The Munster Rugby Thread 24/25

[MerchantOfEnnis]

I met Schoeman and Van der Merwe tonight. Absolutley buzzing.

Both total legends, despite the defeat

 

[jeepers]

Is Ben o Connor any way near that team He is surely old and developed enough to be a regular starter or is he not going to have a professional career

He's started one of the three matches that have been played. He's still in the academy, FFS.

 

[jeepers]

I met Schoeman and Van der Merwe tonight. Absolutley buzzing.

Both total legends, despite the defeat

Did you tell van der Merwe that he's only a fanny?

 

[MerchantOfEnnis]

Did you tell van der Merwe that he's only a fanny?

I decked the fucker.

We were having pints outside Dolphin when both teams came out.

Edinburgh lads were absolutely sound, all happy to have a chat and take photos etc, but I suppose they were under no pressure and we were the only ones interested in meeting them.

The Munster lads on the other hand. I dunno, maybe they were just too in the zone. Crowley walked past everyone, and McMillain wasn't the friendliest of fellas at all.

Peter O'Mahony to be fair to him must have taken a few hundred selfies. He was on the pitch after the game and walked all along the railing to greet anyone who wanted to meet him. Legend.

 

[nelly sham]

I met Schoeman and Van der Merwe tonight. Absolutley buzzing.

Both total legends, despite the defeat

For the price they're charging for their relabelled whisky it's no wonder they're laughing!

 

[How bad boy]

Looks like Haley, Jager and Casey are probably out for this weekend's match, but Daly, Ahern are likely to be back.

Salanoa played for Nenagh against Con last weekend, 20 mins off the bench, which is nice.

I expect Munster to get nothing at all out of it, but one can hope. Away to a full strength Leinster is one of the hardest assignments in world rugby, even a losing bonus point would be a good result.

Looking at the URC matches to the end of the year, you then have Connacht & Stormers at home. The former is a must win, the latter, more of a toss up, especially as they'll probably send their strongest team north to cover the European Cup. matches too.

You're then into the Christmas matches, Ospreys away, Leinster at home, and Ulster away. All three are matches Munster could win, but only Ospreys is one I'd expect to win.

So while Munster have won 3/3, winning 3 out of the next 6 would actually be a pretty decent return. Thankfully, looking at the end of the season, the last 4 matches look eminently winnable.

 

[How bad boy]

Team News | Munster Side To Face Leinster At Croke Park - Munster Rugby

The Munster squad has been named for Saturday’s URC round four clash against Leinster at Croke Park on Saturday (5.15pm, live on TG4 & Premier Sports).

www.munsterrugby.ie

Munster Rugby: Shane Daly; Andrew Smith, Tom Farrell, Dan Kelly, Thaakir Abrahams; Jack Crowley, Ethan Coughlan; Michael Milne, Diarmuid Barron, John Ryan; Edwin Edogbo, Fineen Wycherley; Tadhg Beirne (C), Jack O’Donoghue, Brian Gleeson.

Replacements: Lee Barron, Jeremy Loughman, Ronan Foxe, Jean Kleyn, Gavin Coombes, Paddy Patterson, JJ Hanrahan, Alex Nankivell.


Few surprises, Edogbo starting ahead of Kleyn, Gleeson starting ahead of Coombes, Kelly ahead of Nankivell.

I wonder whether or not the issue is that they've got Foxe on the bench, so when he goes on, he's got the experinced Kleyn behind him in the scrum, and maybe Coombes & Nankivell is to add a bit of heft late on

Might also be a case of giving those lads a go in a game that's really a shot to nothing, nobody expects Munster to get anything out of it, so might as well give them a start in a bigtime game.

 

[How bad boy]

That's a very strong Leinster team:
Leinster: Jamie Osborne; Tommy O’Brien, Garry Ringrose, Robbie Henshaw, James Lowe; Sam Prendergast, Jamison Gibson-Park; Paddy McCarthy, Rónan Kelleher, Tadhg Furlong; RG Snyman, James Ryan; Alex Soroka, Josh van der Flier, Jack Conan.

Replacements: Dan Sheehan, Andrew Porter, Thomas Clarkson, Brian Deeny, Max Deegan, Scott Penny, Fintan Gunne, Ciarán Frawley

 

[Handy Run]

Run at the 10 all day.

Serious repercussions high jinks for anyone that actually gets tackled by him

 

[How bad boy]

Run at the 10 all day.

Serious repercussions high jinks for anyone that actually gets tackled by him

Yep, that's what all decent teams are going to do, he's a liability and a potential gap. Find where he is and attack there.

Incidentally, I think this game might have come a week too early for Munster to put out the strongest team, here's the injury list:
Oli Jager (HIA) – following return-to-play protocols.
Mike Haley (HIA) – following return-to-play protocols.
Calvin Nash (shoulder) – to be confirmed.
Tom Ahern (HIA) – following return-to-play protocols.
Craig Casey (hamstring) – estimated return to play in one to two weeks.
Niall Scannell (hand laceration) – will return to play in one week.
Alex Kendellen (ankle) – will return in four weeks.
Conor Bartley (hamstring) – will return in four weeks.

Should be basically at full strength for Connacht, which really is a must win match.