The I'll Start a Munster Thread Before ... Thread

[hellovating]

i'd mix up the front 5 for freshness.... bring in du toit and kleyn and maybe even archer. would make for a massive front 5.

they'll be angry.

saturday was great. delighted to see pom back to his best. sweetnam is some find too.

[SerjeantWildgoose]

With a dog in 2 fights we are currently playing tournament r*gby. In the next 5 weeks we have to find the gas to take points from Leicester, Glasgow and Racing away if we're to get out of this group and Leinster and Connacht at home if we're to keep our spot at the top of the Pro12. What a completely bloody awful position to be in?

[hellovating]

Tough run of games alright.

Papers today are saying JJ is coming back in the summer and Taute could stay till the end of the season at least. Win / Win.

[paddy no 11]

Its just great to be a relevant rugby team again

[SerjeantWildgoose]

Do you think them others will start to like us again if we start thrashing all around us?

[paddy no 11]

I'd say we'll be all the rage in the valleys again for sure

[SerjeantWildgoose]

Its these hoores up in Belshaft I'm worried about. And some fecking Jackeen posted on the Guardian comments page that his favourite team in the Pro12 after Leinster was Glasgow!

Glasgow for feck sake.

[paddy no 11]

I wonder what Bawb made of Saturdays game, I'd say he reached Vince levels of excitement

[SerjeantWildgoose]

See this is where people get Vince all wrong. He would never get excited over an Ulster win - or at least not while they were dressed like Arsenal (He tended to go for white Toyota Landcruisers).

I'd say Sparky would likely have been so thrilled that he probably popped out of the stadium at the half to nick a few farms up the Cregagh Road.

[paddy no 11]

And what of horse, imagine how unbearable he'd be if the foal starts for the lions, what a hoot

[SerjeantWildgoose]

It won't be long before they all start flouncing back in here, crapping the place up with their SUFTUM ballix!

[BBD]

Apparently they won a Heineken cup before it was fashionable, Ulster, the original hipsters

[Eugene Wrayburn]

It won't be long before they all start flouncing back in here, crapping the place up with their SUFTUM ballix!

My ballix won't SUFTUM. It'll be the cold.

[SerjeantWildgoose]

Apparently they won a Heineken cup before it was fashionable, Ulster, the original hipsters

I remember they were still playing a Humphreys at stand-off long after it ceased to be fashionable to do so.

That's Ulster, though. Never quite in fashion.

[hellovating]

serj, bbd, paddy... what would yer teams be? same again?

earls is the only fitness doubt

[paddy no 11]

Probably, use kleyn, saili, du toit to freshen it up next day. Win this and we've a great chance to go through, dont have much trust in conway if he does come in

[SerjeantWildgoose]

I disagree on Conway. Once he's into his stride he's pretty steady.

I agree on the group balancing on this game. If we can get a win in Welford Road and trust Glasgow to beat Racing then I think that the group will come down to the head-to-head between us and the Weege (Racing will do what the French always do and put all of their efforts into their domestic league once any real chance of progressing in Europe has gone).

What we do with our pack depends on whether Tigers are able to bolster theirs. If Cole is back then there can be no rest for Killer, Niall and John - and it will be a far tougher test for them. Kleyn in for Billy doesn't worry me at all, but I have had a Damascene conversion and think Billy is going so well this season he should start as long as he's able - and Kleyn off the bench is some impact. Big game for Saili to come in to and with nothing yet certain regarding Jaco's extension, he has to start; so too Rory. If Keith is a doubt, then no need to risk wrecking him; Ronan is having a cracking season under the Radar.

The only worry I have is cover at Scrum Half. If Conor gets broken we are truly fecked.

[BBD]

I wouldn't go making wholesale changes
1) why change a winning formula? Particularly when we won so convincingly in the first leg. Winning at home is only the foundation of success in Europe. To be one of the best, we have to go away to the strongholds of England and France and take at least 4 points. Leicester were poor last week, in that we simply blew them away, they barely mustered a threat all game
2) I'm a lot more comfortable with our squad this season, Rassie seems to have boosted everyone's performance and coordination as a unit, so swapping players in and out doesn't seem as big a deal as it has in the past. We now play as though we have strength in depth, which is odd when we have a lot of the same squad as before

[paddy no 11]

We were in control until tuilagi went off, leicster went into free for all mode at the breakdown and we didn't have quinny to ref it and came off about 60/40 on the breakdown calls and in the Zebo mess and that was it, no point in complaining. We didn't have too much of a game plan once the kicking game went south on a tight leicster pitch.

[hellovating]

right, Paris again, sweetnam and tommy out

should be looking at something like...

killer, scannell, ryan
kleyn, ryan
cj, o'donaghue, pom
murray, tyler
scannell jaco/frankie
earls, zebo, rom/conway

they picked a full strength side for their loss to toulon on sunday and with the 6 day turn around, and them out of this comp, i wouldn't expect a full strength side this week. still needs winning though.

[SerjeantWildgoose]

Happy New Year H.

I think your assessment is probably right, though who knows what state ROG's emotions are going to be in and whether he is going to generate some sense of competition among them. The problem with New Years is that they often provide a focus for turning things around.

Hard not to agree with your selection, though if everyone is fit I'd see Rory and Frankie starting in the centres (Though I'd prefer to see Rory and Jaco start), Keith and Simon on the wings, with Andy at FB. That would mean a likely bench of Duncan (!!!), Ian and Jaco (Or Frankie) so no place for ROM.

The pack looks sound and with Billy and Rob Copeland covering the back 5, we've probably got enough juice to see us through. I have to say, though, that this won't be the strongest 23 we've put out this season.

[hellovating]

happy new year serj

i wouldn't be upset to see billy or conway start either. it's probably a good sign when you're not overly fussed about selection. sign of some decent squad strength or good form.

[hellovating]

i don't think carter fancied coming on after 50 odd minutes 32 nil down....

seanie cronin could be out with a hamstring injury for a while, niall scannell might get an invite to team joe this spring. he's outstanding this season.

[SerjeantWildgoose]

Lads, I think we ought to be having an aul whip-round for CJ.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/m ... 58677.html

[hellovating]

GLASGOW XV TO FACE MUNSTER,
Hogg, Seymour, Bennett, Dunbar, Jones, Russell, Price ; Reid, Brown, Fagerson, Swinson, Gray (c), Harley, Wilson, Strauss

REPLACEMENTS: McArthur, Allan, Rae, Matt Fagerson, Fusaro, Hart, Grigg, Murchie


Munster: Simon Zebo; Andrew Conway, Jaco Taute, Rory Scannell, Keith Earls; Tyler Bleyendaal, Conor Murray; Dave Kilcoyne, Niall Scannell, John Ryan; Jean Kleyn, Donnacha Ryan; Peter O'Mahony Capt., Jack O'Donoghue, CJ Stander.

Replacements: Rhys Marshall, James Cronin, Thomas Du Toit, Dave Foley, Billy Holland, Duncan Williams, Ian Keatley, Francis Saili.