The Province Formerly Known As Munster 2018-19

[IanD]

2 butchered trys by Treviso.

Great breaks but very poor hands.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

I reckon those tries they bombed will come back to haunt them but this is brilliant from Benetton.

Munster will be in real trouble if this goes beyond seven points, their best bits of play in the second half have mostly just been playing territory, their attack hasn't actually improved.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

So the TJ says that Munster took the maul down and Owens ignores it...then he tells the Munster player to get back but lets him steal the ball?

Benetton don't deserve to lose this and if they do they'll have been royally screwed over.

[Twist]

So the TJ says that Munster took the maul down and Owens ignores it...then he tells the Munster player to get back but lets him steal the ball?

Benetton don't deserve to lose this and if they do they'll have been royally screwed over.

That was shocking refereeing


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[IanD]

Poor attendance is because of Riverfest and The Great Limerick Run says Donnacha O'Callaghan.

Well the run does not start for 17 hours. It starts at 9am on Sunday but affects the attendance on Saturday.

At least it's a new excuse.

[domhnallj]

Fair play to Nidge, he had to work hard to deliver that for Munster.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Gutted for Benetton.

Owens did everything he could to help Munster win that, it was disgraceful really. I really can't believe how much they got away with, especially near the end.

[Ruckedtobits]

So the TJ says that Munster took the maul down and Owens ignores it...then he tells the Munster player to get back but lets him steal the ball?

Benetton don't deserve to lose this and if they do they'll have been royally screwed over.

+1. The better Rugby Team were beaten in that game. However, they've learned a lot and now they must learn to finish the chances they create. They have an excellent back-three and their maul was treated harshly by the Officials a couple of times in the second-half. However, I don't share the general criticism of Owens and his APs and I think they generally officiated well.

However, what an appallingly one-eyed commentary team fielded by Eir. They were like cheerleaders for Munster, rather than professional commentators.

However, I exempt Peter Stringer from that criticism and think he is very good analyst and really knows how to optimise the technology.

[cormac]

The 16th man won that for Munster. Well done Nigel.

[wixfjord]

My jaysus Nigel Owens really knew what side his bread was buttered there! Some mental pens.
Benneton should've won nonetheless.

Munster were chronic, but will be a very different beast in two weeks I'd say. Not sure they have the attack to beat us though.

[Twist]

Watching the post-match interview with POM. He knows how lucky they were

Still think they'll be extremely dangerous in the RDS so soon after Saracens


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[LeRouxIsPHat]

However, I don't share the general criticism of Owens and his APs and I think they generally officiated well.

Jesus RTB, not sure how you can say that. Lots and lots of dodgy calls that went Munster's way but that's all subjective. How about twice getting the spot for the penalty wrong though? How about tapping the kicker after you've made him move the ball back? How about forgetting to stop the clock at one stage? How about the TJ calling that Munster collapsed a maul and then not saying anything more when Nigel either ignored him or didn't hear it? They were appalling from start to finish.

[leinster23]

Munster really aren't very good. If they wore green, white or blue they'd be slammer in the media weekly.

[Hippo]

Critical calls near the end from Nigel got them over the line, inexplicable.

Liam Toland: "Is there a more dynamic or hard-working wing in world rugby than Andrew Conway"

[hugonaut]

According to ESPN [and my eyes], it was a very tight game. Very balanced statistically: http://www.espn.co.uk/rugby/matchstats? ... gue=270557

Munster coming away with 3 points after 23 minutes of pressure says something about the quality of Treviso's defense and appetite for the big day, but it also speaks to the poor personal form of Munster players and the predictability of their attack.

Murray is still entirely out of form. He's been playing poorly for a long time and there doesn't seem to be any significant upswing in form. He's not playing with the same physicality that he has shown in the past, he's not breaking enough [over 100 possessions and 3 runs], and he's not varying his kicking game at all. Bleyendaal had a poor game outside him and only got eight minutes of the second half, which is a comment on his play from the coaching staff. Himself and Rory Scannell [who I like as a player] have tended to underperform in knock-out games. Scannell couldn't make a mark in this one, he struggled against Saracens in the SF and was outplayed by a direct contemporary in Edinburgh's Chris Dean in the European QF.

I tend to think of Haley and Addison as competitors because they both arrived as established players from the English league, but Addison is a different class of player. Haley was a useful pick-up for Munster [he has started 25 matches for them this season], but it's hard to point to any particular element of his role that he performs exceptionally. He's decent positionally, okay in the air, an alright kicker etc. He doesn't carry a lot of threat in attack and he doesn't seem to bring real authority to the backfield.

O'Mahony had a lot of lineout ball thrown to him, but was otherwise not a big factor in the game. He played 80 mins and only handled the ball five times in open play. Stander is retreating to his one-dimensional form: 18 possessions with no offloads and only 1 pass. He's a super competitor, but he's playing like a prop who doesn't have to scrummage. Aside from his performance for Ireland against Wales, this was Tadhg Beirne's worst performance of the season. Like Bleyendaal, removed after 48 mins. Just not a good day on or off the pitch for Munster [a small turnout in the stands], and they were lucky to win.

[Blueberry]

Treviso should have won that by 12-15 points...........some bizarre calls from Nigel. Hate to criticise refs* (*Lacey excepted) but a couple of huge calls there cost Treviso dear.

A better pair of hands on two offloads and they would have scored 2 super tries there in the second half and odd call to replace the outhalf (he didn't look happy so assuming it wasn't injury related). Tomaso was kicking well and I'd have fancied him for the drop goal, the replacement out-half looked totally stressed at the whole situation and the kick was miles off, was never going over.

Pity it would have been super for Italian rugby and a badly needed wake-up call for Munster - without the spark from Earls they offer absolutely nothing of any interest in the backs and Stander trying to run over people all day killing ball is slowing down so much ball for them.

Anyway, unless there is a massive change we should be able to handle them in the RDS even post the Sarries challange.

[Morf]

The first scrum was one of the oddest.

Farrell was about 5m ahead of Bleyendaal for the one he competed for and knocked on.

If none of the officials or TMO were bothered to notice that . . . .

[neiliog93]

Poor attendance is because of Riverfest and The Great Limerick Run says Donnacha O'Callaghan.

Well the run does not start for 17 hours. It starts at 9am on Sunday but affects the attendance on Saturday.

At least it's a new excuse.

Hilarious and ridiculous.

[ChrisUppy]

Rob Howley looks like an early frontrunner for the Munster attack job after interviewing: https://www.the42.ie/wales-attack-howle ... 3-May2019/

I'd have suspicions of his calibre to be honest. He'll certainly bring a lot of experience to a coaching ticket lacking in it but I've heard Welsh fans complain about him for years, especially during his poor stint as head coach when Gatland was on Lions duty. Wales also joint lowest try scorers in this years 6 nations despite the slam.

Also Sean O'Brien had this to say about his to say about the Lion's attack under Howley:

“If we had a little more structure during the weeks and more of an attack game plan driven [from] way earlier in the tour we could have won 3-0.”
The British and Irish Lions squad return home

The 30-year-old Ireland international paid particular attention to Howley’s role as attack coach, and claimed that much of the Lions’ success was down to the two midfield options of Johnny Sexton and Owen Farrell, rather than the philosophy that the Wales coach tried to imprint.

“The coaches have a lot to answer for in terms of our attack. Johnny [Sexton] and Faz [Farrell] were the ones running our attack shape,” O’Brien added.

“If I was being critical of any coach it would be the fact that Rob [Howley] struggled with the group in terms of trying to get stuff across.

“Johnny and Owen drove everything in the second [Test] week, for instance, in our attack and had a better plan in place. So I don’t know if it was that people were not buying into what he [Howley] was about. That’s the hard thing about a Lions tour as well, getting everyone to listen to a coach that was probably set in his ways.

“Whether I am there or not in four years is a different story. Coaching-wise they need to make sure they have the best coaches in the best positions.”

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/rug ... 58811.html

[ronk]

It’s odd that Wales were good with a very, very stable coaching team but none of the assistants outside Edwards are rated. And they look like they are getting demotions after winning another slam.