Munster v Northampton....could be painful

Even though Munster have won five out of five they have been unconvincing overall. I fear that I will be watching tomorrows game from behind the couch as the Saints have nothing to lose and will be out for revenge....could be very painful to watch.

Only hope is the lads have a backs to the wall attitude and look for that home QF cos if we dont get it our stay in the HC will end at that point....also the issue with Ashton might be to our advantage.

With Ronan out Ryan will probably go to the backrow, otherwise it will be unchanged I would imagine...

Jeez DOD, stop blowing smoke up other peoples holes and be a proper supporter (advise you often give me)

I think Munster will win. Saints in turmoil - lost Wilson, Ashton and Downey this week. Tom Wood and Courtney Lawes both injured. It isn't in Franklin Gardens and there is media scandals about the whole Ashton thing (he may not even play).

We should be looking to claim a morale boosting win. No less.

I actually think we have a good chance of making it 6 out of 6. I agree with Stag, life in Franklins Gardens seems far from a bed of roses. They are missing some big players through injury and now it appears that Ashton has been dropped. As much as Saints might be out for revenge I'm not so sure they will have a team capable of steamrolling anyone.

It could be painful DOD but this is an acid test for Munster to prove that they are back at the top tier of Europe. 5 wins from 5 has been fantastic but the manner of the victories hasn't been convincing at all.

Despite it being a bit of a dead rubber this match could actually go a long way to defining Munsters season.

Good luck!

This is actually a huge game for Ireland too. If Munster take a pasting it could hurt the moral of some of the Irish players and be a boost to England going into the 6N.

I think the Saints are an arrogant bunch to be honest and have a nasty edge on the pitch. Munster need to fight fire with fire but keep their descipline and patience.

I hope they can give Saints a pasting but if they don't up their game considerably then they could be in trouble.

A week ago I would have said Munster would do well to come out of this game with the LBP minimum they need for a home QF. Within a week, Saints gone into meltdown - Munster should go looking for the win and nail the home QF without haven't to worry about LBP and how their try record stacks up against other teams on 21pts

red_stag wrote:Jeez DOD, stop blowing smoke up other peoples holes and be a proper supporter (advise you often give me)

I think Munster will win. Saints in turmoil - lost Wilson, Ashton and Downey this week. Tom Wood and Courtney Lawes both injured. It isn't in Franklin Gardens and there is media scandals about the whole Ashton thing (he may not even play).

We should be looking to claim a morale boosting win. No less.

Touché...and well deserved....

You have cheered me up (had forgotten the other stuff you mentioned)....feeling more confident now.

Nah man, I'm with Stag- out of the competition, a number of key players announced their departure from the club and their star winger out of the team whilst dragging the club through the media for all the wrong reasons?

Should be vulnerable. Not saying they can't win, think it will be a very tight one.

Munster:
Hurley; Murphy, Earls, Mafi, Zebo; O'Gara, Murray; du Preez, Varley, Botha; O'Callaghan, O'Connell c ; Ryan, O'Mahony, J Coughlan.

Replacements:
D Fogarty, M Horan, S Archer, M O'Driscoll, Dave O'Callaghan, T O'Leary, I Keatley, D Barnes.

NORTHAMPTON SAINTS TEAM TO PLAY MUNSTER

Heineken Cup Round 6

stadiumMK

Saturday, January 21st, 2012

Kick off 6:00pm

15 Ben FODEN

14 Jamie ELLIOTT

13 George PISI

12 James DOWNEY

11 Vasily ARTEMYEV

10 Ryan LAMB

9 Lee DICKSON

1 Soane TONGA’UIHA

2 Dylan HARTLEY (capt)

3 Brian MUJATI

4 Samu MANOA

5 Mark SORENSON

6 Calum CLARK

7 Phil DOWSON

8 Roger WILSON


Saints still have a strong line up despite the missing players. It was very close at Thomond & I guess will be close again. A lot of England players with something to prove still.
Saints to nick this one I think.

This will be an interesting test of Downeys loyaties....

roddersm wrote:This will be an interesting test of Downeys loyaties....

Or prove he is worth a lot of dosh!

If anything he'll want to push himself the forefront of McGahans long-term plans and prove a point about where he should be in the pecking order when he arrives.

Best way he can force his way into McGahans plans is to throw a perfectly timed scoring intercept pass to Earls....

I fancy Munster actually, thats not a great looking Saints side but once again BJ will be the key man.

Who is the ref? Hopefully we get someone who is up to reffing the Saints illegal scrummaging.

I actually thought the Saints scrum legally dominated the Munster scrum in the last game and didn't get any reward for it.

thought it was 50/50. They were reffed off the park against Scarlets in the first game. if tongathingy doesnt get set properly (which happens 50% of the time) they can be in trouble as he stands up, collapses before the put in, this is what they get away with (or have done previously).

I thought that Hartley was the main culprit because he always pops up.

Tonga collapses and Hartley stands up when the pressure comes on...you are correct.

It will be interesting to see how the referee interprets it. Home advantage may sway a few decisions.

Our buddy Poite is the ref DOD, as far as I know anyway.

Poite is not too bad, I think Munster can do ity and I think I predicted us by 4 on Sportguru. Looking for a good performance as much as anything.

In truth, Poite has improved his communication skills a lot since our first run-in with him (Paulie's yellow). He has also improved his standard of refereeing IMO. Certainly come a long way since the ABs game in 2008.

There are certain areas of the game he's fantastic at. Catching little off-the-ball incidents, forward passes etc. are good examples of this. I thought he was superb in this regard during our defeat to Quins last season (damn him!).

I'd be a bit more worried about his abilities come scrum-time though. We'll see tomorrow whether those concerns are justified I suppose. I don't think he'll affect the outcome of the game though, he's a better ref than that.

I'd be very wary of this game. There's a hell of a lot riding on it for Munster. If we don't get a home quarter then we won't be reaching the semis. That's how I see it at least.

I actually quite like Poite as a ref. He communicates clearly and gets to the point. He doesn't waffle on (Owens).

Quinny had a great article on Poite and refs on Wednesday.

As the week has gone on Im much more confident about this game. Think momentum has swung back Munsters way with Saints losing players through moving an injuries.

I dont worry about our form to much now as a lot always changes during Jan and April - just look at how we were transformed last season in the Spring.

A win and home quarter final is all that matters now. Nothing else.

Apologies if this has been covered but is Ashton just dropped as part of squad rotation etc or because he's not going to be there next season.

Theories anyone?

I think Ashton has had his last days with the Saints from what I have read. He apparently got in a fight with Mallinder and stormed out of practice.

On the game and original post.... I wouldn't be as down as DOD at all.

You could say 5 from 5 was a bad run of games for Munster, and if you did, that's be the trick of the tongue that tells you just how good they are/can be.

5 from 5 is usually good. That Munster can look back and say they were mostly below par or quite simply bad, then that's the mark of a team that can play better, and certainly one that can win the HC again.

They are a tough bunch of b......s, they know it, Europe knows it and Northampton knows it.

So when the pressure comes on Hartley stands up and Tonga collapses? What does the other prop do? A commando roll?

yappysnap wrote:So when the pressure comes on Hartley stands up and Tonga collapses? What does the other prop do? A commando roll?

and it's just a conspiracy that not a single ref has cottoned on to the fact in the last two and half years. It can only be down to good coaching from Dorian West (dark arts and all that).

Thanks yappysnap, I thought it was down to me being a Saints fan that I just thought we had a stronger scrum than most teams. I'm not denying it's legal 100% of the time but show me a scrum that is. With the players Saints have in the front row why would they want to risk cheating at nearly every scrum?

In regards to the match I'm not confident. The Saints don't play well when there is too much crap gong on in the background (one of the reason's we lost to the Scarlets at the Gardens was all the JM for England press when MJ had just resigned), plus Downey and Wilson are both big losses (everyone knew Ashton was leaving anyway) and I fear we won't be able to find like for like replacements for the wages they were on. Downeys strong defense and ability to just about always get over the game line and recycle quick ball will be a handy addition to the Munster squad, especially if they want to play a high tempo game (maybe not when ROG starts but I expect him to help Keatley's development).

As much as I hope I'm wrong and I hate to say it but Munster by 5 due to the current turmoil in Northampton as much as anything else. Hopefully no injuries for either teams international players going into the 6N.

DOD wrote:Even though Munster have won five out of five they have been unconvincing overall. I fear that I will be watching tomorrows game from behind the couch as the Saints have nothing to lose..............Only hope is the lads have a backs to the wall attitude..........

Sorry, mate. But I can't agree with the notion that pro sports teams play better with "nothing to lose". Teams play better when there is something to win, something to play for, not the reverse.

In this instance Munster are playing for a home QF in the Heineken Cup. Saints are playing for a place in the Amlin Cup. On that measure, who has more to play for? Munster. Now, they may feel more pressure in consequence, but Munster have a strong team character and a history of not letting that get to them. Saints also have strong character, and as a team, I am confident they will play as best they can in a tough stadium. Wilson and Downey are true professionals and are starting against Munster, and I have a sneaking suspicion they will play very well. No distractions there.

-munster-v-northamptoncould-be-painful

Maybe not as painful as Northampton v Munster

Saints missing a few big names, I think Munster will edge this one.

The Saints front row does stand up, though not as regularly as people feel obliged to claim and not when the pressure comes on, but when they are going forward and after the opposition have already infringed.

What a scrum by Saints!
Can Munster hang on with that Pressure?

BigTrevsbigmac wrote:What a scrum by Saints!
Can Munster hang on with that Pressure?

Err Nah! Penalty try Saints

tongauiha really has bothas number. very tough day at the office for munster by the looks of things.

California knows how to party

Was that not tackling the guy in the air?

Get in Botha!

Great little step by Botha

Go on Munster!!

Good come back but the scrum is as the commentator says 'Munster Mush'

Might as well try Horan as dupreez is getting mullered. OTher than the scrum we dont have anything much to worry about...but it is possible it will be the deciding factor.

Agree DOD, Munster getting samshed in the scrum but doing well otherwise....feck this is a cracker...Coughlan having another great game and Murray looks electric...

Ronan the key. Nice again.

They're going to miss the old man when he goes.

Restarts are killing the Saints

Ha as I say that the ripple turns into a tide.

Poor old English getting battered again.

and the saints so arrogant or silly they leave the likes of Ashton out, Poor leadership, hope malinder gets nowhere near the eng coaching role.

Go on O'Mahoney lad!

trebellbobaggins wrote:Ha as I say that the ripple turns into a tide.

Poor old English getting battered again.

and the saints so arrogant or silly they leave the likes of Ashton out, Poor leadership, hope malinder gets nowhere near the eng coaching role.

remind me again why your on this forum?