Munster vs London Irish

jamieh

Hi all,

I'm going to this pre-season friendly in Musgrave on Friday.

Would ye say it'll be a second string team or whats the story?

dreamer_ire

Haven't seen the team yet but given the last run out was second string and that this is the opportunity to bring the Heineken Cup to Cork I think we'll have at least 75% of the big guns on the pitch... am looking forward to it

Oafley Jones

Should be pretty much the 1st team for both sides.

Hansel

You can definitely expect to see most of the front liners get at least some gametime. McGahan said as much himself last week that they'd be involved this week. I'd expect most of them to start on the bench though.

Oafley Jones

LI are coming in force.


15. Peter Hewat; 14. Topsy Ojo*; 13. Delon Armitage; 12. Seilala Mapusua*; 11. Sailosi Tagicakibau*; 10. Mike Catt*; 9. Paul Hodgson*; 1. Alex Corbiriero*; 2. David Paice*, 3. Faan Rautenbach*; 4. Nick Kennedy; 5. Bob Casey*; 6. Jon Fisher; 7. Richard Thorpe; 8. Chris Hala’Ufia*.

Replacements from:

James Buckland, Shane Geraghty*, Charlie Gower, James Hudson, Gary Johnson, Dan Murphy, Tom Parker, Peter Richards*, Dominic Shabbo, Richard Skuse and Adam Thompstone.

* Denotes international

bleg

said last week in the irish times that the big munster guns will be out. here's hoping. looking forward to this now.

Oafley Jones

Munster: Doug Howlett; Anthony Horgan, Keith Earls, Lifeimi Mafi, Ian Dowling; Paul Warwick, Tomas O'Leary; Federico Pucciariello, Frank Sheahan, Tony Buckley; Mick O'Driscoll capt, Donnacha Ryan; Billy Holland, Niall Ronan, John O'Sullivan.

Replacements (from); Jerry Flannery, John Hayes, Marcus Horan, Donncha O'Callaghan, Paul O'Connell, David Wallace, Peter Stringer, Ronan O'Gara, Rua Tipoki, Barry Murphy, Justin Melck.

jamieh

Surprised at the big guns on the bench!

Would ye say they'll get some proper game time or just come on 2 mins towards the end?

suppafly

Apparently all of the tickets r sold out for this match. I was holding off to just buy them at the gate cuz i didn't think they would all sellout. Sucks.

bleg

jamieh wrote: »

Would ye say they'll get some proper game time or just come on 2 mins towards the end?

probably will depend on how the game is going at half time.

spoon

Is this match being shown on TV at all?

Oafley Jones

It's not being televised.

P_1

Munster 35 LI 14

Seems Earls played a stormer.

ScrubsfanChris

Nearly the whole Munster panel got a run, at least 30 mins for each player.
Great game.

fugee

looking at this thread from mobile. Can't see spoiler. Who won?

Nukem

Cracking game - Munster look to have a few new people who want into the starting 15. Niall Ronan, D Ryan, J.O'Sullivan were impressive and tonot to forget Earls MOTM performance.

Saturday, August 30, 2008
Earls impresses as Munster sparkle
By Edward Newman

THE best of entertainment was to be found at Musgrave Park last night when Munster continued their impressive early season form by producing some sparkling passages of rugby to run out convincing winners against London Irish in a friendly.
On an evening when Tony McGahan unloaded his international contingent, what will please the new head coach most was his side’s positive attitude, work ethic and an ability to finish clinically.

The expansive approach being adopted by McGahan’s side is very pleasing on the eye and, though he was forced to chop and change throughout a high-octane game, the ambition of his players never waned from the first minute to the last.
The name on everyone’s lips at the sell-out Cork venue was 20-year-old Keith Earls who, starting at outside centre and finishing at fullback, pocketed two tries while other fringe players like Billy Holland and Donnahcha Ryan gave McGahan a selection headache ahead of Edinburgh match in the Magners League next Friday. London Irish’s early adventure was thwarted by strong Munster defence, the home side lifting the siege and turning over the ball twice inside four minutes.

There was also an edge to the early exchanges with events boiling over after just five minutes when a scuffle broke out near the touchline. Tony Buckley and Chris Hala’Ufia were called aside by Alan Lewis and binned, but the referee’s action had the effect of settling the game down.

Munster posted the first try on 11 minutes, a score created by Anthony Horgan. The veteran winger hacked ahead inside his own half, gathered before laying off smartly to Neil Ronan who sprinted 35 metres unopposed to the line.
The extras were added by Paul Warwick, who was instrumental in setting up good field position in the build-up to the Heineken Cup holder’s second try. Awarded a five metre scrum, Munster opted to pick and drive. Donnacha Ryan and John O’Sullivan made the hard yards before Frankie Sheahan picked form the base of ruck and drove over with Warwick making it 14-0. Irish struck back in the 24th minute when Ireland A captain Bob Casey gathered a wayward Munster throw on the home side’s five metre line and had the easy task of dotting down. Aussie Peter Hewatt landed the conversion to bring his side back into the match. Munster’s third try involved some wonderful backline play, an insight into McGahan’s expansive philosophy. Doug Howlett and Mick O’Driscoll combined to set up the impressive Barry Murphy who sprinted to the corner.

But, on half time, Delon Armitage silenced the crowd, intercepting a Warwick pass to run 70 metres to the line and leave it stand 21-14 at the break.

McGahan emptied the bench for the second half with the frontline internationals playing a huge part in bossing territory and possession. The intensity levels never waned and Munster never lost their shape with Rua Tipoki making some splendid midfield incisions.
The Exiles managed to get inside the opposition ‘22’ in the 45th minute but failed to convert from good field position. Munster’s defence moved up quickly to unsettle the Irish backs and force a penalty. It was close to 35 minutes before Irish returned to the red zone as Peter Stringer and Ronan O’Gara gave splendid direction behind a dominant pack. Earls then raised the roof on 61 minutes. O’Gara’s distribution was quick and smart in the early phases, but it was the long and risky pass from Tipoki to the fleet-footed Earls that allowed the Limerick man take off close to the touchline. Earls chipped three Irish defenders before chasing and dotting down in the try zone.
O’Gara landed the difficult conversion and the Ireland out-half produced one of his trade mark cross-field kicks a minute from time for Earls who took a kind hop and crossed over in the corner. O’Gara closed a productive evening for the kings of Europe arcing a sublime touchline conversion.

MUNSTER: D Howlett; A Horgan, K Earls, L Mafi, I Dowling; P Warwick, T O’Leary; F Pucciariello, F Sheahan, T Buckley; M O’Driscoll (capt), D Ryan; B Holland, N Ronan, J O’Sullivan.
Replacements used: J Flannery, J Hayes, M Horan, D O’Callaghan, P O’Connell, D Wallace, P Stringer, R O’Gara, R Tipoki, B Murphy, J Melck.
Scorers for Munster: Tries – Earls (2), Ronan, Sheahan, Murphy. Cons – Warwick (3), O’Gara (2).
LONDON IRISH: P Hewat; T Ojo, D Armitage, S Mapusua, S Tagicakibau; M Catt, P Hodgson; A Corbiriero, D Paice, F Rautenbach; N Kennedy, B Casey (capt); J Fisher, R Thorpe, C Hala’Ufia.
Replacements used: J Buckland, S Geraghty, C Gower, J Hudson, G Johnson, D Murphy, T Parker, P Richards, D Shabbo, R Skuse and A Thompstone.

Scorers for London Irish: Tries – Casey, Armitage. Cons – Hewatt (2).
Referee: A Lewis (IRFU).

toomevara

A good performance by all accounts, bit wouldn't go mad, only a pre-season warm-up...

suppafly

I managed to get into this one too actually. Friend got 2 free tickets when they bought a Munster book. As said it was a really great game and munster looked very good. All the munster players looked really good. Howlett played great again. Some really excellent defense from him too.