Munster vs Biarritz Olympique

[de premier]

Big game. Hopefully we will do the business.

 

[lynam1104]

Same team was put ot origaly but now Howlet and Dowling are out, Hurley takes dowlings spot and Mafi is in for Howlet.

 

[dangandan]

more than capable replacements. mafi i think looked good out on the wing last time out and hurley is solid. hope earls has a cracker.

 

[Mr.cyclopede]

Not really a fork, but how much does this deserve Mr Flannery ?

 

[Charles]

Not really a fork, but how much does this deserve Mr Flannery ?

It's called gouging in english.

 

[Mr.cyclopede]

Oups
As soon as we can place a word relative to cooking... !!

Hari looks like a knight with this protection

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

No tries but BOPB have done a complete demolition job on Munster. A totally deserved 18-7 victory for the Basques who dominated the scrum and obliterated their opponent's lineout.The balance of power in European rugby clearly lies in France and the Top 14.

As for Munster, it's time to rebuild their ageing squad. Hayes, Wallace (unfortunately) and Stringer are past it while O'Gara, Horan and Quinlan aren't far off that stage.

Toulouse will rip Biarritz apart in the final I feel.

Edit - What did Flannery do?

 

[iWin]

It's a credit to Biarritz that even with their bad patches they never allowed themselves to be shut out of the game.
Somehow they won, even with a back three that failed to function and an inside centre that dropped everything.

I think the results of the knockouts are actually a fair representation of NH rugby at the moment: France>Ireland>The others.

 

[dangandan]

haha so they kick the ball away all game until the last 5 min till they realise that it isnt working so they run the ball aimlessly out of desperation. i really thought they were looking smart at the start but then they stopped building phases and just kicked what little possession they had. they have guys like jdv, earls, mafi and warwick who caused problems when they actually got the ball. ah well. good on biarritz for taking the points when offered to them. thought they couldve laid a better platform with their dominant scrum but was quite messy. duno if thats cos of the ref. anyway i think it's toulouse's year but good luck to both.

 

[munstermuffin]

Well lads just on bus travelling back to Biarritz airport very downhearted.
Snoop I agree with you that Hayes is at an end but well disagree with Wally who played well. As for Flannery (if we on about same incident he poked Harinordoquy in chest) there was nothing near his face and well no Biarritz player even reacted.

As for the match well after a good start we lost our shape and discipline and Biarritz had excellent discipline.
ROG was ok today but restarts were poor and well Warwick wasn't himself although rumours were circulating that he was out due to his daughter been operated on Thursday and his mind was probably preoccupied.
What lost us the game in my opinion is
- For last few weeks it clear we poor throwing long line-outs so why do it so much
- Scrum just collapsed
- Stupid penaties conceded ( and Yachivili is a deadly kicker)
- Can't fault backrow but they tired alot in 2nd half and that effected us

Can't argue but only congratulate Biarritz for great night last night and their win today. But lads where i worry again is Irelands front-row. Cian Healy's game has went into a very fast rewind and he is gone to dogs, Hayes is not same man no more, Horan is ok maybe for summer autumn and it a stretch getting to 6nations but in World Cup thinking a no no. We are screwed.

 

[dangandan]

hopefully 2 young super props come through the academies in the next few months

 

[monkeypigeon]

Seemed to lack a game plan again under Tony McMahon.

Well played by Biarritz, very good discipline and they took their chances. Which is what matters.

Balshaw...LARK!

And if it weren't for it being a World Cup year next year, I'd be screaming for a transitional season where we let the young players loose and see how they develop.

The likes of DuncalnWilliams, Deasy. Zebo, Nagle (if he bulks up), O'Mahony....Frank Butler perhaps?, Lord Denning, Tommy O'Donnell. Maybe half of them will fail, but at least we'll know where we are with the future. But like I said. World Cup year.

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

Seemed to lack a game plan again under Tony McMahon.

Well played by Biarritz, very good discipline and they took their chances. Which is what matters.

Balshaw...LARK!

And if it weren't for it being a World Cup year next year, I'd be screaming for a transitional season where we let the young players loose and see how they develop.

The likes of DuncalnWilliams, Deasy. Zebo, Nagle (if he bulks up), O'Mahony....Frank Butler perhaps?, Lord Denning, Tommy O'Donnell. Maybe half of them will fail, but at least we'll know where we are with the future. But like I said. World Cup year.

I agree with a lot of this.

32, 31, 36, 31, 31, 35, 33, 29 - those are the ages of the players who started in Munster's pack today. Then you've got 33 year old Ronan O'Gara and Jean De Villiers who's leaving in a month who also started today. Paul O'Connell and Doug Howlett who would have started today are both in their 30s also. Tony McGahan has no choice but to try rebuild this team but will he be allowed the latitude by fans when Munster lose a few games next year? Rebuilding the team will be a two year job whether McGahan or somebody else coaches the team.

Next season it's imperative that he makes changes to the pack. Hayes is finished - Buckley is the only other option at 3. Donnacha Ryan must be given a chance to stake a claim alongside Paul O'Connell in the Heineken Cup starting team. Peter O'Mahoney must be given every opportunity to take Alan Quinlan's place. Dave Ryan needs a lot of gametime at loosehead in the Magners League. I firmly believe that Munster should go with a pack of Horan, Flannery, Buckley, Ryan, O'Connell, O'Mahoney, Wallace, Leamy (subs Varley, Ryan, AN Other, O'Callaghan, Quinlan) for their big games next year. If Buckley fails having been given a chance, a new tighthead must be recruited. Munster should also offer the sun, the moon and the stars to bring in Sean Cronin in 12 months time.

If Munster delay the changing of the guard in the pack much longer, days like today will become a lot more frequent. It should be Anthony Foley coaching them too - Laurie Fisher has been quite poor since taking charge of the forwards whereas Foley has been brilliant with their A squad.

 

[Mr.cyclopede]

I'm not like Munstermuffin for ROG. I think he clearly took bad decisions that could have led to at least one try (orientating the game one the wromg side, as on refere's one a highway to lineout was open).

Very unfortunate for Munster who broke many times the frontline (never easy with BTZ) but were very poor in finishing the actions. The frontrow was definately but, at the opposite of Leinster yesterday, Munster found many solutions in the first defense line, but the backline didn't correctly use them.
Not especially glad of a 100% French final, should have been better for the ambiance to have a international match on the final.

 

[shtove]

No criticisms of the players. BO destroyed the scrum and lineout, so Munster did well to stay in the match. They had one lovely try - could have had a second, but Flannery's pass was just a bit awkward for ROG.

Interesting to see so much maturity in French rugby since the start of the year, especially after two years of shifting selection policy for the national team. Hope they don't forget how to take risks.

We had a sweepstake to see how long it would take to rip off Harinord's Man In The Iron Mask contraption - but it stayed on all the way through! Fair dues to him - he clearly played through alot of rib pain, which feels like getting stabbed.

Moment of the match - Buckley picking up BO's tighthead at a ruck and throwing him away.

 

[coonor]

I think Munsters defence was brilliant in the fisrt and most of the second half. today BO won because they had great dicipline, they gave away one penalty in a kickable range and that was the on in the 81 minute when Munster were playing for pride. Munsters scrum was dreadful. Don't get me wrong Hayes is a fabulous player but he has to go now, Buckley just needs the match time to develope as a player. I think our lineout was average for a team but not for Munster however BO pulling the arms of the jumpers so a few penelties were missed there. Munster need to rebuild their team. they need someone that can really unleash the whole of the backs and has alot of spark.

by the way Buckley must be very strong to throw a player by his shirt, it looked like he did it with ease lol

 

[iWin]

No criticisms of the players. BO destroyed the scrum and lineout, so Munster did well to stay in the match. They had one lovely try - could have had a second, but Flannery's pass was just a bit awkward for ROG.

Interesting to see so much maturity in French rugby since the start of the year, especially after two years of shifting selection policy for the national team. Hope they don't forget how to take risks.

We had a sweepstake to see how long it would take to rip off Harinord's Man In The Iron Mask contraption - but it stayed on all the way through! Fair dues to him - he clearly played through alot of rib pain, which feels like getting stabbed.

Moment of the match - Buckley picking up BO's tighthead at a ruck and throwing him away.

That was a 13 on his back, not 3. Did he really look like a prop's build to you?
To be fair, my dad made the same mistake, so I assume we're talking about the same incident.

 

[munstermuffin]

Lads just home but on flight had a long think and well snoop I agree with you in some area's and well Donnacha Ryan is a player that has really grown on me in past 2 years and he is going to be good but if DOC is playing better he should be picked but i agree on thinking. Quinny will probably be impact sub next year and well regards your pack snoop I really think Niall Ronan has been impressive and can be a good player. As for pack I really think Varley deserves a shot at hooker as well he is only man we have that can throw his darts perfectly to front and back, is a good scrummager and well if we can get him like Fla around the park he could be a great option although I surprised Cronin is been left in Galway for another season.
Snoop it also kills me to say it but regards O'Gara reality is Warwick is only other option at 10 and we don't have talent coming through in that position.

But I glad someone else notices Fisher is not a good coach. I have always said this because I like to study warm-ups and my beliefs are that a forwards coach should be in with his pack before match talking to them and firing them up but Fisher always seems to be out on pitch checking grass or something and not really doing much which annoys me.

As for rebuildinng well Snoop i think it can be done with winning as in reality Munster really care about H Cup and well Magners we compete in but well if we lost in it the hurt wouldn't be the same so McGahan or McMahon (Monkey's coach ) can use that to blend players in gradually but the trick is not to do it altogether and well constantly rotate.

But well I dont think future is that bleak and it easy say they finished and all that but in reality lads even if we were in our prime going to Basque region to play Biarritz was always a difficult assignment.
I agree we need to bring in more and develop more but we have to do it in a proper way.

 

[shtove]

That was a 13 on his back, not 3. Did he really look like a prop's build to you?
To be fair, my dad made the same mistake, so I assume we're talking about the same incident.

Haha! Thought it looked a bit easy. Good laugh for everyone in our house.

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

But well I dont think future is that bleak and it easy say they finished and all that but in reality lads even if we were in our prime going to Basque region to play Biarritz was always a difficult assignment.

I agree with this. If you ever visit a site like LF.com, there's much triumphalism about, declaring that Munster are old, need to rebuild and Leinster are a far better team. Bullshit basically since it doesn't acknowledge that more than 1/3 of the Leinster side have perhaps 2 years left as pro players (O'Driscoll, D'arcy, Fogarty, Wright, Hines , Cullen). With Jean De Villiers, Nick Williams and Julien Brugnaut leaving, it opens up three NIQ spots. Sign the right players and Munster can approach their rebuilding phase with some confidence. Did you hear the rumours coming from Galway that Ian Keatley has been approached by Munster management?

What's the prognosis on Damien Traille? Will he be fit for the final?