Munster v Cardiff

[An Tarbh]

Munster have been boosted by the return of John Kelly but more importantly Trevor Halstead makes his return to the starting lineup. Eoghan Hickey will start at 10 with Manning relegated to the bench.

Cardiff have Welsh squad members Jamie Robinson, Chris Czekaj, Scott Morgan, Mike Phillips, Robert Sidoli and Rhys Thomas all in their starting lineup.

Strong looking Cardiff side but I'd still be quietly confident about a home win.

Munster: C Cullen; S Payne, B Murphy, T Halstead, J Kelly (capt); E Hickey, T O'Leary; D Hurley, F Sheahan, F Pucciariello; C Wyatt, M O'Driscoll; A Quinlan, T McGann, J O'Sullivan.
Replacements: T Buckley, D Fogarty, D Ryan, M Melbourne, B O'Meara, J Manning, J O'Sullivan.

Blues: Ben Blair; Tom James, Jamie Robinson, Marc Stcherbina, Chris Czekaj; Nicky Robinson, Mike Phillips; Taufa'ao Filise, T Rhys Thomas, Gary Powell, Deiniol Jones, Robert Sidoli, Scott Morgan, Rhys Shellard, Xavier Rush (capt).
Replacements: Scott Roberts, Gareth Williams, Ben White, Mark Lewis, Wayne Evans, Mosese Luveitasau, Nick Macleod.

Referee: Malcolm Changleng (Scotland)

 

[Cymrurugbyfan]

Final Score: Munster 12 - Cardiff 19.
What a great result for Cardiff after losing twice to Munster in the Heineken Cup.
The Munster fans never stopped cheering but it wasn't enough apparantly
A Tom James try, converted by Ben Blair, and the he adds 4 more penalties to seal the win.
Man of the Match: Jamie Robinson.

 

[An Tarbh]

Yet again Junkie gets the yips with his throwing, bet Kidney is overjoyed that Flannery will be back for the Llanelli match.

Seriously though Munster are hugely frustrating to watch in the Magners League, you know they're capable of so much more even without their internationals and yet they continue to put in mediocre performances like that but credit to the Blues, picking up another win and cementing their ***le challenge.

 

[Rugby_Cymru]

Munster really lost that game in the lineouts.
There was a stage in the game where Munster looked almost inevitable to get a try, with Jamie Robinson in the sin bin and the crowd behind them i thought cardiff were going to go behind, but they kept losing their ball in the lineout.
Jonathan Davies said on scrumV that he doesn't know why Munster lineouts went so poorly, he questioned whether Cardiff figured out the lineout calls and by the looks of how easy it was for cardiff to pick out 7 of 14 lineouts you have to think something like that may have happened.
Cardiff's defence was really good, but they didn't really show any danger in attack.
But an enjoyable game and the perfect time to play the Irish...when the internationals are away.

 

[An Tarbh]

might have been a different result though had you been playing in Donnybrook or Ravenhill. Munster just have no interest in this competition, it's hugely frustrating but true, I wouldn't be surprised if Connacht even get close to pipping them for the final HEC spot - assuming the whole mess with that competition is sorted.

In answer to Davies question, Junkie has always had problems with his darts, it's not rocket science to work out the root of the problem.

 

[candybum]

how was christian cullen?? interested to kno...

 

[An Tarbh]

a shadow of his former self. Can't see him starting in Stradey at the end of the month.