The Province Formerly Known As Munster 2018-19

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Farrell named in the team for tomorrow. I'd be dubious about him actually making it but he mustn't be too bad so that's great news anyway.

Thought Niall Scannell was back to his best last week. He wasn't looking for contact (which he was really good at a couple of years ago) but used great footwork to find the space and seemed to be quicker than recent times. Hope he keeps it up, big fan of his.

Can't wait for this game. Murray and Joey looked much sharper last week so reckon Munster will sneak it.

[tomthefan]

Even if he doesn't play that's a nice indication that it wasn't a serious knock.

[tomthefan]

https://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/ ... 98705.html

Murray gave a motivational talk to members of Limerick's Defence Forces this week...

[wixfjord]

Jaysus that's a very meaty Glos pack. Mostert up against POM should be interesting!

Cipriani and Thorley give Glos a bit more bite in backline too.

I think Munster will have too much quality overall but not too many easy wins in front of the Shed.

[offshorerules]

Paddy Power have TPFKAM as 1/2 favourites. They rarely get it wrong.

[tomthefan]

Paddy Power have TPFKAM as 1/2 favourites. They rarely get it wrong.

Having Farrell in the team makes me feel a whole lot better about things.

[yellabelly1961]

ironic that they came away unscathed from our visit to Thomond & look what its done to us! I still wonder why we sent so many frontliners down for a match that meant nothing to our season. Could end up costing us big time

[Oldschool]

ironic that they came away unscathed from our visit to Thomond & look what its done to us! I still wonder why we sent so many frontliners down for a match that meant nothing to our season. Could end up costing us big time

Badly needed preparation for the 6Ns.

[wixfjord]

Hugely impressive first half from Munster. In total control.

Glos have been awful, but Munster spoiling everything and look to be cruising.

Forwards completely beasting Glos.

[Dexter]

Hugely impressive first half from Munster. In total control.

Glos have been awful, but Munster spoiling everything and look to be cruising.

Forwards completely beasting Glos.

Yeah. Really, really poor opposition though. Surprised how bad they were in that half. Munster clinical.

[fourthirtythree]

To be fair on Gloucester I think they have been rather badly treated at a few scrums.

And that's all ive got. It's all they've got. Munster at full strength are streets ahead.

[Dexter]

To be fair on Gloucester I think they have been rather badly treated at a few scrums.

And that's all ive got. It's all they've got. Munster at full strength are streets ahead.

True, I think the same. But Poite... we know what he's like when it comes to scrums.
Glos can't do the basics like catching a ball or winning a lineout.

[Ruckedtobits]

Tactically very astute from Munster. First time I've ever seen why Archer gets picked ahead of Ryan. Murray and Carbery looking like a real partnership. Could get BP here.

[wixfjord]

Carbery has been really good tonight. Best game for Munster.

[Laighin Break]

They're doing pretty well out of the Carbery acquisition. Pity he's not playing in the RDS tomorrow instead

[Dave Cahill]

Well and all as Munster played, Gloucester really are stankalojus

[Ruckedtobits]

Well and all as Munster played, Gloucester really are stankalojus

For 35 mins in the first half and 10 in the second, that game was about Poite's view of what was happening in the scrum. Despite giving up more than 12 penalties, Munster's discipline in defence, combined with excellent half-backs and lots of attacking skills provided the sort of display in Europe that we would be delighted with.

IMO, Gloucester were beaten by an excellent performance.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Poite's view of the scrum is always the same, if you go forward you get the penalty. At one stage in the first half they showed a replay from the sideline and it was so obvious what Kilcoyne was doing that you could actually see him driving across through the gap in the tunnel, his legs were heading straight for the sideline, and yet Poite couldn't pick that up despite being on that side and only a couple of feet away. I'm no scrum expert but his inability to spot even the most basic infringement is genuinely astonishing.

Gloucester were beyond pathetic. They looked threatening out wide early on, so what did they do? Tried to pick and go their way to victory despite being sent packing for most of the game. Cipriani is really talented and I get that letting him run the game can be great at times, but tonight was not one of those times. They were completely rudderless and kept heading into trouble as a result. Obviously their handling was woeful too, some of the fielding reminded me of Henry Paul shitting bricks in Thomond.

Munster were really good though and think they would have dominated even if they had been up against a half decent team. They got things spot on tactically, the forwards won every collision, Murray and Joey had their best games of the season, they brought the back three into the game, and their discipline and work rate in defence was excellent. This game could be the catalyst for a big finish to the season, thought it was by far their best performance of the season.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Forgot to mention Tadhg Beirne, really excited about what he might do off the bench for Ireland. He's just at the heart of every game he plays and makes a big impact with every play.

[fourthirtythree]

Thought Beirne was harshly treated by Poite and had won some turnovers. Well one that I really struggled to see what was wrong. Ref is close up and you assume they see more but still...