Munster v Leinster

First topic message reminder :

The Leinster squad trained in UCD on Monday afternoon as attention switched back to the RaboDirect PRO12 and Saturday evening's interprovincial clash against Munster in Thomond Park (KO: 6.30pm)...

Brian O'Driscoll is available for selection after his unavailability in recent weeks and he could be joined by out-half Jonathan Sexton who has stepped up his rehabilitation in recent days after suffering a tear to a tendon in his foot last month.

With Shane Jennings in the frame after his late withdrawal from last Friday night's 48-28 Amlin Challenge Cup quarter final victory, the imminent return of the Ireland trio provides the squad with a major boost as they bid to secure a Play-off berth.

Fergus McFadden and Sean O'Brien completed their first full stint with the province after the Six Nations in High Wycombe in a game which also marked Mike Ross' first try of his professional career. Ian Madigan's 28-point haul has now taken him to 202 points in all competitions, in 26 games so far this season.

With the province's 'A' team booking a place in the British & Irish Cup semi finals on Sunday afternoon following their 30-26 victory over Bristol, Leinster will have two sides in action in the last weekend of April. There are no major injury concerns arising from that game though Andrew Boyle (knee) and Mark Flanagan (foot) will be assessed by the medical team this week after suffering knocks.

The Leinster team to face Munster will be named on Friday lunchtime.

Munster: F Jones; D Hurley, C Laulala, J Downey, S Zebo; I Keatley, C Murray; D Kilcoyne , D Varley, S Archer; Donncha O’Callaghan, P O’Connell capt; P O’Mahony, T O’Donnell , J Coughlan. Replacements: M Sherry, J Cronin, BJ Botha, B Holland, Dave O’Callaghan, C Sheridan, JJ Hanrahan, I Dineen.


LEINSTER:

15: Rob Kearney
14: Dave Kearney
13: Brian O'Driscoll
12: Gordon D'Arcy
11: Isa Nacewa
10: Ian Madigan
9: Isaac Boss

1: Cian Healy
2: Sean Cronin
3: Mike Ross
4: Leo Cullen CAPTAIN
5: Quinn Roux
6: Sean O'Brien
7: Shane Jennings
8: Jamie Heaslip

REPLACEMENTS:

16: Richardt Strauss
17: Jack McGrath
18: Michael Bent
19: Devin Toner
20: Kevin McLaughlin
21: John Cooney
22: Andrew Goodman
23: Andrew Conway

Well, as a nancy boy back myself, I'd feel guilty if I were playing today and one of the light guys got the MOTM, but Boss was good. Thought Murray was better for the duration of the game though, as good as Boss was for the last 20 or so. The piano shifters won that game, whether or not Munster had gotten that winning score.

LeinsterFan4life wrote:boss motm?.. Should have been SOB made so many tackles

No. He was a penalty-machine. Not a smart enough player and highly-overrated.

We didnt play well at all. Munster dragged us into a dog-fight. Given that, Im amazed we won it tbh.

We have hardened since de aul days.

Gibson wrote:

Feckless Rogue wrote:I love Leinster v Munster games. Best fixture in club rugby.

Yup. It hasnt changed in yonks. Ulster would love to change that Irish status quo... but I dont think they will.

Dont shoot me.

We'll see ya in Dublin so. Better bring your A game...

BlueMuff wrote:

Thomond wrote:Munster look a different team in attack (in terms of going wide at least) with Keatley but amazing they can blend between two such contrasting styles in 6 days, it's a great strength of the team. Hard to see us winning it now but great effort, plenty learned from it.


Congrats lads, great game.

Thomond are you serious! All that possession in the second half and we didn't even threaten a try! I like Keatley but you can't make stuff up!

Blue, that's because we didn't trust to the high tempo game as much as we should, and Leinster did EXCELLENT work stopping out set piece from engineering grunt scores.

Anyone see Barca last Wednesday? Did you see what happened before Messi and after Messi? Replace Barca with Munster and Messi with POC.


Gut-wrenching defeat, but plenty of positves, I think both sides will be relatively happy with what they've got from it. Musnter showed they cna mix their two styles and Keatley showed he can play well in a big game, was he perfect no, but he showed more positives then many expect, we don't score those two tries with ROG there.


Leinster's in game management is masterful, Schmidt manages to adjust so well, their defence improved dramatically.


BM, not all his fault, he made some errors but he was instrumental in two tries and kicked two very good penalties, considering it's only his 3rd "big game" and to use the old Sin é chestnut, he hasn't played since February.

Gibson wrote:

LeinsterFan4life wrote:boss motm?.. Should have been SOB made so many tackles

No. He was a penalty-machine. Not a smart enough player and highly-overrated.

We didnt play well at all. Munster dragged us into a dog-fight. Given that, Im amazed we won it tbh.

We have hardened since de aul days.

Did he give away a lot of penalties? Guess ill have to rewatch the game.

Oh and no way SOB is overrated. Best backrower in Ireland

I would have given it to Tommy O Donnell. Hes a looney at the breakdown. Im a TOD fan after that.

And, as the Welsh say... Im a Shane fan.

Agree that POC incident was an accident and I don't think they should cite him but if I had seen it, it would have been a yellow at least as it's dangerous and at the end of the day player safety comes first and the game comes second. He shouldn't have gone for the kick, Dave Kearney's head never moved so the blame is firmly on POC.

I had it happen to me and I was in bits for about 2 weeks, my neck was not in a good way.

Thought Boss was awful don't know how he got MotM. Oh wait Donal Lenihan awarded it.

Munster played better than Leinster for sure, their work at the breakdown was better and their back3 were considerably better too

LeinsterFan4life wrote:

Gibson wrote:

LeinsterFan4life wrote:boss motm?.. Should have been SOB made so many tackles

No. He was a penalty-machine. Not a smart enough player and highly-overrated.

We didnt play well at all. Munster dragged us into a dog-fight. Given that, Im amazed we won it tbh.

We have hardened since de aul days.

Did he give away a lot of penalties? Guess ill have to rewatch the game.

Oh and no way SOB is overrated. Best backrower in Ireland

Oh to be young and so easily impressed.

BOD is probably the best pick and go player in Ireland

SOB the best backrower in Ireland? The guy who was in Tommy O'Donnell's back pocket all game?

Christ that is awful

Gibson wrote:

LeinsterFan4life wrote:

Gibson wrote:

LeinsterFan4life wrote:boss motm?.. Should have been SOB made so many tackles

No. He was a penalty-machine. Not a smart enough player and highly-overrated.

We didnt play well at all. Munster dragged us into a dog-fight. Given that, Im amazed we won it tbh.

We have hardened since de aul days.

Did he give away a lot of penalties? Guess ill have to rewatch the game.

Oh and no way SOB is overrated. Best backrower in Ireland

Oh to be young and so easily impressed.

Your kidding right?
2011- how many motm awards did he win? He completely dominated that year.
2012- was one of Leinster's best players even though he was carrying an injury for most of the season.
2013- not long back after sugery and was trying to single handely get Ireland over the gain line and tackling everthing that moved. In the Welsh game alone made over 20 tackles.

Thomond wrote:Anyone see Barca last Wednesday? Did you see what happened before Messi and after Messi? Replace Barca with Munster and Messi with POC.


Gut-wrenching defeat, but plenty of positves, I think both sides will be relatively happy with what they've got from it. Musnter showed they cna mix their two styles and Keatley showed he can play well in a big game, was he perfect no, but he showed more positives then many expect, we don't score those two tries with ROG there.


Leinster's in game management is masterful, Schmidt manages to adjust so well, their defence improved dramatically.


BM, not all his fault, he made some errors but he was instrumental in two tries and kicked two very good penalties, considering it's only his 3rd "big game" and to use the old Sin é chestnut, he hasn't played since February.

Fair points thomond! Just think needed a cool head to play conditions in second half.

Would be great to see Leinster ulster final to see if ulster really have made progress since last year! Defo think they have so would be good final

Gibson wrote:I would have given it to Tommy O Donnell. Hes a looney at the breakdown. Im a TOD fan after that.

And, as the Welsh say... Im a Shane fan.

<largebottleofstoutofthetooshelf>

pete (buachaill on eirne) wrote:Agree that POC incident was an accident and I don't think they should cite him but if I had seen it, it would have been a yellow at least as it's dangerous and at the end of the day player safety comes first and the game comes second. He shouldn't have gone for the kick, Dave Kearney's head never moved so the blame is firmly on POC.

I had it happen to me and I was in bits for about 2 weeks, my neck was not in a good way.

Thought Boss was awful don't know how he got MotM. Oh wait Donal Lenihan awarded it.

Munster played better than Leinster for sure, their work at the breakdown was better and their back3 were considerably better too

Agree with everything you said there Pete. Except the black bit. Boss did what Boss does best. Mad aggression in attack(of which there were very few) , when we really needed it.

Reddan would have made it a completely different game. We did not gel. We had no invention. We fed Munster. Boss made up for the loss of Reddan. In the end.

Sorry, that should be he hasn't started 10 since February, played full back or been on the bench since.


Keatley could have done a bit more, but he was certainly very solid, and I think outshone his more illustrious counterpart (aside from the hair category although Keatley did seem to gel it up) on their biggest test to date.


Gibbo, what you and DO do on your own time is of no interest to us sane people

Madigan was fine. Another 100% kicking accuracy off the tee. It was a tough game for him given the conditions and how good the munster pack were.

Thomond wrote:SOB the best backrower in Ireland? The guy who was in Tommy O'Donnell's back pocket all game?

Totally agree.

Should you rather Madigan or Sexton start in our remaining Amlin games and the Rabo playoffs?

Use the guy with the "hot hand" to quote Jim Harbaugh (San Francisco 49ers coach). No man should walk into a team Sexton has to earn his spot back in training or with his cameos.

Gibson wrote:

Thomond wrote:SOB the best backrower in Ireland? The guy who was in Tommy O'Donnell's back pocket all game?

Totally agree.

Was Jenno not the one playing 7? So therefore it was actually Jenno who was in TODs back pocket.

Feckless Rogue wrote:Should you rather Madigan or Sexton start in our remaining Amlin games and the Rabo playoffs?

Give Sexton a start against the Zebras. But Madigan should probably start against Biarritz if its a dry day.

LeinsterFan4life wrote:

Gibson wrote:

Thomond wrote:SOB the best backrower in Ireland? The guy who was in Tommy O'Donnell's back pocket all game?

Totally agree.

Was Jenno not the one playing 7? So therefore it was actually Jenno who was in TODs back pocket.

Exactly. SOB can't be expected to do everything.

I'm glad that POM and TOD were good again tonight. Glad for TOD because hes a late developer and for POM because he was getting a bit of stick for being in the Ireland team a few months back.

Pete, defo and obviously POC's fault. I dodnt think any one could or is blaming Dave, really hope he is ok, but Paulie was going for the ball. Hopefully that is enough to prevent a ban for more than a week if he gets one. Because Donners is gone and that is probably his last game for Munster, hence the tears. So if our 2nd row for Clermont is an 80% Ryan and Holland...... I shan't be holding my breath.

Gibson wrote:

LeinsterFan4life wrote:boss motm?.. Should have been SOB made so many tackles

No. He was a penalty-machine. Not a smart enough player and highly-overrated.

We didnt play well at all. Munster dragged us into a dog-fight. Given that, Im amazed we won it tbh.

We have hardened since de aul days.

I remember you claiming last season in the Ulster-Leinster final that SOB is a better player than Ferris.

But I actually agree with some of that. He is far too inconsistent at times and makes some really clumsy decisions.

BlueMuff wrote:George hook just confirmed what I said Munster back row playing Leinster off the pitch

Yep, looks like the rebirth of a Wallace-Quinlan flanking partnership with O'Mahony and O'Donnell.

Rory_Gallagher wrote:

Gibson wrote:

LeinsterFan4life wrote:boss motm?.. Should have been SOB made so many tackles

No. He was a penalty-machine. Not a smart enough player and highly-overrated.

We didnt play well at all. Munster dragged us into a dog-fight. Given that, Im amazed we won it tbh.

We have hardened since de aul days.

I remember you claiming last season in the Ulster-Leinster final that SOB is a better player than Ferris.

But I actually agree with some of that. He is far too inconsistent at times and makes some really clumsy decisions.

I remember you also claiming SOB was better which he is btw. But thats just my opinion.

I think O'Brien is too inconsistent which is very frustrating because I think he has the potential to be the best 6 in world rugby. His carrying in 2011 was better than any back row forward I have seen. That was 2 years ago though.

Sticking him at 6 permanently would be a good start.

LeinsterFan4life wrote:

Rory_Gallagher wrote:

Gibson wrote:

LeinsterFan4life wrote:boss motm?.. Should have been SOB made so many tackles

No. He was a penalty-machine. Not a smart enough player and highly-overrated.

We didnt play well at all. Munster dragged us into a dog-fight. Given that, Im amazed we won it tbh.

We have hardened since de aul days.

I remember you claiming last season in the Ulster-Leinster final that SOB is a better player than Ferris.

But I actually agree with some of that. He is far too inconsistent at times and makes some really clumsy decisions.

I remember you also claiming SOB was better which he is btw. But thats just my opinion.

SOB and Ferris are like-players.Both bustling, ball-carrying, blind-siders. One needs to wise-up and grow mentally. The other is fecking off to Japan. Ferris has begun to deal with his physical limitations and resultant injuries late-on in his career. I hope SOB deals with his and moves on up. He is young enough. But is he smart enough?

SOB is a 6. He will never be a WC 7. Its not there.

O Donnell however... Looks brainless, but a natural 7, imo.

I agree Rory. He needs to stop being played at 7 especially for Ireland.

Indeed, re SOB. TOD is in some form too. But that leaves us with the POM issue, and yet another era of 5 (or more) guys into 3.

Maybe POM 6, TOD 7 and SOB 8. Heaslip was anonymous this evening by comparison to the other 5 backrowers.

Gibson wrote:
O Donnell however... Looks brainless, but a natural 7, imo.

I think you're being a bit harsh on TOD there as well as SOB.

SOB was in the thick of it all through the match and helped slow Munster ball down.

debaters1 wrote:Indeed, re SOB. TOD is in some form too. But that leaves us with the POM issue, and yet another era of 5 (or more) guys into 3.

Maybe POM 6, TOD 7 and SOB 8. Heaslip was anonymous this evening by comparison to the other 5 backrowers.

I would love to see this.

The Triple O's.

debaters1 wrote:Indeed, re SOB. TOD is in some form too. But that leaves us with the POM issue, and yet another era of 5 (or more) guys into 3.

Maybe POM 6, TOD 7 and SOB 8. Heaslip was anonymous this evening by comparison to the other 5 backrowers.

Could be a plan Debaters. Could be a plan.

If only we could produce front-rowers to the same level. We could sell backrowers to the Kee-Wees, such is the glut.

I need to ask a question that seems to have escaped all of us in the provincial interim.

Zebo. What about Zebo?

He is such a natural football player. He is sublime and needs to be managed carefully.

No other province has a Zebo.

How much for de leetle boy?

He really needs to go to Leinstuur to better himself, if Im honest.

profitius wrote:

Gibson wrote:
O Donnell however... Looks brainless, but a natural 7, imo.

I think you're being a bit harsh on TOD there as well as SOB.

SOB was in the thick of it all through the match and helped slow Munster ball down.

Prof,
He needs to gain game-intelligence. He has the raw ability, but, just like Ferris, he phhhoks it all up at key times.

This, is what separates us from the Kee-Wees. All over the field.

Deccie is gone. Let's expect better from here on in bud.

The perfect Irish 6 for me, was Quinny. One cute, bombastic, hoor.

Its not enough to be powerful and dynamic. You need the intelligence to make it all work at the highest-level.

Gibson wrote:

debaters1 wrote:Indeed, re SOB. TOD is in some form too. But that leaves us with the POM issue, and yet another era of 5 (or more) guys into 3.

Maybe POM 6, TOD 7 and SOB 8. Heaslip was anonymous this evening by comparison to the other 5 backrowers.

Could be a plan Debaters. Could be a plan.

If only we could produce front-rowers to the same level. We could sell backrowers to the Kee-Wees, such is the glut.

I need to ask a question that seems to have escaped all of us in the provincial interim.

Zebo. What about Zebo?

He is such a natural football player. He is sublime and needs to be managed carefully.

No other province has a Zebo.

How much for de leetle boy?

He really needs to go to Leinstuur to better himself, if Im honest.

That boy is pure Cork and is worth his weight in platinum. He is looking so good this season his confidence is up and apparently has been nearly sleeping with Dougie in order to learn the wingers role.

Do you guys think POC will be punished? Lets hope not.

Flannery was banned for 6 weeks for a similar thing.

Flannery was shaking of a hold with a stamping motion, POC was trying to kick a ball. A little better in my eyes, so maybe he'll get away with it. Hopefully. Fingers crossed!

Lets not push this one, yeah? Paulie would not kick a man in the head purposely. Never. He went for the ball. His timing is temporarily phhooked. His time out the game game has made him hungry to catch up and make the HC Final and the Lions.

EDIT: I watched it again today. Sober. Looked really bad. He could be in serious trouble.

Result as expected, more or less (that 6 day turnaround was going to be difficult). Congrats Leinster. Hope Kearney Junior is ok.

I don't think SOB has been the same since his hip operation (hopefully not going the same way as Leamy, Ferris).

A couple of months back Laurie Fisher, former Munster forwards coach and now coaching the Brumbies spoke very highly on twitter of Tommy O'Donnell - said he was a McCaw type player. I thought he was mad at the time, but Laurie obviously knows his stuff.

Very pleased with Munster's performance - didn't expect them to be that competitive. My worst fear was (and is) that someone would get injured/cited and the worst has probably happened.

profitius wrote:

LeinsterFan4life wrote:

Gibson wrote:

Thomond wrote:SOB the best backrower in Ireland? The guy who was in Tommy O'Donnell's back pocket all game?

Totally agree.

Was Jenno not the one playing 7? So therefore it was actually Jenno who was in TODs back pocket.

Exactly. SOB can't be expected to do everything.

I'm glad that POM and TOD were good again tonight. Glad for TOD because hes a late developer and for POM because he was getting a bit of stick for being in the Ireland team a few months back.

Yeah roysh...

Gibson wrote:Paulie & BOD. Who will be the Lions Captain? It wont be English, Welsh, or Scottish, that's for sure.

Both of them have been there and done it already. That is a huge advantage on Tour.

Didn't realise those guys are so old. 1989?
It will be a Welsh captain. They know how to lose by less.

LeinsterFan4life wrote:Do you guys think POC will be punished? Lets hope not.

Flannery was banned for 6 weeks for a similar thing.

I really hope Dave is ok and that POC doesn't get cited but there are a few key things in this.

1) Dave Kearney never moved his head
2) Dave Kearney never moved the ball

I don't think POC should get cited but a yellow card (at the least) was in order I feel as it was a high risk action. And the risk was to a person's safety.
A guy can be tip tackled and be fine, get up and start walking around but it is still a tip tackle, dangerous, high risk and potentially very serious and I consider what POC to be the same.

I know it wasn't malicious but it was very, very, very fcuking stupid and as an experienced guy he should know better.

Anyone have any idea what happened to Darcy? He disappeared awful fast and we never really learned what was up with him.

Thomond wrote:Anyone see Barca last Wednesday? Did you see what happened before Messi and after Messi? Replace Barca with Munster and Messi with POC.


Gut-wrenching defeat, but plenty of positives, I think both sides will be relatively happy with what they've got from it. Munster showed they can mix their two styles of play. And Keatley showed he can play well in a big game. Was he perfect? No. But he showed more positives then many expect.

We don't score those two tries with ROG there.


Leinster's in-game management is masterful. Schmidt manages to adjust so well.Their defence improved dramatically.

This guy is good though. Should be a writer.

Pete puely guessing re D'Arcy but he must have felt a muscular injury as he was pulled instantly, no trying to 'run it off' etc.

As for POC, it was reckless, so if cited, give him a week (which would be annoying for him and the team as while he mightn't have played much of next weeks away match, he could still do with another game his belt.

Also looks much worse in slow mo, as most incidents do, so real time is how it should be judged. Wont look much better but isnt quite as awful looking.

Munster had a balanced backrow that all contributed. It was a good tough game of rugby.

If POC cited it's unlikely to be just or a week, it was intentional but it was dangerous play. Hope it doesn't come to that but feel he should have seen a card at the time, intention has nothing to do with it when there is dangerous play.

Anyway, off that unpleasant subject, happy with that win, feel it should have been more, and would have been if it weren't for a seriously dodgy call from the TMO.

p.s. I'd like to formally go on record as saying that George Hook is like cancer to the rugby public. An absolute joke of a man. His comments before and after were ridiculous and people with a passing interest in rugby will confuse his gravity for gravitas...

I had people in and there was a lot of noise going on during the pre-post match chats. What was the gist of what Hook said?

Before the game he basically said that Sexton would never have got a look in were it not for Contepomi's injury, Horgan was also on the panel and he basically called bullsh1t on it, said that Sexton was going to be the number one OH the following year anyway.

After the game he said that Munster were hard done by, that Leinster were poor etc. Can't remember the specifics, had a few drinks on me.

Donal Lenihan was gas, during the game he was extolling Munster's dominant defensive lineout, said that they were putting massive pressure on Leinster (but was commenting on a Munster lineout), they replayed the Munster lineout again(which didn't even produce good ball) and he said again stated how good Munster were at disrupting our ball.

Lenihan went very quiet when Leinster scored the try and you coukd hear the dissapointment in Ryle's voice when BOD scored.

RTE are an embarrasment. They are so Munster biased.
Also they haven't shown one Connacht game all season but yet have shown Ulster games which are always on BBC anyway.