Munster Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread IV

thomond2006

No change in the prices for Munster v Edinburgh since they were released.

Munster really need to start advertising that the tickets are cheaper than last season. I've seen very little online, even to say that the tickets are on sale! I'll be there anyway and hopefully a decent crowd shows up.

slingerz

thomond2006 wrote: »

No change in the prices for Munster v Edinburgh since they were released.

Munster really need to start advertising that the tickets are cheaper than last season. I've seen very little online, even to say that the tickets are on sale! I'll be there anyway and hopefully a decent crowd shows up.

Should be a good crowd there for Axel's opening game as manager

Eod100

Tonight's game sold out.

https://twitter.com/Munsterrugby/status/505314829746577408

The Lost Sheep

slingerz wrote: »

Should be a good crowd there for Axel's opening game as manager

Will be interesting to see how tonight go's. He's a good coach but First time as coach of province so not sure what to expect

Eod100 wrote: »

Tonight's game sold out.

https://twitter.com/Munsterrugby/status/505314829746577408

Great. Hopefully in time we may see a regular game In Waterford.

letowski

Looking forward to seeing how the centre partnership goes. Two big strong direct lads that will give Holland targets, which will hopefully give space to the outside backs. Having CJ and Robin in will mean no shortage of loose ball carriers.

Good to see Archer back too, was worrying last year with the neck injury.

Molester Stallone II

Munster lead 7~5 at halftime. O'Mahony with the try

Molester Stallone II

17-5 up now, Bohane carried off injured

budhabob

Anyone at the game? Any stand out performances? How was smith?

Hagz

Looks like Cian Bohane's injury was pretty serious.

budhabob

Hagz wrote: »

Looks like Cian Bohane's injury was pretty serious.

****e, really bad luck for the lad if true. He had a genuine opportunity over the next few weeks.

letowski

budhabob wrote: »

****e, really bad luck for the lad if true. He had a genuine opportunity over the next few weeks.

And very untimely too, there was a potential start for him when the Pro12 kicks off. He was probably ahead of Dineen.

phog

I went down to get game - after driving down you can see why there's so much noise about Friday night games, 2.25hrs to drive 130km.

The stadium is fine for B&I cup and preseason but I wouldn't dream of using it for a competitive game, the running track destroys it.

We fully deserved the win and should have won by more, we turned down several kicks at goal for kicks to the corner or a scrum but then managed to turn over possession.

YC for DOC & their No5 for something off the ball, then their prop got a YC for scrum infringement, and finally another YC for LI for killing the ball on the try line.

Best bckrow was CJ but Copeland & Dougall were impressive, though at times we seemed slow to the ruck. Copeland was subbed with an injury, ribs I think.

Bohane seemed the better of the 2 centres and I'd guess is gone for months rather than weeks which is very bad luck for him.

Holland played the full 80 at Outhalf and has a decent boot on him from the tee but still needs to be more aware of options at penalties, I think we missed two trues will Murphy & ROM on the wing waiting for cross field kicks.

Both wingers looked hungry for ball and made yards.

I think Duncan Williams was the better of our two scrumhalves.

Overall we need to tighten up a few things for next week and a huge improvement for stronger teams

thomond2006

With our starting matches we have a few weeks to improve things. No need to combust just yet.

If the plan is to have a Paddy Wallace type of 12 then I imagine we will see a Keatley-JJ combination. Bohane's injury leaves us very short with Earls already out.

phog

thomond2006 wrote: »

With our starting matches we have a few weeks to improve things. No need to combust just yet.

If the plan is to have a Paddy Wallace type of 12 then I imagine we will see a Keatley-JJ combination. Bohane's injury leaves us very short with Earls already out.

If Solomon's has improved Edinburgh by any margin and we're depending on last nights team then a Munster win is not a certainty, also, Treviso have been a though nut for Munster to beat in Italy. It really depends on who Foley can drop into the team next week.

TOL got a great reception last night, great to see.

Our LO was so so, better teams would have won a few of them, our mauls seemed to take a bit too long to get moving.

thomond2006

phog wrote: »

If Solomon's has improved Edinburgh by any margin and we're depending on last nights team then a Munster win is not a certainty, also, Treviso have been a though nut for Munster to beat in Italy. It really depends on who Foley can drop into the team next week.

TOL got a great reception last night, great to see.

Our LO was so so, better teams would have won a few of them, our mauls seemed to take a bit too long to get moving.

Ah come on now. We're at home and it's Edinburgh. We'll have to be pretty rubbish not to win.

Treviso have been raided in the summer and lost many key players to Leicester. I'd be surprised if they are stronger than last year.

Get the looseheads and the 10s back and Munster will be grand.

CatFromHue

We won't find out properly until next week but Edinburgh's pre season has been good, they lost by a point to a string Leicester team last week and beat Newcastle last night.

One of the problems they had last season was Solomon's took over quite late, I think the season might have actually begun, and he inherited a poor squad.

phog

Photos from Leicester v Munster U20s

phog

Report of last night's game

phog

Highlights from last night


Edited with link as I couldn't embed it correctly



http://youtu.be/4aeJINbWqKc

phog

WTV's blog of the game

thomond2006

Clermont have lost two of their last three games at SMM. We'll be fine in December.

Buer

thomond2006 wrote: »

Clermont have lost two of their last three games at SMM. We'll be fine in December.

Not sure about fine but definitely the best opportunity to visit there in the last 5 or 6 years anyway. Munster could well sneak something there if they get their tactics right.

thomond2006

Buer wrote: »

Not sure about fine but definitely the best opportunity to visit there in the last 5 or 6 years anyway. Munster could well sneak something there if they get their tactics right.

Being facetious of course but it really is a fantastic time to draw them. They let go a lot of veterans but they were very good veterans and I'm not sure their replacements are up to it.

former legend

thomond2006 wrote: »

Clermont have lost two of their last three games at SMM. We'll be fine in December.

Would it be churlish to point out that Munster have lost their last two games in Thomond?

Away wins all round in December so!

former legend

thomond2006 wrote: »

Being facetious of course but it really is a fantastic time to draw them. They let go a lot of veterans but they were very good veterans and I'm not sure their replacements are up to it.

Some of their replacements are very good (Davies, Guildford) and others are baffling (Abendanon) but overall their squad has been getting less deep by the year. They could still put together an awesome XV, but a rocky start to the top 14 might mean they focus less on Europe.

former legend

Oh dear.

http://m.independent.ie/sport/rugby/munster-rugby/munster-deny-crisis-as-players-sent-damning-report-30549225.html

Molester Stallone II

former legend wrote: »

Oh dear.

http://m.independent.ie/sport/rugby/munster-rugby/munster-deny-crisis-as-players-sent-damning-report-30549225.html

Lmao,

durkadurka

Well this is awkward

former legend

former legend wrote: »

Oh dear.

http://m.independent.ie/sport/rugby/munster-rugby/munster-deny-crisis-as-players-sent-damning-report-30549225.html

Gotta say I laughed.

RobbieRuns

The curse of e-mails and modern day forms of communication.

Buer

Bit of a mess and I'm sure some are disgruntled. I'd be more curious about the head of fitness leaving during pre-season, however. Very odd timing.

former legend

It's bananas that they would actually write these things down and email them between the coaches in the first place. In a different environment you'd be looking at employment tribunals. I'm sure these things are said at all clubs but "said" is the key word.

I suppose best-case is that Mr Gravy Train and Mr Mentally Weak take it on the chin and decide they're going to prove the coach wrong by trying their hardest. Worst case doesn't bear thinking about.

Must be disappointing to know you've been made second choice by a new coach without playing a competitive game. Was also wondering why the document existed, surely he has an in-depth knowledge of the squad in his head?

I wonder if a copy of this document might accidentally end up online somewhere...

jm08

Raiden Wide Pekinese wrote: »

Must be disappointing to know you've been made second choice by a new coach without playing a competitive game. Was also wondering why the document existed, surely he has an in-depth knowledge of the squad in his head?

I wonder if a copy of this document might accidentally end up online somewhere...

Foley isn't a new coach. I'd also imagine that most players know exactly where they are in the pecking order (i.e., Duncan Casey & Cathal Sheridan know that Conor Murray is first choice scrum half).

I'd imagine this document is a combination of all the coaching staff's thoughts, not just the Head Coach. The coaching staff would need to know what each other is thinking.

jm08

Buer wrote: »

Bit of a mess and I'm sure some are disgruntled. I'd be more curious about the head of fitness leaving during pre-season, however. Very odd timing.

Maybe not up to the job and his trial period (6 months?) was up. He came in January 2014.

Brief_Lives

phog wrote: »

Highlights from last night


Edited with link as I couldn't embed it correctly



http://youtu.be/4aeJINbWqKc

Lovely Set of highlights, thanks...

Buer

jm08 wrote: »

Maybe not up to the job and his trial period (6 months?) was up. He came in January 2014.

I'd be shocked if a professional coach who has worked with top teams came to Munster on a 6 month probation period. Either someone wasn't happy with things or personal reasons. The "parted company" wording suggests it wasn't personal reasons though.

Tox56

former legend wrote: »

Oh dear.

http://m.independent.ie/sport/rugby/munster-rugby/munster-deny-crisis-as-players-sent-damning-report-30549225.html

That reads almost exactly like an article you'd find on the Onion...

I'm also dying to find out which player those remarks were made about...

jm08

Buer wrote: »

I'd be shocked if a professional coach who has worked with top teams came to Munster on a 6 month probation period. Either someone wasn't happy with things or personal reasons. The "parted company" wording suggests it wasn't personal reasons though.

Its a legal thing - the longer an employee is with a company, the more rights they have.

I do think that he was let go by Munster. Bryce Kavanagh was 'let go' too, but Munster were very clear that the only reason he was going was because he wanted to go back home to Australia and he had been offered a job there with the Rebels.

jm08

jm08 wrote: »

Foley isn't a new coach. I'd also imagine that most players know exactly where they are in the pecking order (i.e., Duncan Casey & Cathal Sheridan know that Conor Murray is first choice scrum half).

I'd imagine this document is a combination of all the coaching staff's thoughts, not just the Head Coach. The coaching staff would need to know what each other is thinking.

They have meetings and can speak to each other on the phone and the likes I would imagine.

I know Foley was there before but he wasn't head coach. And you've taken a rather extreme example, obviously Connor Murray is Munster's first choice SH. There would be some more marginal calls though.

Buer

The fact of the matter is that, regardless of the organisation, anyone with a brain should never commit disparaging comments about employees to writing. I can only imagine that Foley was pretty horrified when he learned of the error.

Molester Stallone II

Buer wrote: »

The fact of the matter is that, regardless of the organisation, anyone with a brain should never commit disparaging comments about employees to writing. I can only imagine that Foley was pretty horrified when he learned of the error.

I'd be amazed if anyone thought this doesn't happen elsewhere

jm08

Raiden Wide Pekinese wrote: »

They have meetings and can speak to each other on the phone and the likes I would imagine.

I know Foley was there before but he wasn't head coach. And you've taken a rather extreme example, obviously Connor Murray is Munster's first choice SH. There would be some more marginal calls though.

I'm not sure what difference it makes whether Foley was head coach or not. He would also be informed by Penney & Mannix and should pass on their assessments to the new coaching staff.

First choice Munster players:
Kilcoyne, Varley, BJ
POC, D Ryan
POM, TOD/Dougal / Copeland (Stander starting when POM not available).
Murray, Keatley
Zebo, Earls/Smith, Dineen/Hurley, Conway/VdeH
Felix Jones

Johne Murphy & Denis Hurley got 1 year contract extensions (so they must be aware that they are not first choice).

Cronin, D Casey & Archer would not expect to be first choice just yet.

Buer

Molester Stallone II wrote: »

I'd be amazed if anyone thought this doesn't happen elsewhere

I'm sure it does. That doesn't make it not completely foolish. It's the stuff labour court cases are made of in the normal working world.

jm08

Buer wrote: »

The fact of the matter is that, regardless of the organisation, anyone with a brain should never commit disparaging comments about employees to writing. I can only imagine that Foley was pretty horrified when he learned of the error.

Well, at least any thoughts of Foley looking after his old mates/jobs for the boys can now be put to bed!

phog

I've no issue with the management team having that type of dossier on their squad, in fact I'm delighted to see it's as tough on players as it is, no soft touch management from the new coaching team.

The issue I have is emailing it the full squad and then someone leaking it to the press.

I feel for the person who attached it to email to the players, accidents happen.

The whole thing didn't seem to have a huge effect on the performance on Friday night so perhaps the team have put this behind them.

My main concern would be something being awoken by the media a day or two before a big Hcup game or knockout game.

molloyjh

phog wrote: »

I've no issue with the management team having that type of dossier on their squad, in fact I'm delighted to see it's as tough on players as it is, no soft touch management from the new coaching team.

The issue I have is emailing it the full squad and then someone leaking it to the press.

I feel for the person who attached it to email to the players, accidents happen.

The whole thing didn't seem to have a huge effect on the performance on Friday night so perhaps the team have put this behind them.

My main concern would be something being awoken by the media a day or two before a big Hcup game or knockout game.

Your being very forgiving phog. I'm sure every coaching team has their opinions on players in the squad, but committing those opinions to paper in their entirety is amateurish. Asking why a player is even in the squad is something you do behind closed doors verbally. You don't document that kind of thing. And you don't expect it not to come out if you then email the entire squad the document. As others have said this sort of thing in the "real" world can land employers in court.

former legend

Molester Stallone II wrote: »

I'd be amazed if anyone thought this doesn't happen elsewhere

This is something to be done verbally in the head coach's office while there is no one else around. Preparing a document to that effect was lunacy.

jm08

molloyjh wrote: »

Your being very forgiving phog. I'm sure every coaching team has their opinions on players in the squad, but committing those opinions to paper in their entirety is amateurish. Asking why a player is even in the squad is something you do behind closed doors verbally. You don't document that kind of thing. And you don't expect it not to come out if you then email the entire squad the document. As others have said this sort of thing in the "real" world can land employers in court.

Munster is known for its honesty, even if it can be brutal.

Like Phog, I don't have an issue with the coaching staff having such a dossier. I would have a serious issue with the person who leaked it to the press though. He should be sacked.

Buer

jm08 wrote: »

I would have a serious issue with the person who leaked it to the press though. He should be sacked.

Perhaps he has been....