Munster v Leinster - pre/during/post thread

thehighground

Leinster (I'm a Leinster supporter)

stephen_n wrote: »

And what about the year in between LMAO that is tunnel vision at it's finest. As i have said Munster are favorites with out a shadow but you and any other Munster supporter who thinks that Leinster aren't capeable of beating you could have an awfull lot of humble pie to be getting through come Saturday night!

Here's hoping the team Munster will be as naive but I seriously doubt it!

In fairness, the writing was on the wall after the defeat to Leicester in Thomond Park in '07.

As for us Munster fans and humble pie - we don't need to be reminded - the most difficult game we had last year was the semi-final against Saracens (and we were lucky to come away with a win) coached by one Alan Gaffney.

thehighground

Leinster (I'm a Leinster supporter)

zenmonk wrote: »

true-this is the bread and butter
the lions is a bit of a mid summer distraction really
especially as we get hockeyed more often than not

Agree - Unless you want to work for the BBC as a pundit or something. I bet Mick Galwey would have preferred a Heineken Cup Medal with Munster to a Tour with the Lions!

Goose81

Munster (I'm a Leinster supporter)

bleg wrote: »

the munster team is settled, we all know what the matchday 22 is going to be.

leinster on the other hand have several selection headaches and aren't nearly as sure of their best 22 as munster are

front row: do you play CJ if he's fit?
second row: does toner start?
backrow: does o brien start instead of jennings?
half back: does sexton start?
centre: if sexton starts do you put darcy on the bench or wing
wing: nacewa or horgan (or darcy if contepomi starts in the centre)?

Yes they are,Its pretty obvious what the team will be

1-Healy
2-Jackman
3-Wright
4-Cullen
5-O'Kelly
6-Elsom
7-Jennings
8-Heaslip
9-Whitaker
10-Contepomi
11-Fitzgerald
12-Darcy
13-Bod
14-Nacewa
15-Dempsey

16-Van Der Linde
17-Simon Keogh
18-Jowitt
19-Toner
20-Sexton
21-O'Brien
22-Fogarty

Subs may be not be accurate but the side is pretty much settled.

The only thing that aint a cert is tighthead.They may well start with Cj because you cant bring him on at 60 and risk him getting injured straight away.

Toner is too lightweight yet.
Jennings is having a good season no matter how many people berate him.
Sexton is better served as an impact sub,his time will come next year bt he hasnt had the gametime this season.

danthefan

Leinster (I'm a Munster supporter)

I've decided I'd like to see a backline of:

9. Whitaker
10. Sexton
11. Fitz
12. Contepomi
13. BOD
14. Horgan
15. Nacewa


You might say it's a gamble but all those players have played significant amounts of rugby in those positions. Nacewa's time in the S14 was between 10 and 15, more often at 15.

Snowballs chance in hell though.

juvenal

Leinster (I'm a Munster supporter)

The Munster squad was named last night, as per the OP.

No surprises, with Mike Prendergast called into the squad as a result of O'Leary's injury.

Goose81

Munster (I'm a Leinster supporter)

danthefan wrote: »

I've decided I'd like to see a backline of:

9. Whitaker
10. Sexton
11. Fitz
12. Contepomi
13. BOD
14. Horgan
15. Nacewa


You might say it's a gamble but all those players have played significant amounts of rugby in those positions. Nacewa's time in the S14 was between 10 and 15, more often at 15.

Snowballs chance in hell though.

Nice,although the risk with playing Isa at 15 is that any super 14 I have seen they dont challenge the fullback as much as they do here.
It seems more so they like them to catch and counter attack and then tackle them,I suppose it goes with the try fest that they like in the super 14.

So I would be worried that he may not be that good under the high ball if challenged.

Personally I would like

9-Whitaker
10-Sexton
11-Darcy
12-Contepomi
13-Bod
14-Nacewa
15-Fitzgerald

thomond2006

Leinster (I'm a Leinster supporter)

Bull Hayes to score the winning try.

G'WAN MUNSTER!!!!!!!!

Goose81

Munster (I'm a Leinster supporter)

thomond2006 wrote: »

Bull Hayes to score the winning try.

He wont be able to move after Healy does him in the scrum again.

thomond2006

Leinster (I'm a Leinster supporter)

Goose81 wrote: »

He wont be able to move after Healy does him in the scrum again.

Ouch!, I felt that.

danthefan

Leinster (I'm a Munster supporter)

Goose81 wrote: »

Nice,although the risk with playing Isa at 15 is that any super 14 I have seen they dont challenge the fullback as much as they do here.
It seems more so they like them to catch and counter attack and then tackle them,I suppose it goes with the try fest that they like in the super 14.

So I would be worried that he may not be that good under the high ball if challenged.

Nah he's absolutely fine under the high ball. No worries there.

Goose81 wrote: »

Personally I would like

9-Whitaker
10-Sexton
11-Darcy
12-Contepomi
13-Bod
14-Nacewa
15-Fitzgerald

Not hugely different than mine the way the back 3 interchange these days, I just think Horgan does well against Munster, seems to motivate him playing against them, and he looked really sharp against Glasgow. We need a back 3 that isn't afraid to run the ball back at Munster anyway, and with Girve we'll be too conservative.

Tomtom364

Leinster (I'm a Leinster supporter)

Goose81 wrote: »

He wont be able to move after Healy does him in the scrum again.

ehhh.... Its The Bull... I have only ever seen him hurt twice... in 7 years... no matter how hard Cian Healy hits the scrums it wont hurt Bull.

Goose81

Munster (I'm a Leinster supporter)

Tomtom364 wrote: »

ehhh.... Its The Bull... I have only ever seen him hurt twice... in 7 years... no matter how hard Cian Healy hits the scrums it wont hurt Bull.

It was a joke.
In reference to the last time he drove him back again and again,but in all seriousness people were mentioning that the bull may have taken it easy on him the last time and just done enough.

Whether thats true or not (personally I just think he was out scrummaged) Healy will know and have told the coaches.
If he actually just does have the bulls number then I expect Leinster to target the scrum relentlessly.

The scrum isnt of as much importance now as it was but its still an area of attack and if VDL starts and does a job on Horan the match will be very interesting.

I see either VDL starting or not playing at all,they arent going to bring him on for the last few in case he just goes off again after the first scrum.

The lineout is also key and Munster have the best if the comp but Cullen is also a very good player,he did a number on Harlequins and I would expect us to at least win our own ball,so Munster wont get as much joy in that are as they would against other teams imo.
All these things mean this match will be throwing up all sorts of things that people didnt imagine.

danthefan

Leinster (I'm a Munster supporter)

Goose81 wrote: »

I see either VDL starting or not playing at all,they arent going to bring him on for the last few in case he just goes off again after the first scrum.

I'd see it the other way, I would have thought they won't start him in case he goes off after the first scrum. Remember if he goes off injured the prop who came off for him is allowed back on.

Goose81

Munster (I'm a Leinster supporter)

danthefan wrote: »

I'd see it the other way, I would have thought they won't start him in case he goes off after the first scrum. Remember if he goes off injured the prop who came off for him is allowed back on.

I got the rules backwards,I thought If he comes on the prop cant go back on in case of injury.
Your right.

danthefan

Leinster (I'm a Munster supporter)

Goose81 wrote: »

I got the rules backwards,I thought If he comes on the prop cant go back on in case of injury.
Your right.

I know I am

We don't even know if he's fit yet anyway but if he was I'd bring him on about the same time Munster brought on Buckley, and I'd stick him at LH. He would slaughter Buckley in the scrums. It would be a massacre.

Goose81

Munster (I'm a Leinster supporter)

danthefan wrote: »

I know I am

We don't even know if he's fit yet anyway but if he was I'd bring him on about the same time Munster brought on Buckley, and I'd stick him at LH. He would slaughter Buckley in the scrums. It would be a massacre.

Quinlan and Stringer will be hoping hes out,or they could be on the recieving end of one of these.

juvenal

Leinster (I'm a Munster supporter)

Goose81 wrote: »

Quinlan and Stringer will be hoping hes out,or they could be on the recieving end of one of these.

Yeah, and if that happens and there's any justice, Leinster will be down to 14 men and that won't help their cause in the slightest.:(

Leinster cannot afford to let Quinlan, Leamy etc to draw them into a free-for-all. Discipline will be a big factor on Saturday.

Goose81

Munster (I'm a Leinster supporter)

juvenal wrote: »

Yeah, and if that happens and there's any justice, Leinster will be down to 14 men and that won't help their cause in the slightest.:(

Leinster cannot afford to let Quinlan, Leamy etc to draw them into a free-for-all. Discipline will be a big factor on Saturday.

True I agree,Its an insane peice of violence but in saying that Leinster dont seem to have many agressive players and I believe you need one or 2,an enforcer if you like.
Munster have a few
The key is doing it where you arent seen.
It happens in every rugby match whether the viewer sees it or not.If Quinlan or Wallace gets a smack in the face for slowing ball down etc they wont be quick to do it again.

Hes like O'Callahan in that aspect except he will actually hit someone,not just get into a handbag fest,for a derby like this you need a few hot heads.

Stev_o

Starting CJ would be a complete waste imo, put him on the bench to add impact but there is no way he deserves a spot ahead of Wright or Healy.

anonymous_joe

Munster (I'm a Leinster supporter)

Goose81 wrote: »

True I agree,Its an insane peice of violence but in saying that Leinster dont seem to have many agressive players and I believe you need one or 2,an enforcer if you like.
Munster have a few
The key is doing it where you arent seen.
It happens in every rugby match whether the viewer sees it or not.If Quinlan or Wallace gets a smack in the face for slowing ball down etc they wont be quick to do it again.

Hes like O'Callahan in that aspect except he will actually hit someone,not just get into a handbag fest,for a derby like this you need a few hot heads.

Uhm...

Rocky, CJ, Leo Cullen?

danthefan

Leinster (I'm a Munster supporter)

Healy is pretty agressive too, and BOD has been known to put in a few crunching tackles in his time.

stephen_n

Leinster (I'm a Munster supporter)

Goose81 wrote: »

9-Whitaker
10-Sexton
11-Darcy
12-Contepomi
13-Bod
14-Nacewa
15-Fitzgerald

Would like to see that backline myself but can't see Cheika picking it

Goose81 wrote: »

True I agree,Its an insane peice of violence but in saying that Leinster dont seem to have many agressive players and I believe you need one or 2,an enforcer if you like.
Munster have a few
The key is doing it where you arent seen.
It happens in every rugby match whether the viewer sees it or not.If Quinlan or Wallace gets a smack in the face for slowing ball down etc they wont be quick to do it again.

Hes like O'Callahan in that aspect except he will actually hit someone,not just get into a handbag fest,for a derby like this you need a few hot heads.

Think Cullen fairly fills that role tbh

Goose81

Munster (I'm a Leinster supporter)

I dunno,I just think CJ adds somethng different.He doesnt put up with any **** and would add so much to the team in more than his play if we could start him,like an aggresive Le Roux.

danthefan wrote: »

Healy is pretty agressive too, and BOD has been known to put in a few crunching tackles in his time.

Yes he is,did you see the last match with him and Horan.Hes a freak,gona be an important figure in years to come.

Top bloke aswell.

danthefan

Leinster (I'm a Munster supporter)

I'm actually a little worried Healy is doing too much too young. I can't think of any other 21 year old props who've played an entire season of rugby and are set to start a HEC semi. He's going to be capped in a few months too. He's about 10 years away from his prime as a prop.

Goose81

Munster (I'm a Leinster supporter)

danthefan wrote: »

I'm actually a little worried Healy is doing too much too young. I can't think of any other 21 year old props who've played an entire season of rugby and are set to start a HEC semi. He's going to be capped in a few months too. He's about 10 years away from his prime as a prop.

Theres not many like him though.
I remember watching him play schools and his dad on the sideline boasting about how much he could lift,he is a freak and he is the exeption.
He can only get better aswell.Hopefully he gets even better for the national team when he debuts.

dan719

Munster (I'm a neutral)

I have a sneaky feeling leinster will take this, the game in Thomond was a lot closer than the score suggested and BOD is on fire at the mo. As prep for a HEC semi, which will be won in the trenches, Leinster had the far more better prep in the form of a difficult 'quins match as opposed to a stroll against the Hairsprays for Munster. Sexton at ten leaves a phenomonal centre partnership of the doc and BOD, it is likely we will barely achieve parity at scrum time and lineouts will be far closer affairs than munster are used to.

A worried Munster fan.

bleg

Leinster (I'm a Leinster supporter)

i dunno what people are on about saying the leinster scrum dominated the munster scrum. it was easily even. sure if you watch the match again you can clearly see healy with his hand on the ground supporting himself plenty of times.

dub_skav

Munster (I'm a Leinster supporter)

bleg wrote: »

i dunno what people are on about saying the leinster scrum dominated the munster scrum. it was easily even. sure if you watch the match again you can clearly see healy with his hand on the ground supporting himself plenty of times.

Maybe that's because hayes couldn't keep him up?:D

The Leinster scrum is a solid unit at the moment, hayes and Horan have always been suspect in the scrum. Hayes is a big strong man so can usually make up for his weaker technique, but he often gets found out for at least 1 scrum. In this day and age 1 scrum might be the difference.

premierstone

Leinster (I'm a Leinster supporter)

dub_skav wrote: »

Maybe that's because hayes couldn't keep him up?:D

The Leinster scrum is a solid unit at the moment, hayes and Horan have always been suspect in the scrum. Hayes is a big strong man so can usually make up for his weaker technique, but he often gets found out for at least 1 scrum. In this day and age 1 scrum might be the difference.

This makes very little sense tbh, the scrum is a very very insignificant component in the modern game, yes its still somewhat important but to suggest it could be match defining is a bit of wishfull thinking methinks

Orizio

Leinster (I'm a Leinster supporter)

Stev_o wrote: »

Starting CJ would be a complete waste imo, put him on the bench to add impact but there is no way he deserves a spot ahead of Wright or Healy.

Bring CJ on when Munster bring on Buckley would make the most sense, an automatic advantage in the scrum to Leinster.