Munster v Northampton....could be painful

First topic message reminder :

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...

Battering the english again for you irish.

Enjoy it though, there will come a day you just expect it and it'll suddenly stop happening. That's sport. Could be twenty years away the state of our setup.

Brilliant try by Zebo! Go on Munster!

roddersm wrote:Brilliant try by Zebo! Go on Munster!

lovely hands!

Why isn't the ref stopping people tackling and holding on to players around the ruck?

I keep seeing players run past the ruck and tackle players, surely this shouldnt be allowed?

Why don't Munster players have any self-control?

Red 9 certainly needs to calm down!

I'm seriously loosing respect for Poite. Munsters 9 should of gone, but i dont think NH 9 should of.

nathan wrote:

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?

Just ignore trebellbobaggins, he's a WUM that only comes on the rugby and cricket forums to be negative.

Great turning of the screw by Munster the beginning of this half, showing their quality and heritage.

Saints need to play sensibly and try and apply some pressure.

Yeah cheers. No, Im just very tired of the way our rugby has gone.

As for Cricket that is an ongoing joke and, id you'd not noticed, I dropped the act last year as it got tired. In rugby I am just tired of the mess we are in, the signs have been there for years now.

I am sure in time things will get sorted to, but I think we have some more lean years ahead.

O'Connell should be cited for that stamping. I'm all for the "reminding" players that on the wrong side of a ruck etc. But not stamping that hard on players, they have a hard enough time staying fit as it is!!

This is a brilliant game...a real war between two proud sides! Best I've seen Munster play for ages, proper niggle in this one.....come on Munster!

Saints have shown some real heart not to fold completely to be fair to them. Must be tough with key men missing.

well played munster! nice intercept!

Zebo!!!! This is awesome!

Munster and Leinster 1 and 2 seeds

Men against boys afraid

Northampton taken apart!

Feck this is stunning Zebo again!!!!

. Good game but the intensity of Munster is something else.

Great win by Munster, they really came out to play in that second half.

Is Zenbo Irish qualified? Could we see him in the 6n?

Classic quote from Limerick's Live 95fm:
'In America they have this lad called Tebow, well in munster we have Zebo'

I didn't see that coming well played Munster.

Irish teams look ominous this year!

Blimey, that was some end to the game!

Should be some humdingers in the knock-out stages coming up.

Well done Munster. Some say Munster havent impressed. I disagree, they are one of the favorites for me. Cant ignore an unbeaten team. Will Greenwood "Worst team to win five from five". Can see why he said that but he is still wrong.

Clermont, Toulouse, Leinster and Munster semis.

Zeeeebo, woahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhoooooooooooooo (can you name the last Munster player to score a HC hat trick, he gets free Dominos Pizza in Limerick for life due to it being scored in Thomond Park!)

Thought we would win, but no way did I expect us to put 50 points on them.(trying to think the last time Munster did that to anyone.)
That is probably the best Munster attacking performance of the season. Some very well worked tries and our most cohesive backplay this season. Scrum was a big problem and it could very well be our achilles heel. Lineout was pretty solid and our defence was decent. I'm a lot more optimistic going into the quarters now. Jones being back aswell will help a lot.

DOD, that game was pretty painful alright. For Northampton fans!

Bring on the Ulstermen!

trebellbobaggins wrote:Is Zenbo Irish qualified? Could we see him in the 6n?

Zebo born and raised in Cork I thought.

Zebo is a Cork man through and through. Fine hurler too apparently.

Saints management have some huge questions to answer, how can a team with such dominance achieve so little?
Also Mallinder and West seem very immature, over cheering when things are going well and sulking when the heat is on.

viewtothegym wrote:Saints management have some huge questions to answer, how can a team with such dominance achieve so little?
Also Mallinder and West seem very immature, over cheering when things are going well and sulking when the heat is on.

Dominance of what? The only area in the game where saints were dominant was the scrum. Other than that it was lateral, lateral, bish bash bosh going nowhere rugby. Northampton just got a hammering full stop and were lucky that their scrum was dominant...otherwise it would have been more embarrassing than it was.

Abject from another English team. We need to face facts, out league is poopie and is completely failing to develop teams competitive at this level. Before anyone says this is all cyclical - perhaps, but we need to do something to make that cycle as short as possible because when i look at the top 4 English sides squads, we're horribly outgunned.

Sorry, also, well done to Munster, fantastic team.

Very pleasing win. Zebo is showing what he has been doing since schools rugby. For me Coughlan has passed Heaslip as the best 8 in the country after the last 6 HC games, even a feicin wolfhounds call up would have been the least he deserved and would have got MOTM (again) only for Zebo.

Also Earls was superb at OC, Hurley was great and POM was all over the park again. Whatever the rest of the country thinks having Murray and TOL as an option is great. He upped the pace when he came on as well.

First game I have enjoyed Munster play in a long time....6 out of 6 and top seeds giving us a chance at least. The team is coming together nicely...its like 2000 again (but hopefully with a different ending).

Thomond wrote:Zeeeebo, woahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhoooooooooooooo (can you name the last Munster player to score a HC hat trick, he gets free Dominos Pizza in Limerick for life due to it being scored in Thomond Park!)

Thought we would win, but no way did I expect us to put 50 points on them.(trying to think the last time Munster did that to anyone.)
That is probably the best Munster attacking performance of the season. Some very well worked tries and our most cohesive backplay this season. Scrum was a big problem and it could very well be our achilles heel. Lineout was pretty solid and our defence was decent. I'm a lot more optimistic going into the quarters now. Jones being back aswell will help a lot.

DOD, that game was pretty painful alright. For Northampton fans!

Bring on the Ulstermen!

Jaysus I would have thought someone else had managed it since Axel, that must be nearly 15 years ago now.


Thought POC, POM, Murray, D Ryan and Coughlan were excellent for Munster. Really enjoyed the game and can't wait for the quarters.

DOD Yep scrum dominance and they need to answer questions on why they can't launch try scoring moves off such a powerful scrum.

Joey Barton wrote:Munster look the real deal here tonight. Been poor all campaign but turn it on when it matters. Sign of champions

Even Joey loves us! One thing I don't get, why did Armstrong do a dive at the end, your team is 20 points down! Seems like some of the Saints lads are more about the individual than the team. Wsn't happy Zebo did it either.

So Thomond who replace for Jones? Hurley, Murphy or Zebo....

View, Munster have a very good defence, we don't tend to concede a lot of tries. I think Axel was the last one to score a hat trick Val. They rarely happen in professional rugby. DOD, Jones will have to fight for his place back at full back. Hurley could well find himself back on the wing. It's certainly an incredibly good headache to have. Sherry being back and Ronan/Wally is another bonus for the QFs.

Yes all good at the moment...just seems to be coming together at the moment. Backline looked good tonight as well and both Mafi and Earls looked a good comination. I wouldnt want Downey after that display.

Amazing performance from Munster...rounding of a fantastic weekend for Irish rugby..the bar has been raised...hope we get you guys in the QF ...

Stag, Sin, DOD, Thomond, BlueMuff and the other Munster posters have a on me!

What a great performance and a great game. Well done Munster

Also POC is playing some of the best rugby of his career at the moment, his work rate is phenomenal,
he is immense at the breakdown and I know he gets criticised for his carrying at times but he makes
hard yards and always presents quick, clean ball. Best lock in the world at the minute.

Well done Munster...! Great result.

Munster destroyed Northampton Saints today.

Well played Munster, and that Zebo 3 fantastic trys.

Saints destoyed Munster in the scrum, but Munster's back players Earls, Zebo and him who played full back.

Again well played Munster.

Thomond wrote:Zebo is a Cork man through and through. Fine hurler too apparently.

So much depth in Irish rugby right now, very well set for the future.

trebellbobaggins wrote:

Thomond wrote:Zebo is a Cork man through and through. Fine hurler too apparently.

So much depth in Irish rugby right now, very well set for the future.

I am not sure about the future as the core of the team are a bit old, if the average age was 24 I would agree with you.

Great result

glamorganalun wrote:

trebellbobaggins wrote:

Thomond wrote:Zebo is a Cork man through and through. Fine hurler too apparently.

So much depth in Irish rugby right now, very well set for the future.

I am not sure about the future as the core of the team are a bit old, if the average age was 24 I would agree with you.

Great result

The core of which team is old? Ireland or Munster?

I think he might have been watching reruns of the 08 hcup

Result of the weekend. Amazing Munster. we will be lucky to get within 20 at Thomond.


Seriously.. well played Munster

Out of interest, the average age of the Munster squad tonight was 27.47 years.

When you consider that included such older stalwarts as MO'D brought in because of a long list of injuries, doesn't seem like an ageing team to me. Also four starters and three replacements were under 25, including two of the stand-out performers (Zebo, aged 21 and PO'M aged 22)

Did Donnacha Ryan get a bang on the head?

He looked pretty dazed as he was coming off the pitch.