Munster v Ulster 30/10/15

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Munster Rugby v Ulster Rugby

Friday 30th October 2015
Thomand Park, 6pm Kick-off
Live on TG4 and BBC NI

Referee- Marius Mitrea (FIR)
Assistants-Gary Conway and Nigel Correll (IRFU)
TMO- Alan Rogan (IRFU)

Big interpro clash here, early on in the season both teams can really use it to springboard off if they win, overshadowed in the overall by the world cup final weekend but to supporters of either province much more important. How do we think it will go?

Teams
Munster: Andrew Conway; Simon Zebo, Francis Saili, Denis Hurley, Gerhard van den Heever; Ian Keatley, Tomás O'Leary; James Cronin, Mike Sherry, BJ Botha; Dave Foley, Mark Chisholm; CJ Stander (capt), Jack O'Donoghue, Robin Copeland.

Replacements: Duncan Casey, John Ryan, Mario Sagario, Donnacha Ryan, Jordan Coghlan, Duncan Williams, Rory Scannell, Ronan O'Mahony.

Ulster: Peter Nelson; Craig Gilroy, Darren Cave, Stuart McCloskey, Andrew Trimble; Paddy Jackson, Paul Marshall; Andrew Warwick, Rob Herring (capt), Wiehahn Herbst, Lewis Stevenson, Franco van der Merwe, Roger Wilson, Sean Reidy, Nick Williams.

Replacements: John Andrew, Callum Black, Ricky Lutton, Dan Tuohy, Chris Henry, Paul Rowley, Ian Humphreys, Sammy Arnold

carpet baboon wrote:Is the game worth watching?  Or were both teams playing in clown shoes?

Definitely Ulster's best away performance (our away performances have been dire), and a game with plenty of Try's. It's the first away game I've enjoyed. A lot of mistakes from both sides, but not what I would describe as clown shoes.

It's worth a watch

Out of interest, what's the story with the Williams maul penalty. He didn't jump up. He legitimately got hands on ball carrier and then got dragged up on top by the movement of the maul.

Just curious... What's the law? You can tell I wasn't a forward!

Congratulations Munster.

No point in commenting on Ulster as they played true to form and exactly as Rory predicted: "Expect an error-ridden, stop-start, penalty ridden affair."

As apparently mentioned at half time by a Munster sage to Gusher - 'can't see either team doing anything in Europe this year'.

Right then. Once I get me and the family home from our holidays I shall watch the world cup final then this.
I may shed a tear at the disparity of skill.
Who knows

Well I thoroughly enjoyed the match. It was error ridden from both sides and both sides but it was very entertaining right to the very last second and beyond. I thought O'Leary had made his most ridiculous career mistake at the end but it just wasn't to be for poor us. It was however a huge step up in performance from our previous away form and there's hope yet from this season. Bring on Les Kiss and we may just have a happy season.

Stadium clock said time was up which was why it was kicked out. TOL best player on the pitch by a mile...haters gonna hate though.

Best Munster player maybe, although I think Stander deserves that credit.

Meh mixed bag but did well to win the turnovers. Chisholm is starting to look good as well and Ryan made a difference when he came on. TOL and Zebo were the pick for me for Munster. Keatley almost looks like a good oh when playing with TOL.

Didn't take much notice of the Ulster players to be honest although it appeared Williams was ploughing a lone furrow at times.

I have to say I have been a little disappointed with Gilroy in defence so far this season. He seems to have regressed somewhat... Zebo on the other hand was solid in defence and still looked very sharp in attack. I think he deserves a real shot at the starting shirt for Ireland at 11. If he can be consistent for Munster until the Six Nations I think he will earn it, unless Earls is preferred at 11 and he is moved to fullback.

ME-109 wrote:Meh mixed bag but did well to win the turnovers. Chisholm is starting to look good as well and Ryan made a difference when he came on. TOL and Zebo were the pick for me for Munster. Keatley almost looks like a good oh when playing with TOL.

Didn't take much notice of the Ulster players to be honest although it appeared Williams was ploughing a lone furrow at times.

Those turnovers won you the game.

Williams had a good first half, but reverted to type in the second, coughing up penalties. In a game that defence seemed to be optional, Gilroy, Cave and Jackson stood out. None of the forwards did, with the exception of Williams.

From an Ulster point of view, it was our best away game, thus far, but that just goes to prove how bad we have been. We have much to improve on, and hopefully Kiss can be the fix.

I thought Stevenson had a good game and Herbst was much improved in the scrum.
Wilson was poor and de Merwe and Warwick were not much better. Henry was a step down from Reidy (never thought I'd say that)
For all Gilroy's go forward brilliance he remains a weak player defensively and will not get near the Ireland team until he improves.
Cave was Ulsters man of the match followed by McCloskey.

Clive you cannot go off your feet as a maul and it is your responsibility to make sure you dont

I also enjoyed the match. Both teams came out with attacking intent. I


TOL makes a big difference to Munster. Hope not to see much more of Duncan Williams playing for Munster. No offence to him. Conway is playing well at 15 and Saili looks dangerous.


Best for Ulster was McCloskey, Gilroy and Williams. McCloskey looks like he could be special. Size is nothing without talent but he has both. I fancy him to start against Wales in the 6 nations if he keeps up his good form.

Sorry cant accept the game is not just about looking good going forward it is also about not making mistakes..
Gilroy great with ball in hand - poor defence
Williams real go to with ball in handle - too many silly penalties

Doing eye catching things is not the be all and end all
Not saying either had bad games but by the same token they were not the best players in an Ulster shirt

Gilroy outshone Zebo in the stats both in defense and attack. Wilson was far and away the worst in defence though missing five tackles and only making 7.
Ferris mentioned after the game how Williams was harshly penalised a couple of times, but you can't go to Thomond and expect to get any close calls from the referee.

The problem for Gilroy was that his defensive errors lead to tries. The stats won't reveal that. He was exceptional in attack however, as he always is. So I would still say he will absolutely be in with a shout for Ireland and he was one of the best players for Ulster last night. If he can work on his defensive game he will be starting for Ireland, I have no doubt. Last season he was defensively solid and even dominant in many of the games.

I would have to think that Kiss will have Gilroy well prepared for the 6N's camp. I'm not sure it's all down to Gilroy though. He is hardly alone in making defensive errors. Sometimes some of the guys look like they can't be bothered. Wilson needs a boot in the @rse.

Ireland need a hell pf a lot more spark in the backline, if we want to improve. For me Gilroy and Fitz should be nailed on to play in the backs. I'd like to see Zebo at 15 again now that Jones is retired. With Kearny so out of form he could challenge for that spot.