Munster vs Aironi, Saturday 4th Sept

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

Munster: F Jones; D Howlett, J Murphy, S Tuitupou, I Dowling; P Warwick, P Stringer; W du Preez, D Varley, T Buckley, M O'Driscoll, B Holland; D Ryan, N Ronan, D Leamy capt. Replacements: D Fogarty, M Horan, J Hayes, A Quinlan, P O'Mahony, D Williams, S Deasy, D Barnes

Aironi Rugby: Julien Laharrague; Giulio Rubini, Roberto Quartaroli, Dylan Des Fountain, Giulio Toniolatti; Ludovic Mercier, ***o Tebaldi; Alberto De Marchi, Fabio Ongaro, Salvatore Perugini; Carlo Del Fava, Quintin Geldenhuys; Jaco Erasmus, Gareth Krause, Nick Williams. Replacements: Andrea De Marchi, Roberto Santamaria, Luigi Milani, Marco
Bortolami, Aldo Birchall, Michael Wilson, Alberto Benettin, Gabriel Pizarro.

 

[tinchy17]

Munster should easily win this - Aironi have never played a competitive game in their history!

 

[coonor]

A strong Munster squad a good range of powerful yet skillfull backs. I hope that Buckley and Du Preez work well (I still cant believe he's not injured after a srum collapsed on his neck). Leamy should be well up for ths game I think he will make a great captain.

 

[durbutter]

they have a massive pack, and a not terrible back-line, I see Munster winning but not by to much

 

[Prestwick]

Aironi by five points...


...what? Stop laughing!!!

 

[Jockstap]

Holland at Lock and Ryan at Blindside? :huh:

 

[dangandan]

aironi's pack are an unknown quanitiy in my eyes. nick williams, a couple italian internationals and physical south africans could snatch it physically. but thats a big if and i'm going for a munster win by 12 or more

 

[monkeypigeon]

I return from my summer Rugby Hiatus (a year and a half non stop was too much and I needed a break so skipped the SH season.

Fairly decent team considering the various absences. Would have liked to see Barnes given a go at centre instead of Murphy who has very little experience there.

Would like to see O'Mahony get some decent time too.

Hello TRF!

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

I'm slightly puzzled by the decision to go with Holland at 5 and Ryan at 6. Surely a combination of Ryan and Quinlan would be better but maybe the coach has later in the season in mind for making this cal. Ryan is unlikely to get past O'Connell and O'Callaghan in the 2nd row while O'Driscoll can do a decent job there too. Perhaps they're trying to get Ryan up to speed at blindside in the hope that he'll put it up to 53 year old Alan Quinlan.

I hope Jones, Varley and Buckley go well. Varley and Buckley are breathing down the necks of Flannery and Hayes and could usurp them in the Munster and Ireland setup if they perform as they're capable of doing. Jones has a chance to stake a claim on the 15 shirt while Warwick plays 10.

Murphy and Tuitupou is an interesting selection in the centre. Tony McGahan excelled in converting Keith Earls to the back 3 (he can cover all three shirts comfortably), Paul Warwick to fullback and Denis Hurley to the wing. Maybe he can do a similar job in "re-positioning" Murphy.

 

[munstermuffin]

Lads Ryan is selected at 6 as he is seen as the man to be coming in for Quinny and well Micko will watch 2 locks. I agree that Jones has a great chance to prove a point and well Johne has some beautiful lines that can be an asset at 13. In pack I firmly believe Varley can overtake Jerry if he keeps going the way he is and perfects his basics and well we could be lookin at our first choice frontrow tomorrow.
Also Dowling needs a big game as he is under massive pressure as the competition on the wings is fierce.
Overall if we get win tomorro I'll be happy

 

[Peat]

All seems a bit conservative to me... would rather see managers turn to the exciting youngsters in this situation, not the journeymen; I'd have probably played Barnes at 13, not Murphy, and POM at 8 Leamy at 6 instead of Ryan at 6...

 

[munstermuffin]

How can you say Ryan a journeyman as he's gradually breaking into the team through the system. Denis Leamy is a natural 8 so why move him from there. Johne Murphy is still young and in his time with Leicester he has a super try scoring record.
You can't just throw all the kids in together and I think POM will get his chance but so far from what I've seen Barnes needs more time and development before he is ready.
And on youth - Holland and Jones are getting chances from start against an Aironi team that will be up for it

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

I largely agree with munstermuffin on this one. O'Mahony, Barnes and others will get ample opportunities this season. Throwing in too many at the same time doesn't help youngsters build confidence.

As for Donnacha Ryan gradually breaking into the team, he'd want to nail down a spot pretty quickly. Ryan will be 27 shortly and has yet to start even one Heineken Cup game. Clearly he has talent (he wouldn't have 5 caps for Ireland otherwise) but he really should be pushing to start every big game this season. If he doesn't it's time for him to find a new club.

I wouldn't call Billy Holland young (in rugby terms) either. He's 25 and hasn't shown that he can become a top player. That said, Jerry Flannery and Damien Varley were a couple of years older when they made their breakthrough so it's possible that Holland will blossom. I have my doubts though.

 

[Feicarsinn]

I return from my summer Rugby Hiatus (a year and a half non stop was too much and I needed a break so skipped the SH season.

Fairly decent team considering the various absences. Would have liked to see Barnes given a go at centre instead of Murphy who has very little experience there.

Would like to see O'Mahony get some decent time too.

Hello TRF!

Carpel Tunnel syndrome is a *****, isn't it?

 

[Peat]

It was Holland who I was dropping as the journeyman there (alternately, put POM on for Ronan) not Ryan, who I think is a good player - but also, as pointed out, a player who's 27 and yet to start a HC match.

And Murphy's also a good player, but he's not really an outside centre and not a player who'll be a first choice HC/Intl starter. At least I don't think he was at Leicester, might look a bit stupid now...

Holland's being classified as a kid. He's 25! Personally I find that a little insane.

He's the second least experienced player there with 20 provincial caps. Thats a pretty experienced side, I think there's enough know how to guide a few enthusiastic, talented youngsters around. Plenty of sides win with a lot more youth on the field than that. I feel Munster have some very special youngsters there - POM looked a real player at last year's JWC - and this should be their chance to shine. And I also think that side has a lot of experience even if it did lose a couple.

Just my opinion.

Also, was anybody at the U20 interpro last night?

 

[munstermuffin]

Donnacha Ryan hasnt started a Heineken Cup game before but has played in plenty and well he simply hasnt played because players ahead were POC, Donnacha and Quinny. And he was unfortunate to be injured last year when he was certain to start. Johne Murphy is not a natural outside centre but is a more powerful runner and has an excellent brain.

Danny Barnes is able to play centre but at this level he is too small and needs to develop more bulk as well as experience in training before starting. POM is the same and well just needs to be blooded in slowly and well this Aironi game is a tricky game.

 

[Peat]

I didn't realise Barnes was only 5'4"! Could you send him up North so we can stand him next to Jamie Smith to make him look big?

 

[greybeard]

I take Munster to win by at least 15 pts - though I wish it were the other way round, living as I do only 20 km from Viadana! This is the Aironi's fist ever league game as the outfit, as you know, is new, based on the Viadana team. They have reinforced their squad heavily over the summer to be competitive and with a couple of months should be so. However, 3 or 4 of their internationals have only been training with them for a couple of weeks so Munster should be

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

Donnacha Ryan hasnt started a Heineken Cup game before but has played in plenty and well he simply hasnt played because players ahead were POC, Donnacha and Quinny. And he was unfortunate to be injured last year when he was certain to start..

Ryan has 13 substitute appearances in the Heineken Cup - 13 in 4 season's as a pro equates to just over three 20 minute run outs per season. I think he deserved to start ahead of Donnacha O'Callaghan last season and should definitely be forcing his way past either Quinlan or DOC this year. If he doesn't, he should find a new club. That's not bashing Munster with the tired cliche of "they're not promoting young players fast enough"- the province I support have the same difficulty getting young centres meaningful game time.

 

[durbutter]

I didn't realise Barnes was only 5'4"! Could you send him up North so we can stand him next to Jamie Smith to make him look big?

He is definitely taller than that.