Munster Rugby 2021/2022 - Search for the Holy Grail

[munster#1]

I would say maith an fear in this instance, and fear maith when speaking of a 3rd party i.e. he's a good man

That looks good to me.
Every day is a school day.

Are you confident for Saturday? The pack is a worry for me. Lot of quality missing especially in the front and second row

I always struggle to be confident when it comes to the big games over the last few seasons, for good reason.
This game I am struggling that bit more given that it is against Toulouse and it is not in TP.
Throw in the missing forwards and it doesn’t look good.

Munster have a limited number of international forwards, and 2 of the 3 that featured during the 6 nations are out, along with possibly Munster’s best player of late in Coombes.

I am in no way writing Munster off, and I also don’t think that Toulouse are unbeatable, but I am expecting a heroic loss from the men in red.

[RoboProp]

That looks good to me.
Every day is a school day.

Are you confident for Saturday? The pack is a worry for me. Lot of quality missing especially in the front and second row

I always struggle to be confident when it comes to the big games over the last few seasons, for good reason.
This game I am struggling that bit more given that it is against Toulouse and it is not in TP.
Throw in the missing forwards and it doesn’t look good.

Munster have a limited number of international forwards, and 2 of the 3 that featured during the 6 nations are out, along with possibly Munster’s best player of late in Coombes.

I am in no way writing Munster off, and I also don’t think that Toulouse are unbeatable, but I am expecting a heroic loss from the men in red.

An all-Irish semi would guarantee a place in the final, to be frank I would be more afeared of Munster in the Semi over Toulouse, bit like 2009 in reverse!

[munster#1]

Are you confident for Saturday? The pack is a worry for me. Lot of quality missing especially in the front and second row

I always struggle to be confident when it comes to the big games over the last few seasons, for good reason.
This game I am struggling that bit more given that it is against Toulouse and it is not in TP.
Throw in the missing forwards and it doesn’t look good.

Munster have a limited number of international forwards, and 2 of the 3 that featured during the 6 nations are out, along with possibly Munster’s best player of late in Coombes.

I am in no way writing Munster off, and I also don’t think that Toulouse are unbeatable, but I am expecting a heroic loss from the men in red.

An all-Irish semi would guarantee a place in the final, to be frank I would be more afeared of Munster in the Semi over Toulouse, bit like 2009 in reverse!

An all Irish Semi would be great for the sport, but Leinster know all too well how to beat Munster, so I would definitely be hoping to play Leicester in a potential semi.

If nothing else, at least this game is the first chance I’ve had to bring my son to a big game. So I am looking forward to it.

[Oldschool]

Munster are really up against it in this game.
They are playing against one of the best teams to ever play in this great tournament who just so happen to be the reigning champs.

Fixed that for you.

And Munster will make your point when/if they beat Toulouse this weekend. A win/win.

[munster#1]

Munster are really up against it in this game.
They are playing against one of the best teams to ever play in this great tournament who just so happen to be the reigning champs.

Fixed that for you.

And Munster will make your point when/if they beat Toulouse this weekend. A win/win.

If Munster do win this weekend and knock out the most successful team and current champions in this tournament and in the top14 then they and their fans will rightfully be able to brag a little

[fourthirtythree]

If Munster do win this weekend and knock out the most successful team and current champions in this tournament and in the top14 then they and their fans will rightfully be able to brag a little

Dead right. It's on too, their form has been pretty hot and cold this year, back play has been unimpressive, albeit having a couple of geniuses does paper over those cracks, and they are struggling a bit to fight on two fronts.

Great to see the optimism down South. I've long said that we have a slightly jaundiced view as Munster are seldom as bad, and devoid of ideas, as when they play us. I genuinely think there's a mental element to that. Long may it last of course!

[Oldschool]

Fixed that for you.

And Munster will make your point when/if they beat Toulouse this weekend. A win/win.

If Munster do win this weekend and knock out the most successful team and current champions in this tournament and in the top14 then they and their fans will rightfully be able to brag a little

Brag a little. Understatement of the year.
Your getting your retaliation in very early.
But good luck anyway. I reckon you've a better than 50/50 chance.

[riocard911]

Maith fear, Ronk!!!

Shouldn’t that be Fear Maith?

I would say maith an fear in this instance, and fear maith when speaking of a 3rd party i.e. he's a good man

Well put, Robocop. My use of the saying, in praising someone, in this case Ronk, is essentially "Maith an fear" but with the "an" dropped, but still understood. Similar perhaps to how one can write/say "is" or mere "'s" in place of "agus". You dig?

P.s. Here's wishing munster#1 and the rest of the red horde visitors to BÁC an enjoyable trip on Saturday. Hopefully all their cheering and urging will assist in getting the Munstermen into the semi!!!

[dropkick]

https://www.rugbyworld.com/featured/int ... ais-130861

Good article on Prendergast's philosophy.

[jezzer]

If Munster do win this weekend and knock out the most successful team and current champions in this tournament and in the top14 then they and their fans will rightfully be able to brag a little

Dead right. It's on too, their form has been pretty hot and cold this year, back play has been unimpressive, albeit having a couple of geniuses does paper over those cracks, and they are struggling a bit to fight on two fronts.

Great to see the optimism down South. I've long said that we have a slightly jaundiced view as Munster are seldom as bad, and devoid of ideas, as when they play us. I genuinely think there's a mental element to that. Long may it last of course!

They're on a fairly dramatic upward curve in terms of attacking play. But it's still very chaotic and off-the-cuff, there's not a ton of apparent structure to it, which makes it more unpredictable but also harder to replicate game to game.

When it works, like against Cardiff, they look very good. When it doesn't, they look rudderless. It needs more of a template.

[munster#1]

Munster: Mike Haley; Keith Earls, Chris Farrell, Damian de Allende, Simon Zebo; Joey Carbery, Conor Murray; Josh Wycherley, Niall Scannell, Stephen Archer; Jean Kleyn, Fineen Wycherley; Peter O’Mahony (C), Alex Kendellen, Jack O’Donoghue.

Replacements: Diarmuid Barron, Jeremy Loughman, John Ryan, Jason Jenkins, Thomas Ahern, Craig Casey, Ben Healy, Jack Daly.

No massive surprises in the starting team.
Wycherley been given the 1 jersey is great to see, he has played well, looks to be getting better week on week, and is the form call.

Great to see academy backrow Kendellan getting another run out at this level. He has taken his opportunities very well, and I am excited to see how he goes at 7 against this Toulouse team.

The bench is as I expected, having a 6-2 split, and imo the introduction of the likes of Casey, Jenkins and Ahern could add great impact off of the bench if the game is still close after 60 mins.

[wixfjord]

15. Thomas Ramos, 14. Dimitri Delibes, 13. Pierre Fouyssac, 12. Pita Ahki, 11. Matthis Lebel, 10. Romain Ntamack, 9. Antoine Dupont, 1. Rodrigue Neti, 2. Julien Marchand (c), 3. Dorian Aldegheri, 4. Rory Arnold, 5. Emmanuel Meafou, 6. Rynhardt Elstadt, 7. Thibaud Flament, 8. Francois Cros.
Replacements:
16. Peato Mauvaka, 17. Cyril Baille, 18. David Ainu'u, 19. Joe Tekori, 20. Selevasio Tolofua, 21. Anthony Jelonch, 22. Baptiste Germain, 23. Maxime Médard,

Toulouse 11-15 don't look anywhere near as strong as previous seasons. Farrell/DDA will fancy it.

But that pack and particularly that bench from 16-21 is very powerful looking.

[wixfjord]

There's going to be massive pressure on that Munster pack physically. Having that front row and Wycherley in second row makes things look a lot lighter and there's a significant power differential on the bench too.

If Munster can avoid an arm wrestle their backline actually looks like it could create problems for Toulouse.

[SoupyNorman]

Thought Conway was set to be back. Would have been a big addition. Zebo may produce a moment of magic and is an efficient finisher but would be worried about him on the defensive side.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

One thing I always think about Toulouse is that they're never as clinical as they should be, they create so many chances by playing amazing rugby but don't actually finish them off all that often, even going back to when they had Kolbe. Munster have enough guys like Earls, POM, JOD, and Kendellan who won't give up on anything and if they frustrate Toulouse enough then they'll be able to hang in there like they did against Exeter.

For all their flair Dupont and Ntamack are incredible at putting pressure on the opposition so Murray and Joey will need to move the ball much quicker than they usually do.

Akhi is hugely underrated and Delibes and Lebel are both huge talents who'll get involved off their wings. I just can't see Farrell being able to cope with them and that's without even mentioning Ramos who seems to have hit form again recently.

I do think Munster will make a good game of this but the Toulouse pack is just so strong and able to keep the ball alive that I can't see Munster being able to contain them often enough. I just hope that Munster fire a shot. There's no way they can win an arm wrestle but we know from previous big games that JVG thinks there's no other option. There have been positive signs recently though so hopefully they continue to play ball and do themselves justice.

[Oldschoolsocks]

Thought Conway was set to be back. Would have been a big addition. Zebo may produce a moment of magic and is an efficient finisher but would be worried about him on the defensive side.

You’ll be grand with zebo. He’s a good defender when he’s switched on, which he should be

[ronk]

Looks like a decent selection for Munster and they should have a chance. A big issue is that they're missing their 2 best forwards, 3 if you Snyman.

Beirne has a way of dragging teams over the line and Munster could need that against a powerful pack.

[Keith]

That looks good to me.
Every day is a school day.

Are you confident for Saturday? The pack is a worry for me. Lot of quality missing especially in the front and second row

I always struggle to be confident when it comes to the big games over the last few seasons, for good reason.
This game I am struggling that bit more given that it is against Toulouse and it is not in TP.
Throw in the missing forwards and it doesn’t look good.

Munster have a limited number of international forwards, and 2 of the 3 that featured during the 6 nations are out, along with possibly Munster’s best player of late in Coombes.

I am in no way writing Munster off, and I also don’t think that Toulouse are unbeatable, but I am expecting a heroic loss from the men in red.

But I thought JOD was the best backrower in Ireland?

[munster#1]

Hearing that €39k tickets are now sold for this game.
Not a sell out by any means, but not a bad number for what is essentially an away game.

Just getting ready now as I’m planning on getting up there early to soak in the atmosphere and show my 5 year old what it’s like to attend a big European game.

[ronk]

Hearing that €39k tickets are now sold for this game.
Not a sell out by any means, but not a bad number for what is essentially an away game.

Just getting ready now as I’m planning on getting up there early to soak in the atmosphere and show my 5 year old what it’s like to attend a big European game.

It's a Thomond and a half. Decent enough considering crowds still aren't back to normal.

Hope you have a good day win or lose, and that it's a win.