Heineken Cup 2008 Thread [Archive]

pete

04/04/2008, 9:09 PM

Gloucester-Munster tomorrow.

Munster: Denis Hurley; D Howlett, R Tipoki, L Mafi, I Dowling; R O'Gara, T O'Leary; M Horan, J Flannery, J Hayes, D O'Callaghan, P O'Connell (capt), A Quinlan, D Wallace, D Leamy.
Replacements: F Sheahan, T Buckley, M O'Driscoll, A Foley, P Stringer, P Warwick, K Lewis.

Gloucester Rugby: O Morgan; C Paterson, J Simpson-Daniel, A Allen, L Vainikolo; R Lamb, R Lawson; N Wood, A Titterrell, C Nieto, M Bortolami (capt), A Brown, P Buxton, A Hazell, L Narraway.
Replacements: J Paul, A Dickinson, W James, G Delve, G Cooper, W Walker, M Tindall.

Big game for Hurley, Surprised to see O'Leary & Quinlan in for Stringer & Foley but possibly a tactical decision? Munsters bench has improved a lot this season & offers some options especially in the pack.

inexile

04/04/2008, 9:49 PM

very nervous about this game, i wish the game was on now!

surprised at the selection of hurley and o leary but i have every faith in kidney its gonna be tough

lim abroad

04/04/2008, 10:11 PM

nervous about the game myself,i'm in san fran at the moment so i'll be up bright and early for it

paul_oshea

05/04/2008, 1:10 PM

lim are you still over there i thought you said you had come home!

some session in san fran for you if they win.....

micls

05/04/2008, 1:11 PM

Is it on tele?

pete

05/04/2008, 1:18 PM

Is it on tele?

Sky Sports 2 ko 5.30

micls

05/04/2008, 1:20 PM

Sky Sports 2 ko 5.30

Thanks Pete

kingdom hoop

05/04/2008, 2:02 PM

Really shocked (though not necessarily disappointed) to see O'Leary start. I thought Stringer looked pretty sharp last week, but Kidney knows more than me, so I won't worry about it. I think Hurley will do fine, he looks nippy enough and has a good step so might add a bit more dynamism than Payne would. And maybe given it's probably a nice day there (it is where I am anyway) that's no bad thing. Big test for the two of them, but being insulated with such experienced heads should help. For me, that's a big difference between the sides; Munster, individually and collectively, know how to win and perform in the big games. In less x-factor terms, I think Munster also have the better players in crucial areas like hooker, back row and out half.

Being away from home is a huge disadvantage, but in fairness Munster are great away from home so I'm mildly confident ahead of this fascinating, sure-to-be-highly charged encounter. Hup Munster! :)

tetsujin1979

05/04/2008, 2:16 PM

Any stream of the game online?

<EDIT>

nevermind, got one

pete

05/04/2008, 3:38 PM

London Irish closing out their win. They must have had easiest run to semi final ever? Toulouse will probably best Cardiff & crush Irish.

NeilMcD

05/04/2008, 4:30 PM

I would nearly like Glocester to win just to sut up those people from Clare who have jumped on the Munster bandwagon after the Ger Loughnane bandwagon collapsed but could never shout against an Irish team.

pete

05/04/2008, 4:34 PM

Mafi gives away a blatant & unnecessary penalty under posts within secons of the kick off. Patterson misses. Bizarre.

Edit: Patterson misses another penalty from the 22 metre line. :eek:

pete

05/04/2008, 5:24 PM

Half time Gloucester 0 Munster 8

O'Gara kicked a penalty in front of the posts.
Patterson the missed a long range kick (0 from 3)
Some huge defensive tackles from Munster turning over the ball several times. Tipoki has been really strong.
Munster scored from counter attack under their own posts started by Howlett with Dowling going in the right corner. Went through 15+ phases of play.

Edit: 3-16 fulltime
Munster wore Gloucester down with Howlett getting nice try after kick from Hurley.
O'Leary had a great game & Stringer won't get his place back. Hurley also justified his inclusion.
Saracens or Ospreys up next.

inexile

05/04/2008, 6:27 PM

brilliant yet again, completely bossed the game, could be our year again!!

shakermaker1982

05/04/2008, 6:49 PM

Outstanding performance. Gloucester didn't know what hit em - turnover after turnover. Ryan Lamb isn't smiling any longer haha.

Kingdom

05/04/2008, 6:54 PM

I've gotten to know enough about rugby through the various media efforts and while I wouldn't sit down for a match between any 2 teams I love watching Munster. This was a superb result. They have it all to do still though. Hope they can get to the final.

lim abroad

05/04/2008, 8:23 PM

lim are you still over there i thought you said you had come home!

some session in san fran for you if they win.....

i'm only here on holidays for a few weeks then its back to sunny limerick for me.will have a few to celebrate tonight though

Con-Con

05/04/2008, 10:43 PM

I'd bet on Muster to go all the way now.

Rovers fan

05/04/2008, 10:56 PM

Thats the first time i ever went into a game thinking munster wouldn't win but I'm delighted they proved me wrong,great win.

pete

06/04/2008, 1:57 PM

London Irish v Toulouse/Cardiff
Saracens v Munster.

Have to fancy Munster to make the final now as Saracens probably played their own final today.

Schumi

06/04/2008, 2:00 PM

I'm surprised Saracens beat the Ospreys. I'd expect a Munster v Toulouse final now.

pete

06/04/2008, 6:19 PM

I'd expect a Munster v Toulouse final now.

Would be big shock not to have that pairing. IMO Toulouse are the strongest side in Europe although a little less cocky away from home. Saw some of the game today & Cardiff put it up to them in the first half before being overpowered in the second.

What date is the Saracens-Munster game? Saturday or Sunday?

Con-Con

06/04/2008, 7:15 PM

London Irish v Toulose
Saracens v Munster.

I can see a Irish v Munster final.

Superhoops

07/04/2008, 7:54 AM

Would be big shock not to have that pairing. IMO Toulouse are the strongest side in Europe although a little less cocky away from home. Saw some of the game today & Cardiff put it up to them in the first half before being overpowered in the second.

What date is the Saracens-Munster game? Saturday or Sunday?

Saturday, 26 April 2008
London Irish v Toulouse,
15:00 - Twickenham

Sunday, 27 April 2008
Saracens v Munster,
15:00 - Ricoh Stadium, Coventry

shakermaker1982

07/04/2008, 11:15 AM

I might pop down to Coventry if I can get tickets. They were supposed to be on sale last night but not to be.

OwlsFan

13/04/2008, 9:29 AM

Slightly off top but that collision on Stringer last night against Leinster looked horrific. Couldn't bear to watch his head actually shift sideways on his neck :eek: Hope he's ok. He left the field in a neck brace.

joeSoap

14/04/2008, 3:03 PM

He's fine apparently. And so too is O'Gara. Thank God!!!

pete

24/04/2008, 4:03 PM

Looks like same Munster team for Saracens on Sunday but O'Leary the only doubt. I saw the Ospreys game on TV at the weekend & the reserves the best I had seen as in the past usually very poor. Munster must have their strongest squad ever now.

2/1 on Toulouse/Munster double.

BTW Munster will play in red & Saracens in black.

pete

25/04/2008, 12:06 PM

The only change from Gloucester game is Horan starts. Some surprises on the bench. Kidney is shaking things up.

http://www.rte.ie/sport/rugby/2008/0425/munster.html

Tomás O'Leary has been passed fit to play for Munster against Saracens in Sunday's Heineken Cup semi-final at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry.

O'Leary has been troubled by a neck injury after a high tackle during the win over the Ospreys in Cork last weekend.

Marcus Horan ,who was a late withdrawal prior to Munster's quarter-final victory over Gloucester, is named in the front row.

There are three changes amongst the replacements. Federico Puccieriello is chosen ahead of Tony Buckley, Barry Murphy is named instead of Kieran Lewis and there is no place in the match 22 for Anthony Foley, with Donnacha Ryan chosen ahead of the Heineken Cup winning captain.

Pike B

25/04/2008, 12:07 PM

Egg chasers...:D

pete

25/04/2008, 12:09 PM

Egg chasers...:D

Hopefully there is a big shamozel. I fancy Tipoki to deck someone.

Pike B

25/04/2008, 12:12 PM

Hopefully there is a big shamozel. I fancy Tipoki to deck someone.
Hit them with a desk???? :D

paul_oshea

25/04/2008, 1:43 PM

i thought you abhorred violence Pete, or is that just in gaelic?! ;)

pete

25/04/2008, 2:19 PM

i thought you abhorred violence Pete, or is that just in gaelic?! ;)

Like a fly to s.... :p

kingdom hoop

25/04/2008, 3:28 PM

Would it not have made more sense to edit your own post Pete? Less obvious shenaniganry anyway.

pete

25/04/2008, 4:10 PM

Would it not have made more sense to edit your own post Pete?

doh! I am on a roll today :o

* I blame the new location of my desk (no punt intended) at work - need to keep browser window even smaller now.

kingdom hoop

26/04/2008, 12:40 AM

doh! I am on a roll today :o

* I blame the new location of my desk (no punt intended) at work - need to keep browser window even smaller now.

That some way goes explain your posts.

Short sentence gets point across. :)

rambler14

27/04/2008, 4:16 PM

Munster were fierce lucky today.

I thought Tomas O'Leary's passing was particularly poor. Ronan O'Gara's kicking was terrible, he didn't find touch once and the kick he missed in front of the posts would have been scored by an 8 year old.

The referee was awful he was constantly acting the clown when it came to scrums and rucks, he was constantly going against Munster.
One example was when Leamy was assaulted during one maul and the prop who attacked him only got a yellow card even after the touch judge advised a red.

pete

27/04/2008, 4:26 PM

Munster very very lucky. Did not perform in the second half. After being so good in the quarter final O'Leary made some terrible decisions today.

When the referee called Munster offside instead of giving them a 5 metre scrum (8 forwards against 6) it could have been crucial as Munster were odds on for a try.

Lets hope Toulouse might more than a few thousand to Cardiff to make some atmosphere.

Hoping my source can come up with a ticket. :cool:

rambler14

27/04/2008, 4:39 PM

Hoping my source can come up with a ticket. :cool:

Me too.

lim abroad

29/04/2008, 11:07 AM

Hoping my source can come up with a ticket. :cool:

Really?I thought they'd be handy enough to come by given the capacity of the millenium stadium,can't see toulouse bringing too many

DmanDmythDledge

29/04/2008, 12:01 PM

O'Leary was poor, Stringer has to start the final I feel.

Good to see O'Connell close to getting back to his best.

kingdom hoop

29/04/2008, 12:26 PM

Agreed O'Leary was poor (perhaps mostly tactical mistakes that can be ironed out? Though his passing isn't as crisp as Stringers yet which obviously doesn't help O'Gara when kicking - this was shown on Sunday a little). Anyway the point I was going to make was that O'Leary has been excellent for the past two months, and showed the form last week in playing very well against the Ospreys. Stringer came on for the last 20 minutes in that match and was shocking - dropped balls, poor passing, generally looked off the pace and (understandably) low on confidence.

So I don't think you can make it as clear-cut as 'O'Leary was poor, Stringer must start'. I think the final could be high-scoring (or at least Toulouse are liable to score a lot!) so we'll need all the attacking flair we can call upon.

Overall on Sunday's match, I thought Saracens were excellent - played out of their skins. So it was a fantastic testament to Munster's ability that they could play pretty mediocre and still grind out the win. Yes they were lucky, but I'd attribute that to how good The Fez Heads were on the day more than Munster's slightly disappointing performance.

pete

29/04/2008, 12:56 PM

Really?I thought they'd be handy enough to come by given the capacity of the millenium stadium,can't see toulouse bringing too many

There were 15k tickets held back for each finalist after the quarter finals. I suspect that the Munster allocation will go directly to clubs & none of these on general sale. Any one in the supporters travel club would have no need to purchase tickets in advance as would be guaranteed to get from final allocation. Toulouse will probably use 5k at very most but don't know how the remaining 10k will be distributed.

SÓC

06/05/2008, 10:35 AM

There were 15k tickets held back for each finalist after the quarter finals. I suspect that the Munster allocation will go directly to clubs & none of these on general sale. Any one in the supporters travel club would have no need to purchase tickets in advance as would be guaranteed to get from final allocation. Toulouse will probably use 5k at very most but don't know how the remaining 10k will be distributed.

Seems quite hard to come by tickets alright.

Had a chance of two but only managed to get one so far.

Usual rip-off merchants are up and running on ebay. Saw two tickets with a value of £40 going for £600 plus although this guy (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Buy-Munster-Jersey-with-tags-could-win-Final-Ticket_W0QQitemZ190220208819QQihZ009QQcategoryZ572 86QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem) seems to have a novel approach to selling his spare ticket. So far it seems a bit harder to source than last time. One of the lads over on the City website said that Toulose were at Twickenham in fairly decent numbers so maybe they wont be as shy as Biarritz in travelling but Cardiff is harder to get to than London.