Munster Team Talk Thread - New season title pending....

FACECUTTR

phog wrote: »

There's a rumour in Limerick that Eddie O'Sullivan is coming in to the set up and that Fla is giving up on coaching. No word on what Felix is up to.

Sure he only lives down the road.....

Buer

If there's any truth in it, I would imagine EOS would only be a short term stop gap to tide things over until Howley or AN Other arrives. It would make no sense to have Howley and EOS both on staff at the same time. As others have mentioned, EOS has not coached top level rugby in a long time and regardless of how much he has watched or continued his understanding/analysis of the game, it is not the same as being involved in a professional set up on a daily basis. If he is staying longer term, then I don't see the logic in bringing in Howley. They both specialise in backs/attack and are vastly experienced senior coaches.

Munster are going to be severely short on coaches for pre-season at this point if they do not hire some people so it makes sense to bring EOS in for that period, if available. Munster cannot go into their HEC pool games with no backs/attack coach being involved up until a week or two beforehand (if Howley arrives post-RWC).

td1

yerrahbah wrote: »

https://munsterrugby.ie/2019/05/08/ticket-update-guinness-pro14-semi-final-3/

SF tickets go on general sale at 10am

Why the change of KO time to 14.30?

tommycahir

4 tickets secured best I could find was section E at the end of the angelsea stand, better than nothing.

Eod100

td1 wrote: »

Why the change of KO time to 14.30?

Maybe TV coverage but not sure what difference 30 mins make. PL finished. Premiership games ko at 4 same day so still gonna be clash.

phog

yerrahbah wrote: »

https://munsterrugby.ie/2019/05/08/ticket-update-guinness-pro14-semi-final-3/

SF tickets go on general sale at 10am

This game was originally scheduled for a 3pm kick-off but that has been moved to 2.30pm.

Not a huge difference in times but crazy the way they just go and change the ko times after confirming the fixture and selling tickets

thomond2006

phog wrote: »

Not a huge difference in times but crazy the way they just go and change the ko times after confirming the fixture and selling tickets

It's a bit tight for supporters getting into Heuston at 1:18pm, but 30 minutes won't make much difference to most.

Eod100

phog wrote: »

Not a huge difference in times but crazy the way they just go and change the ko times after confirming the fixture and selling tickets

Has happened a couple of times lately. Granted 30 mins isn't huge difference but on principle once fixture set they should keep to it.

Squatter

Eod100 wrote: »

Maybe TV coverage but not sure what difference 30 mins make. PL finished. Premiership games ko at 4 same day so still gonna be clash.

The Premiership will be over next Sunday.

But the FA cup final is at 17.00 so the KO time may have been advanced to allow for extra time in the rugby before the football kicks off. (I assume that there'll be extra time if it's a draw at full time.)

Eod100

Squatter wrote: »

The Premiership will be over next Sunday.

But the FA cup final is at 17.00 so the KO time may have been advanced to allow for extra time in the rugby before the football kicks off. (I assume that there'll be extra time if it's a draw at full time.)

Last round of fixtures before Kos in Prem is Saturday 18th at 4pm

Cookiemunster

Eod100 wrote: »

Last round of fixtures before Kos in Prem is Saturday 18th at 4pm

I think he means the Premier League, rather than the Gallagher Premiership.

thomond2006

If the papers are correct, then the squad size will be 44 next year (Casey joining the senior squad and Johnston leaving). That includes Mathewson who is under contract for the RWC.

11 players leaving when you include Johnston and departures from the academy (McCarthy and More), with only one arrival announced (Nick McCarthy).

yerrahbah

td1 wrote: »

Why the change of KO time to 14.30?

Never saw that, Annoyed now. I was cutting it tight to make it for 3 as it was.

And again there are better seats on sale in the general sale than there were on the pre-sale

yerrahbah

thomond2006 wrote: »

If the papers are correct, then the squad size will be 44 next year (Casey joining the senior squad and Johnston leaving). That includes Mathewson who is under contract for the RWC.

11 players leaving when you include Johnston and departures from the academy (McCarthy and More), with only one arrival announced (Nick McCarthy).

Mr. Mole will be delighted :pac:

phog

yerrahbah wrote: »

Mr. Mole will be delighted :pac:

Don't worry he'll find something else to moan about

troyzer

phog wrote: »

yerrahbah wrote: »

Mr. Mole will be delighted :pac:

Don't worry he'll find something else to moan about

The quality of the beer in Thomond is simply diabolical. The IRFU needs to step in.

phog

troyzer wrote: »

The quality of the beer in Thomond is simply diabolical. The IRFU needs to step in.

you drink beer :eek:

thomond2006

phog wrote: »

Don't worry he'll find something else to moan about

I think we'll agree though that 44-45 players is enough, particularly as the Celtic Cup isn't being played in parallel to the senior tournaments.

troyzer

phog wrote: »

troyzer wrote: »

The quality of the beer in Thomond is simply diabolical. The IRFU needs to step in.

you drink beer :eek:

Is that shocking? I drink quite a lot of beer on occasion.

phog

troyzer wrote: »

Is that shocking? I drink quite a lot of beer on occasion.

probably explains some of your posts on here

troyzer

phog wrote: »

troyzer wrote: »

Is that shocking? I drink quite a lot of beer on occasion.

probably explains some of your posts on here

I'll take that as a compliment for my rapier sharp wit

joseywhales

Why did Munster extend Mathewson and Bleyendaal? In the latter case I would not think he is much better than jj and the former is better than other second choice options but is it worth the wages for a club in financial difficulty and who has multiple younger scrum and out halves looking for game time in second tier games to develop? We are talking about foreign players to cover as backup, how does that make sense long term? Surely foreign signings should be Marquee first choice players(like kleyn) or at least have a shot at it.

thomond2006

Good news on TOD and Wycherley as they return to training, as the backrow resources are now fully stocked and healthy. That is promising for the start of next season when Stander and POM will be with Ireland. Loosehead prop is a potential concern as Loughman suffered an injury in last week's Captain's Run, with Scott and Cronin still on the rehabbing list. It looks like we'll see LOC as the backup again against Leinster. Marshall suffered an injury in training last week and Wootton is out for the season due to surgery.

https://munsterrugby.ie/2019/05/09/squad-update-177/

Erik Shun

troyzer wrote: »

I'll take that as a compliment for my rapier sharp wit

Daytime drinking is dangerous

Eod100

joseywhales wrote: »

Why did Munster extend Mathewson and Bleyendaal? In the latter case I would not think he is much better than jj and the former is better than other second choice options but is it worth the wages for a club in financial difficulty and who has multiple younger scrum and out halves looking for game time in second tier games to develop? We are talking about foreign players to cover as backup, how does that make sense long term? Surely foreign signings should be Marquee first choice players(like kleyn) or at least have a shot at it.

Tyler is IE at this stage. And Matthewson only extended til after the RWC. Not sure what either salary is but wouldn't be paid same salary as starting players

troyzer

Eod100 wrote: »

joseywhales wrote: »

Why did Munster extend Mathewson and Bleyendaal? In the latter case I would not think he is much better than jj and the former is better than other second choice options but is it worth the wages for a club in financial difficulty and who has multiple younger scrum and out halves looking for game time in second tier games to develop? We are talking about foreign players to cover as backup, how does that make sense long term? Surely foreign signings should be Marquee first choice players(like kleyn) or at least have a shot at it.

Tyler is IE at this stage. And Matthewson only extended til after the RWC. Not sure what either salary is but wouldn't be paid same salary as starting players

Overseas players are always paid more than academy graduates.

They were chatting about this I think on the 42 podcast a few weeks ago. Committing to Bleyendaal is expensive. He's not making the same money as third stringers in other provinces.

phog

troyzer wrote: »

Committing to Bleyendaal is expensive. He's not making the same money as third stringers in other provinces.

What?

Jump_In_Jack

Why keep Tyler and Alby?

Tyler is backup at both 10 and 12 where he could comfortably start any match in either position.
Particularly at 10 where perhaps Hanrahan and Johnston would not have been deemed good enough to be our only options to start a Heineken Cup match with Carbery away at the RWC.
While Carbery is expected to be away at the RWC and may pick up an injury, Bleyendaal offers backup for important European games.

Alby is cover for Murray while he is away at the RWC, but more importantly he will be available should Murray go down with an injury at the RWC and should we need Alby to play the European pool matches.
The backup players, Cronin/McCarthy/Casey were probably not deemed good enough to start those matches if Murray were unavailable.

It could be the difference between making the European knockouts or not so they were deals worth making.

I don't really get the constant questioning of TB being assigned up again. He just started a European SF, he's obviously highly valued by the powers that be at Munster.

yerrahbah

https://munsterrugby.ie/2019/05/09/beirne-and-casey-commit-to-province/


in better news



Tadhg Beirne and the Academy’s Craig Casey become the latest players to commit to the province.
Munster Rugby and the IRFU are pleased to confirm that Tadhg Beirne has signed a two-year contract extension that will see him remain with the province until June 2022.

The versatile Ireland international who joined Munster on a two-year deal last summer has now committed to the province for a further two years.

In starting 18 of his 20 appearances to-date, the 27-year-old lock has also scored 2 tries.

Recognised for his impressive work-rate at the breakdown, he deservedly won Man of the Match awards at home and away against Exeter Chiefs in the Champions Cup, and against Leinster, Ospreys and Connacht in the Guinness PRO14.

The turnover king topped the charts in the Champions Cup with 15 turnovers, and following committed performances in red he was nominated for Munster Rugby Player of the Year by his fellow team-mates in April.

On the international stage, Beirne has five Ireland caps, and made his Six Nations debut starting against Wales in March.

Further positive news for the province sees Academy scrum-half Craig Casey advance to a development contract at the start of next season, moving to a full contract at the beginning of the 2020-21 season.

Coming to the end of his second year of the academy, the talented number 9 played a leading role in the Ireland U20s Grand Slam winning campaign. Named squad vice-captain, he started against France, Italy and England, and scored two tries.

Most recently, the 20-year-old was named Munster Rugby Academy Player of the Year before going on to make his Guinness PRO14 debut as a replacement against Connacht in Thomond Park.

Playing his club rugby with Shannon RFC, the promising young player continues to follow in the footsteps of his uncle, former Munster back Mossy Lawler, while his father Gerry is a Rugby Development Officer with the province.