Very interesting. Is BOD abuot to lose both captaincys or did Kidney tell him one or the other has to go? Crazy to give him both burdens.
Cullen is the most unLeinster looking Leinster player ever.
he went to blackrock college i believe but he has a head of a north tipp farmer on himā¦
i bet the o gara will be made the ireland captainā¦
Nah, Dec will never look past POC.
I donāt know about that mbbā¦i actually think it would irelandā¦leave o connell as the pack leader and let him concentrate on his own gameā¦make ronan captainā¦deccie loves him sureā¦if he is going to be running the game at 10 sure they might as well make him captainā¦but aside the captaincyā¦apart from rodge, o driscoll and paul i think that we need other leaders to emergeā¦in the back row especiallyā¦
Fair point. Also its good to remember that Munster captain is picked by players, Irish captain will be picked by Deccie.
Horgan needs to call it a day, had a great season last year when he played and got as fit as hes been in years but didnt get the chances because hes not up to the mark. Hes playing on to hit the ten consecutive years as a pro so he can claim the big tax back Id say, whod turn down the contract if offered? Hed still prob get a good wedge in England or France on the back fo two HEC medals. he hasnt been HEC standard since 1999 IMHO, and at that he was pushing it. Options are limited, O Boyle is an AIL player and not much more from what Iv seen. Barry Murphy has the brain and speed to cover the wing and Id prefer to see him getting games here
John O Sulivan, maybe should have stayed at Connacht alright, owed it to himself to give Munster a crack alright, too injury prone it seems. Will never be a front line Munster player, not a big enough ball carrier for an 8. Might be opportunities for him with Foley retired and Leamy injured but he needs to have trained on from even his best Connacht form to be worth his place. Another whod have made a great living in France where his connacht background would have been a big help.
Manning had decided to leave and made arrangements along those lines, got a run of games with Con at end of season and maybe saw Kidney leaving as opening a door for him. Needs to get games at Mag Lge level consistently to really see what hes made of, most of the times Iv seen him in the flesh he has played with TOL and TOL passing was brutal. I am convinced TOL passing is part of the reason Manning didnt succed, he needed quick front foot ball to get the backline moving, I think he was getting more practise as a fookin goalie with TOL inside him. He defo got injured at least three times from hospital passes, hes tiny as well which doesnt help. Diagnosis, one more season and oot the gap, might turn out to be a good player but wont ever be Munster HEC standard.
Im with Puke on captaincy issue, ROG for captain. DK has known him for 20 years, POC is a virtual stranger in comparison. Didnt know that MBB that Munster players picked the captain, strange one. Thin Kidney will only change the captain if BOD gives it up publicly though, needs to be managed cutely. CVullen is a good choice for Leinster, makes sense to have a forward captaining them as they have now changed there game completely, no sense BOD driving the bus if he doesnt know where they are going.
On BOD in general, if I had a few quiet moment with him Id tell him,
" stay out of the gym, get back on the pitch, lose a stone of fat and a stone of muscle and start playing rugby again. We dont need you out there putting back rows on there arse, leave that to the ugly lads from Tipp and Limerick. Wel carry you defensively if you carry us offensively, line breaks off loads tries assists, this is the shit that got you Amy Huberman, not doing John Hayes dirty work for him. Remember Paris."
FWIW I think there is a good season or two left in him, but he needs to lay off the training and gat back to basics. His pace and his brain were his best weapons, pace is gone but the brain can still pick those lines, shows some signs of the magic still, did so fookin well for Kearneys try v Scotland this year and support v Oz, but then against Oz he showed a few times that he has forgotten the basic skills of the game.
Id still take him over any other player in Europe for Munster, partly because of his quality and partly for sentimental reasons. A tough fooker, lot of repect for him down this end. Id cheer for him to win a HEC medal as loud a s I cheered in Cardiff on either occasion and thats a fact.
[quote=ādancarterā]
On BOD in general, if I had a few quiet moment with him Id tell him,
" stay out of the gym, get back on the pitch, lose a stone of fat and a stone of muscle and start playing rugby again. We dont need you out there putting back rows on there arse, leave that to the ugly lads from Tipp and Limerick. Wel carry you defensively if you carry us offensively, line breaks off loads tries assists, this is the shit that got you Amy Huberman, not doing John Hayes dirty work for him. Remember Paris."
FWIW I think there is a good season or two left in him, but he needs to lay off the training and gat back to basics. His pace and his brain were his best weapons, pace is gone but the brain can still pick those lines, shows some signs of the magic still, did so fookin well for Kearneys try v Scotland this year and support v Oz, but then against Oz he showed a few times that he has forgotten the basic skills of the game.
Id still take him over any other player in Europe for Munster, partly because of his quality and partly for sentimental reasons. A tough fooker, lot of repect for him down this end. Id cheer for him to win a HEC medal as loud a s I cheered in Cardiff on either occasion and thats a fact.[/quote]
Interesting stuff on BOD dan. Iām not a big fan of the Leinster rugby setup but I wouldnāt begrudge that guy a single match that he wins. I was talking to a mate of mine who has no interest in sport a couple of years back and mentioned BOD and his assumption was that:
a) he was a windy bastard and
http://www.thefreekick.com/board/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cool.gif he was a very average player
And yet anyone who follows any of the sport knows the very opposite of that to be the case. Really selfless guy (too much probably) and a pure class act.
I think heāll still be quality and I donāt think pace is as important a weapon for him. The difference between his rugby brain and DāArcyās is unreal. DāArcy has forgotten how to make line breaks and he canāt figure out the difference between going through the motions and running penetrating angles and accelerating at the right time. OāDriscoll has that game intelligence in spades. Canāt remember the match but in one of the early European games the season before last I think he had the ball in a 2v2 situation with Horgan or someone outside. He just passed the ball wide and Horgan went clean through and it looked unspectacular. Then when you saw it from behind the goals you saw his eye contact with his opposite number and a little hint of eye movement inside which fucked your man over and then the timing of release of the pass to the winger who danced around a statue. Thatās not something you can teach.
We probably had two line breaks in the whole world cup last year and both were OāDriscollās. Get him out of the rucks, let the back row justify their own selections, and get him making hay out wide.
[quote=ātherock67ā]Interesting stuff on BOD dan. Iām not a big fan of the Leinster rugby setup but I wouldnāt begrudge that guy a single match that he wins. I was talking to a mate of mine who has no interest in sport a couple of years back and mentioned BOD and his assumption was that:
a) he was a windy bastard and
http://www.thefreekick.com/board/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cool.gif he was a very average player
And yet anyone who follows any of the sport knows the very opposite of that to be the case. Really selfless guy (too much probably) and a pure class act.
I think heāll still be quality and I donāt think pace is as important a weapon for him. The difference between his rugby brain and DāArcyās is unreal. DāArcy has forgotten how to make line breaks and he canāt figure out the difference between going through the motions and running penetrating angles and accelerating at the right time. OāDriscoll has that game intelligence in spades. Canāt remember the match but in one of the early European games the season before last I think he had the ball in a 2v2 situation with Horgan or someone outside. He just passed the ball wide and Horgan went clean through and it looked unspectacular. Then when you saw it from behind the goals you saw his eye contact with his opposite number and a little hint of eye movement inside which fucked your man over and then the timing of release of the pass to the winger who danced around a statue. Thatās not something you can teach.
We probably had two line breaks in the whole world cup last year and both were OāDriscollās. Get him out of the rucks, let the back row justify their own selections, and get him making hay out wide.[/quote]
Ya its those generalisations again isnt it Rocko. because he talks right, wears nice gear hes a fancy dan D4 typical Leinster prick.
He plays Munster rugby, gets stuck into everything, big thing in Munster is if your a back you need to earn the forwards respect. BOD has that in spades. My favourite day watching Ireland was in Stade de France on the hat trick day, I met BOD after in trinian palace hotel and he was as wide eyed as us about it. when he has been absolved of the responsibility of leading others his game has imprvoed 100%, see Lions in Oz, he only needed to worry about No 1.
ROG is a far more selfish cunt, he will play for himself and lead by that example, he wont cry himself to sleep if he plays shit and has let the team down because he knows they wouldnt be there without him. The arrogance is the difference, goes against the stereotype that the arrogance is coming from Cork but there you go. Great rugby captains like Dallaglio/Johnson/Meads/Fitzpatrick/Farr Jones/Smith, all arrogant cocky fooks the lot of em. Thats why ROG will be captain.
Your right about the backrow, long ago when I started playing it was the backrows job to cover the centres back. When did this change? You dont see Dan Carter with his hole in the air digging out quick ruck ball, Jauzion isnt noted for his ground hogging nature and I doubt wel ever sit back admiring Cirpriani for doing the unseen work.
The two best talents of my generation in the NH, Wilkinson & BOD both made a wrong career move when they decided they would forsake there natural game for the sake of the team. Both have since been ravaged by injury and lack of form despite still being held in the utmost regard of there peers. Theres no I in team but a bit of selfishness out of your superstar is no bad thing.
The beauty of rugby was the fact that there is a place for everyone, 15 doesnt need to do No 1s job but they need to work together.
There is a place for the small butty lad with the electric turn of pace and super slo mo vision. Hopefully Kidney will reaslise this, and so will BOD.
On Leinster, had a real dislike for them a few years ago, Reggie, Big Vic, Shane Byrne, Easterby all sickened my shit. I like this vintage though, they play proper rugby, the forwards all do what they are supposed to and so do the backs. Its easy to understand and they play there hearts out 7.5 times out of 10.get that up to 8.5/10 and there is a HEC in them.
BTW, Darcy was never 10% player BOD was. A converted outside back, he made hay playing inside/outside the best back in world rugby at the time (inside and outside the two best backs for Ireland http://www.thefreekick.com/board/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cool.gif), whoopsy do.
He was found out when he got marked himself. Another lad who needs to go back to basics, if I were him Id be trying to oust Horgan from the wing in Leinster (or move to Munster) coz he wont see much of it competing with BOD, Fitz, Naceewa, Sexton, Contepomi this season
Typical wexford fook, the bit of a write up in the sunday papers got to him!!
from rte.ie
Munster have announced the signing of Western Province Stormers back row forward Justin Melck on a three month contract.
The 6ā 2" flanker made his Super 14 debut against The Highlanders in 2006 and has played 13 times for The Stormers as well as 31 times for Western Province.
The 25 year old former South African Under-21 international was educated at Rondebosch Boys High School and Fettes College and he captained Western Province during their Currie Cup campaign last year.
Know anything about him Puke? Iāve never heard of him, not sure what the idea is behind the 3 month contract - is it short-term cover or a chance for him to prove himself?
A try for Sonny Bill on his Toulon debut yesterday.
[quote=ātherock67ā]Know anything about him Puke? Iāve never heard of him, not sure what the idea is behind the 3 month contract - is it short-term cover or a chance for him to prove himself?
A try for Sonny Bill on his Toulon debut yesterday.[/quote]
never heardof him either, a trial by any other name id say
presume he has been brought in as a bit of cover while leamy is injured and while the elite boys are away for the autumn internationalsā¦is evans with the squad yet or does he have to see out his contract in new zealand yetā¦
nick williams I assume? he is having shoulder surgery before he comes over apparently, hauntingly familiar tale
soorry yeah williamsā¦presumed that was another reason why melck was signed because williams wouldnāt be on til december/januaryā¦whats up with his shoulder danā¦routine proceedure or major operationā¦
have a feeling melck will be another jake paringataiā¦
[quote=āThe Pukeā]soorry yeah williamsā¦presumed that was another reason why melck was signed because williams wouldnāt be on til december/januaryā¦whats up with his shoulder danā¦routine proceedure or major operationā¦
have a feeling melck will be another jake paringataiā¦[/quote]
jake P was a great success, Munster tried to keep him but he got a savage offer in japan I beleiveā¦they were v v pleased with him. Anytime I saw him he was very good.
Wouldnt be surprised to see him back at some stage
yeah but he got little or no time is what i mean danā¦only there as a stop gap measureā¦
oh ya your right, he was signed same story, but it was a trial, he passed but got a better offerā¦wonder was payne involved in recommending him
i dunnoā¦in fairness they have a fair good scouting network when it comes to bringing in southern hemisphere ladsā¦the likes of langfield, halstead, mafi and even tipoki etc when they could have shelled out big bucks instead and got some has been who just wanted a pay cheque and got there fingers burnedā¦i donāt think cullen solely came for the pay cheque but just couldnāt keep fit which was unfortunate but from what i have heard certian people make out that his work behind the scenes with younger players etc made up for his lack of game timeā¦keith earls is an exampleā¦
do munster have a proper scouting network or is it just going on the word of a few trusted lads down underā¦
[quote=āThe Pukeā]i dunnoā¦in fairness they have a fair good scouting network when it comes to bringing in southern hemisphere ladsā¦the likes of langfield, halstead, mafi and even tipoki etc when they could have shelled out big bucks instead and got some has been who just wanted a pay cheque and got there fingers burnedā¦i donāt think cullen solely came for the pay cheque but just couldnāt keep fit which was unfortunate but from what i have heard certian people make out that his work behind the scenes with younger players etc made up for his lack of game timeā¦keith earls is an exampleā¦
do munster have a proper scouting network or is it just going on the word of a few trusted lads down underā¦[/quote]
Agree 100% on Cullen, bad luck is all. if we got the opportunity to buy habana in the morning wed take it, same could happen to him. Cullen had no form with injuries.
No formal scouting network but not reliant on agents either Id say. Like you said there is a lotof ex players out there recommending players, none of them want to ruin there reputations either.
Holland brought mafi is one I can think of off top of my head