Munster 2013/2014

[ceemec]

I must admit whereas "Penneyball" is obviously a term I am familiar with , that this is the first time that I have ever seen reference to the term "McGahanball"

Which puts you in the very odd position of frequently posting on a Leinster fan site but not reading the Munster fan site.

[JB1973]

Pretty much as good as can be expected.

Would have had JJ starting myself but not suprised that Penney retained Keatley. Murray being back is huge

Suprised Foley is starting - big step for him

Concerned about the injuries we are carrying, but we have a good bench

I'd take a 1 point win right now

I Saw the Sarries demolish Gloucester last week even when they were down to 13 men they were pushing the Gloucester pack all over the place. Munster will have too much class and too much desire not to win this weekend against a team that looks bereft of ideas and even more importantly a will to win.

This is a banker away win in my book , not sure about Mcgahan ball but Penney ball would work a lot better with a centre who could actually pass and put people into space.

Surely Munster must be looking for a creative centre for next year?

[munster#1]

delighted for foley, i have said on here many times that leinster should have snapped him up over the numerous other 2nd row signings ye have made. i have said many times that i viewed him as a much greater prospect than nagle, and hopefully over the next 2 weeks he will show what he can do at HC level.

Happy enough with the team bar JJ, i might have put cronin in instead of killer, but it is not a major call imo.
i really hope that we get to see JJ start next week.

[hugonaut]

delighted for foley, i have said on here many times that leinster should have snapped him up over the numerous other 2nd row signings ye have made. i have said many times that i viewed him as a much greater prospect than nagle, and hopefully over the next 2 weeks he will show what he can do at HC level.

Happy enough with the team bar JJ, i might have put cronin in instead of killer, but it is not a major call imo.
i really hope that we get to see JJ start next week.

Always a two way thing, M#1. Not sure if Foley ever wanted to come to Leinster. He was very good against Ulster the other day and, from what I saw, pretty good on the Emerging Ireland tour. More power to him. Very difficult to break into the Munster second row, a lot of serious internationals there. Hopefully he does well.

Not sure why Keatley is still ahead of Hanrahan. I'd have the latter at No10 every day of the week.

[munster#1]

I agree Hugo that it is not always straight forward when it comes to signing a player, but i do know for a fact that foley did look to leave munster a couple of seasons ago, but didn't get an offer worth leaving for.

One of my pet hates is seeing talented players, with as much potential as foley, who either are happy to stay where they are comfortable, or that the irfu fail to groom until their mid 20s.

Ideally while foley was seen to be behind our 3 international 2nd rows, nagle and Holland, he should have left, or persuaded to go to leinster who have signed a fair few 2nd rows over the last few seasons.
He may or not have made it there, but at least he would have a lot more pro 12 played by now.

[All Blacks nil]

I agree Hugo that it is not always straight forward when it comes to signing a player, but i do know for a fact that foley did look to leave munster a couple of seasons ago, but didn't get an offer worth leaving for.

One of my pet hates is seeing talented players, with as much potential as foley, who either are happy to stay where they are comfortable, or that the irfu fail to groom until their mid 20s.

Ideally while foley was seen to be behind our 3 international 2nd rows, nagle and Holland, he should have left, or persuaded to go to leinster who have signed a fair few 2nd rows over the last few seasons.
He may or not have made it there, but at least he would have a lot more pro 12 played by now.

This has always been a bug bear of mine.
How many guys never made it due to their unwillingness to leave their province. While understanding the desire to play for your home province, guys should look to further their careers by giving themselves the best chance to play first team rugby.
In Munster over the years we had a half back partnership set in stone for years , in Leinster the same situation applies in the centre. Some guys moved on and as I said gave themselves the best possible chance, eg Eoin Reddan being the best example going to Wasps , others just faded away.
Foley and indeed Nagle , Eoin o'Malley before his injuries, are prime examples of players who's careers could have taken off earlier if they had moved to other clubs home or abroad. Foley has finally broke through, Nagle might never and EOM unfortunately will not get the chance. Staying where they are hampers their chances and the fact that Foley is now 25, Nagle is also 25 and O'Malley also 25 shows how years can be lost hanging around. I picked these three but their are numerous other examples. Leinster at the moment have an enviable roster of young props. Would you like your kid coming up behind that lot waiting for his breakthrough.

[munster#1]

I think it is a measure of the man when he would rather play games than be a bit part player. There are plenty of examples.
Look no further than Ryan at munster. Not long before he became a starting international he was fighting to bench for munster, and happy to do it.

Mcfadden at leinster, he is no longer a young lad, yet is happy to be injury cover. He has been very fortunate that there has been many injuries, but he should have moved on 2yrs ago imo.

[fourthirtythree]

Who was McFadden injury covering on the right wing? Who would he be covering now? I agree with the principle but wrong person at Leinster I think.

[tackle-bag]

Pretty dismal game in Gloucester so far, lots of sloppy errors from both sides. The quality of the rugby isn't being helped by Leighton Hodges, who seems to be utterly hopeless every time I see him officiate. How the ERC keep giving him such important fixtures is beyond me.

Gloucester are a pretty poor side. Munster should win this one comfortably if they just put a few phases together.

[Made Of Ale]

Ian Keatley is a great man for the old grubber.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Pretty dismal game in Gloucester so far, lots of sloppy errors from both sides. The quality of the rugby isn't being helped by Leighton Hodges, who seems to be utterly hopeless every time I see him officiate. How the ERC keep giving him such important fixtures is beyond me.

Gloucester are a pretty poor side. Munster should win this one comfortably if they just put a few phases together.

It's not often I criticise a ref too harshly but himself and the ref in the Toulon game have been really really poor.

[Donny B.]

Munster did what they needed. Decent performance and they've topped the pool with a game to go, not bad after losing to Edinburgh in the first match.

Must be said though, it's a pretty poor pool in terms of qualty.

Glaws handling skills, especially in the oppo 22, were absolutely appalling.

[fourthirtythree]

Munster did what they needed. Decent performance and they've topped the pool with a game to go, not bad after losing to Edinburgh in the first match.

Must be said though, it's a pretty poor pool in terms of qualty.

Glaws handling skills, especially in the oppo 22, were absolutely appalling.

You don't always expect too much subtlety from a PRL team, but god they were shocking. Munster could sit there safe in the knowledge they lacked the basic skills to execute a backline move. If the forwards couldn't bash it over, that was it.

[rookie]

Munster did what they needed. Decent performance and they've topped the pool with a game to go, not bad after losing to Edinburgh in the first match.

Must be said though, it's a pretty poor pool in terms of qualty.

Glaws handling skills, especially in the oppo 22, were absolutely appalling.

It's no worse than the shoite Leinster have been churning out lately.

[Oldschool]

I think it is a measure of the man when he would rather play games than be a bit part player. There are plenty of examples.
Look no further than Ryan at munster. Not long before he became a starting international he was fighting to bench for munster, and happy to do it.

Mcfadden at leinster, he is no longer a young lad, yet is happy to be injury cover. He has been very fortunate that there has been many injuries, but he should have moved on 2yrs ago imo.

Jaysus M1 could you leave it alone until after the HEC 6th round is done and dusted. Otherwise my fçcking mirror is going to have to make a guest appearance and you know Keet and Mirry arn't going to like that.

[tackle-bag]

Munster's line speed in defence is a real problem. Downey was never exactly Carlin Isles but he seems to have lost even more speed over the past few months. He was badly caught out a few times today, even by the non-speedsters for Gloucester like Twelvetrees. Against a team like Clermont or Toulon in the knock-out stages, that could become a huge issue.

Monahan looked lively throughout the game, good to see him going well. He's underused at Gloucester though. A better team would have him coming off his wing regularly in the opposition half.

[enby]

The Munster pack and half backs were excellent but their outside backs were brutal both in attack and in defence. They were lucky that Gloucester were even worse with some solid gold butchery going on every time a scoring opportunity fell into their laps. Although they scrimmaged quite well I am unsure about how they might fare against a decent scrum with a ref who has some idea of whats going on. Still, they have qualified even if it was from an insanely shyte pool

[Donny B.]

I think it is a measure of the man when he would rather play games than be a bit part player. There are plenty of examples.
Look no further than Ryan at munster. Not long before he became a starting international he was fighting to bench for munster, and happy to do it.

Mcfadden at leinster, he is no longer a young lad, yet is happy to be injury cover. He has been very fortunate that there has been many injuries, but he should have moved on 2yrs ago imo.

Jaysus, M1, what point are you actually trying to make here?

"Look not further than Ryan" a bit part player for most of his Munster career. Are you having a go at him here, saying he's failing your "measure of a man" test cause he actually hung around and fought for and ultimately won his place in the Munster second row?

And you think Fergus McFadden fails this "measure of a man" test cause he didn't leave and abandon the medals he won at Leinster when he was a major and hugely important player.

Seriously M1, what are you on these days?

[munster#1]

I am not on anything db i am just expressing an opinion, but i have notice a serious change in your aggression levels lately. All ok?

These are just 2 examples of my opinion. I have no doubt that Ryan would have been starting for most teams while not even making the munster bench. In the end it all worked out fine, but this may not have happened. He is fortunate that he wasn't past out, just look at nagle now. He is a loyal club man, but that is part of the issue. How many players have been past out while waiting their turn?

In mcfadden's case, had fitzgearld remained fit and isa finished out his contract, he would be fighting it out for a bench spot, and it appears happy to do so. He was fortunate that he was able to cover a few positions and leinster picked up a fair few injuries in the backs. But again like Ryan, he is lucky that he wasn't past out while waiting his turn.

They are just examples, i picked one from each club to avoid attack, but it appears again that you are more interested in giving your opinion on a posters drug use than the posters post.

[bgclaw]

Good win,Foley stepped up and should keep Ryan on his toes.
POC POM and TOD were the pick of the pack.
Jones,Murphy and Earls were the pick of the backs.
Still a little toothless out the backs at times but winning anyway with a strong pack.
Munster are very hard to beat again.