Munster Leinster

[BaggyTrousers]

My slight, OK big concern is that albeit they lost, they had a proper preparation for an HC match, wee on the other hand would have been as well playing 15 dustbins.

Now to the next coach, under no circumstances play Ferris against Aironi - can't be coincidence he always gets injured against them & we should be able to struggle to a 5 pointer without the great man.

[ColinM]

The "Earl of Thomond" looked like he was carrying an injury to his ribs last night, is he alright for next week?

I haven't heard of him being a doubt but he definitely was in some discomfort. They should have taken him off earlier. Don't know what they were thinking.

Obviously the P12 is their focus as progression in Europe is beyond them

[DavyG]

Bionn adharcanna fade ar na ba thar lear.

MACK, you might be correct but up close they are even bigger....

ULSTER Longhorn

LONGHORN.jpg (9.82 KiB) Viewed 382 times

[Shan]

Why are Munster fans getting annoyed at Ulster fans being confident in their team?

We aren't calling Munster crap or coming across as if we only have to turn up (unlike some Munster fans) so why get annoyed?

I don't understand it. From my point of view there is nothing wrong with having a bit of confidence building up behind your team and a belief in your team that they can win a match, even a big one like this. From what I can see here most Ulster supporters think they are going in next week with a good shout at a victory. I haven't detected anyone claiming Ulster are going to just come down and wipe the floor with Munster. That all seems quite reasonable to me.

I suppose there's some folk who worry that Munster may be shuffled back to third in the Irish pecking order. They'd be better employed asking questions about their own "club" and its management including player development.

[Shan]

Leinster targetted his channel frequently but he stood up to it quite well, certainly compared to Barnes who let McFadden run through him the first time he tried.

I agree Cormac. As I said last night I thought Earls was a rock in defence. However Munster could have been on the pitch for another 80 minutes after the final whistle last night and probably still wouldn't have come within sniffing distance of scoring a try. In other words once the game was beyond them Earls should have been hauled off. The game was beyond them at 50 mins as far as I am concerned regardless of the scoreboard at the time.

I guess I can see though that a severe beating by 20+ points wouldn't have been good for Munster in terms of confidence. Then again I don't see any value to that load of old sh1te last night anyway.

[stickinout]

Leinster targetted his channel frequently but he stood up to it quite well, certainly compared to Barnes who let McFadden run through him the first time he tried.

I agree Cormac. As I said last night I thought Earls was a rock in defence. However Munster could have been on the pitch for another 80 minutes after the final whistle last night and probably still wouldn't have come within sniffing distance of scoring a try. In other words once the game was beyond them Earls should have been hauled off. The game was beyond them at 50 mins as far as I am concerned regardless of the scoreboard at the time.

I guess I can see though that a severe beating by 20+ points wouldn't have been good for Munster in terms of confidence. Then again I don't see any value to that load of old sh1te last night anyway.

Munster in attack looked like they had no answers Shan but then quite a few teams have looked like that against Leinster this year. I though Munster did a good job of bringing Leinster down to their level (no disrespect intended) and they definitely tried to stop Leinster play whilst not creating a lot themselves. Munster defence wasn't bad and next week looks like it will be a slug fest. Ulster didn't get a good run out for their defence against Aironi, that could come back to bite us in the backside. Considering the personnel missing, i thought Munster made a good fist of it but were found lacking at the end. As for the game being kak, Nigel take a bow.

[Cap'n Grumpy]

It will be up to Ulster to meet fire with fire and to their chimps we must be like a dominant flange of gorillas with all our silver-backs at their magnificent grumpiest - no offence Cap'n.

None taken Baggy - I haven't been around the forum for a wee while, but a quick flick around today shows me a lot more things to take offence at. Nothing specific - just what passes for debate here these days. It reassures me that I haven't missed much in the past couple of weeks. Looking forward to some good banter in the build up to Sunday though ......... hope I'm not disappointed.

Grumps

PS - is there anything I should go looking for in the best Ulster tradition of going out of one's way to be offended? Any good (or bad) mentalist debates in the last week or three?

[Shan]

Obviously the P12 is their focus as progression in Europe is beyond them

Tis fecking scandalous stuff.

[breakdown]

Leinster targetted his channel frequently but he stood up to it quite well, certainly compared to Barnes who let McFadden run through him the first time he tried.

I agree Cormac. As I said last night I thought Earls was a rock in defence. However Munster could have been on the pitch for another 80 minutes after the final whistle last night and probably still wouldn't have come within sniffing distance of scoring a try. In other words once the game was beyond them Earls should have been hauled off. The game was beyond them at 50 mins as far as I am concerned regardless of the scoreboard at the time.

I guess I can see though that a severe beating by 20+ points wouldn't have been good for Munster in terms of confidence. Then again I don't see any value to that load of old sh1te last night anyway.

Munster in attack looked like they had no answers Shan but then quite a few teams have looked like that against Leinster this year. I though Munster did a good job of bringing Leinster down to their level (no disrespect intended) and they definitely tried to stop Leinster play whilst not creating a lot themselves. Munster defence wasn't bad and next week looks like it will be a slug fest. Ulster didn't get a good run out for their defence against Aironi, that could come back to bite us in the backside. Considering the personnel missing, i thought Munster made a good fist of it but were found lacking at the end. As for the game being kak, Nigel take a bow.

Munster offered next to nothing in attack. All game long they tried the inside ball or the switch which, fair play to Leinster, read it well and stopped them in their tracks. If that's all Munster do next week i'd be happy.

[Shan]

next week looks like it will be a slug fest.

Yes it probably will be. A battle royal of physicality. There probably won't be too much in the way of "sexy rugby" Indeed if the scrums don't decide the game then one or two pieces of magic probably will......or one or two lapses in concentration. One thing which is a worry is Munster at 9. If Murray is not OK then I'd prefer to see TOL play the 80. Williams is a joke at this level. Shame really as he was supposed to be the real deal when he was younger. Then again a lot of Cons langers are.....although in his case he did look like he would be pretty good. Never happened and it won't now.


Whatever else happens in this game, even including a defeat, I hope the game isn't ruined by stupid scrummaging shíte. I don't mind a hugely physical game with only a small amount of running rugby but a borefest is not what I am interested in.

[stickinout]

I agree Cormac. As I said last night I thought Earls was a rock in defence. However Munster could have been on the pitch for another 80 minutes after the final whistle last night and probably still wouldn't have come within sniffing distance of scoring a try. In other words once the game was beyond them Earls should have been hauled off. The game was beyond them at 50 mins as far as I am concerned regardless of the scoreboard at the time.

I guess I can see though that a severe beating by 20+ points wouldn't have been good for Munster in terms of confidence. Then again I don't see any value to that load of old sh1te last night anyway.

Munster in attack looked like they had no answers Shan but then quite a few teams have looked like that against Leinster this year. I though Munster did a good job of bringing Leinster down to their level (no disrespect intended) and they definitely tried to stop Leinster play whilst not creating a lot themselves. Munster defence wasn't bad and next week looks like it will be a slug fest. Ulster didn't get a good run out for their defence against Aironi, that could come back to bite us in the backside. Considering the personnel missing, i thought Munster made a good fist of it but were found lacking at the end. As for the game being kak, Nigel take a bow.

Munster offered next to nothing in attack. All game long they tried the inside ball or the switch which, fair play to Leinster, read it well and stopped them in their tracks. If that's all Munster do next week i'd be happy.

Yeah that's true breakdown but they'll have a good look at what was going wrong and come out with options. And let's face it, our defence isn't bad but not as good as Leinsters.. Not too long ago Munster put 50 odd on Northhampton so they do have attacking options. They fought pretty well at the breakdown with a lot of turnover ball, i hope we can handle them there and at the scrum with Poite reffing. Scrum on top goes a long way........

[stickinout]

next week looks like it will be a slug fest.

Yes it probably will be. A battle royal of physicality. There probably won't be too much in the way of "sexy rugby" Indeed if the scrums don't decide the game then one or two pieces of magic probably will......or one or two lapses in concentration. One thing which is a worry is Munster at 9. If Murray is not OK then I'd prefer to see TOL play the 80. Williams is a joke at this level. Shame really as he was supposed to be the real deal when he was younger. Then again a lot of Cons langers are.....although in his case he did look like he would be pretty good. Never happened and it won't now.


Whatever else happens in this game, even including a defeat, I hope the game isn't ruined by stupid scrummaging shíte. I don't mind a hugely physical game with only a small amount of running rugby but a borefest is not what I am interested in.

Can't agree more Shan, can't see much sexy rugby next weekend especially if the weather turns bad. 9 has to be a worry position for Munster if Murray isn't fully fit. Maybe they'll play them a half each? 9 is a position where you can' t carry an injury easily. TOL did okay in patches last night but he's a shadow of his former self. I guess all he has to do is give a half decent service and his job is done.

Can't remember the last time i saw a cracking game where the scrum was really competitive without front rows going down but then again when was the last time you saw a ball being put in straight or hooked? The powers to be have messed up the scrum IMO.

[Shan]

Can't remember the last time i saw a cracking game where the scrum was really competitive without front rows going down but then again when was the last time you saw a ball being put in straight or hooked? The powers to be have messed up the scrum IMO.

Spot on. A lot of times now I find myself moaning away about why we can't have scrums the way they used to be. Every single put in last night went into the second row. It is an absolute shambles. The IRB need to get a handle on this because the scrum, IMO, is such an important part of our game we can't keep ignoring the problems or there will be calls from "the most important people in rugby" * to have it done away with.


* Unfortunately they are the TV punters who foot the biggest part of the bill which contains large amounts of people who haven't a clue about this game and just want to be entertained cheaply.

[Big-al]

I agree Cormac. As I said last night I thought Earls was a rock in defence. However Munster could have been on the pitch for another 80 minutes after the final whistle last night and probably still wouldn't have come within sniffing distance of scoring a try. In other words once the game was beyond them Earls should have been hauled off. The game was beyond them at 50 mins as far as I am concerned regardless of the scoreboard at the time.

I guess I can see though that a severe beating by 20+ points wouldn't have been good for Munster in terms of confidence. Then again I don't see any value to that load of old sh1te last night anyway.

Munster in attack looked like they had no answers Shan but then quite a few teams have looked like that against Leinster this year. I though Munster did a good job of bringing Leinster down to their level (no disrespect intended) and they definitely tried to stop Leinster play whilst not creating a lot themselves. Munster defence wasn't bad and next week looks like it will be a slug fest. Ulster didn't get a good run out for their defence against Aironi, that could come back to bite us in the backside. Considering the personnel missing, i thought Munster made a good fist of it but were found lacking at the end. As for the game being kak, Nigel take a bow.

Munster offered next to nothing in attack. All game long they tried the inside ball or the switch which, fair play to Leinster, read it well and stopped them in their tracks. If that's all Munster do next week i'd be happy.

Wise up.

[BR]

What was the crack with the lineouts - was Munster that bad without POC or was it just a case of Leinster knowing their lineout. Leinster lost a fair few throws too, which may suggest the latter.