Munster Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread IV

Fireball07

I don't think Archer will ever be a top scrummager, but I can't really recall him being exposed last season. I would say Botha gave away more scrum penalties than him last season... in fact, I'm 99% certain that was the case. That may also have to do with Botha's decline but Archer fared pretty well last season. I would still have liked a top TH signing but didn't happen

blackdog1

Cookiemunster wrote: »

Archer started the Pro12 semi with Botha on the bench. When fit they rotate every week. In the league 11 starts for Archer, 13 for Botha. You're talking out your rear end mate.

Against a very weak scrum in the ospreys. Munster will get an international th next season I bet unless cronin works out

Riskymove

case885 wrote: »

It goes to show the importance of league position when it comes to the European draw.

well ironically it was better for Munster to be in Tier 2 than Tier 1

phog

Re Botha mentoring. I'm not sure about last season but it was certainly mentioned before that Botha was assisting in the scrum coaching. I think he was involved with mentoring John Ryan in the early part of his career with Munster.


Re Our group, very happy with the teams but think we'll end in 2nd place so will be looking at an away QF at best.

Buer

Fireball07 wrote: »

Stade are going to be a tough prospect.

It really depends on what SF turn up. Given they won the T14 in a bit of a surprise, I don't think they're going to be turning their attention to winning the ECC in the manner of Toulon or Clermont. They'll be looking to consolidate their position this season.

The reason they won the T14 was because they only competed on one front, really, given how little effort they put into the Challenge Cup and still only managed to win 5/12 in the league after the turn of the year. Racing, Toulon and Clermont were all completely jaded and under-performed badly in their playoff games against them.

At worst, I would see Munster taking a losing BP there and beating them with a little room to spare in Limerick.

evolving tipperary

I'd imagine it will depend also on the results early in the group - they could start off with the best of intentions but if they lose early they might prioritise the top 14

thomond2006

All three away trips sound fun.

slingerz

Leicester Tigers in Welford Road appeals to me but Stade in Paris appeals to herself!

Reckon Treviso away will be a tough one to get tickets as it looks like their stadium is a 6,300 capacity??!!

blackdog1

Buer wrote: »

It really depends on what SF turn up. Given they won the T14 in a bit of a surprise, I don't think they're going to be turning their attention to winning the ECC in the manner of Toulon or Clermont. They'll be looking to consolidate their position this season.

The reason they won the T14 was because they only competed on one front, really, given how little effort they put into the Challenge Cup and still only managed to win 5/12 in the league after the turn of the year. Racing, Toulon and Clermont were all completely jaded and under-performed badly in their playoff games against them.

At worst, I would see Munster taking a losing BP there and beating them with a little room to spare in Limerick.

Stade just signed genia and alberts for those who don't know. I think they will really target the champions cup after winning the top 14 this year.

The Lost Sheep

slingerz wrote: »

Leicester Tigers in Welford Road appeals to me but Stade in Paris appeals to herself!

Reckon Treviso away will be a tough one to get tickets as it looks like their stadium is a 6,300 capacity??!!

Treviso wont be difficult to get tickets for. Capacity is only 6-7k but there will be no problem with tickets. Never is for games over there

slingerz

The Lost Sheep wrote: »

Treviso wont be difficult to get tickets for. Capacity is only 6-7k but there will be no problem with tickets. Never is for games over there

I think Munster will only get an entitlement to 10% of the ground so officially at least tickets will be scarce for supporters

The Lost Sheep

slingerz wrote: »

I think Munster will only get an entitlement to 10% of the ground so officially at least tickets will be scarce for supporters

Not an issue. Anyone who travels will easily get a ticket.

Cookiemunster

slingerz wrote: »

I think Munster will only get an entitlement to 10% of the ground so officially at least tickets will be scarce for supporters

It would only be an issue if they had 6000 supporters. They don't though. They average around 3000.

Buer

blackdog1 wrote: »

Stade just signed genia and alberts for those who don't know. I think they will really target the champions cup after winning the top 14 this year.

Was Alberts ever confirmed? Was rumoured for a long time but I thought the deadline passed with no word on him joining.

Genia is a good player but Dupuy has been central to their title win this year. On the basis of the entire past season, Dupuy is playing better rugby.

blackdog1

Buer wrote: »

Was Alberts ever confirmed? Was rumoured for a long time but I thought the deadline passed with no word on him joining.

Genia is a good player but Dupuy has been central to their title win this year. On the basis of the entire past season, Dupuy is playing better rugby.

Yea alberts is confirmed. But he's always injured so you might be lucky. He's probably the most powerful backrow player in South Africa. Him and parisse would be a tasty combination.

Wang King

Fogs playing in D2 next year with Parc rugby, Ross Skeate will be going there too, small club, but could be worth keeping an eye on

tommycahir

Confirmed on.munster site that Luke o'Dea is off to play in France next year in the pro d2 but no word of who with. He turned down an offer of contract from munster as world cup cover.

Also confirmed signing of matt D'Arcy of clontarf as centre cover for world cup with view to longer contract if he is good enough.

http://www.munsterrugby.ie/mobile/news/20790.php#.VYRIj_lViko

Wang King

Think D'Arcy had been mentioned as a possibility last month, nice to see a club player getting a shot in the pro game, hopefully he is a roaring success

blackdog1

Wang King wrote: »

Think D'Arcy had been mentioned as a possibility last month, nice to see a club player getting a shot in the pro game, hopefully he is a roaring success

D'arcy to me is a lovely player but seriously lacks power. Hopefully the full time training turns him around. Very intelligent player

Rightwing

Tough group we landed in, but that's the nature of this new competition I suppose. We're good enough to get out of it, hopefully as winners.

thomond2006

Maybe LOD will end up in Aix like Cotter and Fogarty. I don't think he was going to make it at Munster with all his injuries and the short term deal offer says as much. Hopefully a fresh start will be the making of him.

Wang King

4th anniversary of Paul Darbyshire's passing

thomond2006

HOOKERS

Mike Sherry 2015
Duncan Casey 2016
Niall Scannell 2017
Kevin O'Byrne 2016
Eusebio Guinazu 2015

PROPS

James Cronin 2016
Dave Kilcoyne 2017
Peter McCabe undisclosed

BJ Botha January 2016
Stephen Archer 2018
John Ryan 2016

Niall Horan Year 3
Rory Burke Year 3
Brian Scott Year 2
Liam O'Connor Year 1
JP Phelan Year 1

LOCKS

Donnacha Ryan 2017
Donncha O'Callaghan 2016
Dave Foley 2017
Billy Holland 2016

Sean McCarthy Year 3
John Madigan Year 3
Darragh Moloney Year 2

FLANKERS

Peter O'Mahony 2018
Dave O'Callaghan 2016
Tommy O'Donnell 2016
Shane Buckley 2016
Jordan Coghlan 2016 - ARRIVING

Conor Oliver Year 1
Ben Kilkenny Year 1

NUMBER EIGHTS

Robin Copeland 2016
CJ Stander 2016
Jack O'Donoghue 2018

SCRUM-HALVES

Conor Murray 2016
Cathal Sheridan 2016
Duncan Williams 2017
Tomas O'Leary 2017 - ARRIVING

Jack Cullen Year 3
Ryan Foley Year 2

FLY-HALVES

Ian Keatley 2017
Tyler Bleyendall 2017
Johnny Holland 2017

Gearoid Lyons Year 2
Tómas Quinlan Year 1

CENTRES

Cian Bohane 2017
Denis Hurley 2016
Francis Saili 2017 - ARRIVING
Matt D'Arcy January 2016 - ARRIVING

Rory Scannell Year 3
Dan Goggin Year 2
Ned Hodson Year 1

WINGERS

Simon Zebo 2016
Keith Earls 2016
Gerhard Van Den Heever 2016
Andrew Conway 2016
Ronan O'Mahony 2017
Darren Sweetnam 2017

Alex Wootton Year 3
Greg O'Shea Year 3
Steven McMahon Year 1

FULLBACKS

Felix Jones 2017

David Johnston Year 3
Stephen Fitzgerald Year 2

IN:
Peter McCabe (Dolphin)
Jordan Coghlan (Leinster)
Jack O'Donoghue (promoted from academy)
Tómas O'Leary (London Irish)
Matt D'Arcy (Clontarf)
Francis Saili (Blues)
Darren Sweetnam (promoted from academy)

OUT:
Damien Varley (retired)
Alan Cotter (Aix-en-Provence)
Paul O'Connell (Toulon)
Sean Dougall (Pau)
Paddy Butler (Pau)
Barry O'Mahony (retired)
JJ Hanrahan (Northampton Saints)
Ivan Dineen (tbc)
Andrew Smith (tbc)
Johne Murphy (tbc)
Luke O'Dea (tbc)

Wang King

Billy Holland might be out for a while, taken off after a few mins of yesterday's game after he rolled his ankle, left the ground on crutches.

thomond2006

Wang King wrote: »

Billy Holland might be out for a while, taken off after a few mins of yesterday's game after he rolled his ankle, left the ground on crutches.

I hope it's not serious, Holland is going to be a vital player next season.

NaaMonu

It seems Mark Chisholm is to be a Munster Player next year.

thomond2006

NaaMonu wrote: »

It seems Mark Chisholm is to be a Munster Player next year.

Any link?

Chisholm was a great player in a poor Bayonne team by all accounts. He started all but 3 Top14 matches last season. He turns 34 in September so it would probably be a one year deal if it happens. Apparently he was the plan B for Toulon if POC didn't sign.

Aside from the loss of POC, if Holland is out long term then Munster definitely need to go into the market as only DOC, Foley and Ryan remain. A +1 from me anyway!

NaaMonu

thomond2006 wrote: »

Any link?

Chisholm was a great player in a poor Bayonne team by all accounts. He started all but 3 Top14 matches last season. He turns 34 in September so it would probably be a one year deal if it happens. Apparently he was the plan B for Toulon if POC didn't sign.

Aside from the loss of POC, if Holland is out long term then Munster definitely need to go into the market as only DOC, Foley and Ryan remain. A +1 from me anyway!

I have really only heard it secondhand to be truthful, was in Cork yesterday and was advised by someone involved with Cork Cons.

Wang King

Chisolm is a bit of a bolt from the blue, but I wouldn't say no, nearly 2 years younger than POC and a fantastic player

thomond2006

Wang King wrote: »

Chisolm is a bit of a bolt from the blue, but I wouldn't say no, nearly 2 years younger than POC and a fantastic player

A Google threw up this article. An old Munster favourite is good friends with Chisholm!

http://www.munsterrugby.ie/news/1749.php#.VYhZ8flViko

Pau have made an offer too and it is only about an hour's drive from Bayonne. Hopefully Chisholm has had enough of relegation battles!

thomond2006

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

The squad page has been updated for 2015-16. 40 players present, including Sherry and Guinazu. Does that suggest that Guinazu has earned an extension? Matt D'Arcy isn't there, perhaps because he's not a permanent squad member (yet). There were 46 players in the senior squad last season.

Interestingly, Jordan Coghlan is listed as a centre: http://www.munsterrugby.ie/rugby/first_team_squad.php?player=101422&includeref=dynamic

total former

thomond2006 wrote: »

Interestingly, Jordan Coghlan is listed as a centre

Hmmm, I hope that's just because he's listed as a centre on the Leinster website, by all accounts his conversion wasn't a roaring success.

Re: Guinazu; if he's available and Munster don't have any more NIQs coming in, he's definitely worth holding on to given Sherry's situation.

CatFromHue

Munster during the RWC will be looking like

FR: Archer/Botha/Cronin, Casey, Kilcoyne/Cronin
SR: Foley, DOC, Holland
BR: CJ, Copeland, JOD, maybe TOD
SH: TOL, Williams
OH: Keatley, TB
Centre: Hurley and Saili (is he playing ITM?)
Wing: Conway, GvH
FB: Zebo maybe?

Not a bad team overall, maybe light at wing or FB.

thomond2006

Guinazu has been removed from the squad page so he's probably not staying on.

Pepp1989

thomond2006 wrote: »

Guinazu has been removed from the squad page so he's probably not staying on.

Real shame if true. Thought he brought alot.

thomond2006

Pepp1989 wrote: »

Real shame if true. Thought he brought alot.

On the plus side I'm taking it as a positive sign regarding Sherry's fitness.

Reports today that Mark Chisholm is going to home to Australia so it looks like a move to Munster won't be happening. If you go by the website squad page the squad is down to 39 players which is a considerable cut from last year. Although a lot of players let go were mostly out injured.

rocky911

Does this pave the way for Chisolm?

total former

rocky911 wrote: »

Does this pave the way for Chisolm?

I think the Chisholm story is crossed wires tbh; he'd (allegedly) been lined up as a potential replacement for O'Connell at Toulon if POC failed his medical. That story quickly vanished after POC's move was officially announced, but I think it may have been picked up somewhere that Chisholm was replacing POC at Munster.

Bit of Chinese whispers I think.

Wang King

total former wrote: »

I think the Chisholm story is crossed wires tbh; he'd (allegedly) been lined up as a potential replacement for O'Connell at Toulon if POC failed his medical. That story quickly vanished after POC's move was officially announced, but I think it may have been picked up somewhere that Chisholm was replacing POC at Munster.

Bit of Chinese whispers I think.

Don't ruin our dreams!

total former

Wang King wrote: »

Don't ruin our dreams!

I think the Chisholm story is crossed wires tbh; he'd (allegedly) been lined up as a potential replacement for O'Connell at Toulon if POC failed his medical. That story quickly vanished after POC's move was officially announced, but I think it may have been picked up somewhere that Chisholm was replacing POC at Munster.

Bit of Chinese whispers I think.

They had to pass on Chisholm because Kieran Read is coming to Munster post-RWC.

Is that better?

balbriggan100

CatFromHue wrote: »

Munster during the RWC will be looking like

FR: Archer/Botha/Cronin, Casey, Kilcoyne/Cronin
SR: Foley, DOC, Holland
BR: CJ, Copeland, JOD, maybe TOD
SH: TOL, Williams
OH: Keatley, TB
Centre: Hurley and Saili (is he playing ITM?)
Wing: Conway, GvH
FB: Zebo maybe?

Not a bad team overall, maybe light at wing or FB.

Ronan O' Mahony has overtaken Conway in the second half of last season.

Teferi

Some of the new Munster kit looks like it could be very nice. Any proper pictures of it yet? I can't seem to find any.

I'm finding of late of teams I like that the training kit is nicer than the actual playing jerseys.

thomond2006

I hope they keep on the current European jersey. It's the best they've put out for years.

case885

Teferi wrote:

looks like it could be very nice. Any proper pictures of it yet? I can't seem to find any.

Teferi wrote:

I'm finding of late of teams I like that the training kit is nicer than the actual playing jerseys.

I like the look of the blue one, similar design to the all blacks jersey.

Hyperbullet

thomond2006 wrote: »

I hope they keep on the current European jersey. It's the best they've put out for years.

It's still in use for next season I think? Can remember around launch it was dated the '15/'16 European shirt.

The MRSC released a vine yesterday of quick flashes of the images posted above, there's one shirt that was black with a red trim, really hope it's the away shirt as it looked damn fine indeed.

tommycahir

Hyperbullet wrote: »

It's still in use for next season I think? Can remember around launch it was dated the '15/'16 European shirt.

The MRSC released a vine yesterday of quick flashes of the images posted above, there's one shirt that was black with a red trim, really hope it's the away shirt as it looked damn fine indeed.

Think this is the vine you mentioned - https://vine.co/v/eJj5UTgMtxM

I actually like the black and red stripe one in that montage aswell..

athtrasna

According to the photos posted from yesterday the blue is a training strip

CatFromHue

It looks like the new Munster jersey is going to be red.....

awec

Will there be cake at the launch event? If so, what type?

flangemeistro

CatFromHue wrote: »

It looks like the new Munster jersey is going to be red.....

It also looks like the new Leinster jersey will once again struggle to sell.