Dragons v Munster

[An Tarbh]

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Dragons v Munster</div>

By the time kickoff comes round one of the Ospreys or Leinster should be top of the table so Munster will be looking to get their lead back on Saturday evening at Rodney Parade, unless there's a draw in Swansea.

Munster have seen Leamy, Stringer and O'Driscoll all released from the Ireland squad for this trip to Newport.

In the reverse fixture we saw Keith Earls mark his season debut with a hat trick at Musgrave Park so he'll be looking for a repeat performance on Saturday with the hope of maybe getting a place on the bench for the final 2 games.

The Dragons though have been difficult to beat at Rodney Parade and Munster certainly won't have a walkover as Ulster found out last time round. Charteris and Thomas have been retained by the Welsh squad though.

Should be an away win but not as comprehensive as the first match this season.

 

[An Tarbh]

Munster: Denis Hurley; Kieran Lewis, Keith Earls, Lifeimi Mafi, Ciaran O'Boyle; Paul Warwick, Peter Stringer; Darragh Hurley, Denis Fogarty, Tony Buckley; Mick O'Driscoll capt, Donnacha Ryan; Alan Quinlan, Denis Leamy, Nick Williams.

Replacements: Michael Essex, Timmy Ryan, Billy Holland, Niall Ronan, Duncan Williams, Jeremy Manning, Anthony Horgan.

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

Munster's front row and back three look weak but the rest of their team is very strong. Hopefully the Dragons can exploit Munster's weaknesses and allow Leinster, via a glorious bonus point victory over the Ospreys, claim top spot in the table. I'm entitled to dream aren't I?!!

In all seriousness, the Dragons are becoming a very competitive team. I could see them sneaking a win but there'll be no more than 7 points in it either way. It's a great time for them to face Munster who are without a lot of key players due to Six Nations involvement.

 

[An Tarbh]

There was such high hopes for Lewis but he's just gone to shite so quickly.

 

[MunsterMan]

Jesus look at that back row, When you take Donnacha Ryan's presence into account it I think The Dragon's are going to get bullied severely up front. The front row are all superb superb competitors at the breakdown too, Scrum could be weak though but I am not too worried. Kieran Lewis and Fogs line out throwing are the only weaknesses IMO.

Good to see Holland, Williams, Essex and Ryan on the bench too. Hopefully Williams gets a chance to impress.

 

[shtove]

Munster do not disappoint. Sealed the game when down to 14. Pick and go was very disciplined, and Horgan took the try with a bit of venom. Great team.

 

[candybum]

how is Nick Williams doing?

 

[danny]

Just discovered the joys of S4C with English comentary, pity it was such a dreadful advertisment for the magners league.

 

[dullonien]

Dragon's were dissapointing, they blew a golden opportunity to claim a win against Munster tonight i thought. They dominated up front for large periods of the match only for dreadful skills in the backs to mess things up. Muster handed them a lesson in taking chances, and for that Muster deserved the win.

From the Dragon's point of view, I thought Bearman, Rhys Thomas, Tovey and that new Scottish second row had excellent games. The young Lydiyte also had an impressive cameo. Ashley smith was good in general, but passing was a general problem lol. They are putting together an impressive squad that has been steadily improving, and considering the majority are under 25, given a few years they'll turn these 'good performances' into wins. Tovey especially should be the kinda player they can build a team around, he's very assured for a 19 year old, some of his kicking from hand today was magnificent. They need to play him at 10 week in week out now, he's already surpassed Allridge and Connor!

 

[cyRil]

Hopefully Tovey will be at a bigger club within the next 2 years. He looks like he could be awesome.

 

[MunsterMan]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (candybum @ Mar 7 2009, 10:33 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

how is Nick Williams doing?[/b]

Alright, not his kind of game. He is still not fit enough for rugby at this level IMO, so I'm reserving judgement until next season. Has been getting better every game though since his first performance so maybe with a proper preseason he will be up to it.

 

[Sir Speedy]

Mmm... WTF was Rhys Thomas doing trying to score in the corner? The momentum the Dragons were building up to his waste of an opportunity was immense, yet instead of going through the phases he tries to do a Shane Williams...

Also, *sigh* at Arlidge.

 

[Ozzay]

I had 2 free tickets to go see this, As already said, i couldn't see Dragons beating them anyway, but Jason Tovey is looking like a very good talent, i think alot of clubs will come in for him in the summer

 

[An Tarbh]

I think it'd be a good move for him to stay with the Dragons a while longer, or at the very least make sure he stays in Wales and not geopardise any future international career.