Doug Howlett misses HEC Rounds 3 and 4

Munsters chances of claiming a win over in form Scarlets have taken a bashing as Doug Howlett is the latest casualty of war. Last season the dynamic back three of

11 Keith Earls
14 Doug Howlett
15 Felix Jones

was a massive silver lining in a cloudy year that saw Munster fail to progress from the Heineken Cup pool stages. Sadly for our crunch back to back fixtures against Scarlets not one of them is available.

How badly will this affect Munsters chances? If Munster can steal a double over the Scarlets and end up qualifying with:

11 Simon Zebo
14 Johne Murphy
15 Denis Hurley

doing a job, then we could be a dangerous team to face in the knockouts as David Wallace, Mike Sherry, Jerry Flannery, Keith Earls, Doug Howlett, Felix Jones come back into the squad.

However Scarlets will be licking their lips at the prospect of another close fought match against Munster.

Thankfully its not as serious as it looked. Zebo skinned Bowe on the outside a couple of times Saturday and is looking more the part. Hurley and Murphy are good players they wont let us down.

I agree our strenght in depth is actually very good in most positions and we can take most injuries on the chin. However losing all three outside backs is a serious blow. I thought Howlett was doing extremely well in the absense of the others.

Glad to hear that about Zebo v Bowe. Didn't get to see the Ospreys game.

Simon Zebo looks a player with loads of potential. Has he represented Ireland at age-group level?

Luckless yes. Representative honours include Munster U18 and U20 and Ireland U18 and U20.

He looks a threat whenever he gets the ball. So does Doug Howlett though, he always makes ground. It was great to actually see him play live on Saturday.

I think there's not too much in it, ability-wise, with the replacements vs the first choice, but it's the lack of critical HC experience which could make a big difference - think the Scarlets are likely to happier not to be facing Earls/Jones/Howlett

Losing Howlett is a big blow for Munster but Zebo is a very handy player. he was very good against us when Munster visited Y Parc last season, so I'm already pretty weary of him.

Im surprised to hear that people rate Zebo, Hurley and Murphy almost as much as Earls, Howlett and Jones.

I think its because they are good players and our problems are in other areas..if we can make the space for the players we have they will do the business...we arent at the moment.

DOD wrote:I think its because they are good players and our problems are in other areas..if we can make the space for the players we have they will do the business...we arent at the moment.

Yup, how did the ROG - Keatley 10-12 axis get on at the weekend.

I'd be hoping to see:

01 Wian Du Preez
02 Damien Varley
03 BJ Botha
04 Donncha O'Callaghan
05 Paul O'Connell (c)
06 Donnacha Ryan
07 Peter O'Mahony
08 Denis Leamy
09 Conor Murray
10 Ronan O'Gara
11 Simon Zebo
12 Ian Keatley
13 Will Chambers
14 Johne Murphy
15 Denis Hurley

16 Denis Fogarty
17 Marcus Horan
18 Stephen Archer
19 Niall Ronan
20 Denis Leamy
21 Tomas O'Leary
22 Scott Deasy
23 Danny Barnes

red_stag wrote:

DOD wrote:I think its because they are good players and our problems are in other areas..if we can make the space for the players we have they will do the business...we arent at the moment.

Yup, how did the ROG - Keatley 10-12 axis get on at the weekend.

I'd be hoping to see:

01 Wian Du Preez
02 Damien Varley
03 BJ Botha
04 Donncha O'Callaghan
05 Paul O'Connell (c)
06 Donnacha Ryan
07 Peter O'Mahony
08 Denis Leamy
09 Conor Murray
10 Ronan O'Gara
11 Simon Zebo
12 Ian Keatley
13 Will Chambers
14 Johne Murphy
15 Denis Hurley

16 Denis Fogarty
17 Marcus Horan
18 Stephen Archer
19 Niall Ronan
20 Denis Leamy
21 Tomas O'Leary
22 Scott Deasy
23 Danny Barnes

Im sure Jonathan Davies and Scott Williams wouldn't mind that

Im sure they wouldn't mind who is in midfield - its not our strongest area.

red_stag wrote:Im sure they wouldn't mind who is in midfield - its not our strongest area.

I meant O'Gara and Keatley because they're both defensively weak 10's. So having them both in the same team would leave you exposed. If you had Mafia and Chambers i wouldn't say that.

I think Mafi is injured (I didn't include him in the team). However there is a fair chance I'd be wrong. Danny Barnes was apparently weak defensively at 12 against Ospreys.

11 to 15 Scarlets will be better than Munster. Munster have to win up front

geoff998rugby wrote:11 to 15 Scarlets will be better than Munster. Munster have to win up front

AKA nothing has changed

I'm very pleased to hear that as, even though I really like Howlett I hate it when he's playing against us as he always seems to destroy our defence (not hard in recent seasons I know).

Still a fearsome team, I just hope the Scarlets aren't undercooked from not having a settled side.

We'll prob play

I Thomas
K Owens
R Thomas
Timani
D Welch
Murphy/Edwards
McCusker
Morgan
Knoyle
Priestland
Lamont
Warren
S Williams/Maule
North
Evans
with Rees, L Williams, Ionghi, Manu on the bench

K Owens to start? Smiler, surely Priest?

I can see Sanjay starting at FB and Gar Davies at SH, and Foxy in the centre if fit. Otherwise that team looks spot on to me.

I thought Owens might have been chosen to start because Smiler has been away with Wales (same with Maule/S Williams) with Smiler coming off the bench. I was thinking the same with North but figured in a big game Nige would definately want North on in a game this big. Actually the same with Liam (who I assume Sanjay is) - as I think he looks a lot better than D Evans (though I don't blame him for his yellow card against Ulster).

I'm so glad G Davies is back as he looks really good and allows R Williams time to develop and learn without being exposed to high level games until next season