picking youth in previous seasons, but I think Munster have done very well this season in bringing through some of the younger talent. Virtually every player in their academy has a full cap now (11 out of 14). You could argue some of it was enforced rather than deliberate, but either way, it has worked well for them. Kendellen in particular is a real gem of a player.

Their weakness continues to be their front row, the youth haven't looked like levelling the team up yet, but they'll definitely be fine against anything we throw at them this weekend.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Whether in the UPC or EPCR competitions, the benefits of developing our Academy players by both training them with the Senior Squad and selecting them alongside Senior players throughout the season is very evident and highly pertinent as we face into knock-out territory.

JVG's reluctance to expose his younger players to selection earlier in the year now feeds into the challenges he faces in selecting replacements for high profile absentees.

I thought they should have been trying to develop Crowley by playing him at 12 a bit and then he’d be a good option to replace DDA. Different players but he’d be a good option. Same with Daly as an option at 13, he wasn’t really needed out wide and they were lacking options in the centre so why not give it a go and see how it went?

Tighthead was obviously the big one though and I’d be surprised if they don’t want to sign someone there too.

[Barry]

Yeah, spot on. You definitely could have levelled accusations of not picking youth in previous seasons, but I think Munster have done very well this season in bringing through some of the younger talent. Virtually every player in their academy has a full cap now (11 out of 14). You could argue some of it was enforced rather than deliberate, but either way, it has worked well for them. Kendellen in particular is a real gem of a player.

Their weakness continues to be their front row, the youth haven't looked like levelling the team up yet, but they'll definitely be fine against anything we throw at them this weekend.

Did Van Graan really change his policy of sticking firmly with the old & trusted players or did the trip to S. A. and the consequences of that trip force him to give youth a chance?

I believe it was the latter.

Sent from my VOG-L09 using Tapatalk

[D4surfer]

Bookies have it Leinster 2/1, Munster 1/2 and a handicap of 5 points.

[ronk]

Yeah, spot on. You definitely could have levelled accusations of not picking youth in previous seasons, but I think Munster have done very well this season in bringing through some of the younger talent. Virtually every player in their academy has a full cap now (11 out of 14). You could argue some of it was enforced rather than deliberate, but either way, it has worked well for them. Kendellen in particular is a real gem of a player.

Their weakness continues to be their front row, the youth haven't looked like levelling the team up yet, but they'll definitely be fine against anything we throw at them this weekend.

Did Van Graan really change his policy of sticking firmly with the old & trusted players or did the trip to S. A. and the consequences of that trip force him to give youth a chance?

I believe it was the latter.

Sent from my VOG-L09 using Tapatalk

Or? There were changes evident before SA. The bigger change after the trip is that JvG became a lame duck, then there was an apparent change again after Rowntree was confirmed.

Munster make cruder developmental steps. Where Leo might carefully surround an academy player with experience to get them used to the standard quickly, Munster would more typically just release a player like Ryan and make space in the squad.

The Professional Game Board could be forcing the coaches hand, something hinted at by JvG.

Munster have to do more development of a tighthead next year. But that's what happened with Archer back in the day.