Munster v. Australia

[Spewn]

Glad I missed this one. Maybe we should have our blokes do their training camps in southern Tasmania? The weather and punitive heritage would be far more appropriate, and they don't have the internet down there for distracting tweets.

Could come back as cannibals walking out from the south west.

 

[Scarfman]

If they had a Wallabies Survivor, I would only bet on Bam Bam getting out alive and the rest dying in the first couple of days.

And he's a bloody Zimbot. I thought we were supposed to be tough in this country?

 

[Spewn]

Agree. Which player recently said he is the most ruthless player he has played with. Was it AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper)?

 

[Thomond78]

Could come back as cannibals walking out from the south west.

Kilfaycle [sic], Clanwilliam, Young Munsters, Bruff, Crosshaven on some of our crankier days, Skibbereen - yup, seems to explain us, anyway...

 

[Thomond78]

Couldn't agree more.

A lot of people have given Nagle et al major props for their performances and deservedly so - they out-everythinged Simmons, Mumm, Van et al. But how great was that Lawrence bloke for Munster? He should play internationals some day. He delivered them so much clean ball, and any time the wobs looked like getting their hands on it he pinched it right back.

I loved at 74min when he suddenly realised, looking at TPN, "you can't play the ball on the ground." Classic.

Anyway, great effort Munster, no changes to the France team except perhaps TPN onto bench, and invest in thermals.

Mr. Mouse, come off it, mate. In the first half, when we were mauling it over, four guys could have gone to the bin. Coming in from the side to dive onto guys legs to try (and fail, on the first two occasions) to bring it down, the number 7 could and should have had the jersey torn off his back for deliberately lying killing it on the line - Lawrence was letting a lot go, but you earned the binnings. There were some sneaky off the ball shots in the first half from your lads that the TJs just weren't interested in either.

Simply; we adapted to him, and sorted out how you were approaching the breakdown after the first five minutes, and became more aggressive at clearing out past the ball. You didn't adapt to him, the weather, or us.

 

[Lee Grant]

I am no longer supporting Australian rugby for the rest of the year. This was an absolute joke - a disgrace to this great rugby nation. Like the commentator said: "This is the worst Australian side I've ever seen"

I know how you feel. We are all disappointed in what has happened in the last 3 days.

I have mixed emotions: on the one hand you hope that things will get better; on the other hand there is the other alternative.

I am reminded of the advice given to Walt Whitman by his father: Keep a good heart; the worst is yet to come.

 

[vidiot]

Mr. Mouse...

I can't speak for Mr Mouse, but it was a little hard at times with the (ahem) unofficial telecast that we were enjoying to spot the intricacies of the ruck and maul, esp if it wasn't blown up by lawrence and replayed on the coverage.

Still, I thought Lawrence was even handed, that apart from the cancer of the long pause that at least the scrum actually ended with the ball emerging from it and with play truly restarting, and that he was suitably relaxed about the lineout throw when it wasn't blatantly crooked.

The flavour around here has been pretty bitter but I enjoyed seeing how Munster played the game, I feel some vague empathy for the Australian players up against a well drilled side playing really good rugby at home in alien conditions. I feel for those players who got no opportunities because of how dysfunctional we were with possession.

It's interesting that after the discussions and emphasis on scrums in the leadup to the weekend, we dominate the scrum and lose in every other facet of the game, even with the 10 that supposedly is the answer in these conditions. Just goes to show that rugby is such a great game because there are so many facets, and being composed and competitive in all of them is how you win.

 

[Thomond78]

vidiot, it is only fair to point out that I was in the East Stand, the opposite side from the TV feed in TP, on the 22 we were playing towards in the first half. I'd one of the best views in the house of it.

I've seen him be worse, and he was pretty even, I'll grant you.

 

[PaarlBok]

Congrats to Thomo and his Munster Monsters. This midweek dirt tracker matches is what we are missing in the modern day rugby and the birth place of future rugby legends.

 

[ChargerWA]

Do you know what shits me the most about this.... Right now there are no other major ball sports in Australia being played, for once the media is actually looking at Rugby in this country, and the only news they are getting is that the Wallabies are losing firstly to the old enemy and now a club side (not being fair to Munster and the quality of their effort).

For christ sake even, Triple J has something in the news bulletin each morning the day before and after the games. Apparently it's not only Berrick Barnes super power that he fails to seize oppourtunities, the whole wallably system has this one down pact.

 

[Thomond78]

OI!

We're a PROVINCE, not a club, damn it!

 

[Richo]

It's interesting that after the discussions and emphasis on scrums in the leadup to the weekend, we dominate the scrum and lose in every other facet of the game, even with the 10 that supposedly is the answer in these conditions. Just goes to show that rugby is such a great game because there are so many facets, and being composed and competitive in all of them is how you win.

It's almost like we can't walk and chew game up at the same time. Infuriating.

 

[Gagger]

If you leave aside anything else about Lawrence, I was disappointed with his take on the scrum.

Against the Welsh we got a towling - a lot of it questionable technically - but they were dominant and so rightly get the benefit

As Vidiot pointed out, last night we were clearly dominant, and Lawrence not only shut one eye to the Munster pack consistently standing up, he even started pinging the Wallaby scrum for going down when it was clearly on top. Or on another occasion pinged the backrow for not binding correctly while the Musnter scrum retreated at a rate of knots.

It's this sort of inconsistency that truly gives me the shits.

 

[Logorrhea]

That wasnt even a proper gale Now THIS is a proper west of Ireland wind. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnCTqhVYbBs

The aussies looked like they didnt want to be out there at all. Serious questions should be asked.

 

[macg101]

Best hangover ever!

 

[PaarlBok]

If you leave aside anything else about Lawrence, I was disappointed with his take on the scrum.

Against the Welsh we got a towling - a lot of it questionable technically - but they were dominant and so rightly get the benefit

As Vidiot pointed out, last night we were clearly dominant, and Lawrence not only shut one eye to the Munster pack consistently standing up, he even started pinging the Wallaby scrum for going down when it was clearly on top. Or on another occasion pinged the backrow for not binding correctly while the Musnter scrum retreated at a rate of knots.

It's this sort of inconsistency that truly gives me the shits.

So ref made you play like shite?

 

[Langthorne]

Not being privvy to what goes on in preparation for a match, nor to what extent the Wallabies were instructed on how to play, there is a limit to how much one can point the finger at the coaching staff.

I don't accept that the conditions in themselves should have been the deciding factor either.

The ref was pretty fair from what I could see.

The team simply were not tough enough nor composed enough. Basically they were tested and found wanting. I hope this turns out to be another valuable learning experience.

This is not an excuse, but Barnes is 23 years old - not really very old at all for someone to captain an inexperienced Wallaby side, which hasn't played much together, in trying conditions, against a good team who are comfortable in the conditions (baying crowd and all).
As I (and others) expressed way back in June, the young guys would benefit greatly from having a few old heads in the squad (and on the field) in this type of situation. Obviously Robbie Deans doesn't agree with that theory (as he didn't select that type of player when he had the opportunity), but despite my lack of international rugby coaching experience, I'm going to stick with it.

 

[Bruce Ross]

Not being privvy to what goes on in preparation for a match, nor to what extent the Wallabies were instructed on how to play, there is a limit to how much one can point the finger at the coaching staff.

I'm with you, Langthorne. There seems to be an unfortunate tendency to criticise our million-dollar-man just because we lose most of our matches and tend to play a headless chook style of rugby. It's easy to say after the event that Robbie Deans should have warned the dirt trackers that the playing conditions at Munster were likely to be a little difficult, and that therefore the team should use the wind when they had it, throw short into the lineout, get the backs to stand closer together, etc., etc. But you can hardly expect a coach to think of everything.

This is particularly the case when the master strategist's mind is not focussed on the here and now but rather on the grand mission which is now less than a year away. As the Sydney Morning Herald reported:

Deans argued the experience was invaluable to the build-up to the Rugby World Cup.

"Some might suggest it was a futile exercise for us. I disagree," he said.

"It was fantastic because this group of players don't get the opportunity to play this sort of contest often.

"Hence we opted to play the English champions (Leicester last week) and the Irish champions essentially.

"This is the closest thing to World Cup rugby that we can get."

Now I'm not about to pretend that I comprehend how having your B team play Leicester and Munster "is the closest thing to World Cup rugby that we can get." But I can still recall the 'Seventies when Dave Brockhoff was the national coach. To my knowledge no one ever understood a word that Brock was saying but that didn't stop him being a very successful Bledisloe Cup winning coach.

All I'm asking is that Australian rugby supporters keep the faith. Never doubt Robbie Deans's ability to lead us out of the wilderness, even if just at the moment we can't see a foot in front of us.

 

[Joe Blow]

I would like to propose that this game against Munster never be mentioned again on this or any other rugby site. Of course the Munster fans will be harping on about it for decades, and rightly so. That shouldn't be too much of a problem as people don't really listen to what the Micks say outside of Ireland.
Anyway, we just pretend that it never happened.

Carry on.

 

[Gagger]

So ref made you play like shite?

I need to get it translated?

Try reading the post