Munster vs Saracens - European Rugby Champions Cup: Semi Final 1

First topic message reminder :

V



When:
Saturday 22nd April - 15:15

Where:
Aviva stadium, Lansdowne Rd, Dublin 4, Ireland




TV:
BT Sport / beIN Sports / Sky Italia

Officials:
Referee - Romain Poite (France)
Touch Judge 1 - Pascal Gauzere (France)
Touch Judge 2 - Alexandre Ruiz (France)
TMO - Philippe Bonhoure (France)
Citing Commissioner - Jeff Mark (Wales)


Previous Meetings:
17/1/15 Saracens 33 - 10 Munster Rugby
24/10/14 Munster Rugby 14 - 3 Saracens
16/12/12 Saracens 19 - 13 Munster Rugby




MUNSTER



ERC Form: Played 7, Won 6, Lost 1
Pro12 Form: Played 20, Won 17, Lost 3

Lineup:

15 Simon Zebo
14 Andrew Conway
13 Jaco Taute
12 Rory Scannell
11 Keith Earls
10 Tyler Bleyendaal
9 Duncan Williams
1 Dave Kilcoyne
2 Niall Scannell
3 John Ryan
4 Donnacha Ryan
5 Billy Holland
6 Peter O'Mahony (capt)
7 Tommy O'Donnell
8 CJ Stander

16 Rhys Marshall
17 James Cronin
18 Stephen Archer
19 Dave O'Callaghan
20 Jean Deysel
21 Ian Keatley
22 Francis Saili
23 Darren Sweetnam


Saracens



ERC Form: Played 7, Won 6, Drawn 1
AP Form: Played 20, Won 15, Drawn 1, Lost 4

Lineup:

15 Alex Goode (226)
14 Chris Ashton (114)
13 Marcelo Bosch (93)
12 Brad Barritt (c) (193)
11 Sean Maitland (19)
10 Owen Farrell (148)
9 Richard Wigglesworth (182)

1 Mako Vunipola (116)
2 Jamie George (168)
3 Vincent Koch (11)
4 Maro Itoje (71)
5 George Kruis (132)
6 Michael Rhodes (53)
7 Jackson Wray (169)
8 Billy Vunipola (74)

16 Schalk Brits (198)
17 Titi Lamositele (42)
18 Petrus Du Plessis (154)
19 Jim Hamilton (71)
20 Schalk Burger (21)
21 Ben Spencer (97)
22 Alex Lozowski (27)
23 Chris Wyles (222)

If only the Ref paid no attention to the crowd we would have a fair game

Excellent tap tackle by Farrell.

eirebilly wrote:

Rory_Gallagher wrote:

TightHEAD wrote:Fed up with the play acting from Munster, it's like watching football.

Tight really is the wrong word in your username.

Pay no attention to him Rory

Yes pay no attention to the nasty man!

BOD really is a poor pundit, great player but not a pundit.

Farrell 5th highest scorer in European rugby, that's an awsome stat for someone so young.

eirebilly wrote:BOD really is a poor pundit, great player but not a pundit.

I kinda like him. Not always right but seems to try to pick up the less obvious things.

Saracens coming away with points when they enter Munster territory - worrying for Munster who can't seem to break the Sarries defence.

More play acting and Munster win the penalty!

The Ref needs to get a grip

Rory_Gallagher wrote:Saracens coming away with points when they enter Munster territory - worrying for Munster who can't seem to break the Sarries defence.

Massive defence from Sarries and they will not tire...

Need to come away with points here.

Sarries need to wise up and fake an injury or foul play to match this Munster threat

Great skills from a Prop.

Munster with pretty much all the stat's in their favour but the true telling fact is, Sarries are an incredibly strong team in defence and far more clinical when given their chances. Very hard game here for both teams but Sarries worth their lead.

Worrying lack of penetration from Munster with ball in hand. Feels a lot like watching Ireland.

What a team. Who else can have that territory vs Munster and concede 3 in a half.

Rory_Gallagher wrote:Worrying lack of penetration from Munster with ball in hand. Feels a lot like watching Ireland.

In fairness, not many teams can breach this Sarries defence. Really cannot see Munster winning this.

Fascinating insight from doc

Watching Saracens defend really is every bit as enjoyable as watching NZ in all out attack.

I think Poite is having a good game. Difficult conditions and the only mistake for me was the penalty against Farrell - Earls changed his line to go beyond the ball to cut Farrell off. It feels wrong for someone to be binned for a high tackle on someone who has slipped below waist height but that's how the IRB have instructed refs to act.

Scottrf wrote:What a team. Who else can have that territory vs Munster and concede 3 in a half.

Any team that Wayne Barnes wants to win.

Where are all the Sarries fans?

I think Munster have somewhat emptied the tank and cone away with just 3 points and trailing.

Saracens should be too strong for them in the second half. If Saracens score first, then Munster heads will drop and the game will go away from them.

Pot Hale wrote:I think Munster have somewhat emptied the tank and cone away with just 3 points and trailing.  

Saracens should be too strong for them in the second half.  If Saracens score first, then Munster heads will drop and the game will go away from them.

G'way Pot ╭∩╮

Maitland is the weak link in the team, give an English winger a chance

Did poite just say that it was a knock on first by sarries by he was juggling the ball?

Have to say Duncan Williams has really come on this season. Hope that doesn't put the hex on him.

nathan wrote:Did poite just say that it was a knock on first by sarries by he was juggling the ball?

Yep and he also stood there and watched Itoje lifting legs in the maul...

eirebilly wrote:

nathan wrote:Did poite just say that it was a knock on first by sarries by he was juggling the ball?

Yep and he also stood there and watched Itoje lifting legs in the maul...

Well he got 2 things wrong there then....

eirebilly wrote:

Pot Hale wrote:I think Munster have somewhat emptied the tank and cone away with just 3 points and trailing.  

Saracens should be too strong for them in the second half.  If Saracens score first, then Munster heads will drop and the game will go away from them.

G'way Pot ╭∩╮

And g'day to you too, Billy.

Sarries are not allowed to juggle and Then control the ball yet Munster are allowed to choke players around the neck and then roll them!

These little kicks just aren't good enough. Munster need to stop giving away possession.

Munster just cant seem to get over the gainline in play. This is just savage defence from Sarries. I hate it as a Munster fan but cant help but admire it as well.

Rory_Gallagher wrote:These little kicks just aren't good enough. Munster need to stop giving away possession.

Yeah that kick went 1 metre forward and probably resulted in a 40% chance of possession. Never get that. Keep the ball.

Ashton was thinking of swan diving then

Jaysus, surely one of these chances will work for Sarries...

Scottrf wrote:

Rory_Gallagher wrote:These little kicks just aren't good enough. Munster need to stop giving away possession.

Yeah that kick went 1 metre forward and probably resulted in a 40% chance of possession. Never get that. Keep the ball.

They don't look confident with the ball though.

Oh dear, Sarries are looking beatable today

Game of errors today

All is lost, POM off...

Tank emptying further as Saracens turn on the heat through the bulldozers.

Deysel just saved the day.

eirebilly wrote:All is lost, POM off...

It's only a hia so he could be back

POM looked like he was out there.

Sarries should be out of sight

nathan wrote:

eirebilly wrote:All is lost, POM off...

It's only a hia so he could be back

He was out, wont come back I feel.

It was coming...

And Poite delivers.

eirebilly wrote:

nathan wrote:

eirebilly wrote:All is lost, POM off...

It's only a hia so he could be back

He was out, wont come back I feel.

Ah, that's a shame. He'said class

Pot Hale wrote:And Poite delivers.  

What did he do wrong for that?

Munster 2 was lucky not to be sent to the bin

Hard luck Munster. The Saracens bulldozers are going all the way. Phenomenal strength and endurance.

nathan wrote:

Pot Hale wrote:And Poite delivers.  

What did he do wrong for that?

Munster 2 was lucky not to be sent to the bin

He didn't do anything wrong. He put his hand up correctly for the try.