Munster Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread.

phog

Looking at the fixtures anyone heading to Rome for the 6Ns game might also be able to take in the Treviso v Munster ML game.

I hope Munster get a better start to their ML campaign this year becasue they have a difficult end to the league.

buck65

;)Leinster v Munster in magners league likely to be in Lansdowne Rd in October according to the Examiner

buck65

buck65 wrote: »

;)Leinster v Munster in magners league likely to be in Lansdowne Rd in October according to the Examiner

Noooo, our D4tress!

Well, I suppose Lansdowne is still in D4, suits me

bamboozling

Crash wrote: »

from http://www.magnersleague.com/news/5536.php



Who's Corey Hircock?

All I can find so far:

http://www.limerickleader.ie/sport/Munster-snap-up-services-of.6277601.jp

So Irish qualified, bit of a project player? Assume its a development contract.

His mother is Irish as far as I know. He plays outside centre and he's a very tasty player.

Leroy Lita

quick question about Magner League Season Tickets:

Catergory A- €250
Catergory B- €220
Adult Terrace - €140
Junior Terrace - €45
the above are the season ticket prices.
just wondering. are those prices for a single seat season ticket or for 2 seats??

thefa

Yes it's only for a single seat/spot on the terrace. Got an east terrace season ticket a couple of seasons ago and i'd recommend it~bit of atmosphere and if you get in a little bit early you can be towards the back of it and near the halfway most of the time.

theKramer

Leroy Lita wrote: »

just wondering. are those prices for a single seat season ticket or for 2 seats??

There are gonna be 7 games in Thomond Park this year, so there was a bit of a price increase, but those prices are just for one person. I bought the tickets for a group of 6 of us. The credit card took a major hit on that one

Leroy Lita

theKramer wrote: »

There are gonna be 7 games in Thomond Park this year, so there was a bit of a price increase, but those prices are just for one person. I bought the tickets for a group of 6 of us. The credit card took a major hit on that one

oh right, think i might just leave it. those prices are way too dear for my liking:(

backrow67n8

Would the Adult terrace season ticket for E140 be any good? would that be for behind the goal? I ask cos theres terracing around the front of the stands?

phog

backrow67n8 wrote: »

Would the Adult terrace season ticket for E140 be any good? would that be for behind the goal? I ask cos theres terracing around the front of the stands?

Best terrace is the East Terrace, then the West followed by the South & North.

thomond2006

Just saw on the SSN Ticker that Mick Galwey has come on board as a part-time squad advisor.

thehighground

thomond2006 wrote: »

Just saw on the SSN Ticker that Mick Galwey has come on board as a part-time squad advisor.

Other appointments -

Foley is Assistant Coach with responsibility for Defence & Head Coach of B+I Team.

Paul McCarthy is the new full-time Scrum Coach (with additional responsibility for identifying and developing front row talent to feed into the Munster professional set-up).

Colm Coakley is also an additional physio being brought in.

http://www.munsterrugby.ie/news/7723.php

profitius

Quinlan won't play as much this season. I reckon he'll be used more as a sub as the management try to inject a bit of youth into the team. Hopefully Tommy O'Donnell will step up this season. I havn't seen much of TOD and from what I have seen he never stood out but they left Grace go to Exeter so the coaches see something in TOD. Butler needs to bulk up too and I think he'll get a few ML games this season. POM will get a good few games hopefully.


There will be oppertunities from some of the younger players because of injury and international call ups etc. One player who has a great opportunity to impress is Donnacha Ryan. He has the talent and just needs a run of games now.


Its make or break season for Fogarty. If his throwing is as terrible as last season I can't see much of a future for him. In fact hes probably got more chances than he should. Mike Sherry looks a good prospect.


Deasy and Felix Jones could also kick on this season. Cusack might come good but he's probably a squad player.

thomond2006

profitius wrote: »

Quinlan won't play as much this season. I reckon he'll be used more as a sub as the management try to inject a bit of youth into the team. Hopefully Tommy O'Donnell will step up this season. I havn't seen much of TOD and from what I have seen he never stood out but they left Grace go to Exeter so the coaches see something in TOD. Butler needs to bulk up too and I think he'll get a few ML games this season. POM will get a good few games hopefully.


There will be oppertunities from some of the younger players because of injury and international call ups etc. One player who has a great opportunity to impress is Donnacha Ryan. He has the talent and just needs a run of games now.


Its make or break season for Fogarty. If his throwing is as terrible as last season I can't see much of a future for him. In fact hes probably got more chances than he should. Mike Sherry looks a good prospect.


Deasy and Felix Jones could also kick on this season. Cusack might come good but he's probably a squad player.

Not sure about Quinlan, he was our best player last season.

Fogarty deserves another season but as you say it should be his last chance. Denis Hurley had a horrible 08/09 but came good last season. Let's hope the same for Fogarty, if he gets a chance in pre-season he'll have to take it because I'd say Varley is ahead of him now.

Cusack's chances depends if Deasy is used as a backup 10. On Deasy, he really only got a run in the team because of Jones' injury. He (along with Tom Gleeson) might get a run at centre (his preferred position IIRC) as Mafi is definitely out for a while after shoulder surgery and Earls might be cautiously drip fed back after his groin problems.

danthefan

Denis Hurley could be a quality winger imo if he gets one or two things sorted. He's quick and strong and has a good eye for the tryline.

thomond2006

profitius wrote: »

There will be oppertunities from some of the younger players because of injury and international call ups etc. One player who has a great opportunity to impress is Donnacha Ryan. He has the talent and just needs a run of games now.


Its make or break season for Fogarty. If his throwing is as terrible as last season I can't see much of a future for him. In fact hes probably got more chances than he should. Mike Sherry looks a good prospect.


Deasy and Felix Jones could also kick on this season. Cusack might come good but he's probably a squad player.

Yeah, it's a big season for Ryan. He was really unfortunate to dislocate his shoulder last season, in hindsight he would have made a lot of appearances in the absence of POC.

Fogarty deserves one more season to prove he's up to it although having said that he did get waaaay too many opportunities last season. In fairness, a lot of people at one stage (including myself) said Denis Hurley should never play for Munster again but he recovered after his bad patch. Let's hope the same goes for Fogarty. He'll get a start in pre-season I'd say, that's his chance.

Cusack's chances depend if Deasy is used as a backup 10. Deasy only got a prolonged in the team when Jones got injured. He'll probably get a run at centre (his preferred position IIRC) as Mafi is out for a while after shoulder surgery and Earls will likely be cautiously drip fed back into action after his groin problems.

buck65

Re Fogarty, I really felt that we should have unloaded him in the offseason but with the real emergence of Varley I'm not too bothered that he is still there. He is third choice hooker now even if it did take McGahan six months to realise that Varley is a better all round hooker.
Don't get me wrong Fogarty is a hard worker , fantastic in the loose and has pace to boot but if a hooker consistently misses his man in the lineout he is a liability. Hopefully he can correct this.

thomond2006

http://www.munsterrugby.ie/news/7775.php

Denis Leamy, Donnacha Ryan, Ian Dowling as well as squad newcomers Wian du Preez and Sam Tuitupou are all included in the Munster squad for Friday's seasonal opener against Leicester Tigers in Musgrave Park (7pm).

Leamy has been out of action since undergoing a knee operation in the aftermath of his impressive display against Perpignan in December while Ryan has been out since February following a shoulder operation and Dowling missed the last games of the season with a knee injury.

All three are in La Manga coming to the end of a week long training camp - they are scheduled to return home tomorrow - that according to coach Tony McGahan has proved hugely beneficial. " In terms of preparation, the facility here in La Manga has been excellent and we've managed to get in quality core rugby work along with valuable organisational matters." he said today speaking during a break in training."

McGahan named a 26 strong squad for the opening pre-season friendly saying, " Leicester Tigers on Friday and Gloucester provides us with the ideal opponents ahead of the competitive start to the season."

"The game against Leicester on Friday will see the return to action of players such as Donnacha Ryan, Denis Leamy and Ian Dowling who missed large parts of last season through injury. We would also expect to see newcomers Sam Tuitupou and Wian du Preez continue their integration into the squad while the opportunity will also arise to expose some of the young talent coming through to top class opposition."

That young talent that McGahan mentions includes among others, Ian Nagle, Dave Foley, Dave Ryan, Mike Sherry, Peter O'Mahony who impressed in the British & Irish Cup campaign last season, Ireland Under 20 World Cup players Paddy Butler and Simon Zebo and Academy newcomer Corey Hircock recently arrived from Bedford.
Munster v Leicester Tigers, Friday 20th August, Musgrave Park, ko 7pm -

Tickets on sale here.

Munster Squad: Denis Hurley, Felix Jones, Ian Dowling, Danny Barnes, Simon Zebo, Scott Deasy, Sam Tuitupou, Corey Hircock, Paul Warwick, Duncan Williams, Conor Murray, Wian du Preez, Dave Ryan, Stephen Archer, Darragh Hurley, Mike Sherry, Denis Fogarty, Billy Holland, Dave Foley, Ian Nagle, Donnacha Ryan, Paddy Butler, Tommy O'Donnell, Peter O'Mahony, James Coughlan, Denis Leamy.

No summer tourists available as expected.

Delighted to see Leamy and Jones back fit. Let's hope they get through it OK.

I wonder about Barry Murphy's future, he's not in the squad.

theKramer

So what would be a possible starting 15?

1 - WDP
2 - Dennis Fogarty
3 - Dave Ryan
4 - Donnacha Ryan
5 - ?
6 - Leamy
7 - Peter O'Mahoney
8 - Coughlan
9 - ?
10 - Warwick
11 - Zebo/Dowling
12 - Tuitupuo
13 - ?
14 - Dennis Hurley
15 - Felix Jones

Does Fogartys inclusion in this squad mean that he has been leapfrogged by Varley? Hope so. Although, if Fogs could get his throwing sorted, he would be class.

PhatPiggins

buck65 wrote: »

Re Fogarty, I really felt that we should have unloaded him in the offseason but with the real emergence of Varley I'm not too bothered that he is still there. He is third choice hooker now even if it did take McGahan six months to realise that Varley is a better all round hooker.
Don't get me wrong Fogarty is a hard worker , fantastic in the loose and has pace to boot but if a hooker consistently misses his man in the lineout he is a liability. Hopefully he can correct this.

I don't rate his chances of success but you can see why its so hard for McGahan to dump him. If he could even get his throwing to 80% he'd be the starting hooker on the next Lions tour. The rest of his game is dynamite but unfortunately he's a confidence player and it seems to drain out of him when he's continually hitting the scrum half in the head at lineouts.

profitius

thomond2006 wrote: »

I wonder about Barry Murphy's future, he's not in the squad.

His career is finished. How many times have he played for Munster per season on average? Very little I'd say. It's unfortunate because he's a talented player but he's very injury prone.

profitius

PhatPiggins wrote: »

I don't rate his chances of success but you can see why its so hard for McGahan to dump him. If he could even get his throwing to 80% he'd be the starting hooker on the next Lions tour. The rest of his game is dynamite but unfortunately he's a confidence player and it seems to drain out of him when he's continually hitting the scrum half in the head at lineouts.

I remember seeing Forgarty in the last match of the 08/09 season and he looked dynamite in that game. Overall even if he did get his throwing right he'd still wouldn't be in Cronins class as a player. Mike Sherry looks a good prospect too.

PhatPiggins

profitius wrote: »

I remember seeing Forgarty in the last match of the 08/09 season and he looked dynamite in that game. Overall even if he did get his throwing right he'd still wouldn't be in Cronins class as a player. Mike Sherry looks a good prospect too.

The Westies will kill me for saying it but Cronin is so far lacking a lot in tight play. He's hands down a better the Fogarty right now but Forgarty is ahead in every department other then throwing(maybe neck and neck in the loose but Cronin does far more lurking out in the backs then Fogarty)

Just my onion though

theKramer

PhatPiggins wrote: »

unfortunately he's a confidence player and it seems to drain out of him when he's continually hitting the scrum half in the head at lineouts.

Hahaha

TheTMO

theKramer wrote: »

So what would be a possible starting 15?

1 - WDP
2 - Dennis Fogarty
3 - Dave Ryan
4 - Donnacha Ryan
5 - ?
6 - Leamy
7 - Peter O'Mahoney
8 - Coughlan
9 - ?
10 - Warwick
11 - Zebo/Dowling
12 - Tuitupuo
13 - ?
14 - Dennis Hurley
15 - Felix Jones

Does Fogartys inclusion in this squad mean that he has been leapfrogged by Varley? Hope so. Although, if Fogs could get his throwing sorted, he would be class.

1.Wian Du Preez
2.Fogarty
3.Dave Hurley
4.Donnacha Ryan
5. Ian Nagle
6.Leamy
7.Holland
8.Coughlan
9.Duncan Williams
10.Warwick
11.Dowling
12.Deasy
13.Tuitupo
14.Hurley
15.Jones

is my guess.

Amazotheamazing

profitius wrote: »

His career is finished. How many times have he played for Munster per season on average? Very little I'd say. It's unfortunate because he's a talented player but he's very injury prone.

He's back nearing fitness afaik. I'd keep him if we can, he's a good squad player.

PhatPiggins

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

He's back nearing fitness afaik. I'd keep him if we can, he's a good squad player.

He's hands are poor for an outside centre, the rest of his game is decent though. Easily good enough for the ML.

thomond2006

theKramer wrote: »

Does Fogartys inclusion in this squad mean that he has been leapfrogged by Varley? Hope so. Although, if Fogs could get his throwing sorted, he would be class.

No summer tourist is involved in the preseason games, Varley got capped against Australia. That's why he's absent. So you can't say for sure that he has leapfrogged Fogarty. Although on form that should be case.

As other posters have said, Fogarty would be a great player if/when he gets his throwing right. A really good player.

Like I said above, Hurley had a bad year and got over it. The management probably feel they should back Fogarty for another season at least.

If the internationals aren't back until around the Leinster match, these next two games are huge for the likes of Nagle, Butler and Deasy to puts their hands up for the start of the ML.

theKramer

TheTMO wrote: »

1.Wian Du Preez
2.Fogarty
3.Dave Hurley
4.Donnacha Ryan
5. Ian Nagle
6.Leamy
7.Holland
8.Coughlan
9.Duncan Williams
10.Warwick
11.Dowling
12.Deasy
13.Tuitupo
14.Hurley
15.Jones

is my guess.

I presume you mean Darragh Hurley at 3? Was it Dave Ryan that was injured all last year?

Also, regarding Holland, is he not a 4/6 thereby making it unlikely he will be at 7?

At least it looks like they are actively looking at the up and coming guys with this squad, by leaving out guys like Stringer and Quinlan. I'll wait and see though when crunch time comes and he has to make a decision between an under performing established player and a younger guy that is playing out of his skin.....

bugler

It was Darragh Hurley who was injured for much of last year. Though Dave Ryan had some time out too. Darragh is a LH primarily, but photos from Munter training this summer have shown him packing at TH with Dave Ryan at LH, so it seems there was an effort to convert him.

It will be interesting to see...as the Tigers will be able to scrummage, and Munster have only one natural TH in the squad, Archer, who is a rookie. Everyone else is a LH who tries to cover across.

thomond2006

http://www.munsterrugby.ie/rugby/results_and_fixtures.php

ML Broadcast Schedule till New Year:

• Sat 4 Sep 19:30 Aironi (H) RTE
• Fri 10 Sep 19:05 Edinburgh (A) BBC ALBA/TG4
• Sat 18 Sep 20:00 Ospreys (H) RTE
• Fri 24 Sep 19:30 Glasgow (A)

  ---

  :mad:
• Sat 2 Oct 19:30 Leinster (A) TG4 :rolleyes:
  

  ---

  Heineken Cup

  ---

• Fri 22 Oct 19:45 Treviso (H) TG4
• Fri 29 Oct 19:05 Ulster (A) BBCNI/TG4
  

  ---

  AIs

  ---

• Sun 21 Nov 17:35 Scarlets (H) TG4/BBC WALES
• Fri 26 Nov 19:05 Dragons (A) BBC WALES
• Sat 4 Dec 19:30 Cardiff (H) TG4
  

  ---

  Heineken Cup

  ---

• Sun 26 Dec 17:00 Connacht (A) TG4
• Sat 1 Jan 19:30 Ulster (H) RTE/BBC NI

RTE only showing 3 games from 13. 4 games only available in Irish and Glasgow away isn't broadcast at all.

FFS.

CatFromHue

thomond2006 wrote: »

RTE only showing 3 games from 13. 4 games only available in Irish and Glasgow away isn't broadcast at all.

FFS.

not a dig at you thomond but your statement reminds me of when people used to be havinga go at setanta for poor coverage!

celtic league rugby on tg4 takes me back to 2004/05!

profitius

I'm shocked the Munster Leinster game isn't on RTE!

theKramer

profitius wrote: »

I'm shocked the Munster Leinster game isn't on RTE!

Seems like RTE really screwed up on that one. Ah well, at least we know our TV licence fee is being well spent on Pat Kennys salary :rolleyes:

budhabob

Whats the story with getting tickets for the munster/leinster in landsdowne game? i attend all home games in thomond (have season ticket), but with the price of the autumn internationals this is my chance to see landsdowne full with a good atmosphere. I know ticketmaster have advanced ones online for with passwords, is that only for leinster fans at the minute?

budhabob

Leamy Leads Munster
On his first game back since injury in the Heineken Cup game against Perpignan in Stade Aime Giral, Denis Leamy has been handed the Captain's armband for Munster's seasonal opener against Leicester Tigers in Musgrave Park tomorrow night (7pm).

Share
Also included in the Munster side returning from long stints on the sideline are Darragh Hurley and Felix Jones while Ian Dowling who missed the latter stages of last season is named on the wing.
Munster have just returned from a week long training camp at La Manga in Spain and have announced that Paul O'Connell will be the squad captain for the coming season.

Munster: S Deasy; D Hurley, D Barnes, S Tuitupou, I Dowling; P Warwick, D Williams; W du Preez, D Fogarty, S Archer; B Holland, D Foley; D Ryan, T O'Donnell, D Leamy capt.

Replacements: M Sherry, D Ryan, Darragh Hurley, I Nagle, J Coughlan, C Murray, C Hircock, F Jones, S Zebo, P Butler, P O'Mahony.

http://www.munsterrugby.ie/news/7791.php

Riskymove

budhabob wrote: »

Whats the story with getting tickets for the munster/leinster in landsdowne game? i attend all home games in thomond (have season ticket), but with the price of the autumn internationals this is my chance to see landsdowne full with a good atmosphere. I know ticketmaster have advanced ones online for with passwords, is that only for leinster fans at the minute?

there's an update for Munster season ticket holders at www.mrsc.ie

our allocation goes on sale next week...2 tickets per member


EDIT: apparantly Leinster will put tickets on general sale on Monday so you could buy there too

Riskymove

budhabob wrote: »

Munster: S Deasy; D Hurley, D Barnes, S Tuitupou, I Dowling; P Warwick, D Williams; W du Preez, D Fogarty, S Archer; B Holland, D Foley; D Ryan, T O'Donnell, D Leamy capt.

Barnes at centre?

interesting....I wouldn't have though he was big enough for centre

budhabob

Riskymove wrote: »

there's an update for Munster season ticket holders at www.mrsc.ie

our allocation goes on sale next week...2 tickets per member


EDIT: apparantly Leinster will put tickets on general sale on Monday so you could buy there too

Thanks man. Thats the job.

PhatPiggins

Riskymove wrote: »

Barnes at centre?

interesting....I wouldn't have though he was big enough for centre

Must be a typo. It may be Deasy at centre and Hurley at 15 otherwise its the shortest Munster centre pairing in living memory

Riskymove

PhatPiggins wrote: »

Must be a typo. It may be Deasy at centre and Hurley at 15 otherwise its the shortest Munster centre pairing in living memory

I looked up his profile and he is listed as centre/wing so there ya go


on the other hand it still lists his height as 5' 4" which is clearly wrong and must have been recorded when he was 12 or something

theKramer

Would liked to have seen Donnacha Ryan at 2nd row tbh. Still, its only a preseason game.

theKramer

Riskymove wrote: »

on the other hand it still lists his height as 5' 4" which is clearly wrong and must have been recorded when he was 12 or something

It lists his weight as 85Kg, so if he is that short, he would be like a mini tank running around the place. Anyway, I cant imagine height making any real difference in the centre, if anything his lack of height would help him to evade tackles and make him better at tackling as his centre of gravity would be about 2 feet off the ground

Riskymove

theKramer wrote: »

It lists his weight as 85Kg, so if he is that short, he would be like a mini tank running around the place. Anyway, I cant imagine height making any real difference in the centre, if anything his lack of height would help him to evade tackles and make him better at tackling as his centre of gravity would be about 2 feet off the ground

he's a growing boy of course and i have not seen him since end of last season

perhaps he'll appear like popeye tomorrow after a good summer's workout!!:D

2040

Barnes is definitely not 5'4". Speaking of small centres, Sam Tuitupou is 5'9". See also: Juan de Jongh at 5'9" (and a half)

PhatPiggins

2040 wrote: »

Barnes is definitely not 5'4". Speaking of small centres, Sam Tuitupou is 5'9". See also: Juan de Jongh at 5'9" (and a half)

Have you seen how hard 5'9 Tuitupou hits!!! If there was more of him we'd have to register him a lethal weapon

2040

PhatPiggins wrote: »

Have you seen how hard 5'9 Tuitupou hits!!! If there was more of him we'd have to register him a lethal weapon

I've seen very little of him but i hear he's an animal. Juan de Jongh hits hard too. That's the point i was making. Being short doesn't necessarily mean anything.

Benny Cake

My question is which will be first choice for Munster this year?
Was talking about this a work today and there was a variety of opinions.... I reckon Buckley will get the nod for the early Heineken Cup games and will have to play well from there on to hold his spot... The new chap Borlaise should feature in the Magners league but it would be a big ask for him to step up to European standard in his first season....

budhabob

D_Red_Army wrote: »

My question is which will be first choice for Munster this year?
Was talking about this a work today and there was a variety of opinions.... I reckon Buckley will get the nod for the early Heineken Cup games and will have to play well from there on to hold his spot... The new chap Borlaise should feature in the Magners league but it would be a big ask for him to step up to European standard in his first season....

jaysus, it has to be buckley! he's better than hayes an every aspect of his game now that the bull has taken such a step back.

theKramer

Hopefully McCarthy has been killing them both on the scrum machine and in live scrummaging sessions all summer