r/MunsterRugby

I'm a Munster fan from Cork who's just moved home for a little while having been away for many years.

One thing I'm hearing in discussions about Munster's woes is that Hurling has overtaken Rugby in Limerick in the last while (Dion Fanning said this on Off the Ball the other day).

I only casually watch the GAA and am not involved in the grassroots so didn't see this coming.

What happened? When did it begin and why?

Reason I ask is that I try to explain to non-Irish friends of mine that:

(a) Rugby is not as big as it can sometimes seem

(b) GAA is the biggest sport despite being amateur

That said, I would have thought Rugby in Limerick 15 years ago had everything going for it. Loads of clubs, good rugby schools, successful team with stalwarts like Foley, Hayes, O'Connell, etc.

Is Limerick Hurling just particularly strong right now or has there been bigger shifts in the grassroots underlying it all?

The Performance Medicine Team has issued a squad update ahead of this Saturday's BKT United Rugby Championship Round 16 fixture against Munster Rugby at Thomond Park. (KO: 5.30pm)

Ulster Rugby sustained a number of new injuries in Friday's URC defeat against Leinster Rugby.

Angus Bell (foot), Scott Wilson (ankle), Tom O'Toole (hand), James Hume (neck), Jude Postlethwaite (hand) and Bryn Ward (shoulder) all suffered injuries that leaves them unavailable for this week's fixture.

Nick Timoney (hip), James McNabney (knee), Rob Herring (calf), Robert Baloucoune (elbow), Rory McGuire (shoulder), Stewart Moore (knee) remain on the current injured players list and are also unavailable for selection.

Michael Lowry has reintegrated into team training following recent injury and his fitness for selection this week will be assessed through the week.

When McMillan was asked about the due diligence on the Randle signing last week he answered that they had done the following:

1. McMillan vouched for him

2. They asked a couple of people around the club.

I also heard on, if I remember correctly, the Indo Sport podcast that they’d asked a few people in New Zealand. Why this wasn’t included in the answer but having an ‘open-mind’ towards Randle was I don’t know.

I’ll admit that I’ve never been deeply involved in a hiring process but this seems like quite a low level of due diligence for a very public hire with known issues?

For me, as much as the accusation itself, it’s as big of an issue, that not only did this appointment avoid all levels of scrutiny that had been put in place, but we’re sitting here a week later with no idea why Munsrer thought it was okay. If Munster had announced in their statement after Randle’s signing something like ‘as part of due diligence they had contacted relevant authorities , and didn’t believe the widely circulated news article gave a full description of events’, then at least the decision would be understandable. Unfortunately, instead we have McMillan talking about him being a ‘family man’.

For me, it’s a big stain on the Munster management, that not only have they made the controversial decision, but that they’ve completely failed to show that they understand people’s concerns. And I think this is going to keep rumbling beneath the surface until it happens.

More people have resigned over Randle. Now members of the Commercial Advisory Board have resigned. Wonder who and how many?

We need a serious clear out.

We need people in control who will say things like: “No Clayton. It’s not a runner, Mate. Not here. Not in a country where women get treated the same as men regardless of the difference between them in body-shape and genitilia! We don’t care how much you love him. We and our FANS are paying you a lot of money so find another world class attack coach that doesn’t have baggage like RR, whose appointment will alienate and offend half of our fan base and our players. (Ever tried to argue rugby with a limerick woman? Trust me. Don’t”

According to rumours, Calvin Nash is on3 of those leaving. Would be a surprise if true. It looks like there will be a big clear out.

Here's the list of out of contract players. Feel free to correct it.

John Ryan

Donnelly

Alaalatoa

Salanoa

Scannell

E Edogbo

Kleyn

JOD

Coughlan

Patterson

Butler

Gibbons

Smith

Nash

Kilgannen

Abrahams

Of that list Edogbo and Nash are the 2 you'd like to keep. Can't begrudge Nash leaving if he gets a bigger offer elsewhere.

Id also suspect the players were made aware of what's happening last autumn which coincides with the dip in performances.

Also rumours on babbling brook that Casper Gabriel is joining munster, possibly as a 12 or 15.

What do we reckon so far? I think he hasn’t looked out of place both games he’s come on, quick at the ruck and much bigger frame than your average 9.

Very simple post. Alex Nankivell what a player! How lucky are we to have him! Not just last night! This legend has been carrying Munster... and 3 or 4 defenders on his back all season! What a talent!

He looked looked class , theres a quality player their with top end speed , hes easily as good if not better then JJ Kenny , Zac Ward. All former sevens players . Think it would be madness to not give him a new contract.

Could say that « it’s only Benetton » or whatever, but the scrum was overall pretty good yesterday. I think considering what we’ve had to watch lately, we can take that.

The one at 68:00 was pretty important. It was when Benetton were close to scoring, and Munster were down to 13 - yet Munster won a scrum penalty. The pack involved was: Milne, L Barron, Jager, Edogbo, Beirne, Kendellen, Gleeson. Notably no Coombes (8) since there had to be a scrum half to put in. I think Jager and Edogbo got the plaudits for that one of course.

In other cases it was at least stable. Ala’alatoa went down a few times though.

Ulster might have some prop trouble among their injuries, on both sides, but especially loosehead. We’ll have to wait and see, but I could see the same forwards as yesterday starting. Although I’d like to see Jager start, I feel he’d get some sort of knock. Bench impact could also be big. Wonder will Quinn get a run out.

Good day at the office for Leamy I think. Could have fallen apart during the yellows but I don’t think a try was conceded in that time. The scrum provided a vital exit of course, but Benetton wouldn’t have made their mistakes if Munster’s defence didn’t pressure them. A mysterious figure getting a turnover for Munster at 66:45, poor pass by Benetton at 71:50, and knock on by them at 72:20. One area of concern would be the accumulated penalties - there was a warning in the first half, and a warning in the second (around 66:00). A better team (which all of the last 3 to play are) could have punished those.

Some nice kicks in that - Daly took a few that Crowley would have done during his yellow, Smith had a good crossfield kick to Nash, and even Coombes had a good one at one point. Could be a good area to develop - Crowley’s kick to Kendellen was on the mark as well. We can probably expect some kicking game from Ulster but I think the backs are there in the squad to handle it. It may be a weakness in Smith’s game, so maybe O’Connor FB, Daly wing?

Probably 6/2 again, there’s been a few games with no sub fly half now so I assume they have planned around that. One of the last things I would want from this season is Wood getting time though. A 5/3 could be designed around that.

Anyone else listen to the recent offload podcast???!ffs Donncha literally pretends he has no idea about the entire Randle situation when Tommy Bowe brought it up, sounded so bad.

Said he wasn’t up to speed on the story, pretended he didn’t know who had resigned or what the PGB board was.

From around 30mins onwards https:/open.spotify.com/episode/0uU4YsXfobHzQ2uKV7IgGq si=C4sPustpSiiqB6ayoK6BeQ

Looks like Munster are doubling down on the hiring of Randle.

In this day and age it’s just not gonna wash with any decent fans. Personally I’ve supported them, bought gear, travelled for matches and been there most weeks at home for the last 20 years. But no way I’m ok with supporting this club if he is coaching. A club talking about letting people go, the club in free fall performance wise and now this carry on. This will hurt me more than the club, my weeks rotate around watching Munster, my kid loves coming to matches and getting new gear.

Will fans actually stand up for what’s right or will we just see the usual “ah sure there’s nothing I can do” approach?