Munster V Ulster HEC 2012

[Jackal]

Good match which Ulster without doubt deserved the win. Some excellent performances from both sides of note. I thought John Afoa was excellent. His tackle rate was unbelievable but should have seen red for a definite spear and if the IRB are to be consistent with trying to stop the spear tackle he should and will get a ban and he would be a HUGE loss. Fez at far from his fittest was outstanding and is getting better and better which is a scary thing for other countries looking at him. In terms of negative Humphreys has to be dropped. Offers nothing. A Marshall and Pienaar half back pairing much better option. In general Ulsters defence was excellent they committed numbers to the breakdown at the right times and fanned out in the line at the right times. Only negative in terms of the defence was that they did get sucked in easy on occasion and I'm sure the rest of the teams left will look at that with interest especially Leinster who could really exploit that with their backs

In terms of Munster, Sherry was very good and Coughlan carried really well in the second half and is a pity he is 31 and not younger. With Munster bringing 10 new players into the Heineken cup squad and giving them gametime along with the British and Irish cup success on Friday, the future is bright and the loss today should serve as a lesson learned.

As far as Poite is concerned I thought he was very inconsistent. He does seem to referee Munster quite harshly and can see why Munster fans think he has it in for them. He missed an obvious red card and couple of other things. While I thought he was bad today I still think he is one of the best and don't think it ultimately affected the outcome of the match. Was Ulsters day and they deserved the win

[RoboProp]

Congrats Ulster, well done. No sign of JaneySac Who Grates or Wumster#3

[Amz]

Probably off buying Ulster jerseys.

[gfo]

Usual stuff over on moansterfans, poite screwed us, TMcG hasn't THE PRIDE, Ulster were terrible and shouldn't have won and Ulster are a team of thieving foreign mercenaries.

It's like they cant accept half their team are in their thirties and should be retired. Dark days ahead for Munster unless something major happens

[RoboProp]

Usual stuff over on moansterfans, poite screwed us, TMcG hasn't THE PRIDE, Ulster were terrible and shouldn't have won and Ulster are a team of thieving foreign mercenaries.

It's like they cant accept half their team are in their thirties and should be retired. Dark days ahead for Munster unless something major happens

They're parallels between them and die-hard Metallica fans is scary...eh!?

[munster#1]

Usual stuff over on moansterfans, poite screwed us, TMcG hasn't THE PRIDE, Ulster were terrible and shouldn't have won and Ulster are a team of thieving foreign mercenaries.

It's like they cant accept half their team are in their thirties and should be retired. Dark days ahead for Munster unless something major happens

Lets not let facts get in the way of a good story.

Of our starting team only bj, poc, caughlan and rog are over 30, and i'm pretty sure we weren't playing 7's so 4 is not half.

You make your opinions very hard to take serious with foolish rants like that

[hugonaut]

Usual stuff over on moansterfans, poite screwed us, TMcG hasn't THE PRIDE, Ulster were terrible and shouldn't have won and Ulster are a team of thieving foreign mercenaries.

It's like they cant accept half their team are in their thirties and should be retired. Dark days ahead for Munster unless something major happens

I think that Munster have done a good deal already to turn their age profile around. Dave O'Callaghan [22] missed out today, but Sherry [23] made it in, as did Tommy O'Donnell [24].

Felix Jones [24], Keith Earls [24], Simon Zebo [21], Peter O'Mahony [22] and Conor Murray [22] are all regulars and all started this afternoon. There were seven players under twenty-five years old in the starting lineup, four in their mid-to-late twenties [du Preez, Ryan, Mafi and Hurley] and four in their thirties [Botha, O'Connell, Coughlan, O'Gara]. That's not a bad age profile at all.

We had Ross [32], Cullen [34], Thorn [37], Reddan [31], D'Arcy [32], O'Driscoll [33] – six guys in their thirties. It's not particularly worrying, because there's a core of players [Healy, O'Brien, Heaslip, Sexton, Kearney, Fitzgerald] who are all in their mid-twenties and are taking more ownership of the team. Furthermore, we've had a far more gradual process of turning over players: Reggie retired after the 06-07 season, Denis Hickie retired after RWC07, Gleeson after the 07-08 season, Mal and Girv after the 09-10 season, Shaggy a few days ago ...

I think that despite the loss this afternoon, Munster aren't in that bad a position and have more or less gotten through most of the turnover.

[munster#1]

shocking game today, i left the ground thinking the better team won, and the ref could not have been so one sided as i thought. Having watched the match again and read some posts here, it seems like munster were very unlucky today.
Poites calls were very inconsistant and poor. Afoa should have seen a red which could have changed everything.

In the end it was poor reffing combined with poor disapline that cost us.

Positives are the the number of players coming through, contrary to some posters opinions munster have built a new, young team with a bit of experience aswell.

We have seen archer, sherry, pom, tod, murray, zebo, barnes come through the ranks, aswell as jones, hurley and ryan becoming first choice players.
Imo the future looks very good for munster, the biggest issue now is to put together a very good coaching team.

Best of luck to ulster, a great team with a great history and a great set of fans. They have really turned a corner and credit has to go to the management and coaches for their great acheivement, a semi in the hc and a likely final. This can only be a good thing for ireland

[meinster]

Usual stuff over on moansterfans

Too much irony for head to handle.

[Oldschool]

Usual stuff over on moansterfans, poite screwed us, TMcG hasn't THE PRIDE, Ulster were terrible and shouldn't have won and Ulster are a team of thieving foreign mercenaries.

It's like they cant accept half their team are in their thirties and should be retired. Dark days ahead for Munster unless something major happens

They're parallels between them and die-hard Metallica fans is scary...eh!?

Didn't know Dekko was Metallica fan.

[RoboProp]

Usual stuff over on moansterfans, poite screwed us, TMcG hasn't THE PRIDE, Ulster were terrible and shouldn't have won and Ulster are a team of thieving foreign mercenaries.

It's like they cant accept half their team are in their thirties and should be retired. Dark days ahead for Munster unless something major happens

They're parallels between them and die-hard Metallica fans is scary...eh!?

Didn't know Dekko was Metallica fan.

He loves St. Anger which is a big pile of steaming dog chyte.

[Oldschool]

Usual stuff over on moansterfans, poite screwed us, TMcG hasn't THE PRIDE, Ulster were terrible and shouldn't have won and Ulster are a team of thieving foreign mercenaries.

It's like they cant accept half their team are in their thirties and should be retired. Dark days ahead for Munster unless something major happens

I think that Munster have done a good deal already to turn their age profile around. Dave O'Callaghan [22] missed out today, but Sherry [23] made it in, as did Tommy O'Donnell [24].

Felix Jones [24], Keith Earls [24], Simon Zebo [21], Peter O'Mahony [22] and Conor Murray [22] are all regulars and all started this afternoon. There were seven players under twenty-five years old in the starting lineup, four in their mid-to-late twenties [du Preez, Ryan, Mafi and Hurley] and four in their thirties [Botha, O'Connell, Coughlan, O'Gara]. That's not a bad age profile at all.

We had Ross [32], Cullen [34], Thorn [37], Reddan [31], D'Arcy [32], O'Driscoll [33] – six guys in their thirties. It's not particularly worrying, because there's a core of players [Healy, O'Brien, Heaslip, Sexton, Kearney, Fitzgerald] who are all in their mid-twenties and are taking more ownership of the team. Furthermore, we've had a far more gradual process of turning over players: Reggie retired after the 06-07 season, Denis Hickie retired after RWC07, Gleeson after the 07-08 season, Mal and Girv after the 09-10 season, Shaggy a few days ago ...

I think that despite the loss this afternoon, Munster aren't in that bad a position and have more or less gotten through most of the turnover.

However, the coaching ticket doesn't have what it takes to develop these players, so unless TMcM's replacement has the necessary skills and is given the right job spec, then their recovery will remain in the future.

[TrapperChamonix]

In the end it was poor reffing combined with poor disapline that cost us.

I wouldn't agree with that at all. The top 3 things for me were
-Ulster blew the Munster back row apart for the 1st 30 mins and maximised that advantage to gain the lead
-Munster ran out of ideas with how to use the massive possession they had in the 2nd half
-Ulster wanted it more. That may seem like hersey to you, but I genuinely believe it.


p.s. Gilroy should tour in the summer. Hes a terrific prospect

[Dave Cahill]

Ulster did what Leinster have been doing to Munster in recent years. Let them have as much slow ball as they like, and trust your organisation.

[ceemec]

Munster have to blame themselves. Not the referee or anyone else. They had 79% of territory and 72% possession. Unbelievable amount of ball. They couldn't create anything. Ulster have a fit and physical pack. Munster played right into their hands. The likes of Henry and Best are tackling machines. There was absolutely no incision from the three quarters and ROG couldn't do anything with all the ball he was given. Back and forth, back and forth. Ulster just soaked it up and pounced when the opportunity came. The kicking away of the ball in great positions in the first half was criminal. Munster desperately lacked a ball carrier in the pack to punch through aside from Coughlan. Time for them to bite the bullet and give Keatley some games for the remainder of the season.

Tuohy was immense. Tackled, carried and was great in the air too. He should definitely be on the plane in the summer. A lot of bitterness from Ulster players with a point to prove came to the boil today. They simply wouldn't be beaten. Ulster were lucky though to an extent. Massive mistakes from Pienaar (who was generally excellent) missing touch and Humphreys was far from great also.

[gfo]

Usual stuff over on moansterfans, poite screwed us, TMcG hasn't THE PRIDE, Ulster were terrible and shouldn't have won and Ulster are a team of thieving foreign mercenaries.

It's like they cant accept half their team are in their thirties and should be retired. Dark days ahead for Munster unless something major happens

Lets not let facts get in the way of a good story.

Of our starting team only bj, poc, caughlan and rog are over 30, and i'm pretty sure we weren't playing 7's so 4 is not half.

You make your opinions very hard to take serious with foolish rants like that

BJ - 32
Marcus Horan - 34
DOC - 33
POC - 32
MOD - 33
Wally - 35
Leamy - 30
Coughlan - 31
ROG - 35
Howlett - 33
Mafi - Tipping 30

Laulala - 30 when he starts
Downey - 31 now

"Young" Players

Varley - 28
Johne Murphy - 27
Niall Ronan - 28
Donnacha Ryan - 28

Whereas Leinster rotate the squad significantly, and players retire or get forced out of the team, the older lads in Munster get started until they're too old to walk (and then hang around the squad until they pick up a backroom job). The "young" up and comers I mentioned should be first team players for 3/4 years now.

I'm not denying that McGahan has brought in some serious youth talent this year, but older players need to be phased out now to make room. The ROG situation is an extreme case of the Munster problem, Keatley sits on the bench getting older and won't get his chance until ROG retires. Then when he's 28 or so he'll start getting caps and everyone will talk about his future potential, despite him being too old to ever really become great.

[Donny B.]

To the likes of Rooster, Mikrob, bootlace and various other decent Ulster men who post on here, can I offer my heartiest congratulations.

To the likes of Ruck, Drick, munster#1 and various other decent Munster men who post on here, can I offer condolences, we've been through dark days and you'll be back.

But to the likes of rookie, janeymac08 and especially, most of all, Hugh Farrelly of the Indo can I offer a massive, gargantuan f%~k YOU!!!!!!

You're all that's wrong with the game and Munster and everyone else would be better off without you.

[sid]

Hugh Farrelly of the Indo can I offer a massive, gargantuan f%~k YOU!!!!!!

+1

[LeRouxIsPHat]

I'll be shocked if Ferris actually plays.

I'm beginning to think Ulster will win though. Ulster's biggest weakness is probably their defence around 10 and 12. Now if Munster can get on the front foot and have Coughlan etc running hard at that channel then things will be looking good for them. However, Ulster should really be fine in both the scrum and the lineout and regardless of whether Ferris actually plays or not, that pack is more than capable of standing up to Munster and frustrating the life out of them.

Loose kicking from Ulster could be their achilles heel. They don't have a midfield that's suited to bashing it up and taking Munster on physically so imo they'll need to kick quite a lot. If they sacrifice territory and just make sure the ball goes off the pitch then I could see them frustrating Munster. If they kick loosely and allow Munster to run back at them then they'll be playing into Munster's hands. For me, Munster have looked best in attack this season when the forwards are taking it through the phases or when Zebo has a cut. If Ulster allow them to get a head of steam up then Munster will surely find the weaker defenders and get some joy from that.

So basically, if Ulster keep it tight and attack Munster in the set piece I'd expect Munster to really struggle. That might sound obvious but it's not the way I'd attack them if I we were talking about Leinster. We saw last week how we got a lot of joy from sending ball carriers down the middle, I don't think Ulster can do that. Certainly not without Ferris (I know I'm being very pessimistic about him but even if he plays, how fit can he really be?) or Spence. The only outside back that Ulster have who can take it up is Trimble, and I'm sure that Munster will be ready for him.

Quite happy with the above tbh!

Congrats to Ulster, they were fantastic for most of the game. They'd have been even further ahead had it not been for some loose kicking or Henry having a brainfart. It was unnecessary from Henry but at the same time, I think it was very harsh to bin him for that when it was only on half way and Ulster hadn't been particularly cynical before that. I also think that calling for Afoa to have been sent off is a load of nonsense.

I was about to single out some players in the pack but actually they were all fantastic. Henry has been fantastic all season and I really thought he was outstanding today. Had it not been for the stupid penalty I'd probably have given him motm. Cave was also brilliant. Picks great lines and reads the game very well defensively, I'd love to see him get some gametime in NZ. Hopefully he can stay fit now and reach his full potential. Terblanche is a really classy player. I thought he'd be a good fit for Ulster based on their full back issues but did't think he'd be anywhere near as good as he's been. My memory of his last few games for the Ospreys are of him doing his best to avoid making tackles but he put his body on the line today and was excellent in every other facet too.

I never got a sense that Munster had it in them to win. As people have already said, they really needed someone to punch holes up the middle. Their backline was really poor apart from Earls who just gets better and better in the centre. He threw a few really nice passes today and has proven me completely wrong about not being a centre. Plenty of problems for Munster but I think they'll be much better next season.

[Donny B.]

Anyone else think ROG played like a w&%ker today? Continually going for kicks into the corner (to get a cheer from a the mindless gorms who didn't seem to realise he was giving the ball away).