Munster Rugby - Semi Conscious, the Series Finale??? - 2020/21

[munster#1]

Very impressive and expected victory from the men in red last night to end the seemly never ending season.

Last night brought the curtain down on the careers of 2 Munster legends, and was the official end to a few others careers in the red or Munster.

For me the stand out players were recent academy graduates Casey and Coombes, who will likely be picking up caps over the summer.

Coombes has been the in form 8 in Ireland over the last 12 months, and his ability to get over the gain line and try line is something that Ireland will surely be watching very closely as they look to replace stander.

Casey is second to none in Ireland in terms of his passing ability. He allows the backline extra time and space with his speed of getting to the ball, getting it out and the speed of his pass.
He regular snipping also keeps defenders guessing, which means that he is sucking in numbers, creating additional space outside.

Cloete again showed what he can add to a team in his short cameo.

The only negative for me is that we perhaps got a glimpse of why Munster have been holding back Salanoa.
I have heard that he has been given a list of work-ons, but last night showed that he is still a work in progress in the scrum.

[ronk]

Conan is the form 8. He's been injured for a lot of the season but I don't really see the point in talking about a form 8 over 12 months.

Coombes is a good player and he's still rising, but he wasn't first choice for Munster and wasn't selected for Ireland or the Lions.

It was a full strength Munster side in a dead rubber against Zebre. I need to see something truly special to be very impressed.

[betty swallocks]

Casey is not ready, or even near it, for international rugby at the top level. Looking good against a hapless Zebre doesn't cut it @Munster#1.
On the other hand Coombes does look very good indeed, and will battle with Conan and Doris for the No8 shirt next season.

[ronk]

At 49-11 I thought Munster should have ended the game. They had a penalty in their own 22.

It was along enough game, end of season. What was the point?

[dropkick]

Conan is the form 8. He's been injured for a lot of the season but I don't really see the point in talking about a form 8 over 12 months.

Coombes is a good player and he's still rising, but he wasn't first choice for Munster and wasn't selected for Ireland or the Lions.

It was a full strength Munster side in a dead rubber against Zebre. I need to see something truly special to be very impressed.

He was head and shoulders above Stander the past year. Stander was first choice but that's JVG's opinion which goes by age, not ability.


15 tries in a season. Conan has 29 career tries which is a good scoring rate. Doris has 5.


If we can't judge players in the pro14 then nobody will be promoted. James Ryan didn't even play pro14 before his first ireland cap. Likewise there are standout talents earmarked from an early age. Coombes is performing against the likes of Toulouse. All you can do is stand out from the crowd.


Size and power have been buzzwords lately since Leinster lost to Will Skelton. The talk has been over the top really but at the same time it's nice to have that. Coombes has that and can slot in at lock too.

[munster#1]

Conan is the form 8. He's been injured for a lot of the season but I don't really see the point in talking about a form 8 over 12 months.

Coombes is a good player and he's still rising, but he wasn't first choice for Munster and wasn't selected for Ireland or the Lions.

It was a full strength Munster side in a dead rubber against Zebre. I need to see something truly special to be very impressed.

He was head and shoulders above Stander the past year. Stander was first choice but that's JVG's opinion which goes by age, not ability.


15 tries in a season. Conan has 29 career tries which is a good scoring rate. Doris has 5.


If we can't judge players in the pro14 then nobody will be promoted. James Ryan didn't even play pro14 before his first ireland cap. Likewise there are standout talents earmarked from an early age. Coombes is performing against the likes of Toulouse. All you can do is stand out from the crowd.


Size and power have been buzzwords lately since Leinster lost to Will Skelton. The talk has been over the top really but at the same time it's nice to have that. Coombes has that and can slot in at lock too.

You’ve hit the nail on the head.
Not getting selected ahead of stander is not a true reflection on how good Coombes has been.

He went up against the current HC champions and scored 2 tries, and IMO had an outstanding performance.
To slight him for having a brilliant performance against Zebre and completely disregard rash of the games that proceeded it is a very ignorant approach.

15 tries in a season is a remarkable return for a player, and is more impressive to do it as a player shifting between 6 and 8.

He is I fully agree that he is the type of player that all teams would love, his size, strength and ability to get over the gain line is something every team is looking for.
When you add in his ability to play heads up rugby, beat defenders, run in open space and offload, and you have IMO the makings of a great player.

[ronk]

I'm a huge fan of Coombes and as I said, he only getting better and better. 3 coaches this year picked other Irish 8s ahead of him though. 3 different 8s. So he's been 4th choice 8 in Ireland.

Coombes is where Conan was a few years ago, a brilliant and devastating player in the right positions but needed to improve his overall workrate the rest of the time.

I expect he should get capped this summer.

By the way it was the comment about being very impressed to see Munster beat Zebre that I questioned, not that Coombes had a good game. Zebre played a lot of high risk rugby rather than a damage limitation game and it was effective while they were able to control the pace (due to the heat).

[LeRouxIsPHat]

At 49-11 I thought Munster should have ended the game. They had a penalty in their own 22.

It was along enough game, end of season. What was the point?

Because the young lads knew that JVG wouldn’t let them play again until a year’s time.

I don’t blame Munster for playing on but I really felt for the Zebre player who did his shoulder/arm when play continued.

[ronk]

Yeah, it wasn't helped by the ref going to the TMO to extend the game.

It reminded me of the way most skiing injuries happen on the last day of a trip when you've got that last chance to be reckless.

A well run pro team shouldn't be doing that.

[Dexter]

Yeah, it wasn't helped by the ref going to the TMO to extend the game.

It reminded me of the way most skiing injuries happen on the last day of a trip when you've got that last chance to be reckless.

A well run pro team shouldn't be doing that.

Exactly, it Wouldn't do that!

[munster#1]

It is Treviso’s to lose right now which is a great achievement for a club of their stature, and hopefully this is the sign of things to come.

hahahahahahahahahahahaha

I will just assume that you are apologetic for this childish response.

[Logorrhea]

Great achievement? You were serious about that?
Christ your standards have dropped.

[FLIP]

Great achievement? You were serious about that?
Christ your standards have dropped.

Benneton have won more in the last ten years than Munster.

[blockhead]

Great achievement? You were serious about that?
Christ your standards have dropped.

Benneton have won more in the last ten years than Munster.

Now that's unfair!
So have Leinster, Connacht, Ospreys, Scarlets, Cardiff and Glasgow.

[munster#1]

Great achievement? You were serious about that?
Christ your standards have dropped.

Absolutely. As a casual fan Treviso, I would view making the final as a massive achievement for them, to actually win the tournament outright is something even the most devoted fan would not have expected.

[Ruckedtobits]

Conor Murray's nomination as Lions' Captain reflects very well on Munster rugby culture. Conor comes into the role with almost no captaincy experience but nowadays the on-field reality is that 'the leadership team' act as on-field Captain in a) talking to Ref; b) deciding to kick at goal or not; c) speaking to players at request of referee. Everything else is called by the Coaches by off-field communication.

Congrats to Conor Murray on his nomination as Captain and good luck in the role. Embrace the challenge and recognise the Saffers have played v. little competitive rugby this season.

But no points to Gatland for his replacement calls. JVdF should have replaced Tipuric and Johnny Grey or Launchbury should have been replacement for AWJ. Beard will be blown away by SA forwards.

[blockhead]

From the 42:
Setback for the Springboks as Munster's Snyman goes for skin graft
The powerful second row is in danger of missing the Lions series.

RG SNYMAN’S CHANCES of featuring for the Springboks against the Lions have taken a big blow with news that he has had to go for a skin graft following the burn injuries he suffered last month.

Snyman was one of four Munster players who were injured in an incident last month involving someone throwing petrol onto a fire pit, causing the canister to explode.

Snyman and Damian de Allende joined up with the Boks ahead of their Test series against the Lions but Snyman has since had to undergo a procedure on his burns.

Snyman was close to a return from a long-term knee injury when he suffered the burns. The South African was injured just seven minutes into his Munster debut last August and hasn’t played for the province since.

He had hoped to make a comeback with the Boks in the upcoming series against Warren Gatland’s Lions but he is now in danger of missing out.

“RG Snyman is currently out of the squad. He’s not with us,” said Springboks assistant coach Deon Davids today.

“He went for a skin graft operation and obviously he will start the process of rehabilitation.

“As he recovers and we get a medical update, he will return into the squad.

“At this stage, I think there’s a small chance that he will be part of the British and Irish Lions Test series, but he will definitely return for the remainder of the year’s Test matches that lie ahead in the Rugby Championship and end-of-year tour.”

The Springboks’ three-game series against the Lions kicks off on 24 July and with Snyman unavailable for next weekend’s second warm-up clash against Georgia, it appears highly unlikely he will be involved versus Gatland’s tourists.

As Davids indicated, there is more hope of Snyman being fit in time for the start of the Rugby Championship, which begins on 14 August – the weekend after the third Lions Test – and runs until 2 October.

The Springboks are also due to play November Tests against Wales, Scotland, and England, meaning that Munster may see very little of Snyman and de Allende until the end of the year.
When is his contract up?

[ronk]

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/st ... -fireworks

Shows you how easily it can go tragically wrong.

[blockhead]

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/st ... -fireworks

Shows you how easily it can go tragically wrong.

No correlation between the 2 events apart from "sports star at party incident"

[betty swallocks]

Contract up at the end of next season. You'd have to wonder will he ever play for Munster?