Harlequin FC vs Munster - the Heinken Cup QF at the Stoop

First topic message reminder :

Munster, 4 times HEC Champions but a team in flux, take on Quins, past Amlin Champions and Aviva Premiership Champions, at the Stoop on 2pm on Sunday. The two have met before, in Ireland, when Quins surprised the rugby world in beating Munster en route to winning the 2nd tier European Cup in 2011. This time Quins are the favourites but in shaky form and on the back of 3 defeats in the Premiership in a row, whilst Munster were trounced by Glasgow last week. Munster know what it takes to win at this level and could easily upset Quins to win but Quins looked to have their attacking mojo back and just lacked compusure toward the end against Gloucester. THe last time Quins were at this stage in the HEC, it was against an Irish side, Leinster, and the Bloodgate scandal from that match saw them fall from grace and Dean Richards banned form the game for 2 years. The Quins side is quite similar to that disgraced team and the man who was caught cheating, Tom Williams, starts in what will be an epic but hopefully non-controversial encounter

Quins-

"Harlequins have announced the team that will play Munster at The Stoop in the Heineken Cup quarter-final on Sunday, kick-off 2.00pm (live on Sky Sports 2).Related Multimedia
There are four changes to the team that played Gloucester Rugby last Friday. Among the backs, Tom Williams and Ugo Monye return to start on the wings, with Mike Brown continuing at full-back.

George Lowe will make his 100th senior appearance for the club and partners Tom Casson in the centre.

In the forwards, the front five remain unchanged, while Maurie Fa'asavalu and captain, Chris Robshaw return to the flanks.

Tom Guest has recovered from illness and is named among the replacements.

This fixture will be the biggest that the Twickenham Stoop has ever held. With a 15,000 capacity crowd attending, Harlequins are encouraging supporters from both teams to arrive with plenty of time. Gates will open at 12pm for the 2pm kick-off.

Harlequins team

15. Mike Brown
14. Tom Williams
13. George Lowe
12. Tom Casson
11. Ugo Monye
10. Nick Evans
9. Danny Care

1. Joe Marler
2. Rob Buchanan
3. James Johnston
4. Olly Kohn
5. George Robson
6. Maurie Fa'asavalu
7. Chris Robshaw (C)
8. Nick Easter

16. Joe Gray
17. Mark Lambert
18. Will Collier
19. Charlie Matthews
20. Tom Guest
21. Karl Dickson
22. Ben Botica
23. Matt Hopper"

Munster - "Good news for Munster in that Simon Zebo has been passed fit to take his place in the starting line-up for the Quins Heineken Cup quarter final game but Doug Howlett misses out with an injured shoulder, his place on the wing going to Denis Hurley.It’s Zebo’s first game for Munster since the Racing Metro game on January 20thafter which he injured a foot in the second game of the RBS Six Nations against England.
Howlett damaged a shoulder in the act of reaching for the line to score a try last weekend against Glasgow Warriors. He sat out Tuesday’s session in Musgrave Park before finally accepting today that he wouldn’t make the starting line.

Back into the side however come internationals Conor Murray, Peter O’Mahony and Donnacha Ryan who was also mentioned on Tuesday as a doubt forthe trip to The Stoop.

Like Murray and O’Mahony, Ryan hasn’t kicked a ball in anger since the Italy encounter for which he was considered doubtful because of a shoulder/back injury that had been affecting him during the RBS.

Nevertheless he gets the nod over Donncha O’Callaghan to partner Paul O’Connell in the second row while Cathal Sheridan and Ivan Dineen both named among the replacements get a first taste of Heineken Cup fare.

In Howlett's absence, Paul O'Connell will wear the captain's armband.

Munster: F Jones; D Hurley, C Laulala, J Downey, S Zebo; R O’Gara, C Murray; D Kilcoyne , M Sherry BJ Botha; D Ryan, P O’Connell capt; P O’Mahony, T O’Donnell , J Coughlan. Replacements: D Varley W du Preez, S Archer, Donncha O’Callaghan, P Butler, C Sheridan, I Keatley, I Dineen.

"

Bring it on

Thomond wrote:

Thomond wrote:We need a big day from our pack to do it, it's possible, there's a lot to like about the forwards but even when they play well they don't seem to get the dominance the teams of old had, in a one of game it's possible, ROG's distance is pretty shot but he is still pretty accurate from hand, the lineout is a tricky one, Ryan and POC haven't played together since Racing Metro, hard for Sherry to get used to the both but POM being there might help a bit.

Should be interesting no matter what happens.

Quoting myself, like a big arrogant basterd but I'm from Cork so ah well. Basically what I wrote above and didn't think would happen, happened we did what Saracens did yesterday and Harlequins struggled to adapt. The thing is though, Munster haven't shown they are capable of playing that game successfully in a while, and I can't remember when they were that dominant over a pack, Saracens at home came close but even then we wrode our luck somewhat.


ROG will deservedly get a fair few plaudits, his kicking was very accurate from hand, his drop offs were a joy to watch, what won't get credit though is our kick chase, I can't recall many teams executing a kick chase better than today. Our pack were immense, showed the hunger and effort, that Ulster lacked yesterday. I was talking to Notch on Twitter earlier on and saying that the backrow lacks star names but it has incredible balance. Nick Williams yesterday was a luxury, he offers little at the breakdown and Henry was doing everything himself, Henderson wasn't too effective neither were the rest of the forward. As a coach and player, I say the pack should hunt as 8, work as a group, Munster did that, their backrow have a great mixture of carrying ability, lineout operators and breakdown operators.


I still don't know if ROG is the man for ASM, mainly because if we try that gameplan against ASM I think we will get battered, their pack is superb.


Happily eating my humble pie anyway.

Thomond - Nick Williams actually made more turnovers than anyone, from what I remember. However, he wasn't there to secure the ball when in possession, so I still agree. Plus I agree about the back row. Peter O'Mahony is a potential star player though for sure.

So gutted. Kind of like our team. Munster very good for the victory, bossed our pack at the breakdown and contact area in general (and we were fecking awful in the lineout) and our forwards just looked tired and flat all match whilst Munster's looked hungry and aggressive and dynamic. Our backs had nothing to work with in terms of momentum or territory or possession and we coughed the ball up at so many rucks. Downey, Ryan, O'Malley and POC were huge, congrats Munster, I will muse on things tomorrow, too sad at the moment

Thomand
..you Langer grovel now and for ever more. I am abroad and missed the game but the missus was texting me minute by minute. You should go down to ballyphehane church and say ten novenas for ROG POC and POM. You are an unbeliever.

Feics sake ROG might not be the oh for the semi are you feicin mad.
Gibson...what have I said for the last two years...madigan for oh and POM as captain now...cos he is the next Phillip Matthews (my favourite backrow for Ireland ever - shock that DOD likes ulstermen). That's the feicin future.. Also POC is the sexiest second row ever...

Paul O'Connell. Legend.

Thoroughly enjoyed most of the rugby over the weekend.

I really thought Quins would win (lack of faith in Munster, but then a lot of Munster fans were very nervous today). Absolutely thrilled with the result. I wonder if the neutrals enjoyed it as much as Munster fans? I am not in a position to comment on that. I thought that it was a cracking game of rugby even allowing for the fact that there were no tries.

Very impressed with our back row, Coughlan seemed the quietest of the three (but that was relative to amazing shifts put in by POM and TOD). POC was magisterial; he has changed his game since his return, doesn't go so readily to ground as he used to. Lineout was impressive; scrum? well maybe the less said about the whole melee which is the scrum at the moment the better. It is just such a lottery.

POC's interview at the end was very honest. There have been some comments here about "Munster's experience" being a major factor in the result. Of that team, only 4 of the 23 (POC, DOC, Hurley and ROG) played in the 2008 HEC Final. This is a new team and a lot of these guys are really new to KO HEC rugby. Yes the experience may be in the province, but this team have to gain that for themselves. They have been living in the shadow of the "miracle" matches of the past and they (POM, Murray, TOD etc etc) need to make their own history to shake the weight of the past off from their shoulders. They went some way to doing that today.

Watching Munster all season, in HEC and RABO matches, has been a frustrating time for fans. We know Penney was brought in to develop a new style of playing, but when you see locks out on the wing chasing a cross kick you begin to doubt the new system. Also the offloading game has not been in their DNA so that it often has come to grief. Yet we hear that things are going well in training. I have been saying all season to my fellow Munster fan who sits down to watch with me, that some day, some day, Please God, the new system will click in a match and then beware the opposing team.

It didn't happen today. This was old-fashioned Munster rugby - hold onto the ball (not quite stuff it up the jumper as they did in 2008 against Toulouse), but by denying Quins any possession they stifled any chance Quins had of progressing. Also, for all the criticism of ROG, he kept kicking Quins back into their own half. (I must say that Quins cover for those kicks wasn't nearly as good as Saracens yesterday who denied Ulster field position on many occasions by their covering).

A particularly pleasing aspect of the game was the contest for the restarts. Both OHs kicked well so that their own chasers had a reasonably good chance of collecting the ball - Monye in the first few was particularly good. This is surely something which teams can practice and practice until they have it well sorted, yet so often the OH kicks and hopes and the opposition have plenty of time to deal with the ball before the chasers (if they can be bothered) get anywhere near it.

Congrats to Munster. Did Gatland's smile at the end of the game indicate that he had watched his Lions captain putting in a sterling performance and getting the MOTM award? (So glad they gave POC something other than a bottle of champagne)

I know that it's really not the point at the moment, but does anyone fancy the mighty mazongas of Limerick against Clermont?

Nice one Munster. Hopefully you will go on to beat Clermont and have some Irish representation at Landsdowne.

O'Connell for the Lions. One man team!

Epic win Munster, well done. Delighted.

Clermont are unbeatable at home, luckily though, they’re not at home!

George Carlin wrote:I know that it's really not the point at the moment, but does anyone fancy the mighty mazongas of Limerick against Clermont?

Frankly no. But they will give Clermont a real game. I have been amongst the many who have fancied Clermont for this. they have been targetting it and I would love to see them win it. That was easy to wish for when I thought Munster hadn't a prayer of getting out of their group much less win an away QF.

But now ...... Non allez les Bleus and Munster Abú

KiaRose wrote:Thoroughly enjoyed most of the rugby over the weekend.

I really thought Quins would win (lack of faith in Munster, but then a lot of Munster fans were very nervous today). Absolutely thrilled with the result. I wonder if the neutrals enjoyed it as much as Munster fans? I am not in a position to comment on that. I thought that it was a cracking game of rugby even allowing for the fact that there were no tries.

Very impressed with our back row, Coughlan seemed the quietest of the three (but that was relative to amazing shifts put in by POM and TOD). POC was magisterial; he has changed his game since his return, doesn't go so readily to ground as he used to. Lineout was impressive; scrum? well maybe the less said about the whole melee which is the scrum at the moment the better. It is just such a lottery.

POC's interview at the end was very honest. There have been some comments here about "Munster's experience" being a major factor in the result. Of that team, only 4 of the 23 (POC, DOC, Hurley and ROG) played in the 2008 HEC Final. This is a new team and a lot of these guys are really new to KO HEC rugby. Yes the experience may be in the province, but this team have to gain that for themselves. They have been living in the shadow of the "miracle" matches of the past and they (POM, Murray, TOD etc etc) need to make their own history to shake the weight of the past off from their shoulders. They went some way to doing that today.

Watching Munster all season, in HEC and RABO matches, has been a frustrating time for fans. We know Penney was brought in to develop a new style of playing, but when you see locks out on the wing chasing a cross kick you begin to doubt the new system. Also the offloading game has not been in their DNA so that it often has come to grief. Yet we hear that things are going well in training. I have been saying all season to my fellow Munster fan who sits down to watch with me, that some day, some day, Please God, the new system will click in a match and then beware the opposing team.

It didn't happen today. This was old-fashioned Munster rugby - hold onto the ball (not quite stuff it up the jumper as they did in 2008 against Toulouse), but by denying Quins any possession they stifled any chance Quins had of progressing. Also, for all the criticism of ROG, he kept kicking Quins back into their own half. (I must say that Quins cover for those kicks wasn't nearly as good as Saracens yesterday who denied Ulster field position on many occasions by their covering).

A particularly pleasing aspect of the game was the contest for the restarts. Both OHs kicked well so that their own chasers had a reasonably good chance of collecting the ball - Monye in the first few was particularly good. This is surely something which teams can practice and practice until they have it well sorted, yet so often the OH kicks and hopes and the opposition have plenty of time to deal with the ball before the chasers (if they can be bothered) get anywhere near it.

Congrats to Munster. Did Gatland's smile at the end of the game indicate that he had watched his Lions captain putting in a sterling performance and getting the MOTM award? (So glad they gave POC something other than a bottle of champagne)

Sublime post.

Interesting statement from Quins http://www.quins.co.uk/news/7054.php#.UWWPuKKyBjS

Glaws fans sold a load of tickets when we played Munster in the Q/F c.5 years ago, which definitely affected the balance of the home advantage.

I hope they do find the people that sold their tickets and ban them. I'm not angry with Munster fans, but deeply disappointed with supposed Quins fans.

Well, the classic Munster tactic for getting tickets in such circumstances is to simply register as a supporters club member etc. Many of the French and English clubs (and this is not a criticism nor am I saying that this definately happened in the case of Harequins either) do not have a ceiling limit on Official Supporters club membership etc., so this allows Munster fans (with the help of an English postal address! to join up and then apply for such tickets.

Then there is the other issue, that with so many Irish people living and working in the UK, some are doubtless members and fans of Quins iin the Jeff and this one game they wore their red jersey instead.

Can I also ask, what was the allocation for season ticket holders? Di you just get the option of buying one ticket or mutiple tickets? As that route, hitting up a mate who is a Quins fan or Irish fan of Quins who has access to more than one ticket is yet another source of our ticket network.

Dont feel bad though, you aren't the first, you wont be the last Munster & irish fans excell at sourcing tickets like no one else on this planet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzNMhlHCWT8

Ah ha ha ha...classic

DOD wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzNMhlHCWT8

Ah ha ha ha...classic

brilliant

Paulie- "I wear my Munster shirt"
ROG- "You look incredible"

harhar...

Looking at the pictures of the together their horrible offspring would look like Woodie...clear as day

yappysnap wrote:I hope they do find the people that sold their tickets and ban them. I'm not angry with Munster fans, but deeply disappointed with supposed Quins fans.

The Glaws tickets were exchanging hands for a couple of hundred quid, but I can't understand why you posh City boys need to do that?!

It is pretty poor and I shared your view when our supporters did it. It was only season ticket holders who had tickets, so of all people you'd imagine they'd want to watch the game. Having said that the price some were getting for those tickets pretty much paid for their season ticket, but that' still no excuse.

If you do find the supporters they should be made to hold the tackle bags in a Tuesday beasting session!

My worry is that the season ticket holders are people who've been given season tickets through work or friends etc and so may not have much actual feeling for Quins other then it's a nice day trip. If this is the case then it could happen again and again.

Definitely should help out with the training sessions as punishment, and poop scoop all of the local pitches on a Sat/Sun morning.