Munster v Cardiff - Pool 4

[An Tarbh]

Should Munster win this Saturday that will break the record currently shared with Leicester for consecutive wins in the HEC.

The Blues have made 4 changes for this reverse fixture, Nick Macleod gets a start at fly-half while Tom Shanklin is brought in from the wing to partner Jamie Robinson in the centre. John Yapp starts in the front row and Bradley Davies also gets a start in the second row.

 

[shtove]

Didn't see last week's match - the relatives promised they had Sky TV, but it turned out they only had Sky radio. Sunday lunch was a bit quiet, a bit tense.

Anyway, I saw the highlights, with that nutter striding about in his jocks. Cardiff can do nothing about that. And they just don't have the oomph anywhere on the pitch (or in the stands - ever been amongst a Welsh crowd in a small stadium? They mumble into their pints, passing bitter remarks about Munner rugby and how crap O'Gara/Darsey/Shaggy/Ireland etc are).

Cullen will score the bonus point try in a shower of red panties from the stands.

 

[An Tarbh]

Well still plenty of work for Munster do to in this one, you'd still expect them to win it but only being 7 clear at half time, crucial opening period to the second half with Cardiff being down to 14, time to capitalise Munster and get the bp given what Leicester did today they'll want that buffer.

 

[An Tarbh]

Munster certainly left it late to clinch the bonus point but got the job done, certainly not helped by Cardiff's repeat offences which should have been better dealt with by Jutge.

Doesn't matter though, Cardiff are out so it will be interesting to see whether they're up for the Leicester game.

 

[shtove]

Not sure what to make of this. Cardiff defended really well, and Williams was great. He could have been yellowed in the first 5 mins, and a few times after that again, but his support for their second try was brilliant.

Munster passed up several kickables - 12 points? - to try out their attacking options. Problem is, the backs aren't up to much. Apart from Murphy's turbo-acceleration, it was the back row who scored. When Williams wasn't slowing it down, there was plenty of quick ball, and Stringer and ROG had fine games - so why the lack of penetration? Looks like Halstead is the problem, and god knows how to fix that.

Maybe Cullen can slot in somewhere.

Anyway, bonus point leaves Leicester chasing best runner up.

 

[An Tarbh]

The thing I find a little frustrating about Munster is that at times they just don't trust the backs, in Halstead and Murphy they've a pretty potent centre combination and Skinny isn't looking too bad on the wing either, I just think they could be used more.

I thought Sky were a bit off the mark in some of their observations when criticising Munster. Today they wanted the bonus pure and simple and chased it too early which affected their gameplan, whereas against Leicester it'll only be the win that will matter, so they'll build their points and with their gameplan the tries will inevitably come.

 

[Cymro]

I think Cardiff showed that they could compete with the best. I think both sides could have been punished more and to be honest the ref did slow the game down. If we want to talk about penalties I think that the ref poorly refed the scrum!

Anyway I think Cardiff missed to many oppertunities and made to many mistakes. Ben Blair missed allot of points for us. Which would have made the scoreboard a bit more respectable really.

Not taking anything away from Munster they played well.

 

[shtove]

Hayes keeps binding on the arm and headbutting the turf. But Williams was shameless in the rucks. So no side was hard done by on the penalty count. Unless you believe what those losers say on Gwlad.

Cardiff are better than Llanelli, but they have a long way to go. The Welsh think the way to win a serious competition is through helter-skelter, please-don't-tackle-me basketball. Worked in in 2005, because the French came out for the second half dressed as Santa Claus. Toulouse did the same thing today. But the world cup is coming, so that nonsense is out.

Munster have a lot of thinking to do. The Bourgoin match is a good opportunity to try something new in the centre. Murphy at 12, Mafi at 13.

 

[Cymro]

Hayes keeps binding on the arm and headbutting the turf. But Williams was shameless in the rucks. So no side was hard done by on the penalty count. Unless you believe what those losers say on Gwlad.

Cardiff are better than Llanelli, but they have a long way to go. The Welsh think the way to win a serious competition is through helter-skelter, please-don't-tackle-me basketball. Worked in in 2005, because the French came out for the second half dressed as Santa Claus. Toulouse did the same thing today. But the world cup is coming, so that nonsense is out.

Munster have a lot of thinking to do. The Bourgoin match is a good opportunity to try something new in the centre. Murphy at 12, Mafi at 13.
[/b]

I think Cardiff have a better pack than Llanelli do but Llaneli do have better backs than us! To be honest I think more players could have been yellow carded throughout the match!