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

[the spoofer]

Joe McCarthy is the real deal, he's a proper player who, touch wood, will have a very long career in blue and green

Joe McCarthy: Tough on Reds.

Only those under the bed

[bronxbull]

Excellent

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[blockhead]

Very happy with the win of course but....
Our boys were rested for two weekends in a row while Munster had that heroic performance against Toulouse only awhile back playing nearly 100mins.
Not really fair tbh.

[paddyor]

Saying it again because it’s not getting any traction. Frank Murphy was mostly good because he didn’t review everything. Is it just me?

[Dexter]

Men against boys.

Except the boys won...

[enby]

Foley was playing his 5th game of professional rugby ( 2nd start?) against a man with 96 Irish caps and 8 Lions test caps. He more than held his own in a really gutsy display. How Murray didn't bully the bejaysus out of him is a mystery. Foley should be very proud of his performance. Lets hope his injury isn't as bad as it looked

[blockhead]

Saying it again because it’s not getting any traction. Frank Murphy was mostly good because he didn’t review everything. Is it just me?

Very quick to give the O'Donoghue and Murray tries but I think he got those right tbf.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Enjoyed the absolute sh*t out of that game. So impressed with that performance – some of the best tries we have scored all year.

Huge performances from both the old hands and the young guns, the lads leaving and the lads coming into the team. Cannot say enough good things about Ed Byrne and Max Deegan : they're a little bit older than Penny and Frawley, and they put it on the line week after week for not a huge amount of praise. But when they get the chance against the Munster lads who have been getting some hot press ... Jesus Christ, they put the heel into those dreams.

Fantastic to see Larmour back in Barry Sanders form. Baird's first half was ferocious. Cian popped off the bench. Foley looked assured. AB+ stepped off the bench like he was walking down the street, a piece of cake for him. Frawley looked great until he got clipped, Penny looked great all the way through. Big Dev with the rebound, Big Joe with the output. I can't spake!

+1 to all of this.

Thought that was Deegan’s best game by far since his return from injury. I have to be honest and say I wasn’t sure if he’d step up today but he was really physical in defence and his carries, lovely break off the scrum, got in his nice pass out wide which we haven’t seen much of recently, I hope this is a bit of a turning point for him and he kicks on. Himself, Murphy, and Baird were all so quick off the line and physical. Munster had a week off and needed a result from this so I thought they’d be raring to go physically but we monstered them. Thought Baird was exceptional, it’s just about staying injury free and being consistent but what a player he is.

I’d have to watch it back to confirm it was him but I’m fairly sure it was Ed who dived in to sack a maul close to our line and it was with no regard to his own safety at all. He knew it’d collapse on top of him but he didn’t hesitate and stopped it dead.

I was wondering if Cronin got injured before the lineouts started to go awry? IIRC he threw some very nice ones early on and then the bad ones all died in the same way, almost as if he had no power in his arm.

Foley is improving at a rate of knots. Pity he’s injured and won’t be able to work on his game for a while but I’m very excited about how good he good be with a decent number of games behind him next season, never would have thought I’d be saying that 15 months ago. Finished off one of the tries of the season too!

We lost our way a little bit in attack when Frawley went off, himself and Harry dovetailed really nicely before that. Harry had a really good game though apart from some average kicking near the end. He showed some lovely touches and seemed calmer on the ball than previous games, thought he was very physical as well both when he had to carry and and in defence. Big step forward for him IMO. That was nowhere near Harry’s best and yet the contrast with Joey was stark. Munster were pretty average all round but he had enough good ball to do more but was dreadful in attack and defence. Ive defended him at times but he’s been back a while now and there’s no excuse for today, if he can’t perform today then when is he going to? He’s had games where he hasn’t done a lot right or wrong, but today was riddled with terrible mistakes.

Really happy for ROL that he got a nice try, told you he enjoyed playing Munster! A joy to see Larmour playing like that again. I don’t think he’ll start next week but 14 is probably the only jersey possibly up for debate and I thought JOB was very mixed in the last two games. Larmour off the bench in that kind of form and against some big tiring La Rochelle forwards in the sun is a nice option to have though. Hope Frawley is okay anyway, he’s been in fantastic form and I’d like to see him start against Glasgow if he’s fit.

[enby]

Saying it again because it’s not getting any traction. Frank Murphy was mostly good because he didn’t review everything. Is it just me?

Overall, much to my surprise, I agree. He backed himself on the big decisions like JOD try, the penalty try and the Russell yellow (which I thought was way too harsh) without recourse to the TMO and he only reviewed ROL try because TMO told him to. Normally he is a ref that I don't like but I will concede that he largely did his job fairly and with authority tonight

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Joe McCarthy is the real deal, he's a proper player who, touch wood, will have a very long career in blue and green

He’s got everything but I love how he just needs to take a big step into a ruck and can knock two lads backwards, incredible power. He reads the game so well defensively too, more like a 13 who’s great at knowing when to shoot up than a second row.

[cormac]

I haven't stopped laughing yet

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Saying it again because it’s not getting any traction. Frank Murphy was mostly good because he didn’t review everything. Is it just me?

I was afraid to say it beforehand but I think he’s improved a bit. He got a lot of criticism for one game recently but I thought the TMO was the issue in it.

For me the big change is his attitude. Previously he seemed more interested in showing people who was boss and wouldn’t let players talk to him at all, think he’s more approachable now and it’s helped him.

[Made Of Ale]

That was the most enjoyable regular season match of 21/22 form where I was sitting.

For me, Joe McCarthy had the most exciting of many good performances. Injury-permitting, pretty sure he'll play for Ireland this year and very possibly this summer.

[Twist]

Total humiliation. Looking forward to having a look at their forum later.

All the media nonsense about Kendellen, Ahern and JOD. Decent players but not in the class of Penney, McCarthy and Max.

Poor Earls and Conway never got a decent attacking pass all night. Farrell is great at the bish bosh SA style stuff but he hasn't an ounce of creativity about him. Joey is a pale shadow of his former self and Murray's race is run.

Pour a nice glass of something then tuck into Munsterfans....

I did. It turns out it’s the IRFU’s fault.

“What is wrong with the IRFU? What is the composition of the board 90% Leinster and the rest of us? This is so wrong, a second string Leinster team can beat any first team from the rest of Ireland, a concerned munster supporter tries to bring in a world class center and they block him, we have nothing they are destroying everyting we care about, the rebel county needs to stand up and fight against this ****!”

[LeRouxIsPHat]

I see Leo said that Frawley didn’t fail his HIA but just ran out of time so hopefully there’s no damage done and it was just a heavy blow and a cut.

Penny might not have had too many major highlights outside of his brilliant finish for the try but I thought he had a very strong game as well. It was a big one for him because I think people would have been questioning him a bit if he’d been outplayed by Kendellan. He’s not standing out as much as when he first broke into the team but he’s playing well.

[enby]

I think it can now be safely said that the last traces of Lunsterism have evaporated. 13 years of defeat after defeat have finally wiped out the remaining few diehards. Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council reports that what was an avalanche of red Toyota jerseys appearing in its municipal recycling centres is now but a trickle and the Gardai have confirmed that the last D reg car with a Munster v NZ sticker was detected on a traffic camera near the Red Cow in early 2019. All attempts to locate a single Lunster in the Aviva tonight ended in failure.

So farewell Lunsters, you have gone the way of Gary Glitter fans and the PDs. Thank God we will never see your likes again

[CiaranIrl]

I think it can now be safely said that the last traces of Lunsterism have evaporated. 13 years of defeat after defeat have finally wiped out the remaining few diehards. Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council reports that what was an avalanche of red Toyota jerseys appearing in its municipal recycling centres is now but a trickle and the Gardai have confirmed that the last D reg car with a Munster v NZ sticker was detected on a traffic camera near the Red Cow in early 2019. All attempts to locate a single Lunster in the Aviva tonight ended in failure.

So farewell Lunsters, you have gone the way of Gary Glitter fans and the PDs. Thank God we will never see your likes again

[Blueberry]

Total humiliation. Looking forward to having a look at their forum later.

All the media nonsense about Kendellen, Ahern and JOD. Decent players but not in the class of Penney, McCarthy and Max.

Poor Earls and Conway never got a decent attacking pass all night. Farrell is great at the bish bosh SA style stuff but he hasn't an ounce of creativity about him. Joey is a pale shadow of his former self and Murray's race is run.

Pour a nice glass of something then tuck into Munsterfans....

I did. It turns out it’s the IRFU’s fault.

“What is wrong with the IRFU? What is the composition of the board 90% Leinster and the rest of us? This is so wrong, a second string Leinster team can beat any first team from the rest of Ireland, a concerned munster supporter tries to bring in a world class center and they block him, we have nothing they are destroying everyting we care about, the rebel county needs to stand up and fight against this ****!”

Yes had a good chuckle while nursing a glass of whiskey reading that one....who/what will be blamed next ? The Northern Ireland Protocol or maybe climate change ? Who knows !!

[ronk]

We wanted it more.

[riocard911]

I haven't stopped laughing yet

Mise freisin!!!