Leinster v Munster

Game on next weekend. Its Wednesday and not one insult thrown....seems to show the lack of lustre about this fixture these days. Probably given its been mostly one way over the last few years...

Anyhow. Looks like a full Landsdowne Road, POM back for Munster.

Given the way Munster are playing it could be an embarrassment. But hey we live in hope.

I think you'll have noticed a lack of insults thrown on most threads lately, DOD - mostly because of the lack of threads and the lack of people in the ones that are running.

I think the lack of interest in the game is more a lack of participation in 606 as a forum of choice anymore.  I'm packing my bags as we speak.... just waitng for the Landlord to show so that I can pay him what I owe him.  This joint seems to be crumbling from dry rot.

Anyway................... onto the game!!!!!!!!!

Well, I went last year and.............................. it was pretty damn boring.  Two teams making the shapes of being body and soul into the game but both sides being pretty shabby in the acting department.  This one this year might mean more and have more sparks given that both sides need to find some form and quick - but generally speaking, the fire seems to have left this one year by year as pre-laid plans about year-long form and European strategies put the brakes on all out tribal warfare.

We'll see though.  This one might be a rebirth of sorts.  We can't have too many injuries though!  Not now.  Joe has ordered it to be a tag rugby game for National security reasons.

Will the ground be full, thought I saw something about 35k sold and a lot of estimates of 50k to get to the game (I'll believe it when I see it).

This will be a very close game, it feels like it is probably 1 weekend too soon for both sides. Also a fair few injuries still impacting first choice options.

I don't really feel much of a difference in the media build up with it now being on Sky.

I think Leinster supporters are having a delayed reaction to BOD's retirement. It's only now when he would usually be making his seasonal bow that it really hits home that we'll never see him play again.
Never. I'm terribly sad about it.

Submachine wrote:I think Leinster supporters are having a delayed reaction to BOD's retirement. It's only now when he would usually be making his seasonal bow that it really hits home that we'll never see him play again.
Never. I'm terribly sad about it.

I have absolutely no doubt that BOD will be stuck into a Barbarians side more than once over the next couple of years.

After splashing out all his BT money on a new hooter? No chance

SecretFly wrote:I think the lack of interest in the game is more a lack of participation in 606 as a forum of choice anymore.  I'm packing my bags as we speak.... just waitng for the Landlord to show so that I can pay him what I owe him.  This joint seems to be crumbling from dry rot.

Yeah, I am fishing around for a new forum, I rarely post, but daily read, and most of the best characters have left here now.

Submachine wrote:After splashing out all his BT money on a new hooter? No chance

 Is that alleged?

That is true. He treated himself to nose straightener for his retirement present.

It was hampering his breathing. Think he also got an eyelash tint to treat his gout.

...And a wife to kiss his groin strain.

He's sorted now. Ready for the next chapter!

Where do you see him ending up Fly? I can't imagine he will be completely fulfilled doing punditry. His knowledge experience and leadership all point to a Head Coach job at some point in the future.
If his misses wants to give the states another lash he said he'd follow her over. Himself and ROG the coaching partnership for the US Eagles in WC 2019? The new Eddie and George?

I think he'll do the punditry for a while until the buffoonery of punditry becomes a chore he doesn't feel he can handle.  He'll say things he means and be criticised for saying them (as all overly famous pundits get)

He'll probably jump off the pundit train in a year or two, I think, and maybe slide back into Provincial coaching...in readiness for a new assault on the All Blacks as Irish coach sometime in 2028.

Then again, Louis Walsh might talk him into being in Louis's newest and bestest boyband of the decade.  The thing is, BOD is someone I've watched from the beginning and still don't really know - and I'd bet most of his team mates would say the same.  A singular man who might try anything or do absolutely nothing with equal intensity over the next number of years!

Very true. He's not easily pigeonholeable. Wouldn't be surprised to find out he was sneakily studying medicine/law/nano-robotics during his playing career.
On a side note I heard Mal O'Kelly is now coaching Malahide in the Leinster Junior league and played the full game for them last weekend. Still a class act by all accounts.

Ah, here now - I'm excited about this game, even if nobody else is.

Got tickets to the game for 20e a pop through a student deal. Have got tickets through this twice before, but they were for games against Dragons and I think Treviso. Odd that its for such a big game, they must be struggling to sell tickets.

Hopefully its a good game and is the spark both teams need to get their seasons going.

Yeah, I am fishing around for a new forum, I rarely post, but daily read, and most of the best characters have left here now.

God I miss the original 606. V2 just hasn't been cutting it for quite a while now.

I find myself posting to newspaper articles more these days but that's not very fulfilling.

Where have the likes of Red Stag, Pete C and MMC disappeared to?

......................................... to.........................the.......................real.................world.

It's out there folks.  I heard about it on the radio.  It seems an ever so nice place too.  Real air that can sometimes be something called wind, real light that isn't pixelated, and real people that look and feel like real stuff and are three dimensional and all.

It's marvellous - and I'm going there soon too when I get my passport and visa ready.

As for the game I'd like to see the following Munster team;

15 - Zebo
14 - Conway
13 - Smith
12 - Hurley
11 - VDH
10 - JJ
09 - Murray
08 - Copeland
07 - TOD
06 - Stander
05 - POC
04 - Foley
03 - Botha
02 - Casey
01 - Kilcoyne

Rep; Varley (if fit) Cronin, Archer, DOC, POM (If fit) Keatley, Sheridan, Jones.

One name that wont be on a team sheet this weekend is Sean O'Brien, has to have shoulder reconstruction and will be out 5-6 months.

On a side note amazed that this hasnt been posted yet and there are so few comments on this page in general.

Its getting very quite in here

Rumoured Munster team;

Cronin
Casey
Archer
POC
Foley
CJ
TOD
Copeland
Murray
Keatley
Zebo
Hurley
Smith
Conway
Jones

Ok I never expected JJ to start or Zebo to be at 15 but in God's name why would you start with without Killer and Botha?

Cronin has been better than Killer this year so far. Archer started against Leinster this time last year.

I'd imagine that rotation has something to do with it as well. Killer & BJ started last week. It Cronin and Archer's chance this year.

Felix Jones seems to be very highly rated by the Munster coaches (who seem to be trying to develop some leaders in the backs by making them captains).

The good news is that Doug Howlett is back helping with the coaching Munster A!

GoodinTightSpaces wrote:One name that wont be on a team sheet this weekend is Sean O'Brien, has to have shoulder reconstruction and will be out 5-6 months.

On a side note amazed that this hasnt been posted yet and there are so few comments on this page in general.

Its getting very quite in here

I think that generally the Leinster posters here are quite because they know the glory years are over. They are not as cocky as they used to be.

Sin é wrote:

GoodinTightSpaces wrote:One name that wont be on a team sheet this weekend is Sean O'Brien, has to have shoulder reconstruction and will be out 5-6 months.

On a side note amazed that this hasnt been posted yet and there are so few comments on this page in general.

Its getting very quite in here

I think that generally the Leinster posters here are quite because they know the glory years are over. They are not as cocky as they used to be.

how long did it take you to adjust???

GoodinTightSpaces wrote:

Sin é wrote:

GoodinTightSpaces wrote:One name that wont be on a team sheet this weekend is Sean O'Brien, has to have shoulder reconstruction and will be out 5-6 months.

On a side note amazed that this hasnt been posted yet and there are so few comments on this page in general.

Its getting very quite in here

I think that generally the Leinster posters here are quite because they know the glory years are over. They are not as cocky as they used to be.

how long did it take you to adjust???

I've always been humble. Bear in mind that Munster have had a long journey getting to the top.

edit: I should add that the journey is as much fun as the glory day stuff.

I'd imagine that rotation has something to do with it as well.

Whatever happened to pick your best team and stick to it, especially in the big matches.

In terms of combinations that's a different front row, 2nd row, back row and back 3 than started last week.

How are players supposed to get used to playing together if the combinations are continuously chopped and changed?

Anyone got teams?

Munster: Felix Jones (Capt.), Andrew Conway, Andrew Smith, Denis Hurley, Simon Zebo; Ian Keatley, Conor Murray; James Cronin, Duncan Casey, Stephen Archer; Dave Foley, Paul O'Connell; CJ Stander, Tommy O'Donnell, Robin Copeland.

Replacements: Damien Varley, Dave Kilcoyne, BJ Botha, Billy Holland, Peter O'Mahony, Duncan Williams, JJ Hanrahan, Gerhard van den Heever.

LEINSTER: 

15. Rob Kearney
14. Fergus McFadden
13. Gordon D'Arcy
12. Ian Madigan
11. Darragh Fanning
10. Jimmy Gopperth
9. Eoin Reddan
1. Jack McGrath
2. Sean Cronin
3. Mike Ross
4. Devin Toner
5. Mike McCarthy
6. Rhys Ruddock
7. Dominic Ryan
8. Jamie Heaslip CAPTAIN

16. Bryan Byrne
17. Michael Bent
18. Tadhg Furlong
19. Kane Douglas
20. Jack Conan
21. Isaac Boss
22. Steve Crosbie
23. Mick McGrath

Notice!

If a Munster fan offers you a bite of his ham sandwich in Dublin today don't accept his offer. To a culchie this means he's allowed stay in your house for the week.

Breaking news from who other than myself!
Big man Kearns is injured and Mad dog is moving to 15.Big Mac Macken is now starting 13 !!??

Munster's forwards power doing the difference so far, impressive.

How many bodies were there for that 2nd try though lol

This is a great game - that interception try by Keatley was deadly.

Don't remember the last time when Leinster went in at halftime 20 points down at the RDS Aviva.

Yep great intensity Munster well in control at half time.

That interception could well seal it for the men in red.

No George, and to be fair they're not 20 points down at the RDS now either

Well thats been a pleasant 40 minutes for a change.....

Having said that we are liable to implode quite easily in the second half

Notch wrote:No George, and to be fair they're not 20 points down at the RDS now either

Amended.

Great to see Munster back. Not sure where Leinster go from here. Injuries and coaching team crippling us.

Leinster post-Schmidt is a little bit like Man Utd after Ferguson left for me LF4L. No one thing going wrong for Leinster, just all the little bits and pieces where he got the extra 1% out of everyone are missing. Don't think Matt O'Connor is a bad coach at all. But Joe Schmidts don't grow on trees.

After watching Edinburgh last night at Ravenhill, and watching Munster tonight, I just cannot get my head around that result in Round 1 between Munster and Edinburgh. You can't say the league has been predictable this year, thats for sure!

Ye your right Notch Schmidt was always gonna be irreplacable.

Dave Foley is turning into a cracking player. Made some really good tackles.

Leinster have given up playing rugby and have started trying to win by manufacturing penalties...

Oh FFS...

Now this is getting interesting. Munster have stopped playing rugby and started trying to just kill Leinsters momentum. Good reffing. 15 vs 13.

Munster down to 13 men. How the hell did that happen?

Can't fault the refereeing tonight - he's been excellent.

Leinster with a 2 man advantage and they are kicking the ball away, this isn't the Leinster of 2-3 years ago.

This is another good advert for the pro 12 very good game with a decent ref.

Pen try, good call ref

Munster finding out what happens when you get on the wrong side of the referee. No benefit of the doubt at all. They completely lost their discipline and now the ref has lost all patience with them.