Munster Rugby 2014-15

columoc wrote: I'm sure ther is a bit of agent play acting.

However, clearly Foley doesn't see JJ the way Lam sees Carthy. The IT article stated that JJ is very much his own man, I haven't heard, but I wonder is he difficult to manage/coach. Is he positive in the dressing room? Everyone in Munster seems to rate him except perhaps two sets of a management. There must be more to it. He has never impressed me as a rugby player that much!

I wonder if the difficultly might lie in what position he plays? Perhaps Foley sees him more of a utility back slotting in at outhalf, centre or FB as necessary and JJ only has eyes for outhalf. Get labeled a utility back and your international career could be curtailed, maybe you look attractive enough for bench duty. If he wants to make it solely as an outhalf I say let him make a go of it at Northampton. I'm not sure he would be better off at Ulster and especially Leinster. Connacht would probably offer him the best chance to be the starting #10 from the beginning of next season unless Carty vastly improves over the next 6 months. I'm happy enough to have the English clubs foot the bill while a decision is made on whether a player will reach his potential in such cases.

Keatley has just signed a new two year contract. Rob Horne is rumoured to be coming after world cup to fill 12 spot. Not sure how I feel about that.

rossie wrote: Keatley has just signed a new two year contract. Rob Horne is rumoured to be coming after world cup to fill 12 spot. Not sure how I feel about that.

I can't see the IRFU agreeing to the signing. Munster already have two NIQ centres and Leinster have Te'o. A fourth NIQ centre is against the succession plan. Even the current status is against the succession plan, but that's by the by.

connachtexile wrote: Smith gone from London Irish so sit back and watch the rumours of Kidney taking over getting bigger and bigger.

Dont think so, Tom Coventry, asst coach with Waikato Chiefs seems to be the front runner to take over.

Munster well beaten today, never really in the game, Ashton's try before half time as good as finished it. Tough pool for Munster this year but they've been a long way off the pace apart from the home game against Saracens. I'm sure Foley will get a 2nd season but he could do with winning the Pro 12 to buy him some time.

Saracens were quite impressive today, may be a bit disappointed they didn't get the 5 points.

Munster were terrible today. Handling error after error, poor kicking and decision making, missing tackles and poor defensive structure. Saracens didn't have to do much other than front up which they did extremely well.
2 moments in game stand out to me as defining where munster are atm organisationally.1. Being sent out at halftime to do some warm up exercises and 2. The line out where casey through to POC after he had turned his back on the play.

One has to wonder now , also taking jj situation into consideration, whether the email situation did more damage than originally thought. There definitely seems to be conflict between coaches and team. Half time today highlights that.

rossie wrote: Munster were terrible today. Handling error after error, poor kicking and decision making, missing tackles and poor defensive structure. Saracens didn't have to do much other than front up which they did extremely well.
2 moments in game stand out to me as defining where munster are atm organisationally.1. Being sent out at halftime to do some warm up exercises and 2. The line out where casey through to POC after he had turned his back on the play.

One has to wonder now , also taking jj situation into consideration, whether the email situation did more damage than originally thought. There definitely seems to be conflict between coaches and team. Half time today highlights that.

I had to laugh at Foley sending them out for the run after half time. BJ didn't even pretend to want to do it with the rest of them.

Munster were torn asunder up front, there was no real resistance from Munster which was disappointing. The scrum was a mess, Munster struggled to put more than a couple of phases together without knocking on or turning the ball over, Paul O'Connell had one of the worst games I've seen from him in a long time, O'Mahony wasn't at the races, Stander going off took away any real hope Munster had. When those 3 weren't delivering Munster were never going to have a chance. For a team with serious ambitions having the likes of Archer, Holland, Guinazu etc. in the 23 for a knock out European game and the likes of Hurley and Williams starting gives an indication of how far off the pace you are.

Back 3 did about as much as could be asked of them, apart from that no real positives for Munster.

I think major surgery is required on that team if they are to get back to being contenders in Europe. The back row is decent on paper but the front 5 is very average with Botha, O'Connell and O'Callaghan heading towards the end. I don't know will Donnacha Ryan or Mike Sherry ever be back from the bad luck they've had from injuries.

Next week will be interesting, the first European game that has nothing other than pride riding on it for Munster for about 17 years. Munster have been all about Europe for the last 15 years but if they can re-focus, given other teams will be more affected by call ups and European games, winning the Pro 12 may be a realistic objective for this season.

Four senior players have signed contract extensions, Andrew Conway, Dave O'Callaghan, Johnny Holland and Eusebio Guinazu. While Greencore Academy player Darren Sweetnam has also committed his future to the province.

Tomás O'Leary, currently with London Irish, is set to return to his native province at the start of next season on a two-year contract

Andrew Conway has also put pen to paper, signing a one-year contract extension that will see him stay with the province until at least June 2016.

Dave O'Callaghan has signed a one-year contract that will see him remain with the province until at least June 2016

Development player Johnny Holland has signed a two-year contract, advancing from development to full contract status for the second year. 

In addition to the above, hooker/prop Eusebio Guinazu has signed a contract extension that will see him remain with the province until the end of this season. 

Darren Sweetnamthe second up-and-coming player to commit his future to the province in the last few weeks has signed a two-year contract, moving to development status for 2015/16 and a full contract for 2016/17.

connachtexile wrote:

Dave O'Callaghan has signed a one-year contract that will see him remain with the province until at least June 2016

Only for a year? Strikes me as a lad whose hedging his bets and wants to see which way the wind is blowing at the end of next season.

It might not be him that is hedging the bets.

Cosmo Kramer wrote:

connachtexile wrote:

Dave O'Callaghan has signed a one-year contract that will see him remain with the province until at least June 2016

Only for a year? Strikes me as a lad whose hedging his bets and wants to see which way the wind is blowing at the end of next season.

It might not be him that is hedging the bets.

Rumour has it that Munster are looking to convert him to 2nd row. He has the size at 6'5 and 17 St. He won't make it at 6 with o mahoney and Stander there.

connachtexile wrote:

Rumour has it that Munster are looking to convert him to 2nd row. He has the size at 6'5 and 17 St. He won't make it at 6 with o mahoney and Stander there.

Didn't they try that before? It's great that they signed DOC2.0 and Conway to contract extensions but only 1 year deals isn't the greatest endorsement I gotta say. I'm a big fan of Dave O'Callaghan would love to see him come west in a season's time if he felt like moving.

No they didn't.
Both are very injury prone which may have played a part in decision.

connachtexile wrote: Rumours floating around that Sean Dougall and Paddy Butler are both off to France to play Rugby for Pau. Would have loved to get my hands on Butler, he has all the assets to make at the top level is just stuck behind Stander and Copeland who are both in there prime. Surprised Ulster didn't put in for Dougall with their backrow problems and him from Ulster.

From the INDO:

Paddy Butler and Sean Dougall are also headed for the exit door, with Pau set to sign the back-row pair as well as New Zealand centre Conrad Smith, following this year's World Cup.

The French side, where former Munster backs coach Simon Mannix is 'sporting manager', are top of the Pro D2 - 11 points ahead Eddie O'Sullivan's Biarritz - and also include ex-Reds No 8 James Coughlan in their squad.

Like Hanrahan, Butler is a graduate from the Munster academy but he has struggled to break into the first team, and with the highly rated No 8 Jack O'Donoghue seen as a long-term option, the Tipperary native is thought to be seeking opportunities elsewhere.

London Irish had showed an interest in the versatile back-row, who still has another year left to run on his contract, but he is poised to link up with Mannix and Coughlan at Pau.

Former Ireland U-19 player Dougall has struggled with injuries this season and has been limited to just five Pro12 appearances.

Rumours Conrad Smith heading T'Pau as well . Seems only to be reported in Irish news websites however.

Pity to see lads like that leaving. I was expecting Butler to make it at Munster but its a competitive area in their team. Dougall is a handy player around a squad. Pity these lads can't be kept in Ireland. I'd have been more than happy to get Butler and either or both of them would be an improvement on what Ulster have.

Borders no.2 wrote: Pity to see lads like that leaving... Pity these lads can't be kept in Ireland...

It could be the making of them. Jennings, Cullen, mick o'driscoll, gav, jonny and many more were better players for a few years abroad. I used to hope the likes of Butler would move to Connacht, but I'm starting to think Munster's real problem is the likes of Holland and williams who are experienced enough to keep younger players out of the first team but nowhere near good enough to win things.

connachtexile wrote: Rumours going around that both Varley and Sherry both might have to retire at the end of the season. Munster also linked with Agustín Creevy and Francis Saili. Two very good players if they can get them.

Varley has just retired