Munster Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread.

padraig.od

jm08 wrote: »

I think POC and Poitre get on reasonably well now. He lets Munster get away with murder at the breakdown. He even joked in the game against northampton when munster were looking for a penalty for something that he wasn't giving, that "your not in thomond park now".

His mind is well decided about the scrum though. Not sure if its just Northampton's scrum being completely dominant or that Munster just has a poor scrum. Botha has always had problems with Northampton's one. I'd imagine he will be well up for this game considering how he was more or less discarded by Ulster and would want to prove a point. He should also be very familiar with the Ulster scrummaging techniques.

Discarded by Ulster.....I don't think so.

GerM

castie wrote: »

Yes he rewards the scrum going forward which alot of the time is the incorrect call. NH being a prime example of a team with alot of power and trickery to make it look like your infringing.

Hes been at this long enough to watch videos and get to grips rather than favouring the one team for the whole game at scrum time.

This then filters down and pisses off the players who may not keep their mouths shut and then lose decisions elsewhere because of that.

He’s absolutely incorrect but he certainly doesn’t favour sides over Munster. Everyone knows exactly what’s coming with Northampton and with Poite. Munster have had Poite possibly more than any team in the past 2-3 years in Europe. If anything, they should have an advantage with him as referee. Ulster do not possess a scrum (tactic) like Northampton’s.

totallegend

jm08 wrote: »

His mind is well decided about the scrum though. Not sure if its just Northampton's scrum being completely dominant or that Munster just has a poor scrum. Botha has always had problems with Northampton's one. I'd imagine he will be well up for this game considering how he was more or less discarded by Ulster and would want to prove a point. He should also be very familiar with the Ulster scrummaging techniques.

Is this your genuine opinion?

castie

GerM wrote: »

He’s absolutely incorrect but he certainly doesn’t favour sides over Munster. Everyone knows exactly what’s coming with Northampton and with Poite. Munster have had Poite possibly more than any team in the past 2-3 years in Europe. If anything, they should have an advantage with him as referee. Ulster do not possess a scrum (tactic) like Northampton’s.

Didnt mean to suggest he favoured anyone over Munster.
Im a prop and dispise the guy for his handling of the scrum.

I have had terrible refs frustrate me for 80 minutes some days.
Nothing worse than beating your opposite number to have crap officating either negate what your doing by say letting the LH stand up or allowing them to get the push on early to put you on the back foot cause they know theyre in trouble if they dont.

phog

budhabob wrote: »

“The scan revealed significant damage to Stevie’s left ankle and it is unlikely that he’ll be available for Sunday,” said an Ulster spokesman.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2012/0403/1224314296127.html

With Ferris out and POC back it puts us in a great position for the weekend.

Last night, Ferris tweeted "there's life in the old dog yet". To me he's still hopeful/optimistic of making the game.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/article-2038690/RUGBY-WORLD-CUP-2011-Ronan-OGara-quit.html

re: BOD paraphrasing Ronan's
"I said I'd retire at 38 to shut people up talking about it"

Probably shouldn't have brought it up in the first place...

Amazotheamazing

ed7890 wrote: »

He's only in the academy now sure. Lualala coming wont stop him getting a handful of Pro12 games next year to see how he gets on.

Maybe, but he was signed up as an exile, you'd think we'd have pushed him through more if we rated him. How often does he play for the A side?

jacothelad

jm08 wrote: »

I'd imagine he will be well up for this game considering how he was more or less discarded by Ulster and would want to prove a point. He should also be very familiar with the Ulster scrummaging techniques.

Most of your posts are filled with erratic, ill-informed, manic, Munsterlove gibberish. This is another example of the typical nonsense that you spew out. Botha left Ulster because Munster were able to offer him more than Ulster could manage. Even the slowest should be able to understand this. Here is a tip. Engage brain in gear before posting.

jm08

jacothelad wrote: »

Most of your posts are filled with erratic, ill-informed, manic, Munsterlove gibberish. This is another example of the typical nonsense that you spew out. Botha left Ulster because Munster were able to offer him more than Ulster could manage. Even the slowest should be able to understand this. Here is a tip. Engage brain in gear before posting.

Cut the personal comments please.

My understanding is that Botha was looking for more money than what he was on and got offered more by a French club (the provinces do not compete with each other over signings). Humphreys got annoyed and told him to go, and got Afoa who worked out to be cheaper.

Don't know why you get so upset by that comment. I've seen lots of comments from Ulster fans saying they were delighted that Botha was offloaded because he was beginning to be injury prone and Afoa turned out to be a great signing.

Amazotheamazing

jm08 wrote: »

Cut the personal comments please.

My understanding is that Botha was looking for more money than what he was on and got offered more by a French club (the provinces do not compete with each other over signings). Humphreys got annoyed and told him to go, and got Afoa who worked out to be cheaper.

Don't know why you get so upset by that comment. I've seen lots of comments from Ulster fans saying they were delighted that Botha was offloaded because he was beginning to be injury prone and Afoa turned out to be a great signing.

I'd say the truth is somewhere in between, I don't think botha wanted to leave Ulster, at least initially. Iirc, he had some tweets or somesuch saying he wanted to stay?

jm08

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

I'd say the truth is somewhere in between, I don't think botha wanted to leave Ulster, at least initially. Iirc, he had some tweets or somesuch saying he wanted to stay?

Botha gave an interview when he first arrived in Munster saying that he would have preferred to have stayed in Belfast because his family were well settled there, some ex-team mates from SA and he was friends with the local butcher etc. I admired him then for his honesty and it was refreshing to hear someone not coming out with usual stuff like every time robbie keane moves club.

Last week in an interview he said that the family have settled well now and he would like to have an option to stay on longer than his present contract.

Amazotheamazing

jm08 wrote: »

Botha gave an interview when he first arrived in Munster saying that he would have preferred to have stayed in Belfast because his family were well settled there, some ex-team mates from SA and he was friends with the local butcher etc. I admired him then for his honesty and it was refreshing to hear someone not coming out with usual stuff like every time robbie keane moves club.

Last week in an interview he said that the family have settled well now and he would like to have an option to stay on longer than his present contract.

Yeah, think I remember that, he made it clear the move was a short term thing to maximise his earning. I don't remember him saying he was forced out of Ulster though.

jm08

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

Yeah, think I remember that, he made it clear the move was a short term thing to maximise his earning. I don't remember him saying he was forced out of Ulster though.

I didnt claim he was forced out. I posted that he was more or less discarded by Ulster.

If the same thing was said about Paul Warwick who was more or less forced to leave if he wanted better than a 1 year contract, no one would blink an eyelid at the comment.

Amazotheamazing

jm08 wrote: »

I didnt claim he was forced out. I posted that he was more or less discarded by Ulster.

If the same thing was said about Paul Warwick who was more or less forced to leave if he wanted better than a 1 year contract, no one would blink an eyelid at the comment.

Speaking of Warwick, how has the season gone for him. Hope he's had a good one but I think Stade are struggling?

jacothelad

jacothelad wrote: »

Most of your posts are filled with erratic, ill-informed, manic, Munsterlove gibberish. This is another example of the typical nonsense that you spew out. Botha left Ulster because Munster were able to offer him more than Ulster could manage. Even the slowest should be able to understand this. Here is a tip. Engage brain in gear before posting.

chill out dude the provinces don't compete with each other when it comes to wages.you really shouldn't be insulting someones intelligence because you disagree with there opinion and if you are at least get your facts right first.

with regards to the actual topic seems like a win win afoa and bj are both fantastic players and nice guys and offer an experienced head for some of the young irish front rows to learn from.

Flincher

jm08 wrote: »

I think POC and Poitre get on reasonably well now. He lets Munster get away with murder at the breakdown. He even joked in the game against northampton when munster were looking for a penalty for something that he wasn't giving, that "your not in thomond park now".

In the Scarlets away game, Rees was penalised for hands in the ruck under the Scarlets posts. Before ROG took the 3 points, he asked Poite "would that have been a yellow in Thomond". Poite replied "We aren't in Thomond now" Nice moment actually. Funny moment.

He's anything but a homer though, and at times it seems the more indignant the crowd get, the less he gives.

I don't mind him, bar the scrum (but Munster benefited from that in Parc y Scarlets). He's on a loser with Munster though, people almost seem to be waiting for him to make a mistake so they can get up in arms about him.

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

Speaking of Warwick, how has the season gone for him. Hope he's had a good one but I think Stade are struggling?

I keep an eye on the French teamsheets and results and he starts a lot at fullback for them, but I haven't seen him play enough to comment. Stade are 7th and a point off the playoffs, so they are pushing for HEC again (they're also in the quarters of the Amlin). They were near the bottom of the table last year, so a bit of an improvement for them.

GerM

Diana Lively Survivor wrote: »

chill out dude the provinces don't compete with each other when it comes to wages.you really shouldn't be insulting someones intelligence because you disagree with there opinion and if you are at least get your facts right first.

with regards to the actual topic seems like a win win afoa and bj are both fantastic players and nice guys and offer an experienced head for some of the young irish front rows to learn from.

I don't believe that is applicable to NIQ players such as Botha, Warwick etc.

ed7890

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

Maybe, but he was signed up as an exile, you'd think we'd have pushed him through more if we rated him. How often does he play for the A side?

He's featured in a few of the games, a couple at 13, a couple in other positions. Chambers played a good few of the A games at 13 though so this might have limited his chances.

irishbucsfan

GerM wrote: »

I don't believe that is applicable to NIQ players such as Botha, Warwick etc.

It is. It's the same, provinces have to have permission to enter negotiations.

Botha wanted his contract with Ulster to be structured differently (don't think it was financial) and they refused to budge. When his people informed them (and I'm sure everyone else in Irish rugby who would listen) that he was enquiring externally, Ulster (not Humphreys decision) informed them they would look elsewhere, then they struck World Cup winning gold. Until Ulster ended negotiations Munster would not be allowed to talk to Botha.

It makes sense and it's a good rule from the IRFU; why would you want 2 parts of your organisation competing just to drive your wage bill up?

CatFromHue

The thing that confuses me IrishBucsfan is that Munster announced they were signing Botha about a month before Ulster announced their signing of Afoa.

http://www.ulsterrugby.com/news/9144.php
http://www.munsterrugby.ie/news/8712.php

So was it a case of Ulster in a way let him go before they had a replacement lined up?

Otacon

CatFromHue wrote: »

The thing that confuses me IrishBucsfan is that Munster announced they were signing Botha about a month before Ulster announced their signing of Afoa.

http://www.ulsterrugby.com/news/9144.php
http://www.munsterrugby.ie/news/8712.php

So was it a case of Ulster in a way let him go before they had a replacement lined up?

Those were the announcements though. That is not to say the signings were complete well beforehand.

irishbucsfan

CatFromHue wrote: »

The thing that confuses me IrishBucsfan is that Munster announced they were signing Botha about a month before Ulster announced their signing of Afoa.

http://www.ulsterrugby.com/news/9144.php
http://www.munsterrugby.ie/news/8712.php

So was it a case of Ulster in a way let him go before they had a replacement lined up?

As far as I know, Ulster had to close the door on Botha to get permission to open the door for Afoa. The provinces are quite restricted in who they can talk to and what they can offer by the advisory board I think.

jm08

irishbucsfan wrote: »

As far as I know, Ulster had to close the door on Botha to get permission to open the door for Afoa. The provinces are quite restricted in who they can talk to and what they can offer by the advisory board I think.

Not sure Afoa was Ulster first choice after Botha. There was mention also of Botha going back to SA to try and make the world cup squad (dont know if that was just a rumour). Seemed to be known for a while that he wasn't staying in Ulster anyway.

John Andress mentioned in an interview recently that he was going to come back to Ulster last season, but Ulster went cold on the deal when he got mixed up in some incident (to do with drink) and him being a bit of a wild boy in the past, ulster were not going to risk taking him back again. He said he was glad he didn't go anyway because he would have ended up behind Afoa. He then said that Munster made an offer for him, but he turned them down as he didn't want to be behind Botha.

its worth noting that Munster announced that Bowe & ruddock were going to and staying in ulster & leinster respectively, long before they had signed anything with either clubs. Seemed like to me the provinces not letting themselves be used as bargaining tools to jack up wages.

jm08

Flincher wrote: »

In the Scarlets away game, Rees was penalised for hands in the ruck under the Scarlets posts. Before ROG took the 3 points, he asked Poite "would that have been a yellow in Thomond". Poite replied "We aren't in Thomond now" Nice moment actually. Funny moment.

Thats it. It was a funny moment. Poitre seems to be a bit more relaxed now, whereas for a while he look like he had something to prove. Quite like him now.

He's anything but a homer though, and at times it seems the more indignant the crowd get, the less he gives.

I don't mind him, bar the scrum (but Munster benefited from that in Parc y Scarlets). He's on a loser with Munster though, people almost seem to be waiting for him to make a mistake so they can get up in arms about him.

He definately isnt a homer. He seems to really enjoy standing up to the locals.

I keep an eye on the French teamsheets and results and he starts a lot at fullback for them, but I haven't seen him play enough to comment. Stade are 7th and a point off the playoffs, so they are pushing for HEC again (they're also in the quarters of the Amlin). They were near the bottom of the table last year, so a bit of an improvement for them.

I do too. Has played up to about a month ago (splitting his staring time between 10 and 15), but for the last month or so, he has been benching for fullback. Stade are doing ok now, though they lost at home to Toulouse at the weekend. It doesnt get any easier with Clermont next on the agenda.

CIARAN_BOYLE

jm08 wrote: »

Not sure Afoa was Ulster first choice after Botha. There was mention also of Botha going back to SA to try and make the world cup squad (dont know if that was just a rumour). Seemed to be known for a while that he wasn't staying in Ulster anyway.

John Andress mentioned in an interview recently that he was going to come back to Ulster last season, but Ulster went cold on the deal when he got mixed up in some incident (to do with drink) and him being a bit of a wild boy in the past, ulster were not going to risk taking him back again. He said he was glad he didn't go anyway because he would have ended up behind Afoa. He then said that Munster made an offer for him, but he turned them down as he didn't want to be behind Botha.

Last year Ulster were looking at a top quality back three player (Corey Jane and a South African I forget were talked about) and Andress or a project prop. Corey Jane fell through and Afoa became available Humphries jumped and picked up Payne as a project.

irishbucsfan

jm08 wrote: »

Not sure Afoa was Ulster first choice after Botha. There was mention also of Botha going back to SA to try and make the world cup squad (dont know if that was just a rumour). Seemed to be known for a while that he wasn't staying in Ulster anyway.

He was very high up the list. You don't get a deal done with a kiwi international mid-season that quickly, so they had to get on it fairly sharpish.

its worth noting that Munster announced that Bowe & ruddock were going to and staying in ulster & leinster respectively, long before they had signed anything with either clubs. Seemed like to me the provinces not letting themselves be used as bargaining tools to jack up wages.

Not sure about that one. The provinces all know well who is talking to who. If Dawson wants to know if Munster had offered Ruddock a deal he just has to pick up the phone and call Fitzgerald.

I personally think they killed the stories because they don't need the press to paint the picture of them being turned down, which of course is exactly what the press would do regardless of how close to the truth it is. They went after Bowe in fairness, as they were well within their rights to.

Amazotheamazing

Heard good things about the Dolphin player, Ryan Murphy, who's playing with the u19's tomorrow. He was picked to play for the AIL selection against Munster A recently. Tralee's Ultan Dillane is also starting, heard he's a decent athlete as well as a good second row. We've only two starters in the u19 team compared to 5 starting for the u18 side. Hopefully it's a sign our underage teams are getting better.

ormond lad

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

Heard good things about the Dolphin player, Ryan Murphy, who's playing with the u19's tomorrow. He was picked to play for the AIL selection against Munster A recently. Tralee's Ultan Dillane is also starting, heard he's a decent athlete as well as a good second row. We've only two starters in the u19 team compared to 5 starting for the u18 side. Hopefully it's a sign our underage teams are getting better.

Dillane's a very good athlete. competed at all ireland level in shot and i think another field event
Weve always had alright enough numbers at 18s level and its at 19s and 20s where the numbers have dropped off

Amazotheamazing

ormond lad wrote: »

Dillane's a very good athlete. competed at all ireland level in shot and i think another field event
Weve always had alright enough numbers at 18s level and its at 19s and 20s where the numbers have dropped off

Still though, you'd hope a few would come through. What's Greg O'Shea (?) like as a player? I know he's fast but is he actually skillful or is he a bit like Andrew Maxwell was? I saw him play against Connacht last season but Munster didn't get the ball to him much.

ormond lad

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

Still though, you'd hope a few would come through. What's Greg O'Shea (?) like as a player? I know he's fast but is he actually skillful or is he a bit like Andrew Maxwell was? I saw him play against Connacht last season but Munster didn't get the ball to him much.

Good player, decent defence. great awareness of space.
At least the schools have players playing in the right positions.
Seamus Keating is playing winger for the youths and to be honest im not sure he's quick enough to play back 3. Good enough at outhalf but just doesnt have the out and out pace you need to play on the wing

Amazotheamazing

ormond lad wrote: »

Good player, decent defence. great awareness of space.
At least the schools have players playing in the right positions.
Seamus Keating is playing winger for the youths and to be honest im not sure he's quick enough to play back 3. Good enough at outhalf but just doesnt have the out and out pace you need to play on the wing

That's good to hear, his 100m's time are nearly impressive enough to suggest he should focus on athletics if pro rugby isn't a go-er.

As for the outhalf on the wing, I've never seen him play but lack of pace never held Dowling or Luke Fitz back... Seriously though, I hope there's some logic behind it, doing weird things like playing guys where they aren't suited can ruin a young lads confidence.

Amazotheamazing

From today's Irish Times. Brief interview with Flannery about the match on Sunday and about Foley's prospects.

"Flannery, in Dublin yesterday as a Guinness rugby ambassador, was asked out straight: Ferris or not, can Ulster win in Limerick? “Ulster can definitely win, yeah. But I would back us. I think Munster will be favourites, particularly because we are at home, but Ulster have the wherewithal to come down and win. I’ve played against Ulster in Thomond Park before and lost.

“It’s hard as a Munster player to try and imagine that something is a mental barrier for other teams because that makes you inherently a little bit weaker. Makes you feel like you don’t have to try as hard. But I think that Ulster don’t have that issue coming down to Thomond Park.

“It is not like a freak that they have managed to get here. They have been generally improving over the last couple of years.

“They’ll be looking, much like Leinster had against us in 2009, for that win that can kick you on and suddenly people start really believing what they are doing.”

The best man to replace Tony McGahan is Foley, right? “He’s either ready for the job or he’s not. I don’t know whether there are skills Axel has to develop. He’s always been up there for me. Captain when I came into first year (in St Munchin’s). Then he was captain of Shannon, captain of Munster and captain of Ireland as well. And now he is coaching Munster. I’d love to see him make the step up. I know the measure of Axel.”"

budhabob

Munster v Ulster Squad: Johne Murphy, Ian Keatley, Tomas O’Leary, Felix Jones, Denis Hurley, Keith Earls, Lifeimi Mafi, Simon Zebo, Ronan O’Gara, Conor Murray, Danny Barnes, Duncan Williams, Scott Deasy, David Wallace, Donnacha O’Callaghan, Stephen Archer, Marcus Horan, Damien Varley, James Coughlan, Tommy O’Donnell, Peter O’Mahony, Paul O’Connell, Donnacha Ryan, BJ Botha, Mike Sherry, Wian Du Preez, Mick O’Driscoll, Billy Holland, John Ryan, Denis Fogarty.
http://www.munsterrugby.ie/news/10328.php
Well all the injured parties are back in the mix. good news.

Otacon

I think a huge factor in this game will be whether Ferris is out. Also, is Best injured?

thomond2006

Munster v Ulster Squad:
Johne Murphy, Felix Jones, Denis Hurley, Simon Zebo, Scott Deasy
Keith Earls, Lifeimi Mafi, Danny Barnes
Ronan O’Gara, Ian Keatley
Conor Murray, Tomas O’Leary, Duncan Williams,

Denis Fogarty, Mike Sherry, Damien Varley
Marcus Horan, John Ryan, Wian Du Preez, BJ Botha, Stephen Archer
Paul O’Connell, Donnacha Ryan, Mick O’Driscoll, Billy Holland, Donnacha O’Callaghan,
David Wallace, James Coughlan, Tommy O’Donnell, Peter O’Mahony,

http://www.munsterrugby.ie/news/10328.php

Dave O'Callaghan left out of the squad, is he injured? I was hoping he would start in this.

I'd like to see:
du Preez, Sherry, Botha, Ryan, POC, TOD, POM, Coughlan;
TOL, ROG, Zebo, Mafi, Earls, Hurley, Jones

Bench: Varley, Horan, Archer, DOC, Wallace, Murray, Keatley, Murphy

Murray has been out longer than POC and Ryan, I'd be nervous about chucking him back in straightaway. TOL also played well last week, his best game this season by far.

padraig.od

thomond2006 wrote: »

Munster v Ulster Squad:
Johne Murphy, Felix Jones, Denis Hurley, Simon Zebo, Scott Deasy
Keith Earls, Lifeimi Mafi, Danny Barnes
Ronan O’Gara, Ian Keatley
Conor Murray, Tomas O’Leary, Duncan Williams,

Denis Fogarty, Mike Sherry, Damien Varley
Marcus Horan, John Ryan, Wian Du Preez, BJ Botha, Stephen Archer
Paul O’Connell, Donnacha Ryan, Mick O’Driscoll, Billy Holland, Donnacha O’Callaghan,
David Wallace, James Coughlan, Tommy O’Donnell, Peter O’Mahony,

http://www.munsterrugby.ie/news/10328.php

Dave O'Callaghan left out of the squad, is he injured? I was hoping he would start in this.

I'd like to see:
du Preez, Sherry, Botha, Ryan, POC, TOD, POM, Coughlan;
TOL, ROG, Zebo, Mafi, Earls, Hurley, Jones

Bench: Varley, Horan, Archer, DOC, Wallace, Murray, Keatley, Murphy

Murray has been out longer than POC and Ryan, I'd be nervous about chucking him back in straightaway. TOL also played well last week, his best game this season by far.

Murray & POC were injured in the same match. Think DOC2 was injured last weekend although I haven't seen that stated anywhere.

thomond2006

padraig.od wrote: »

Murray & POC were injured in the same match. Think DOC2 was injured last weekend although I haven't seen that stated anywhere.

Oops you're right about POC and Murray.

CatFromHue

From last weeks press release:

"Ryan took a limited part in training yesterday while O'Connell and Murray travelled to Dublin to see a Specialist who cleared them for training next week.

Ryan would look to be on track for inclusion in the squad for the Ulster game while O'Connell and Murray's participation will depend on how they come through training."
http://www.munsterrugby.ie/news/10309.php

---

The yesterday mentioned was last Thursday so Ryan should be good for the game on the weekend. Whereas Murray and POC will only be testing out their injuries this week.

NikNak8

When will the team be named?

CIARAN_BOYLE

NikNak8 wrote: »

When will the team be named?

probably friday

.ak

It'll be a great pity if Ferris misses this - from an entertainment point of view.

Cpt_Blackbeard

.ak wrote: »

It'll be a great pity if Ferris misses this - from an entertainment point of view.

He's been named in the Ulster squad, so his injury could be all smoke and mirrors.

Tox56

Cpt_Blackbeard wrote: »

He's been named in the Ulster squad, so his injury could be all smoke and mirrors.

It could be, but in fairness if it is genuinely this touch-and-go, they would want to wait until the latest possible moment to make a decision, and ruling him out on Wednesday was always unlikely.

Amazotheamazing

padraig.od wrote: »

Murray & POC were injured in the same match. Think DOC2 was injured last weekend although I haven't seen that stated anywhere.

DOCv2.0 got a slight knee injury against Leinster.

Our A team is really going to be up against it, let alone our senior team.

Tefral

Update on the Semi Final here.

Due to the short turnaround time between the Heineken Cup quarter-final matches this weekend and the semi-finals at the end of this month, all clubs involved in the quarter-finals are preparing for ticket sales to their supporters in advance of a potential semi-final.

In the event that Munster win their quarter-final match against Ulster this Sunday, ticket sales to members of the Supporters Club for the semi-final in the Aviva Stadium, against either Toulouse or Edinburgh, will be handled by Ticketmaster, the ticket sales agent for ERC Rugby. Ticketmaster have agreed to a €1 discount to members on each ticket purchased off their standard service charge. Ticket prices and charges are listed at end of news item. The MRSC will receive an allocation of over 20,000 tickets.

Details of ticket purchase for members is as follows;


- Sunday 8th April between 6pm and 10pm - an email to be issued from Ticketmaster to ALL Full and Associate members containing a link and a unique password.

- Sale to commence Monday 9th April at 12 noon and remain open until Thursday 12th April at 12 noon – limit of 2 tickets per member.


Following this sale to members and Munster Rugby's sale to other groups, any tickets remaining will be offered to members of the Supporters Club as follows;


- Second sale to open on Friday 13th April at 4pm to Monday 16th April at 12 noon (unless previously sold out) – offering another 6 tickets per member.


TICKET PRICES

Ticket range in price from €20 up to €70


TICKETMASTER SERVICE CHARGES

Ticketmaster service charges as listed below. Please note that there is a reduction of €1 per ticket being offered to members of the supporters club.

Ticket Price Service Charge
€20.00 - €2.95
€25.00 - €3.25
€30.00 - €3.50
€35.00 - €4.00
€40.00 - €4.50
€45.00 - €5.25
€50.00 - €5.75
€55.00 - €6.25
€60.00 - €6.95
€70.00 - €6.95




Filed by
J. Kiernan
04042012

Amazotheamazing

Backs coach Kiss hints O'Driscoll will have to win 13 shirt back from Earls
By Des Berry
Monday April 02 2012

IRELAND'S backs coach Les Kiss has given the strongest indication yet that Brian O'Driscoll might not be an automatic starter for Ireland against the All Blacks for the three-Test series in June.

He was quick to back the skills of the incumbent 13 Keith Earls following Leinster's defeat of Munster in the PRO12 League on Saturday evening.

"Keith in the past has come under a bit of fire for certain parts of his game but he had a fantastic campaign for us (in the Six Nations) at 13. He was exceptional," said Kiss, on Setanta Sport's iTalkSport yesterday. "He missed the first game but played the rest and was very good. Defensively, last night, I thought Earls had an exceptional game. He didn't have many opportunities with the ball in hand."

Of course, there have been calls for Ireland captain O'Driscoll to move to inside centre to accommodate the wheels of Earls around the outside.

"I thought Drico just had a good, solid game - paced himself well. Not many opportunities but when he did something, it had some impact in the game.

"It's nice to see. It's 80 minutes for Brian, so things are looking good for him after the operation," added Kiss.

- Des Berry

Amazotheamazing

Huge praise for Earls. Hope he can take confidence from it and continue to do well against another challenger in Cave this weekend.

Obviously, (imo) no one will ever be able to do what BOD has done, as a player and as captain, but it's interesting to hear what Kiss is thinking.

Tox56

BOD will probably move into 12 because they couldn't do without him on the field, and they see a successor at 13 more important than at 12.

I don't mind as long as all choices are given equal opportunity, Earls having experience due to also being a winger shouldn't have a significant bearing, although knowing Kidney McFadden is still probably 2nd choice..

Amazotheamazing

Tox56 wrote: »

BOD will probably move into 12 because they couldn't do without him on the field, and they see a successor at 13 more important than at 12.

I don't mind as long as all choices are given equal opportunity, Earls having experience due to also being a winger shouldn't have a significant bearing, although knowing Kidney McFadden is still probably 2nd choice..

Also, all our 12 options aren't great, whereas we have a few decent prospects at 13. I'd love to see Earls outside a proper 12.

CatFromHue

I read the article and I saw Kiss on iTalksport but I've no idea where the author got the idea that BOD would be moving to 12.