Newport Gwent Dragons 23 Munster 17

[POL]

Rodney Parade Att: 5,433

mockery

[Lamps]

Rodney Parade Att: 5,433

mockery

5000 munster fans though.

[Lamps]

might as well stick in the match report for the bandwagon gang

http://www.rugby.ie/news/story.asp?j=11707

[Fat Tom]

Surely the bandwagon must have run out of petrol!

[POL]

I was having a pint last night in the local, I picked up a copy of the Sunday World that was on the bar for a glance, Roy Curtis wrote the most nauseating piece on the Munster/Leinster "rivalry" that I have seen yet, trying to portray the average Munster rugby jock as some sort of salt of the earth GAA type, Jesus Christ I nearly got sick

[Proinsias]

So what point are you boys trying to make today?

Please pepper your responses with "Fraud", "Sham", "Mockery", "Jocks" and "Bandwagon"

[pepe_le_pooh]

I was having a pint last night in the local, I picked up a copy of the Sunday World that was on the bar for a glance, Roy Curtis wrote the most nauseating piece on..... how was that so different from any of the other articles in that paper?

[Lamps]

So what point are you boys trying to make today?

Please pepper your responses with "Fraud", "Sham", "Mockery", "Jocks" and "Bandwagon"

you know nothing about sport

[POL]

how was that so different from any of the other articles in that paper?

the attempt at humanising the average Munster Rugby Jock, when everybody knows the truth. Just have a drink in the Sin Bin some weekend, you'll see the real working class men of Munster drinking in there alright

[Proinsias]

you know nothing about sport
I disagree.

[Sound]

Bumpitty fucking bump!

http://www.peoplesrepublico fcork.com/~peoplesr/forums/showthread.php?t=697 46

[Lamps]

Bumpitty fucking bump!

http://www.peoplesrepublico fcork.com/~peoplesr/forums/showthread.php?t=697 46

so true.
its about time you started backing up your sports forum buddies like in the olden days.

[Proinsias]

Actually it was quite concerning to see Munster lose. that was quite a good Munster team and Dragons were playing for little but pride.

That scrum could have turned out for Ireland and not weaken by it too much. Not a good sign for the forthcoming semi-final.

Anyone else have the feeling that the Munster team is 2-3 months from being a cohesive team?

[raZor]

Actually it was quite concerning to see Munster lose. that was quite a good Munster team and Dragons were playing for little but pride.

That scrum could have turned out for Ireland and not weaken by it too much. Not a good sign for the forthcoming semi-final.

Anyone else have the feeling that the Munster team is 2-3 months from being a cohesive team?


longer than that I think, the backs need a complete overhaul Cullen had a minor injury for that game has to be wrapped in cotton wool now might not even play until the semi, Murphy might not come back the same player, Payne is pushing on as is Mullins, Kelly and Horgan aren't exactly feared by opposition. Pitout and Connolly are the same. Dowling looks a prospect, Manning has been poor enough but he'll be understudy to O'Gara next year, hope they dont move him about the backs like Staunton and Lawlor, saw him at 15 against Ulster he was terrible.

[POL]

Anyone else have the feeling that the Munster team is 2-3 months from being a cohesive team?

Sometimes I do, I hope for Leinster sake they are anyway

[Lamps]

Anyone else have the feeling that the Munster team is 2-3 months from being a cohesive team?

in all honesty they are a few running backs, a decent number 10 and a progressive coach away from that

[raZor]

who would be a decent number 10 in your opinion?

[Lamps]

who would be a decent number 10 in your opinion?

fellipe the wizzard

[homer jay]

who would be a decent number 10 in your opinion?

dan carter

[jungle]

fellipe the wizzard

He's very inconsistent though.

Stephen Jones would be a nice acquisition, but he's already signed to go back to Llanelli next season.

I still don't think that No. 10 is the greatest of Munster's problems at the back.

[raZor]

They're wold class realistically your looking at guys that Munster can sign, Carter isn't going to leave NZ for another 10 years and Munster probably couldnt afford him anyway. Doesn't leave alot especially when operating on a budget look at the hassle Leinster had before Contepomi, struck it rich with Howell but Contepomi was playing center then.

[Proinsias]

No, Munster's problems reside at right wing and long term at full back.

Payne isn't a spring chicken. Tomás O'Leary may fill the right wing, but he's not a natural winger. neither is he a natural scrummie, kinda caught between two stools.
Lawlor makes a good full back, but I'm not sure how good he really is there, i've barely seen him play there and I don't think shoe-horning him in there would be a good idea.

I think Munster should poach a few of the Leinster reserves, guys like Brendan Burke, James Norton, Gary Brown and Kieran Lewis. Same way they've taken Keogh.

[Lamps]

here's a description from you know who on ROG, on the money too

And come, Ronan O’Gara. It’s been said before, but Ireland’s medium-strength half-backs are the reason they (and Munster) always come close and the reason they never win anything. A small but vociferous Munster contingent at my place of work hold that I am unfair on the lad and no doubt O’Gara is a great team man.
But it is time that, almost literally, he takes a giant step forward. His kicking and calmness win games — but chiefly, these are games that would have been won anyway. O’Gara is a true-blue conservative in a green jersey. He will always tide a game along, chipping over the penalties and, from the safety of the pocket, kicking ball after ball after ball downfield. But so often, his failure to speculate, his acceptance of a small lead during the match instead of going to kill it off, and his failure to consistently set up the play for dangerous men outside him rebounds. At the death of major games, his earlier lack of attacking instincts has often allowed the other lot to sneak it.

One lazy account of the recent Scotland-Ireland match attributed the Irish victory to his goalkicking. Examine the video and you grasp the paucity of his play when he did step up, the haunted air when he tried to run himself.

O’Gara will not be pleased to hear that Lewis Moody, the powerful Leicester flanker, passed a fitness test on a poisoned finger yesterday and will resume duties at openside for England. But O’Gara must realise that victory can be won if he goes out and takes it. In Tests, victory rarely creeps up on you unannounced. I am convinced that the most important sportsman in Ireland today is the best teenage fly-half currently rising through the ranks.

[jungle]

At national and provincial level he is playing for fairly conservative coaches. Both are men who would drop him for being too adventurous. The best games I saw him play were when Warren Gatland was in charge of Ireland, so possibly he has it in him if he is given the chance.

That said, the other crucial thing about the Gatland period is that he was under pressure for his place on the Ireland team. I feel he's become a bit laid back since the possibility of Humphreys taking his place disappeared as a realistic proposition.

Also, he's worked with Kidney for 15 years and I'd wonder if he's ever properly been taught an attacking game.

[Proinsias]

here's a description from you know who on ROG, on the money too

And come, Ronan O’Gara. It’s been said before, but Ireland’s medium-strength half-backs are the reason they (and Munster) always come close and the reason they never win anything. A small but vociferous Munster contingent at my place of work hold that I am unfair on the lad and no doubt O’Gara is a great team man.
But it is time that, almost literally, he takes a giant step forward. His kicking and calmness win games — but chiefly, these are games that would have been won anyway. O’Gara is a true-blue conservative in a green jersey. He will always tide a game along, chipping over the penalties and, from the safety of the pocket, kicking ball after ball after ball downfield. But so often, his failure to speculate, his acceptance of a small lead during the match instead of going to kill it off, and his failure to consistently set up the play for dangerous men outside him rebounds. At the death of major games, his earlier lack of attacking instincts has often allowed the other lot to sneak it.

One lazy account of the recent Scotland-Ireland match attributed the Irish victory to his goalkicking. Examine the video and you grasp the paucity of his play when he did step up, the haunted air when he tried to run himself.

O’Gara will not be pleased to hear that Lewis Moody, the powerful Leicester flanker, passed a fitness test on a poisoned finger yesterday and will resume duties at openside for England. But O’Gara must realise that victory can be won if he goes out and takes it. In Tests, victory rarely creeps up on you unannounced. I am convinced that the most important sportsman in Ireland today is the best teenage fly-half currently rising through the ranks.


The problem with that is it's totally negative.

Who is the best teenage fly-half in Ireland? If O'Gara is so, so bad, who then is better? Staunton is good, but he's flaky. Missing kicks is what relegated Harlequins last season. I'd prefer to have a fly-half that can knock over points from the opposition's half than one who produces a magnificent performance 1 match in 3 but 2/3 times he's a mediocre turnstyle...

[BangorFeen]

Was very disappionted with the match on Friday. We had planned to travel down (living in North Wales) but the lad with the car couldn't make it. We had to be content with watching it on box. Very poor. There were individiaully very good performances but also a lack of cohesion and togetherness which rendered individual moments of brilliance to just that, moments.

Shaun Payne: Worth his weight in gold, had a typically solid game

Ian Dowling: Defended well, looked to go forward when the opportunity arose and nearly snuffed out the Dragons' 3rd try

Trevor Halstead: A typically abrasive performance from "The Beast". The man is freakily strong and much of Munster's forward momentum came from him. He's missing BM though, badly.. He looked to offload so many times with no body there to take advantage.

TOL: Mixed some good things (a brilliant try-saving tackle) with some pretty poor things. Was quick to react to Stringer's injury and slotted in to the 9 berth well when required but was badly at fault for the 1st Dragons' try and had a hand in their 3rd.

John Kelly: Again did a lot of good stuff and seemed to turn up in the centre alot with TOL out wide on defensive plays. I think TOL suffered from being caught between two stools.

Manning: Looked the business until his early retirement. A future Irish 10.
Burke: Poor, no creativity and was exposed for the Dragons 2nd try

Stringer: His passing wasn't as crisp as of late and indeed it cost us a certain score in the first half but had good vision and did well behind a pressurised scrum.

Le Puc: He's a walking feckin' time bomb but scrummaged well for all that. Wasn't much of a presence in the loose (bar starting fights and his try obviously). A good back-up but no more

Flannery: Was a headless chicken and seemed to be reverting to running down blind alleys and sloppy throwing (credit the Dragons though for good tactical lifting of the 6' 10" Luke Charteris).

Hayes: Looked tired, no more, no less. I'd like to see him rested for the Edinburgh game

POC: His usual rambunctuous self, held the pack together
DOC Much the same as above

MOD: Not a great game by him. The weather didn't suit him and with his thoughts perhaps on other things it may best to give him a weekend free to collect his thoughts

Foley: A quiet game by his standards. His post Sale CL form has been a bit worrying truth to tell

Wallace: Carried well when presented with the ball but was AWOL on a number of occasions.


All told, it looked like a slightly jaded team whose heart really wasn't in it. After a tough game against Perpignan and the death of Conrad O'Sullivan, it's possibly unsurprising but this is about as far as extenuating circumstances go. I would expect a much better performance next weekend

[BangorFeen]

The problem with that is it's totally negative.

Who is the best teenage fly-half in Ireland? If O'Gara is so, so bad, who then is better? Staunton is good, but he's flaky. Missing kicks is what relegated Harlequins last season. I'd prefer to have a fly-half that can knock over points from the opposition's half than one who produces a magnificent performance 1 match in 3 but 2/3 times he's a mediocre turnstyle...
Did you see the Powergen yesterday? Typical Stan, gets blown out of it like a runny nose for the scarlets first try then a bit of inidivdual brilliance to set up Voyce. Reddan was solid enough. I nearly laughed at the end when the first two lads to the boxes of "Clonmel Nectar" were Stan and Reddan... There was more cider than champers being chucked around in the post-match celebration...