Munster v Ospreys Team Selection

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Munster:
01 Marcus Horan
02 Damien Varley
03 BJ Botha
04 Donncha O'Callaghan
05 Donnacha Ryan
06 Denis Leamy
07 Niall Ronan
08 Peter O'Mahony (captain)
09 Tomas O'Leary
10 Ian Keatley
11 Simon Zebo
12 Danny Barnes
13 Will Chambers
14 Doug Howlett
15 Denis Hurley

Replacements:
16 Denis Fogarty
17 Wian du Preez
18 Stephen Archer
19 Paul O'Connell
20 James Coughlan
21 Conor Murray
22 Ronan O'Gara
23 Johne Murphy

Ospreys:
01 Duncan Jones
02 Richard Hibbard
03 Aaron Jarvis
04 Ian Gough
05 Jonathan Thomas
06 Tom Smith (Capt)
07 James King
08 Joe Bearman
09 Rhys Webb
10 Matthew Morgan
11 Richard Fussell
12 Ashley Beck
13 Andew Bishop
14 Tommy Bowe
15 Barry Davies

Replacements:
16 Mefin Davies
17 Cai Griffiths
18 Joe Rees
19 George Stowers
20 Sam Lewis
21 Tom Isaacs
22 Sonny Parker
23 Hanno Dirksen

Really pleased with this selection. A great mix of front liners and backup players.

YO! Penalty kick to the O's!!! Pheeeeeeoooooow!

and breath!!!!! Not sure how we got away with that

we haven't TB...Munster getting desperate for the dropper or a try now...

OI!!!! My man should've been allowed to get going then!! BALLS! Tommy would've run that and all.

Howlett injured?

That is absolute remarkable from the ref.

Munster 4 penalties in a row then he gives it to Ospreys.

What a fool.

this is such a annoying game. How long we going to stay in our 22

Hold on O's...four minutes....no drop goals or 1000 phases!

Cari wrote:OI!!!! My man should've been allowed to get going then!! BALLS! Tommy would've run that and all.

Nah James O'connor would have popped across from Cardiff and caught him......

Rodders

Oh here we go...another ROG drop in the last minute???

Another six million phases from Munster....

HOLD ON OSPREYS!!!

he can have a drop goal, but no tries please!!!!

whoopadee whoop, whoop whoop!!!!!!!!

BLOW IT UP REF!!!

JT MOTM.

Yay! Tommy saves us!!!

19 - 13 WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Peter Allan did everything to help Ospreys at the end there, 4 penalties in a row at the scrum on the Ospreys line and no penalty try or yellow card.

Munster should of been awarded a penalty try after 4 consecutive penalties. This guy never reffing higher than rabo level.

why should they have been awarded a penalty try after 4 penalties?

19 players unavailable, that's not a bad result really. Could have gone either way, nice to get the double over Munster this season

You dont think that conceding 4 penalties in the scrum in a row on your own try line is penalty try ground?

Munster blew it there. Ah well lets get Tommy Bowe back to Ulster snd we'll say no more about it.....

TBJ9625 wrote:19 players unavailable, that's not a bad result really. Could have gone either way, nice to get the double over Munster this season

Yes, and on both occasions it's been with some of our best internationals away. That's good for the region

TBH dodger I thought it was strange, however he did say that the 4th penalty was for a different offence?

I'm not sure Artful.


There is a misconception I think then penalties at a scrum should result in a penalty try, and I'm not sure that it;s the correct thing to do. Not sure why but I'm sure I've read that somewhere. Tis ringing a bell anyway.

Oh look at that. We're nipping at Leinster's heels on the table bar one farty point...

To be fair the O's defence was awesome at the end.

yes bloody blues falling apart last night!!!

What on earth was that award for MOTM - a glass eye?!

TB - I didn't see that match but looking at the score it's like the Blues didn't turn up did they?!

close 1st half, feel apart 2nd. Was a pathetic performance.

Munster were very poor I thought.. Howlett is a legend though.

Keatley was poor, though ROG wasn't much better when he came on. Hope to see that 10-12 axis of he and Keatley start a match though, a combination stag I think has been calling for. Looks interesting.

Ronan had a good game, as did POM though not to as high a standard as previous games. He was his usual aggressive and rampaging self, however I don't think he has the temperament at this stage to lead the Munstermen. Good to see him get a game at 8 though, hope to see more of that.

Very good by the Ospreys, unbeaten against the irish, double of Munster and Connacht...!

Awh that's a shame about the Blues TB. Still they'll be back with their internationals before long.

Right, I'm off - thanks for your company folks!

I didn't see the match at all apart from the very end, was it any good? I've only seen the result and not much else.

Fantastic display and brilliant result for the Ospreys!!!!!!!!!!!

A bit lucky to get that scrum penalty under their posts after conceeding 4 penalties. The Ref said he gave the penalty because the Munster props feet sliped from under him, is that a penalty?

Never mind read it is the papers Ospreys Seconds 19 - Munster Firsts 13!

Only saw the second half of this but Ospreys looked value for their win. They were very impressive for the first 15 mins.

Not sure we ever really looked liked getting a try in the second half which is a worry given the territory we had. Barnes badly needs to get himself into the gym, his 2 turnovers were pretty bad.

We got the bonus point and as history will show, we have always contrived to loose the CL game before a big HC game..... Scarletts is huge for us so maybe a good omen!!

Was impressed with some of the Osprey's play, especially given they had no access to any of their internationals.

On an aside, what do people make of Zebo? Saw a lot of him a few years ago and he looked promising, haven't been able to see nearly as many CL games since I moved to London but had hoped he would have broken into the HC team by now.

Munster blew their chance for a penalty try,they lost composer 4 penalties isn't enough for one they only needed one or two more and he would have give it but instead they conceded one.

Howlett is just class the guy is so dangerous and Zebo looks sharp to.

The Ospreys should be very proud of that and just shows why they have a good home record.

I suppose a congradulations is in order for the Ospreys, a couple of things need to be sorted out before the Heineken Cup. I agree with Red Right though on Barnes, he isn't the biggest lad at all.

On Zebo I think he is an extremly good runner in broken play and has great potential but really does need more game time, thing is he has Howlett, Hurley/Murphy (Both when Jones returns) and Earls when he comes back ahead of him it seems. That said I would like to see 11 Zebo 15 Hurley 14 Howlett, not that it will happen anytime soon.

viewtothegym wrote:Munster blew their chance for a penalty try,they lost composer 4 penalties isn't enough for one they only needed one or two more and he would have give it but instead they conceded one.

Howlett is just class the guy is so dangerous and Zebo looks sharp to.

The Ospreys should be very proud of that and just shows why they have a good home record.

A penalty try can be awarded on the first penalty from a scrum, refs are just scared of doing it. It has nothing to do with repeated offences.

Varley reminds me a lot of Caldwell in that there is clearly a lot of potential there but he doesn't have a brain and as such will never be a good player. The amount of braindead penalties he gives away after a referee tells him to stop what hes doing only for him to continue on is so frustrating.

Munster really need a backs coach, Holland is clearly not up to the job. The next few weeks are going to decide their season.

Good win for the Os I thought Allan made some questionable decsions for both sides but those even out over a season. Lacking a cutting edge in attack. It's like Munster shift it out in the hope someone makes a break rather than designing plays to make one. Zebo could well make next week, skinned Bowe on the outside a few times and I wouldn't have said he is incredibly fast. A lot to work on ahead of next week.

Zebo's a good player. Was very impressed with him when you guys played us at Y Parc last season.

When he took George North to school. He will again next Saturday. I'm pretty sure I'm going to miss it.

I hope Earls finds it hard getting his place on the munster team back. Zebo and Howlett look better wingers to me.

Its clear that coughlan needs to start and leamy is a liability and needs more time on the bench. Its also clear poms best position is not 8. Keatley was poor and lacked composure in the first half, would prefer chambers and mafi or earls when he is back. Howletts injury could mean zebo starts next week regardless. Lack of control ( which is why coughlan will start next week) was our main problem.

hows morgan doing at fly half, havent seen any matches with him starting, putting pressure on biggar?

Not tonight he wasn't Welshy, but then all kickers have an off day, and he is only 19. He's done some great kicks though (see Connacht and Glasgow away games) - needs to work on his territorial kicks and general play a bit but it'll come.

DOD wrote:Its clear that coughlan needs to start and leamy is a liability and needs more time on the bench. Its also clear poms best position is not 8. Keatley was poor and lacked composure in the first half, would prefer chambers and mafi or earls when he is back. Howletts injury could mean zebo starts next week regardless. Lack of control ( which is why coughlan will start next week) was our main problem.

?

You are only saying that as you want him to play 7. I think it once again proved he isn't a groundhog, where he actually performed at his worst giving away a few penalties on the floor, and he was most effective as a ball carrier and taking the team forward. He also needs to work on his temperament though. Ronan played fantastic again at 7, and was scavenging all night. Lack of control? From the back of the scrum you mean or in general? If in general I agree (which the more experienced players will remedy), but I think you meant back of the scrum as you mention Coughlan. Where was there a lack of control at the base of the scrum?

I think he means the scrum and in general. A saying one of our coaches preached to us was "don't shovel out sh!t" it means don't force the offload a lot of the backrow and team in general wwere quilty of that and Coughlan seem to know when to take the ball into contact. How many penalties did Ronan give away? POM needs a shot at 7.

From what I saw, the main culprits of giving away penalties were Leamy and POM. Ronan won a few turnovers and I genuinely did not see him give any penalties away. There wasn't a lack of control at the back of the scrum though, and POM I thought was very effective at 8. His discipline was his wrongdoing.

What is the obsession with playing him at 7 apart from the fact that there is a lack of them in Ireland? He isn't a natural 7 anyway so it won't solve the problem. Ronan is the natural 7 and he has been good recently.

Whether its 7 or 6 Thomond I think Coughlan is our most effective No.8 and POM at 7 would be worth a go. At the moment both Leamy and Ronan look a liability in certain situations. Still think Coughlan, Leamy and POM is our best option.

I don't think anything about our backrow is "clear". It isn't clear whether POM is a 6, 7 or 8. It isn't clear whether or not having a "natural 7" AKA Niall Ronan is better than having another player in there. It isn't clear whether we should go for the 'tweener with Donnacha Ryan at 6. It isn't clear whether its Leamy or Coughlan who gets the nod at 8.

Personally against Scarlets I'd like to see:

04 D.O'Callaghan
05 P.O'Connell (c)
06 D.Ryan
07 P.O'Mahony
08 J.Coughlan

18 D.Leamy
19 N.Ronan