I can't get over the niggling feeling that if Carberry at 10 is the great hope for a team, that there is a fundamental weakness in the strategy - even dating back to his days with us. There are games where having him at 10 is great - but ultimately I think 15 is where he is more effective. And I don't think he's great behind a retreating pack or in a slogfest.hugonaut wrote: ↑January 26th, 2021, 9:51 pmThey're not far off.munster#1 wrote: ↑January 25th, 2021, 2:55 pm Well after yet another disappointing defeat Munster must evaluate how they can push on to the next level.
In beating Clermont away and being the first team this season to not only keep Leinster to one try, but to not allow them to score 4 or more shows that we can mix it with the best.
One massive positive is that the Munster defence is as strong as it has been for a while.
Munster need to evaluate how they can breakdown a strong defence. How can they turn possession into score on a more regular basis.
One change that I would like to see is Healy being given every opportunity to become first choice and Crowley to get more gametime either at OH or centre.
By no means am I throwing JJ under the bus, I just believe that both Healy and Crowley have a higher ceiling.
Likewise it would be great to see J Wycherley and Salanoa start a few games over the next few weeks.
I was surprised that Munster didn't attack the Leinster lineout more, and also that their own throw was so iffy. Going into the game they had the best lineout in the league, but we stole and/or spoiled a lot of ball. Our lineout hasn't been good, and not competing on Leinster ball meant that outstanding touch-finders from Haley [x2] and Daly went unrewarded.
I agree with you on Hanrahan. I've been a fan of J.J. since his great campaign for the Irish U20s, but there is a stress fracture there. Munster have lost to Leinster in pretty tight games three times in the last six months and he has missed important place-kicks in all of them, including some absolute sitters. In the first game back the kick he missed [to bring the game to a 27-27 draw] was difficult ... but he had kicked more or less the same kick earlier in the game and the last kick was the only one he missed in the game. It was the biggest pressure kick of the match and he couldn't make it.
He missed two very easy ones in the semi-final – one of which you could have thrown over with your bad hand – and he had another shocking miss in the game just gone. I wouldn't be too harsh on the one that hit the post, that's not a bad kick, just unfortunate. The one from inside the 22 was a dreadful miss though.
Now, he's the same fella who kicked 9/9 against Clermont. It's just one of those things that is difficult to reconcile.
There's no way of saying this without sounding very negative, but I think that too many Munster fans [some of those I've talked to and many more whom I've heard or read] are holding very high expectations of Carbery, which he may struggle to meet. There has always been a lot of talk about him being 'the missing piece of the puzzle'.
He has missed a massive amount of time with an injury, the details of which have never been released. Obviously it's his business if he doesn't want to release that information; there may be very good reasons behind that decision. But logically speaking it has to be a complex injury: lots of people injure ankle ligaments, very few of them spend 60+ weeks out of action with that injury. I don't think he'll be able to just pick up the form he showed against Gloucester over in Kingsholm more than two years ago [and he has only played in five games for Munster since then], but that is how I would imagine a number of Munster fans remember him.
My worries for him would be that his ankle will not allow him the balance and agility that made him such a good runner in the past and, even more pragmatically, that people might think that now he's made it back, that he'll somehow not pick up any more injuries – the sort of belief that he's had a sufficiently dreadful time with this injury that he has used up all his bad luck. Unfortunately that's unlikely. Carbery is a guy who has shipped a lot of injuries in his short career. I wish him the best of fortune, but I've been playing and watching rugby long enough to know that it can be a tough and unforgiving game.
I think Crowley is a huge talent and has the highest ceiling of them all, including Carbery. I would have been pushing him ahead of Healy, but in fairness to Healy he has done everything you could ask of him.
Maybe I'm wrong but think it would be a good idea for Munster to have a clear Plan B