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

Salanoa will be the next one to be moved on...Knox and Salanoa really havnt worked out at all. We might find ourselves very light in front rows next year. Rumours Killer might be heading off aswell, one last big pay check before retiring.

This is his 4th season and he's played 30 times for us.

Needs a bp win realistically. Were a bit behind after the injurys id like 4 bp wins before europe to take the pressure off a bit on the sa tour/interpro/Edinburgh end to the league

If RG lifts Ahern in the lineout, should the hooker just throw it to the moon

Might be time to try a new type of box-kick-lineout

As good as Haley has been, he’s only just back from half a season off with a hip injury which required an operation, so he was never going to get a call up.

I think Jack O’Sullivan would make a better 7 than Kendellen. Ideally a 7 should have a burst of speed, not sure Kendellen has that. Kendellen for me is a hybrid 7/8. Not bulky enough for an 8 but not speedy enough for a 7. He is more use as a squad player, don’t really see him as a starter when other options are available.

Agree with you, IMO Haley normally would well worth having in a six nations camp as direct backup to Keenan. It's debatable whether Jimmy O'Brien should be ahead of him if they were all fit. I personally think a player playing in a position regularly is a better replacement than a player that moves between positions or benches a lot. Suppose it's a call for the selectors, O'Brien (or Larmour) probably is a bit pacier than Haley, maybe that's why Haley hasn't been in many squads.

Selecting our best second row and back row and bench (given injuries to Kleyn, Edogbo and O'Donoghue) for the knockout matches I think could be like this:

4 Beirne, 5 Snyman,

6 O'Mahony, 8 Coombes, 7 Hodnett (assuming finger injury won't take too much longer to recover from)

19 Ahern, 20 O'Sullivan/Kendellen (I can't decide between them, leaning towards O'Sullivan and he is class when fit but often injured, Kendellen is abrasive but maybe not as speedy).

Are the stats on edogbo v joe mc based on minutes played?

Edogbo is a big loss for us but to me he always looked out of gas after 55/60mins v joe mc who is looks like he could go 100mins

Interesting to see if the stats support my uneducated view or not😁

Similar minutes played (EDIT: I didn't check being subbed/over how many games so maybe EO is getting subbed off early in many games?). Joe with better workrate in terms of tackles made/dominance? Edogbo fares similar or better elsewhere by my reading of it e.g. groundwork, ruck effectiveness, overall attack? These are probably rudimentary enough stats but I think it does add weight to what I was saying.

The fitness thing - I've wondered is this a sort of similar thing to Damien Duff... the way he physically carried himself on a pitch would make you think he was always knackered. Edogbo carries himself in that sort of way lumbering about the place but I don't know is there much to the fitness thing... maybe there is and I'm wrong, but I'm not sure it's borne out too much by workrate from what I can see. He's hitting 50% more attacking rucks than McCarthy, but on the other hand hitting a chunk less defensively... but being twice as effective in what he rucks he does hit. Make of that what you will!

Look, they're both very promising players with impressive numbers, I just thought it interesting when you look at the latest data how they compared....certainly when you see the hype being generated around McCarthy this season. Edogbo is a year and 9 months younger than McCarthy. Keep both fit and they'll duke it out for the green jersey for the next while along with whatever other incumbents, McCarthy has the headstart now so it'll be up to Edogbo to overtake him. It's just a shame the injury happened when it did.

Yeah they only tell part of the story, agreed! Don't get me going on Ringrose...!!!

Hate to see any player getting injuried but particularly young promising ones who've barely had a chance to show their stuff

Marauding land-kracken back with some offloading mayhem straight off the bat.

Ref has a cut of Dougal off him