Nice to have a good laugh on a shite Monday, cheers Bandageā¦!
People rate Keith Earls higher than Girvan Dempsey!!! Thatās like Manchester United supporters watching Chris Eagles score a few pre-season friendly goals and deciding heās more valuable than Cristiano Ronaldo. An entirely laughable slight against the Terenure College stalwart.
ah in fairness bandage dempsey has been pasted it for the last 18 monthsā¦he is as solid a full back as you will see but solidity only gets you so farā¦
Iād have to agree with Bandage on this one. Earls looks like a great prospect but 3 tries against a very poor Dragons side does not an international full-back make.
Hope Kearns gets FB at the Lions this year, its time for him to be given his head. Dempsey shuld begin the shuffle to the sideline, the jersey should be Kearnsā to lose.
[quote=ādancarterā]Good win alright considering the average perfromance, Cardiff are a good side though to be fair.
Il come back to the match later but Mafi for the All Blacks? Cant agree with that Puke.
He has improved 100% since he got here but there would nearly need to be the same improvement again I think. Its a problem position for the AB in fairness but hes not phyiscal enough i dont think and his distribution is slightly above average and he cant kick to save his life and this will hold him back i think.
Dont get me wrong, id love to see it happening for him. He has brought something to Munster back play, serious ambition going forward and always looking for the offload but I dont think he is close to being All Black quality.
Enthusiasm and energy will take you so far but hes missing a few core skills IMHOā¦saying that if he imrpvoes as much this season and next season as he has up to now he might have a squeak alrightā¦but thats a big ask.[/quote]
in certain areas he is lacking dan but i think that he is unrecognisable from the player that joined munster less than two years agoā¦his passing and kicking arenāt up to top class international standards and can lack a bit of discipline at times but new zealand havenāt too much at 12 or 13 and if he keeps going and went back and maintained his form and scope for improvement in the super 14 i donāt think he would be far away(also if luke macallister stays in europe)ā¦in fairness ma nonuās hands and distribution arenāt that great although he makes up for this with his strength and physicalityā¦
If I was picking a team to play the All Blacks in the morning Id pick dempsey, If I was making a signing for my team in the morning id pick Earls.
Dempsey best days are behind him, very underrated player who scored a lot of tries for leinster and never let anyone down.
Earls best days are all ahead of him hopefully.
BTW Bandage, cracking my shite here at your comparison of Dempsey and Ronaldo. Im sure Girve would be too http://www.thefreekick.com/board/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif
I know Fran but letās not criticise them too much for getting carried away. They should enjoy watching Earls develop and savour every moment of it because they might just have to wait a further 30 years to bring through their next home grown outside back of decent quality.
Fair enough dan, it was a sloppy enough comparison. Ronaldo oftens flatters to deceive on the big stage (even his goal in Moscow was followed up by a penalty miss in the shoot-out) while Girvās the type of guy who scores big tries against England and is rock solid under extreme pressure. But forgive me if thereās a few blips in my recent rugby analysis, I only support Leinster for games against Munster and for latter stages of the European Cup.
You just couldnāt resist that could you 
Brilliant.
High-profile rivalry benefits national side
In this section
Leinster pair ready for debutsScottish rugby react to banGERRY THORNLEYON RUGBY: Leinster versus Munster, there probably wonāt be a better all-Irish match this season, writes Gerry Thornley
FOR YEARS there was undoubtedly a definite policy by the Irish management and the IRFU to keep Leinster and Munster at armās length. But now they meet at least twice per season with neāer a hint of anyone being held back. Everybody wants to play, and for the supporters as well it has become the stand-out fixture outside of Heineken Cup matches. Is this for the better of Irish rugby? The answer is a no-brainer.
In times past the fixtures invariably coincided with Test windows or if they didnāt, the front-liners were pulled into an international camp anyway. There had been a run of good games, at full-strength, in the late 1990s, ironically when the interpros became a six series, home-and-away format and was never stronger.
With the advent of the then Celtic League in the 2001-02 season, there was a hint of what was to come when the two provinces reached the competitionās inaugural final. They couldnāt very well be wrapped in cotton wool for that one and a crowd of over 30,000 witnessed a surprise, and stirring 24-20 win by a 14-man Leinster in December '01. Like never before, and perhaps for the first time in history, the old ground echoed to the unfamiliar strains of āLein-ster, Lein-sterā.
There would be a bitter 6-6 draw toward the end of that season in Musgrave Park, when the ball and the scoreboard appeared to be incidentals to the bitter feuding on the pitch, at which point the interpros were sadly disbanded. One wonders why they couldnāt be revived, complete with some kind of prize, given the provinces play each other twice every season now anyway.
It was as if that Musgrave Park draw set off alarm bells. In any event, they didnāt meet at all the following season, 2002-ā03, and in the next two seasons their fixtures either fell in September (during the front-linersā ongoing pre-season) or on the eve of the Six Nations.
Not the least maddening aspect of this āarrangementā was it denied both teams, supporters, the respective branches and the league of what always had the makings of a marquee fixture. Finally, over three years since the inaugural league final, the players were let off their leashes and, with both at full-strength, Munster outmuscled Leinster 18-13 at Musgrave Park in January '05.
All changed irrevocably the following season, when the front-linersā pre-season ended in time for Munster and Leinster to lock horns in October, a week before the Heineken Cup started. Munster thrashed a crestfallen Leinster 33-9, by four tries to nil, in Musgrave Park. Leinster avenged that defeat the following New Yearās Eve, when Felipe Contepomi practically jumped into the crowd to score his second and Leinsterās fourth try in a 35-23 win at the RDS.
Then came the mother of all battles, the '06 Heineken Cup semi-final in Lansdowne Road, the Red Armyās invasion of Lansdowne Road that sunny Sunday in April, and Ronan OāGara scaling the in-goal advertising hoardings after clinching Munsterās clinical 30-6 win.
Suddenly a terrible new beauty was born. There was no turning back after that.
The kid-gloves approach undoubtedly diluted the rivalry, with Leinster-Munster games only occasionally fulfilling the criteria of what Clive Woodward would deem: Massively Full On. But now the gloves are off, especially so between the rival supporters.
A new breed of rugby fan has evolved in all the provinces. One ventures that in the vast majority of cases, they rarely if ever see the sky over their local club ground. In many cases too, they probably havenāt had access to tickets for Irish games, especially for home matches, although the increased capacity of Croke Park must have changed that to a degree. In any event, several thousand hardcore supporters would probably put their province above even their country.
Amid the fansā own increasingly bitter, whatever about sweet, rivalry, the rumour mill would have it it has also divided the Irish squad - never more so than during the ill-fated World Cup campaign almost one long, long year ago. It became like an episode of Big Brother, albeit with less access to what was going on behind closed doors, but in truth there is no evidence whatsoever that the rumours had any substance. More likely people were looking for reasons that didnāt exist to explain away such a lamentably ill-prepared and managed campaign.
For sure, there have been some āverbalsā on the pitch during these games, although given players such as Peter Clohessy and Mick Galwey took part in the fixture, this is hardly unique. Granted too, it became especially bitter between Contepomi and the likes of OāGara, Donncha OāCallaghan and Denis Leamy.
Ironically though, there appeared to be a notable effort by all parties to tone this down last season, and all the while, the matches have remained compelling, with the sides trading handsome home wins two seasons ago before Leinsterās double last season. That makes eight cracking games in a row, all of which have been beneficial for Irish rugby, not least because the leading players now earn respect from each other whenever they meet.
High-profile rivalries underpin all successful international sides. The rivalry between Leicester and Wasps, in latter years, has appeared to verge on hatred but it didnāt stop the two clubs backboning Englandās World Cup win in 2003 or reaching the final last year. Nor did the Barcelona-Real Madrid rivalry in Spain prevent them from winning the European Championships. Trawl through all the leading rugby nations, and be it Auckland/Waikato, Otago/Canterbury, the Waratahs and either the Reds or the Brumbies (depending on the era, for these are cyclical as well), Toulouse and Stade Francais, and itās the same, not just in rugby but in virtually all professional team sports.
A week before the next instalment, despite a spectator-unfriendly Sunday evening kick-off designed primarily with the armchair pundit in mind, it is already an 18,500 sell-out. There probably wonāt be a better all-Irish rugby match this season, save, perhaps, for the return game.
The game in this country has never had anything quite like it. Irish rugby should, by rights, be proud of Leinster versus Munster.
2008 The Irish Times
Decent article from Thornley and fully agree that there should be a provincial trophy awarded to the winner of the interpro series that forms part of the Celtic League.
Some of itās a bit off though. I donāt think competitive Leinster-Munster games have harmed Irish rugby but they did coincide with a dramatic drop-off in performance and thatās a point thatās worth addressing. You canāt ask the rhetorical question about the betterment of Irish rugby at the start of the piece and then fail to address the fact that Irish rugby has deteriorated over the same period.
Also I hate when he brings in soccer analogies as he has a tendency to do of late. He knows nothing about the game and comparing Real Madrid-Barcelona and all the associated political impact on the national team to a Muster-Leinster game is just ridiculous. Spain has long suffered from the independence of Catalan and Basque players (and justifiably so from their perspectives) - that rivalry has done nothing to improve Spainās football team.
Also think the Auckland-Canterbury rivalry is far bigger than the more local NZ battles he describes.
Anyone read the serialisation of Axels book in Sundays Trib, not a bad feeler, think Iāll be picking it up myself. Fewer and fewer lads playing who bridge the gap between Amateur and Professional eras.
Wouldnāt mind heading to this on Sunday night but need to check what American Football game Sky Sports are covering live at 6pm. I hear itās a sell-out though - anyone know the best place to pick up a ticket on the night? Would there be a possibility of picking up one in the pubs around Ballsbridge? I havenāt been to a Leinster Magnerās League game since 2005 when I was amazed to see substitutes warming up on the pitch while the game was in progress.
IRB player of the year
from rte.ie
New Zealand fly-half Dan Carter, Italy captain Sergio Parisse, Scotland scrum-half Mike Blair and Wales pair Shane Williams and Ryan Jones have been nominated for the 2008 IRB Player of the Year.
The nominees were selected by an independent panel of judges, comprising former internationals with over 500 Test caps between them.
Tana Umaga, Raphael Ibanez, Will Greenwood, Francois Pienaar, Agustin Pichot, Gavin Hastings, Scott Quinnell, Paul Wallace and convenor John Eales watched over 47 hours of action from 35 matches, awarding points to the three players they thought stood out in each match.
The panel will reconvene during the November Tests when the Player of the Year will be selected, with the winner announced at the IRB Awards in London on 23 November.
āThe IRB Player of the Year Award is the ultimate accolade for a player and takes into account performances in all the major internationals played during the year including the RBS 6 Nations, Tri-Nations and the June-July Tests,ā said IRB chairman Bernard Lapasset.ā
ryan jones for meā¦
also from rte.ie
The Munster squad of 22 for Sundayās Magners League clash with Leinster at the RDS shows six changes from the squad which faced the Cardiff Blues.
Keith Earls returns in place of Denis Hurley and Paul Warwick gets the nod over Jeremy Manning in the only changes to the backs.
Up front, Frankie Sheahan comes in in place of Denis Fogarty, Marcus Horan and Donncha OāCallaghan replace Tony Buckley and Mick OāDriscoll respectively, while David Wallace also returns with Niall Ronan making way for the 47 times capped Irish international.
Munster will announce their starting XV and replacements on Friday after their morning training session, and the squad will travel to Dublin on Saturday afternoon.
MUNSTER squad to face Leinster in the Magners League at the RDS on Sunday, kick-off 7.00pm:
K Earls, D Howlett, B Murphy, R Tipoki, L Mafi, I Dowling, R OāGara, P Warwick, T OāLeary, P Stringer, F Pucciariello, M Horan, F Sheahan, J Flannery, J Hayes, D OāCallaghan, P OāConnel, D Ryan, J OāSullivan, J Melck, A Quinlan, D Wallace
[quote=āThe Pukeā]from rte.ie
New Zealand fly-half Dan Carter, Italy captain Sergio Parisse, Scotland scrum-half Mike Blair and Wales pair Shane Williams and Ryan Jones have been nominated for the 2008 IRB Player of the Year.
The nominees were selected by an independent panel of judges, comprising former internationals with over 500 Test caps between them.
Tana Umaga, Raphael Ibanez, Will Greenwood, Francois Pienaar, Agustin Pichot, Gavin Hastings, Scott Quinnell, Paul Wallace and convenor John Eales watched over 47 hours of action from 35 matches, awarding points to the three players they thought stood out in each match.
The panel will reconvene during the November Tests when the Player of the Year will be selected, with the winner announced at the IRB Awards in London on 23 November.
āThe IRB Player of the Year Award is the ultimate accolade for a player and takes into account performances in all the major internationals played during the year including the RBS 6 Nations, Tri-Nations and the June-July Tests,ā said IRB chairman Bernard Lapasset.ā
ryan jones for meā¦[/quote]
Big Northern Hemisphere bias in the panel.
Iād say Parisse, Jones or Williams.
Dan Carter wasnāt good enough this season, Mike Blair is decent but itās an indictment of the year if heās IRB Player of 2008.
Hope Parisse gets it but itās unlikely - his reward will be the nomination.
[quote=ātherock67ā]Big Northern Hemisphere bias in the panel.
Iād say Parisse, Jones or Williams.
Dan Carter wasnāt good enough this season, Mike Blair is decent but itās an indictment of the year if heās IRB Player of 2008.
Hope Parisse gets it but itās unlikely - his reward will be the nomination.[/quote]
this award is a bit of a jokeā¦martin corry won it the same year that england lost 6 games in a row and were attrocious all yearā¦
Was Regan King nominated one year for doing fuck all as well?