Munster XV for La Rochelle Friendly

by MBTGOG Fri 10 Aug 2012 - 9:26

Munster: D Hurley; D Howlett, D Barnes, J Downey, L O'Dea; I Keatley, D Williams; D Kilcoyne, G Slattery, S Archer; B Holland, B Hayes; T O'Donnell, S Dougall, J Coughlan.

by Duigers Mon 13 Aug 2012 - 14:18

Anyone have a match report?

by thebandwagonsociety Mon 13 Aug 2012 - 16:48

Haven't seen anything on this game other than the 'phone it in' game summary from the Munster website.

I'd assume that LaRochelle were up to full speed for this game with the Top14 starting but that the Munster boys were well below par, only just back, with a new coach/system/etc?

From Munster site
Munster's opening game of the season ended with a 31-7 defeat at the hands of Stade Rochelais in the Stade Marcel Deflandre

The home side opened with a try from Benjamin Geledan in the 20th minute, and never looked back, scoring 31 unaswered points before Munster had a late consolation try from Sean Scanlon converted by Scott Deasy.
Stade Rochelais led 10-0 at the break, when Rob Penney as planned rang the changes, keeping just two of his backline Doug Howlett and Luke O'Dea in what was nine changes overall. Stade also made changes but without much disruption to their rhythm and they extended their lead in the 52nd minute with a length of the field move that ended with a try for replacement Francois Herry.

Another replacement, Uini Antonio, scored their fourth try and although Christy Condon did marvellously well to deny a certain score, it proved to be just a delay as the French scored from the subsequent scrum.

Scanlon's 70th minute try was converted by it's creator Scott Deasy to end the scoring.

Munster: D Hurley; D Howlett, D Barnes, J Downey, L O'Dea; I Keatley, D Williams; D Kilcoyne, G Slattery, S Archer; B Holland, B Hayes; T O'Donnell, S Dougall, J Coughlan.

Replacements: D Casey, M Horan, J Ryan, W du Preez, C Condon, P Donnellan, C O'Flaherty, P Butler, B O'Mahony, P Stringer, J Holland, S Deasy, JJ Hanrahan, C Laulala, S Scanlon, R O'Mahony.

by **profitius** Mon 13 Aug 2012 - 23:41

A rude awakening for Penney.

The result would suggest the players will take time to get to grips with the way Penney want the team to play. It'll take a month or two before they get to grips with it and Penney starts to settle on a team.

I think Munster will have a bad start to the league because of the tough away matches (Edinburgh, Ospreys, Ulster and Leinster).

by Jenifer McLadyboy Tue 14 Aug 2012 - 0:17

profitius wrote:A rude awakening for Penney.

The result would suggest the players will take time to get to grips with the way Penney want the team to play. It'll take a month or two before they get to grips with it and Penney starts to settle on a team.

I think Munster will have a bad start to the league because of the tough away matches (Edinburgh, Ospreys, Ulster and Leinster).

Joe Schmidt had a horrendous start with Leinster losing 3 out of his 1st 4 games in the Magners. That gobshyte Hook even said he had "lost the dressingroom"

I wouldn't panic yet. Lose to Embra in the HC in Thomond park in October. Now that would be a good reason to reach for the tablets.

by ScarletSpiderman Tue 14 Aug 2012 - 9:50

Pre-season game as not about winning or losing as such, but finding out what needs to be worked on etc, especially with a new gaffer at the helm.

by Sin é Tue 14 Aug 2012 - 10:08

Jenifer McLadyboy wrote:
profitius wrote:A rude awakening for Penney.

The result would suggest the players will take time to get to grips with the way Penney want the team to play. It'll take a month or two before they get to grips with it and Penney starts to settle on a team.

I think Munster will have a bad start to the league because of the tough away matches (Edinburgh, Ospreys, Ulster and Leinster).

Joe Schmidt had a horrendous start with Leinster losing 3 out of his 1st 4 games in the Magners. That gobshyte Hook even said he had "lost the dressingroom"

I wouldn't panic yet. Lose to Embra in the HC in Thomond park in October. Now that would be a good reason to reach for the tablets.

I think Munster will need a bit longer than 3/4 games. Leinster were a Heineken Cup winning team when Schmidt took over - Munster are at a bit of a lower ebb and a much younger team.

report from Examiner of the match:

Howlett provides Penney with hope

By Barry Coughlan

Monday, August 13, 2012

New Munster coach Rob Penney was stretched to find positives from a highly disappointing opening game of three pre-season friendlies in La Rochelle on Friday night but had one in the form of veteran Doug Howlett.

The jury is out on whether some of Munster’s young guns have done enough to impress the new coaching team and Penney warned they might have to move fast to make up lost ground as French second division side Stade Rochelais hit the new kids for six tries.

The consolation came via a high-quality performance from Howlett whose successful return from long-term injury (Achilles tendon) and the form he showed with limited possession will be a source of satisfaction.

On a night made to suit running rugby — it was 25 degrees — Munster couldn’t master the basics, with Penney pointing out how his young side had been guilty of 22 unforced errors and had conceded 13 line breaks to the home side.

"Dougie is a great player and a massive influence on the group and it is always good to get a player of his calibre back," said Penney.

The former All Black star certainly couldn’t be faulted for Munster’s inability to produce try scoring opportunities, or for an eventual frail showing in defence. It does, however, mean that Penney has a lot of work to do.

Munster have upcoming matches on consecutive Fridays against Bristol and London Irish and Penney will be looking for much more imagination, flair and basic skill from his charges.

"It [preparation] didn’t always manifest itself in a positive manner on the track today," he warned.

"It is important learning and is money in the bank for the long term, but certainly there are some massive areas of learning that need to be dealt with in the short term so we can get out of these boys what they are capable of doing.

"We have learned a lot about some people and that is always important. That’s the first time we have see a few of these boys play. Some of them put their hands up and some of them didn’t. Some of them will and we have just got to try and sort out the ones that are capable of doing so."

by gowales Fri 17 Aug 2012 - 10:05

Well Munster have never been known for their running rugby, so it will take a while if that's the style Penney wants to implement. In all honesty i think he should stick to Munster's strengths

by thebandwagonsociety Fri 17 Aug 2012 - 12:14

gowales wrote:Well Munster have never been known for their running rugby, so it will take a while if that's the style Penney wants to implement. In all honesty i think he should stick to Munster's strengths

So long as he doesn't allow Munster to fall into the malaise of putting a forward in the 10 position to take the ball from a static position back up to the gain line. A better tempo for the forwards, more snipes around the fringes. But key for Munster has to be reckonising space, where the opponent is light on numbers, and quickly taking advantage of it. Too often Munster fall into the 1 pass from the bass of a ruck to a forward to carry back to the gainline. Or decide to go wide when the opposition have no-one committed to the breakdown.

by **profitius** Fri 17 Aug 2012 - 13:40

gowales wrote:Well Munster have never been known for their running rugby, so it will take a while if that's the style Penney wants to implement. In all honesty i think he should stick to Munster's strengths

He wants to introduce a different type of running game. Munster have been playing running rugby for the last 3 years.... badly! They went from side to side and it was part of a robotic game plan that didn't work since they beat Ospreys in the 09 HEC quarter final.

Penney wants players to think on their feet and make their own decisions and combine that with the high intensity forward play. It'll take a while for the players to get used to that so I predict a tough start to the season for Munster.

by SecretFly Tue 21 Aug 2012 - 10:50

Munster's "strengths" are the psychological tools needed to overcome the odds. They did it when they drove into the heart of European rugby with their own brand of small dog syndrome - biting hard on the ankles of illustrious enemies and not letting go.

It just happened that Munster's practical strengths at the time were the ones in vogue and they became one of the best sides in Europe at perfecting those methods. But it wasn't the 'Munster Way' (the practicalities) that was responsible for the winning - it was the desire to make a statement as a minow in a land of giants.

The practical methods used to win games in the present have outgrown Munster's blueprint - they've known that for some time themselves. They've just been hanging in there until organisational matters could be debated and decisions made on future directions. Young players will want to play the faster instinctive game and now they'll have a coach who will hopefully offer them some of the tools to do so. And when they are up to speed on Munster Version 2.2012/13, then they'll have the confidence to bring the psychological strength back into the mix.

A Munster lacking in confidence and lost at sea in tactics is still a dangerous beast (and has proven such with the continuing high placings in a very competitive Pro12 over the last few seasons) - a Munster briming with the confidence of being able to engage effectively in the swift stuff will be an omenous challenge if it gets a head of steam up playing the 'new' way.

by Thomond Tue 21 Aug 2012 - 11:51

Munster played decent rugby during their successful years, when I hear comparsions to what Ireland turn out now I cringe, it's an insult. They played a forwards based game and did kick relatively often but smartly and for territory. Could they throw it around and run it? Absolutely they could, Toulouse in 2000, Stade in a HC QF and the 2008 campaign had some incredible tries. It's evolving thewy will do, they have always had the tools but will now place a greater emphasis on it.

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