Munster v Australia

[Jer Mac]

Ambush supreme...

Manly stuff from 1-22 here.. The pack were immense even considering they were giving up kilos to the aussies who didnt know what hit them from the first whistle.. Varley is irelands best hooker at the moment. His throwing is good, his scrummaging solid and he makes hard yards. Will be hard for Flannery to oust him now. Young Nagle was immense and a real down to earth type too. Hook was a plonker on Borlasse.. Keep your powder dry untill the man has given 5-10 performances in a munster shirt.. Typical Irish comment.. Coughlan is Anthony Foley in the making.. Same kind of player. Munster have real dept in the back row with young O'Mahony adding to the mix.

Earls showed in flashes what he is capable off with some decent ball.. Munster fans genuinely arent being biased when we say he should be in an irish shirt..The rest were solid. Disappointed abit in Johnne Murphy.. i know he was injured early but he should have put Howlet through in the 2nd half, most international standard full backs would have..

Warwick outplayed Barnes, the so called grounded star. while i have time for him, this was the ultimate test in chronic conditions and he failed as did his pack miserably. granted his scrum half didnt know what to do with his pack. Deans must be scratching his head after Hong Kong.. First team pummelled by England, second team by Munster.. 2 steps forward, 3 steps back. i still fancy them for thw world cup but this showed there might be a lack of dept in their squad and if Cooper cant defend i wouldnt be relying too heavily on Barnes.. maybe it was one of those nights. They still have the second best backrow in the world and the best most innovative backline..

All in all, a great night and a kick up the arse to the irish set-up: 1 for Varley, 2 for Earls, 3 for pride, guts, attitude and application..

 

[munstermuffin]

Also in a horrible night it was electric to see every fan staying back and singing and cheering despite been soaked to the bone. Kidney helped make Munster what it is but has lost touch of where he came from in a way.
On Johne Murphy Jer I think it bit harsh as he was injured but played on and did well and people I don't think could seriously appreciate how well Munster did in them conditions unless you were in Thomond Park

 

[Jer Mac]

On Johne Murphy Jer I think it bit harsh as he was injured but played on and did well and people I don't think could seriously appreciate how well Munster did in them conditions unless you were in Thomond Park

No, dont get me wrong, thought he played well (especially considering he did his knee)..that kick for touch was quality and his handling was excellent. Just that one moment when he could/should have put Howlet over would have proven he has the smarts to create. After seeing him play 3-4 times now, i think he is a good Munster signing, a utility player, solid and strong but couldnt compare him to the likes of Bowe, Earls, Fitz and say he is of international standard. I know Munster have played him wing, centre and fullback so maybe the utility thing will hamper him.he seems a centre,fullback, wing in that order to me.. All that said I wouldnt be surprised if he proves me wrong!

 

[munstermuffin]

Johne Murphy is a deadly finisher and his stats show that. On the incident I remember it well but if you watch closely Howlett wouldve been covered by 2/3 Aus players and bundled in to touch and on Johne Murphy I agree he not ahead of them 3 but I'd chance him at 12 ahead of 2 usuals and also say he is in much better form than Kearney

 

[coonor]

I think Kidney will be under alot of preasure when NZ beat Ireland (which we all know is basically certain) because Munster have shown the quality players in Ireland and they are not being picked. Earls and Varley should both be in the Irish team and J.Murphy needs to be taken more seriously by Ireland. Even Ronan has had a great season and I think he should be rated more by Ireland. Nagle will hopefully get lots of game time this year and should be in the Ireland A squad where he can hopefully advance into the senior Ireland squad after the world cup. O'mahony and D.Williams played really well and hopefully they will get more game time this year.

 

[munstermuffin]

Praise must go to Tony McGahan for developing these guys.
Fact is though whatever about the rest Earls should be a starter Saturday

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

Praise must go to Tony McGahan for developing these guys.
Fact is though whatever about the rest Earls should be a starter Saturday

:bravo:

It's great to see a Munster fan give McGahan the credit he deserves because he's often dismissed as a poor coach on Munster's fansite. Before McGahan took over, Munster's strongest lineup was something like this:
Payne, Howlett, Tipoki, Mafi, Dowling, O'Gara, O'Leary; Horan, Flannery, Hayes, O'Callaghan, O'Connell, Quinlan, Wallace, Leamy.

Of that lineup, 11 are in their 30s now including a couple who have retired. McGahan has won a Magners League crown, qualified for two Heineken Cup semi finals and currently sees his team sit pretty at the top of their Heineken Cup pool while introducing out of necessity Keith Earls, Johne Murphy, Paul Warwick, Wian Du Preez, Damien Varley (arguably) and Tony Buckley to the starting team. He's invested in youth giving Duncan Williams, Ian Nagle, Felix Jones and Peter O'Mahony significant gametime which will stand to Munster over the coming years. He's made Munster a more potent attacking threat in keeping with the way the game is being played today.

I'm a big fan of Tony McGahan.

 

[munstermuffin]

Snoop having seen him work up close and well behind scenes I seriously rate him as a fine coach who is excellent at developing youngsters but also improving the skills of the experienced players

 

[coonor]

I agree. I think McGahan has done a good job in keeping things fresh at Munster and I think his quality has shone so far this season. He has gotten Munster to play with ball in hand and that has really made them more treatning espcially with Earls, Murphy and Howlett etc. He has also done really well with Munster pack considering they are without O'Connell. His Signings have also been very good. I think Kidney could use some of his tactics. As McGahan now realises that a solid pack is so importantand the scrum needs to be strong. He also knows when to keep ball in hand and when to play for Territory. This year he has played some great young talent and the players he has played have shown how talented they are. I was worried that Munster would go through a couple of poor years as their squad ages but McGahan has so far shown that Munsterhave alot of young strength in depth and Munster are playing so much better than last year.

 

[profitius]

Yeah McGahan has done well in the youth setup but he is afraid to play them in big games or afraid to drop the older players.

 

[Sam Owen]

Way to go Munster, cant believe yous beat the Wallabies. Just found out lol.