Munster, celtic league, heineken cup, general and tag rugby thread 🐐

Sport
661

[quote=“HangBlaa”]Our own Dan Carter could probably do it, he has already admitted to watch about 9 hours of rugby at the weekend.

Aside, ROG was stink on Friday night, but the service he got from stringer was muck and also his wife was epecting twins who were born on saturday morning, so his mind may have been elsewhere.[/quote]

have to agree.
was stuck in the front of the south terrace (bit like watching a club match from the sideline, subs getting in the way) and anytime he went to pass off his left neither stringer nor rog knew where the ball would end up.
it drives me absolutely mad to think a professional of his experience can’t pass off his weak hand (especially when the other aspects of his game aren’t top notch, and his passing has always been the prime reason for his selection)

as for the traffic, left dublin at 3.25 and got to the terrace about 5 mins into the game. thank you laois co. council and all the muppets in mountrath.

DC, I’m not questioning nacewa’s ability to play 10 (although he didn’t play the majority of his super 14 career at 10), merely saying that it’s a poor show from the coaching staff that both their regular out-halves of last season are now behind him in the pecking order.
and obviously not a great scenario for the irish squad either.

662

that was a shit match too.

Munster = shocking bad performance.

663

Shit it may have been (I didn’t watch it) but getting a bonus point away from home was better work last weekend than Munster stinking out the lovely new Thomond Park.

664

I hope they all get hammered. Munster were poxed and while Leinster may have won they will always fold against a phsyical team.

665

agreed!

666

[quote=“HangBlaa”]Thought he had a gig as Munsters video analyst. Always thought he would be a decent premiership player ok.

.[/quote]

he wasnt suited to it and wel say no more

667

To be fair those road works were well flagged. There’s ways around.

668

That sounds like an interesting story, I’ll have a PM if theres one going.

669

Agreed that the triple crown isn’t all its cracked up to be, but there are 14 others on the team and no man can win a tournament on his own. Even Wilkinson had an almighty crew around him when England won the WC.
He’s looked “chunky” the last few years alright but thought he looked very trim on Saturday- as an aside his bird seems to have lost a lot of weight, saw her on the CLinic last night and she was looking in need of a good dinner or two.
Also interesting to note his perfect grounding of the ball for his try- there was no way he was going to let that one slip away- its a long time from Jan 06 (I think) for him to score for Leinster. Genuinely I don’t believe he c ould have been much better, he goes through savage work in a match and unfortunately spends far too much making up for his respective teams lack of a genuine openside by scrapping for ball on the ground at ruck time.
ANyway I think there’s life in the old dog yet!

WBY

670

[quote=“W.B. Yeats”]Agreed that the triple crown isn’t all its cracked up to be, but there are 14 others on the team and no man can win a tournament on his own. Even Wilkinson had an almighty crew around him when England won the WC.
He’s looked “chunky” the last few years alright but thought he looked very trim on Saturday- as an aside his bird seems to have lost a lot of weight, saw her on the CLinic last night and she was looking in need of a good dinner or two.
Also interesting to note his perfect grounding of the ball for his try- there was no way he was going to let that one slip away- its a long time from Jan 06 (I think) for him to score for Leinster. Genuinely I don’t believe he c ould have been much better, he goes through savage work in a match and unfortunately spends far too much making up for his respective teams lack of a genuine openside by scrapping for ball on the ground at ruck time.
ANyway I think there’s life in the old dog yet!

WBY[/quote]

WBY/SS*

See below my comments copied from a post on this thread on the topic of BOD from 26/8/08
Thought he was v good at the weekend by the way.

SS* do you judge Ciaran Carey & Paul McGrath with the same high standards i.e. no medals, no quality, underachiever? (mcgrath prob is in fairness but in a team game theres only so much one can do)

Post # 246
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.

#248
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.

671

[quote=“dancarter”]WBY/SS*

See below my comments copied from a post on this thread on the topic of BOD from 26/8/08
Thought he was v good at the weekend by the way.

SS* do you judge Ciaran Carey & Paul McGrath with the same high standards i.e. no medals, no quality, underachiever? (mcgrath prob is in fairness but in a team game theres only so much one can do)

Post # 246
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.

#248
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.[/quote]

All too true Dan.
I’m a real fan of BOD, I do think that he has been overtrained and my opinion was that he should have been told to fuck off for 5/6 months and rest after getting injured in the six nations. There was no way that he should have been brought back for some mickey mouse Magners League games and then for a nothing tour to the South.
There aren’t many like him and we should be doing absolutely everything to prolong his career. I suspect we’ll see a lot more of him at first centre, with Fitzgerald at second centre. His game brain will be worth even more in the more confined space.
I was never a fan of his captaincy didn’t think he had it to be a topclass captain so I’d be really happy to let someone else have it.
The only problem is that I don’t believe that OConnell has the rugby smarts to change the game plan on the hoof, not sure about OGara either, how he didn’t change the strategy on Friday night was something I can’t believe. Munster were a little like Ireland in the RWC, all huff and puff but nothing to show for it.
Anyway who should be the next Ireland captain is nothing to do with the fact that Brian is an absolute total ledge!

WBY

672

You may have a point there Dan regarding judging players on medals alone, but at least Carey did win two Munster medals and a Munster Club medal while also playing in an All Ireland club final and two All Ireland Finals. McGrath won an FA Cup.

The first paragraph of your # 246 post is what I mean though, he looks over weight, I know they say you need to be bulkier nowadays but I think it has taken the sting out of him. When he started off he looked like an old fashioned back in that he was as skinny as Dick Spring, these days he’s pudgy. Whether there’s a correlation between the two I don’t know.

In fairness maybe I am a bit down on Drico. No hard feelings Drico if you’re out there. :wink:

673

Surprised this was allowed slip to the third page in the middle of 2 Heineken Cup games. Whats the thoughts for the weekend lads? Leinster, fresh from last weekends bogey win with a big game against Wasps. Munster, smarting from an embarrasing opening game against Montaubaun (sp?) with a potential huge game against Sale. Connacht, hitting form over the past few weeks with a belter of a game in a sell out sportsground against London Irish, and the lads up north trying to restore some pride against the 'Quins.

If things go well, I think the 3 provinces we care about could get wins this weekend which would be fantastic. I’ve written off Ulsters chances as they’ve gone to shite completely. Was going to try and head to the RDS tomorrow but the Leinster Site seems to be crashed so not sure if theres any tickets available.

Whats your thoughts lads?

A treble on Connacht, Leinster and Munster pays just over 8/1

674

I would expect Leinster to win comfortably and I want to wish the great Felipe Contepomi all the best ahead of his 100th cap. I think Ulster have a great chance against Quins and I think Connacht will give a good account of themselves but lose by 7-10 points against a strong Exiles side. I think Munster have it all to do against Stockport County as Edgeley Park is always a difficult place to go. I reckon they’ll lose a typically dogged contest dominated by the boot quite narrowly and be all but out of the competition after 2 games.

675

Trying not to read too much into the first round of games but I’d think Leinster should beat Wasps while Munster will find it very difficult at Sale.

Think Leinster looked impressive as an attacking force last week and Wasps have been up and down this season. Wouldn’t fancy Leinster in Wycombe (if that’s where Wasps still play) but over here I think they’ll be galvanised by the win last week and should be able to grab a win.

Munster will find it much tougher I reckon. McAllister is playing superbly apparently and it’s a tight pitch over there which doesn’t really suit Munster’s more expansive style these days. Handling will have to be an awful lot better and protection of the ball in contact will be huge. Still actually expect Munster to grab a win though.

Haven’t seen enough of Ulster, Quins, Connacht or Lirish to comment on those ones.

676

I just hope Dr Phil can get over these rumours about his marriage breaking up.

677

the wasps v leinster game has been switchee to twickers i believe…

678

That’s the return game in January mate

679

that is what i am on about…that is why i said wasps v leinster and not leinster v wasps…although i could have made this a bit clearer by quoting rock and his

Wouldn’t fancy Leinster in Wycombe (if that’s where Wasps still play)

680

The Leinster-Wasps game is on the RDS tomorrow, Puke.