Munster, The Money Pit Province 2019/2020

[blockhead]

Had Munster already given him a touchline ban themselves? Don't see why it should be a suspended ban otherwise.

Have they tapped up the Professor yet?

Good one Blockhead, you're a hoot!!!

[johng]

I'm sure someone will get it. My money's on Dave

[ronk]

Medical joker

[enby]

Well that has been a great inter-pro series over Christmas. One point and two tries. Back play you wouldn't see in the Winters Cup.

Murray, Earls and POM marked absent tonight. Joey miles off the pace.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

I'm really struggling to see why they want De Allende now. Brilliant player but he can't pass and that won't suit Larkham's style at all.

[Dave Cahill]

Well that has been a great inter-pro series over Christmas. One point and two tries. Back play you wouldn't see in the Winters Cup.

Murray, Earls and POM marked absent tonight. Joey miles off the pace.

Five points and three tries

[enby]

Well that has been a great inter-pro series over Christmas. One point and two tries. Back play you wouldn't see in the Winters Cup.

Murray, Earls and POM marked absent tonight. Joey miles off the pace.

Five points and three tries

I stand corrected. Forgot about Connacht win

[wixfjord]

If Ross Byrne turned in the performance that Joey did tonight we'd (rightly) crucify him. When his forwards aren't going forward he can really lose all shape in a backline.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

If Ross Byrne turned in the performance that Joey did tonight we'd (rightly) crucify him. When his forwards aren't going forward he can really lose all shape in a backline.

Thought he started well and kicked well but agree apart from that. I do think he's a good ten but I really really hope that he doesn't make the Ireland 23 until he plays well consistently for Munster. I said recently that Ross Byrne should be penciled in for the 23 until Joey manages that and tonight confirmed it for me. It's a long long time since he played well consistently at ten, is it actually as far back as his breakthrough for Leinster??

[desperado]

Problem is Munster will be coming looking for a few. Backrow, second row, you name it...

[desperado]

You could hear the subtext already in Stringers comments tonight ' Joey just back, Hanrahan injured, probably shouldn't have played last week with his hamstring, and Bleyendall out with neck injury.' Can't recall if it was him or Robson then mentioned Healy, but you could smell the sawdust burning. Regardless of the release of Johnson, they'll probably be angling for an OH.

[Ruckedtobits]

It's not the first time the thought has struck me but it is the first time it has been so evident for more than 40 minutes in a real competitive match. But the writing is on the wall and we may be watching the end of the first 'Munster Era' in professional rugby.

That era started 25 years ago with the Shannon four-in-a-row AIL titles from'95-'98, when Cork Con, Garryowen & Young Munster were also highly competitive and the supporters of all four of those amateur Clubs became the core of the Munster fan base as they followed the careers of their Club players into the golden era that followed over the following decade.

Prior to the advent of the 'Munster Era', Team Ulster developed by coach Jimmy Davidson had won seven Interpro Series in a row in the 1980's and then Munster and Leinster had exchanged titles in the early ninties. In fact Munster had not been a dominant force in Irish Provincial contests for many years and one had to go back to the mid-1960's to find successive years of Munster success.

The performance in Kingspan Stadium tonight, in the second half in particular, was so insipid and lacking in shape, commitment or individual excellence, that Munster may have to start from almost scratch to repair their Squad from here.

Despite the presence of Earls, Carbery, Murray, O'Mahony, O'Donohue, Ryan, Scannell & Kilcoyne, Munster were schooled in attack and defence by an Ulster team which included a back-row missing Murphy and Coetzee. Every individual match-up was lost by Munster. Indeed, it's doubtful whether any one of the Munster Squad would have made the team sheet of a Combined XV..

No coaching pattern or genuine game plan was evident from Munster throughout the second-half, nor was there any discerable evidence of the coaching expertise of Larkham or Rowntree. No, this was as poor as it gets and one would fear what fate this Munster Squad will suffer in their next two European encounters.

The next two weekends may ridicule these views as falsehoods. Certainly Munster players looked like they had collectively 'phoned-in' their performances tonight. Maybe it was because of what's on the agenda over the next fortnight that tonight was so bad. However, on the evidence of tonight there's a very long road ahead for Munster fathfuls.

[ronk]

If Ross Byrne turned in the performance that Joey did tonight we'd (rightly) crucify him. When his forwards aren't going forward he can really lose all shape in a backline.

Thought he started well and kicked well but agree apart from that. I do think he's a good ten but I really really hope that he doesn't make the Ireland 23 until he plays well consistently for Munster. I said recently that Ross Byrne should be penciled in for the 23 until Joey manages that and tonight confirmed it for me. It's a long long time since he played well consistently at ten, is it actually as far back as his breakthrough for Leinster??

He was lined up wrong and a lot stemmed from that. I’m not sure how much is coaching but I think a lot is him.

He was first receiver looking to pass to the screen or pull back. But the problem is that the real read happened later based on whether Ulster drifted or stayed pressing. He should have been lined up to take the pull back, then he gets to attack any gaps that appear or throw a long pass to get outside the defence. It was also a better position for a diagonal kick. A few times he was able to get into those positions through loops but more often Earls or someone else was in that position.

At this level you need to hold your shape better and stretch the defence.

[paddyor]

OH problems strike again for Munster?

[Xanthippe]

I wonder if Saint Joey is regretting not taking Joe’s advice - imagine him and Cooney together

[blockhead]

I wonder if Saint Joey is regretting not taking Joe’s advice - imagine him and Cooney together

If he's regretting not taking advice then it be that of Plumber.

[hugonaut]

If Ross Byrne turned in the performance that Joey did tonight we'd (rightly) crucify him. When his forwards aren't going forward he can really lose all shape in a backline.

In mitigation, it's his first start of the season and only his second game under the new coaching regime. I agree with you based on this game, but I'd expect him to get better.

[Oldschool]

If you want a summary of what is wrong with Munster then you have to ask yourself why Murray wasn't taken off a lot earlier, given the scoreline.
The answer is at the core of Munster's problems.
Hanging onto the past.

[wixfjord]

Yeah I mean Neil Cronin really lit the place up when he came on.

[enby]

Because he has so much credit in the bank Earls is entitled to a Mulligan. He had an absolute shocker last night. Lets hope it was a one off as it would be sad to see him drop to the status of an occasional stand-in.

Murray's kicking was fine but he really did look like he was playing in a time warp. For a player with such huge experience he failed to show any leadership when his team needed it. Same goes for POM who is definitely yesterday's man. Even the most fervent of their fans must now realise that Cloete is a liability, lets hope Nucifora doesn't decide to look at our squad for his and/or POM's replacement.

Post match comments of the likes of Flannery, Stringer and DOC blaming the players rather than the coaches were interesting.