The Munster Rugby Thread 24/25

[Barry K O Bama]

Spare a thought for poor auld Treacy & O Connor.

They will have been gutted looking at that

 

[outdagap]

Just one less win all season than Leinster. Two more than Ulster.

Bear in mind we won our first 5 URC games, of which we were poxed to win at least 3 of them

 

[Barry K O Bama]

It's hard to imagine how our preparation could have been worse.

All of the turmoil - then losing important players - Beirne, Crowley, Nash, Kleyn, Farrell, Nankivell, Jager, Milne, Edogbo, Fineen, Barron

That's 11 players that would probably have been in the 23. (3 of them late withdrawals)

These are mostly key men. There's not many teams that could have their leaders taken out for a crunch game against the background of uncertainty everywhere and still put up such a performance.

Then so many things went wrong - we were desperately unlucky to be held up and taking a possible 14-0 lead - followed by 2 big errors - Kellys intercepted pass and Scannells over throw - leading to tries and YCs - both players would not have started.

We were down to 13 but ended up a try each way for that time.

The character shown was off the charts.

Piardi gave us nothing, as usual but we refused to give in.

This was a vital win and the joy and relief was very evident afterwards.

 

[Barry K O Bama]

I must add that the Lions decision making was very poor.

When we were down players they only went wide once. They box kicked, took the ball into contact and continually used their No 7 to run at our centres. He was a wrecking ball but our tackling was the best since Ulster away, last season.

If we play with that passion against the Bulls - I think we have a chance of causing an upset.

 

[How bad boy]

It's hard to imagine how our preparation could have been worse.

All of the turmoil - then losing important players - Beirne, Crowley, Nash, Kleyn, Farrell, Nankivell, Jager, Milne, Edogbo, Fineen, Barron

That's 11 players that would probably have been in the 23. (3 of them late withdrawals)

These are mostly key men. There's not many teams that could have their leaders taken out for a crunch game against the background of uncertainty everywhere and still put up such a performance.

Then so many things went wrong - we were desperately unlucky to be held up and taking a possible 14-0 lead - followed by 2 big errors - Kellys intercepted pass and Scannells over throw - leading to tries and YCs - both players would not have started.

We were down to 13 but ended up a try each way for that time.

The character shown was off the charts.

Piardi gave us nothing, as usual but we refused to give in.

This was a vital win and the joy and relief was very evident afterwards.

Indeed, it was a good win, only 7 points conceded when down to 13 men, and by the end of the period, coming back well to score when I think they were only back up to 14.
Great resilience.

Thankfully few scrums, lineout good though.

 

[Cormac]

It's hard to imagine how our preparation could have been worse.

All of the turmoil - then losing important players - Beirne, Crowley, Nash, Kleyn, Farrell, Nankivell, Jager, Milne, Edogbo, Fineen, Barron

That's 11 players that would probably have been in the 23. (3 of them late withdrawals)

These are mostly key men. There's not many teams that could have their leaders taken out for a crunch game against the background of uncertainty everywhere and still put up such a performance.

Then so many things went wrong - we were desperately unlucky to be held up and taking a possible 14-0 lead - followed by 2 big errors - Kellys intercepted pass and Scannells over throw - leading to tries and YCs - both players would not have started.

We were down to 13 but ended up a try each way for that time.

The character shown was off the charts.

Piardi gave us nothing, as usual but we refused to give in.

This was a vital win and the joy and relief was very evident afterwards.

The character was great in all fairness but Munster nearly always show the requisite character in these situations.
It's in our DNA.
Problem is that character is built on pure emotion and McMillan hit on that during the week..

"We’d like not to be the team that has to get punched in the nose and then have a response the following week,” McMillan said.

I think that means that emotion is at the forefront of all of your performances and I think you tread a dangerous line when you’re going to be using that on a regular basis to get the outcomes that you want.

“Consistency in your day-to-day habits, consistency in just your individual prep, and I think those things bring consistency of performance. I think we’ve made a lot of strides in a lot of areas but there’s still scope to improve."

https://www.the42.ie/clayton-mcmillan-7039763-May2026/

McMillan talked about "raising the floor" at the start of the season and I think he fully realises the size of that challenge now.
It's going to be an interesting off season.

 

[Clubber_Langer]

The character was great in all fairness but Munster nearly always show the requisite character in these situations.
It's in our DNA.
Problem is that character is built on pure emotion and McMillan hit on that during the week..

"We’d like not to be the team that has to get punched in the nose and then have a response the following week,” McMillan said.

I think that means that emotion is at the forefront of all of your performances and I think you tread a dangerous line when you’re going to be using that on a regular basis to get the outcomes that you want.

“Consistency in your day-to-day habits, consistency in just your individual prep, and I think those things bring consistency of performance. I think we’ve made a lot of strides in a lot of areas but there’s still scope to improve."

https://www.the42.ie/clayton-mcmillan-7039763-May2026/

McMillan talked about "raising the floor" at the start of the season and I think he fully realises the size of that challenge now.
It's going to be an interesting off season.

Well Aungier at tighthead should be an immediate upgrade. Need more reliable outhalf cover than JJ

 

[Cormac]

Well Aungier at tighthead should be an immediate upgrade. Need more reliable outhalf cover than JJ

And the saffa hooker as well, I'm very excited to see how he fairs.
JJ was good yesterday but has been poor for the majority of the season so an upgrade there would be beneficial especially now that that O'Donovan lad at SH looks promising.
A decent 9-10 backup would make a huge difference during the dark months.

 

[Meridian]

You are still of the belief that Munster are good and should be competing for URC and CC titles.
This is our level now, no point pretending otherwise.
They are dead right to celebrate winning a must win game and securing CC qualification.

I suppose you are right, but that should be the standard that those players clapping one another on the back should be aiming for.
The normal benchmark all season, except of course beating the ladyboys, was just scrape a win or just lose.
Yes I know guys get injured, but their replacements are still professional players, some of the muck I have seen this season would not have even be seen at an AIL standard game.

 

[How bad boy]

Well Aungier at tighthead should be an immediate upgrade. Need more reliable outhalf cover than JJ

I'm surprised Tom Wood hasn't gotten more opportunities