Munster v Edinburgh, 24 September

            
Munster Rugby v Edinburgh Rugby
Saturday 24 September 2016
KO 15:00
Thomond Park, Limerick

Live on Sky Sports

Referee: Ben Whitehouse (WRU, 28th competition game)
Assistant Referees: Gwyn Morris (WRU), Mark Patton (IRFU)
Citing Commissioner: Eddie Wigglesworth (IRFU)
TMO: Jon Mason (WRU)

A. Head to Head

28 Played 28
22 Wins 6
6 Losses 22
0 Draws 0
64 Tries 50
43 Conversions 37
56 Penalties 65
1 Drop Goals 1
577 Points 522

B. Form

Munster Rugby: Good 

Edinburgh Rugby: Pants


C. Teams

Munster Rugby

[*]

Edinburgh Rugby

[*]

Munster lost their last home game to the Blues so they'll be doing all they can to make up for that - I'm sure Edinburgh will be obliging in this regard.

Munster certainly don't have the same aura they used to have but I think they'll still have more than enough to win. Edinburgh have got better each game (not difficult) so I think a lbp would be a good result.

Also worth noting that we'll need to rest players soon, especially in the front 5 (our so called main strength)

Comforting reading for Edinburgh fans in the official preview:

Jobsworth McTwatface wrote:Edinburgh have not beaten an Irish province on their own soil since a trip to Connacht in January 2015.

Munster have lost just one of their last nine PRO12 clashes with Edinburgh: 13-14 at Thomond Park in September 2014 – the last time the two met at the venue.

The head to head does not make positive reading. Can't see the overwhelming majority being chipped into in this match.

I suspect we'll more than likely see a very similar team to last week, but far less adventurous in our play given Solly must have mentioned the defence 6 or 7 times in his interview after the game last week.

I hope we finally get to see the Du Preez, Hardie, Manu backrow in this game, have they ever played together for Edinburgh? On paper that is one of the best units in Pro Rugby, let alone the Pro 12. That being said, I can't see anything other than a 3rd loss out of 4 for the Gunners.

I can't see many changes, outwith injured players coming back in, possibly Kinghorn for Bryce.

Du Preez should be fit but Hardie picked up a head knock 2 weeks ago and Manu a rib injury, so he's like to be out another few weeks.

I think we'll see (continuing my good form for predictions lately)

1 Sutherland
2 Ford
3 Nel
4 Toolis
5 Gilchrist
6 Bradbury
7 Watson
8 Du Preez

9 Fowles
10 Weir
11 Brown
12 Burleigh
13 Tofilau
14 Scholes
15 Kinghorn

I'm assuming Michael Allan will be injured after his try scoring acrobatic routine on Friday.

Ahh, I see. I thought both might be fit for this one, Edinburgh really need that trio to get up and running.

Your team is still pretty strong RDW, on paper at least. I still have worries about Weir and Fowles, both of them the epitome of headless chickens.

It should however mean that we can rest players next weekend, and with Manu and Hardie coming back the overall strength of the team shouldn't be badly affected.

Agreed on Fowles - SHC's form has gone walkabout for a while now but Fowles doesn't inspire me with much confidence either, and I have no idea why he's been given a run of games. I still think SHC is our most controlling 9 and best suited to play with Weir - he just needs gametime to build his form.

RDW_Scotland wrote:It should however mean that we can rest players next weekend, and with Manu and Hardie coming back the overall strength of the team shouldn't be badly affected.

Agreed on Fowles - SHC's form has gone walkabout for a while now but Fowles doesn't inspire me with much confidence either, and I have no idea why he's been given a run of games. I still think SHC is our most controlling 9 and best suited to play with Weir - he just needs gametime to build his form.

Thats true, and it does give Bradbury and Watson a good run.

Your options at 9 are pretty worrying just now, Fowles has a snappy pass but doesn't appear to control things at all and took numerous wrong options last weekend. As for SHC, what has happened to the player from 2 years ago? His form has fallen off a cliff, for a pro scrum half his passing last weekend was just awful. It's such a problem because Weir needs all the time you can give him.

George Carlin wrote:Comforting reading for Edinburgh fans in the official preview:

Jobsworth McTwatface wrote:Edinburgh have not beaten an Irish province on their own soil since a trip to Connacht in January 2015.

Munster have lost just one of their last nine PRO12 clashes with Edinburgh: 13-14 at Thomond Park in September 2014 – the last time the two met at the venue.

I know Jobsworth - he's a jolly decent chap.

I think it's pretty obvious Edinburgh will lose this. The question is whether we'll perform like we did in the first half against Leinster or the second half:

1st half - we'll lose by 60 points
2nd half - we'll lose by 10 points.

I'd like to see Hidalgo-Clyne reinstated at 9. Fowles was awful against Leinster. I'd also like Weir/Burleigh to continue to develop at 10/12. If Edinburgh are to get anything from this season, those two are going to need to develop a better understanding. Bradbury deserves to keep his jersey, and I'd probably start Watson as well, perhaps using Hardie as an impact option. Kinghorn should come in for Bryce and I'd be tempted by Rasolea at 13.

Is Allan injured?

funnyExiledScot wrote:

George Carlin wrote:Comforting reading for Edinburgh fans in the official preview:

Jobsworth McTwatface wrote:Edinburgh have not beaten an Irish province on their own soil since a trip to Connacht in January 2015.

Munster have lost just one of their last nine PRO12 clashes with Edinburgh: 13-14 at Thomond Park in September 2014 – the last time the two met at the venue.

I know Jobsworth - he's a jolly decent chap.

I think it's pretty obvious Edinburgh will lose this. The question is whether we'll perform like we did in the first half against Leinster or the second half:

1st half - we'll lose by 60 points
2nd half - we'll lose by 10 points.

I'd like to see Hidalgo-Clyne reinstated at 9. Fowles was awful against Leinster. I'd also like Weir/Burleigh to continue to develop at 10/12. If Edinburgh are to get anything from this season, those two are going to need to develop a better understanding. Bradbury deserves to keep his jersey, and I'd probably start Watson as well, perhaps using Hardie as an impact option. Kinghorn should come in for Bryce and I'd be tempted by Rasolea at 13.

Is Allan injured?

As above I'd be surprised if Allan played as he landed very awkwardly when scoring his try, and went off early having tried to play on. Scholes is a more than adequate replacement though so he shouldn't be risked.

Again I'd be surprised if Hardie is passed fit, but we don't know the extent of his head knock.

I'd be fine with Watson in any event. Re: Allan, as you say, no problems with Scholes coming onto the left wing. Pity though, as Allan was looking really sharp.

I'm wondering about Gilchrist, and whether we weren't actually better with McKenzie partnering Toolis at lock. I know he's had an extended lay-off, but things aren't 100% with Gilchrist at the moment. So far he's been a bit Kellock.

funnyExiledScot wrote:I'm wondering about Gilchrist, and whether we weren't actually better with McKenzie partnering Toolis at lock. I know he's had an extended lay-off, but things aren't 100% with Gilchrist at the moment. So far he's been a bit Kellock.

That's harsh about Gilchrist IMO - he was mince against the Blues but that was his first game back and everyone was mince. I thought he was one of our best players against the Scarlets and played well against Leinster too, with a better lineout.

McKenzie was AWOL in the first 2 games but made good impact off the bench against Leinster - I like the impact he brings on so I would keep him on the bench.

I just have high expectation of Gilchrist, and probably expect less from McKenzie. Gilchrist was made Scotland captain and targeted by Toulon, and right now he's falling short. Of course he deserves more time, but it's not hugely positive when Fraser McKenzie comes on and the scrum appears to improve.

There's many aspects to scrums though - it was an entirely new front row by that point, were some players knackered, was someone injured, were the scrums less important so the front rows weren't trying as hard etc. etc.

Saying that, McKenzie and Bresler are renowned as being the best scrummaging locks - Gilchrist and Toolis cover the lineout. So that makes even more sense to bring McKenzie on from the bench to bolster the scrum so we can take Nel off.

Speaking of Bresler, when does he return?

I hear you on the scrum. It's a collective effort and hard to pinpoint one particular player as having a determinative effect. Still, I expect more from Gilchrist than we've seen so far.

What are people's views on Tofilau? Seems solid enough (and better than Chris Dean), but I'm wondering whether Rasolea might not be the more box office option, albeit with work to be done on defence.

funnyExiledScot wrote:Speaking of Bresler, when does he return?

I hear you on the scrum. It's a collective effort and hard to pinpoint one particular player as having a determinative effect. Still, I expect more from Gilchrist than we've seen so far.

What are people's views on Tofilau? Seems solid enough (and better than Chris Dean), but I'm wondering whether Rasolea might not be the more box office option, albeit with work to be done on defence.

Edinburgh's defence is leakier than Hillary Clinton's personal email firewall so I would definitely start with Rasolea.

I mind less losing by 5 tries if I have also scored 4 tries in the process. With him they stand a chance of doing that.

Bresler had surgery (groin I think) so I would be surprised if he comes back before the AIs.

Tofilau looks like he's got something special in attack so I think he may become a good player with time - he's still young and is brand new to the pro game.

Rasolea also looks good in attack but I still think he is more of a 12 - he would go better with Tovey at 10 over Weir however, as Weir really needs Burleigh.

George Carlin wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:Speaking of Bresler, when does he return?

I hear you on the scrum. It's a collective effort and hard to pinpoint one particular player as having a determinative effect. Still, I expect more from Gilchrist than we've seen so far.

What are people's views on Tofilau? Seems solid enough (and better than Chris Dean), but I'm wondering whether Rasolea might not be the more box office option, albeit with work to be done on defence.

Edinburgh's defence is leakier than Hillary Clinton's personal email firewall so I would definitely start with Rasolea.

I mind less losing by 5 tries if I have also scored 4 tries in the process. With him they stand a chance of doing that.

I do struggle to come up with a single bad thing she could do that would push me to vote for Donald Trump. If she moved to Glasgow, supported the Warriors, blew up Murrayfield, took a dump on my front lawn, outlawed Innis & Gunn, reinstated Mike Walker as Everton managed, installed Alex Salmond as Prime Minister of an independent Scotland, Tommy Sheridan as Justice Minister and put George Galloway in charge of foreign policy, forced me to work in private practice again and made me go to Celtic Park every Saturday......I would still vote for her ahead of Trump.

funnyExiledScot wrote:

George Carlin wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:Speaking of Bresler, when does he return?

I hear you on the scrum. It's a collective effort and hard to pinpoint one particular player as having a determinative effect. Still, I expect more from Gilchrist than we've seen so far.

What are people's views on Tofilau? Seems solid enough (and better than Chris Dean), but I'm wondering whether Rasolea might not be the more box office option, albeit with work to be done on defence.

Edinburgh's defence is leakier than Hillary Clinton's personal email firewall so I would definitely start with Rasolea.

I mind less losing by 5 tries if I have also scored 4 tries in the process. With him they stand a chance of doing that.

I do struggle to come up with a single bad thing she could do that would push me to vote for Donald Trump. If she moved to Glasgow, supported the Warriors, blew up Murrayfield, took a dump on my front lawn, outlawed Innis & Gunn, reinstated Mike Walker as Everton managed, installed Alex Salmond as Prime Minister of an independent Scotland, Tommy Sheridan as Justice Minister and put George Galloway in charge of foreign policy, forced me to work in private practice again and made me go to Celtic Park every Saturday......I would still vote for her ahead of Trump.

I looked at the news today and had a pang of horror when I realised (I try to forget) that he stands every chance of winning.

funnyExiledScot wrote:

George Carlin wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:Speaking of Bresler, when does he return?

I hear you on the scrum. It's a collective effort and hard to pinpoint one particular player as having a determinative effect. Still, I expect more from Gilchrist than we've seen so far.

What are people's views on Tofilau? Seems solid enough (and better than Chris Dean), but I'm wondering whether Rasolea might not be the more box office option, albeit with work to be done on defence.

Edinburgh's defence is leakier than Hillary Clinton's personal email firewall so I would definitely start with Rasolea.

I mind less losing by 5 tries if I have also scored 4 tries in the process. With him they stand a chance of doing that.

I do struggle to come up with a single bad thing she could do that would push me to vote for Donald Trump. If she moved to Glasgow, supported the Warriors, blew up Murrayfield, took a dump on my front lawn, outlawed Innis & Gunn, reinstated Mike Walker as Everton managed, installed Alex Salmond as Prime Minister of an independent Scotland, Tommy Sheridan as Justice Minister and put George Galloway in charge of foreign policy, forced me to work in private practice again and made me go to Celtic Park every Saturday......I would still vote for her ahead of Trump.

I think that the only thing she could do would be to pull off a full latex face mask, Mission Impossible-style, to reveal that she was actually Scott Johnson.

George Carlin wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:

George Carlin wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:Speaking of Bresler, when does he return?

I hear you on the scrum. It's a collective effort and hard to pinpoint one particular player as having a determinative effect. Still, I expect more from Gilchrist than we've seen so far.

What are people's views on Tofilau? Seems solid enough (and better than Chris Dean), but I'm wondering whether Rasolea might not be the more box office option, albeit with work to be done on defence.

Edinburgh's defence is leakier than Hillary Clinton's personal email firewall so I would definitely start with Rasolea.

I mind less losing by 5 tries if I have also scored 4 tries in the process. With him they stand a chance of doing that.

I do struggle to come up with a single bad thing she could do that would push me to vote for Donald Trump. If she moved to Glasgow, supported the Warriors, blew up Murrayfield, took a dump on my front lawn, outlawed Innis & Gunn, reinstated Mike Walker as Everton managed, installed Alex Salmond as Prime Minister of an independent Scotland, Tommy Sheridan as Justice Minister and put George Galloway in charge of foreign policy, forced me to work in private practice again and made me go to Celtic Park every Saturday......I would still vote for her ahead of Trump.

I think that the only thing she could do would be to pull off a full latex face mask, Mission Impossible-style, to reveal that she was actually Scott Johnson.

That's a toughie, but I still wouldn't vote for The Donald.

Have you seen his latest ploy of 'reimbursing' the US with Iraq oil, or as normal folk call it, stealing oil, to compensate the US for the Iraq war! His campaign can't be real, I mean the things he comes out with, it can't be....can it?!

EST wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:

George Carlin wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:Speaking of Bresler, when does he return?

I hear you on the scrum. It's a collective effort and hard to pinpoint one particular player as having a determinative effect. Still, I expect more from Gilchrist than we've seen so far.

What are people's views on Tofilau? Seems solid enough (and better than Chris Dean), but I'm wondering whether Rasolea might not be the more box office option, albeit with work to be done on defence.

Edinburgh's defence is leakier than Hillary Clinton's personal email firewall so I would definitely start with Rasolea.

I mind less losing by 5 tries if I have also scored 4 tries in the process. With him they stand a chance of doing that.

I do struggle to come up with a single bad thing she could do that would push me to vote for Donald Trump. If she moved to Glasgow, supported the Warriors, blew up Murrayfield, took a dump on my front lawn, outlawed Innis & Gunn, reinstated Mike Walker as Everton managed, installed Alex Salmond as Prime Minister of an independent Scotland, Tommy Sheridan as Justice Minister and put George Galloway in charge of foreign policy, forced me to work in private practice again and made me go to Celtic Park every Saturday......I would still vote for her ahead of Trump.

I looked at the news today and had a pang of horror when I realised (I try to forget) that he stands every chance of winning.

Without wishing to go too off topic, the news in the UK is filtered through an ultra left wing media. So even sane things like protecting your own country's border is seen by them as being racist and they get especially angry when its - god forbid - a white man doing it.

I hadn't heard that, although his claims that he opposed the Iraq War in the first place are, of course, entirely false.

profitius wrote:

EST wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:

George Carlin wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:Speaking of Bresler, when does he return?

I hear you on the scrum. It's a collective effort and hard to pinpoint one particular player as having a determinative effect. Still, I expect more from Gilchrist than we've seen so far.

What are people's views on Tofilau? Seems solid enough (and better than Chris Dean), but I'm wondering whether Rasolea might not be the more box office option, albeit with work to be done on defence.

Edinburgh's defence is leakier than Hillary Clinton's personal email firewall so I would definitely start with Rasolea.

I mind less losing by 5 tries if I have also scored 4 tries in the process. With him they stand a chance of doing that.

I do struggle to come up with a single bad thing she could do that would push me to vote for Donald Trump. If she moved to Glasgow, supported the Warriors, blew up Murrayfield, took a dump on my front lawn, outlawed Innis & Gunn, reinstated Mike Walker as Everton managed, installed Alex Salmond as Prime Minister of an independent Scotland, Tommy Sheridan as Justice Minister and put George Galloway in charge of foreign policy, forced me to work in private practice again and made me go to Celtic Park every Saturday......I would still vote for her ahead of Trump.

I looked at the news today and had a pang of horror when I realised (I try to forget) that he stands every chance of winning.

Without wishing to go too off topic, the news in the UK is filtered through an ultra left wing media. So even sane things like protecting your own country's border is seen by them as being racist and they get especially angry when its - god forbid - a white man doing it.

Well I suppose it depends. The Corbynistas and the Nats in Scotland will tell you something completely different.

The Donald is an idiot.

This next presidency will show the true limit of a president. Republicans control Congress and will stop Clinton/Trump doing much. Big problems with the US becoming increasingly polarised.

I would say they are getting polarised here except the Tories are centrist. It is Labour who are leaning further left. What is the betting on Labour getting more than 200 seats if/when Corbyn remains in control?

George Carlin wrote:
I think that the only thing she could do would be to pull off a full latex face mask, Mission Impossible-style, to reveal that she was actually Scott Johnson.

Surely revealing that she is an old, incompetent white male can only boost her chances of the Presidency?

It's a little baffling to see the Tories described as centrist and the UK media described as ultra left wing- maybe the Morning Star, but who the hell even reads that anymore? And the small state, everyone out for themselves, cut welfare, cut support for disabled people, neglect the health service, exit the European Union, re-introduce streamed education- thats surely a bevvy of pretty right wing policies?

What is interesting about the UK is Labour and the Tories are both harking back to some idealised version of their political past and recycling decades old policies- bring back Grammar Schools! Nationalise the Railways! Because political nostalgia is all they have left. There's no-one around who has the imagination to try think of new ideas of any sort. There's no-one with vision and no-one who has any idea whatsoever how to deal with the future. As much as Labour are under constant attack (mostly from themselves) let's not mistake a political party that's just taken us out of the European Union by themselves for being competent. Theresa May's sole virtue seems to be that the Tories have decided they need some cut-price Maggie Thatcher to knock heads together but she's not as good as the real thing- she's quietly floundering in the role.

Next fifty years or so, the whole show goes off the rails then we can start dealing with it. I think it will take a lot worse times than these before people get their heads around the kind of problems we have now. Certainly we'll need to wait until the Baby Boomers die off.

Notch wrote:

George Carlin wrote:
I think that the only thing she could do would be to pull off a full latex face mask, Mission Impossible-style, to reveal that she was actually Scott Johnson.

Surely revealing that she is an old, incompetent white male can only boost her chances of the Presidency?

Tories overall have been centre-right but have generally not been as right wing as expected under Cameron. As for the EU referendum, the EU would not get off the ground if the treaties were actually voted on by voters. A massive flaw that is steadily being exposed. A hard exit where the Slovaks block a deal would be interesting. The Irish would be furious at a northern border. It is interesting times for the EU project. I believe it will fall apart into several levels with the UK joining Norway/Switzerland on the outer rim.

As for cuts to welfare, after 13 years of Labour it was bound to happen. It is a re-normalisation process and a realisation that there is "no money left". You are right of course that neither political party has a real vision. The problem is people with vision tend to do stupid stuff before getting to the top. That is now recorded and there is "outrage" from people about how someone told an impolite joke or was part of a rugby club that sung too loudly.

profitius wrote:

EST wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:

George Carlin wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:Speaking of Bresler, when does he return?

I hear you on the scrum. It's a collective effort and hard to pinpoint one particular player as having a determinative effect. Still, I expect more from Gilchrist than we've seen so far.

What are people's views on Tofilau? Seems solid enough (and better than Chris Dean), but I'm wondering whether Rasolea might not be the more box office option, albeit with work to be done on defence.

Edinburgh's defence is leakier than Hillary Clinton's personal email firewall so I would definitely start with Rasolea.

I mind less losing by 5 tries if I have also scored 4 tries in the process. With him they stand a chance of doing that.

I do struggle to come up with a single bad thing she could do that would push me to vote for Donald Trump. If she moved to Glasgow, supported the Warriors, blew up Murrayfield, took a dump on my front lawn, outlawed Innis & Gunn, reinstated Mike Walker as Everton managed, installed Alex Salmond as Prime Minister of an independent Scotland, Tommy Sheridan as Justice Minister and put George Galloway in charge of foreign policy, forced me to work in private practice again and made me go to Celtic Park every Saturday......I would still vote for her ahead of Trump.

I looked at the news today and had a pang of horror when I realised (I try to forget) that he stands every chance of winning.

Without wishing to go too off topic, the news in the UK is filtered through an ultra left wing media. So even sane things like protecting your own country's border is seen by them as being racist and they get especially angry when its - god forbid - a white man doing it.

Well, I don't think any amount of filtering would make The Donald look like anything other than a narcissistic ego-maniac with a very short attention span and a penchant for lying.

Hazel Sapling wrote:Tories overall have been centre-right but have generally not been as right wing as expected under Cameron. As for the EU referendum, the EU would not get off the ground if the treaties were actually voted on by voters. A massive flaw that is steadily being exposed. A hard exit where the Slovaks block a deal would be interesting. The Irish would be furious at a northern border. It is interesting times for the EU project. I believe it will fall apart into several levels with the UK joining Norway/Switzerland on the outer rim.

As for cuts to welfare, after 13 years of Labour it was bound to happen. It is a re-normalisation process and a realisation that there is "no money left". You are right of course that neither political party has a real vision. The problem is people with vision tend to do stupid stuff before getting to the top. That is now recorded and there is "outrage" from people about how someone told an impolite joke or was part of a rugby club that sung too loudly.

I think it was inevitable that the EU was going to unravel sooner or later. Cameron's acceleration of that process is some legacy to leave though.

Well, we're living in an age of bland, visionless former Special Advisors rising to power by default in all parties. It's easy to see the appeal of a Corbyn or a Farage in those circumstances. Such misfits will inspire derision amongst the career politicians and great loyalty amongst others. They're not the problem though. They're just a reflexive reaction to the problem.

EST wrote:

profitius wrote:

EST wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:

George Carlin wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:Speaking of Bresler, when does he return?

I hear you on the scrum. It's a collective effort and hard to pinpoint one particular player as having a determinative effect. Still, I expect more from Gilchrist than we've seen so far.

What are people's views on Tofilau? Seems solid enough (and better than Chris Dean), but I'm wondering whether Rasolea might not be the more box office option, albeit with work to be done on defence.

Edinburgh's defence is leakier than Hillary Clinton's personal email firewall so I would definitely start with Rasolea.

I mind less losing by 5 tries if I have also scored 4 tries in the process. With him they stand a chance of doing that.

I do struggle to come up with a single bad thing she could do that would push me to vote for Donald Trump. If she moved to Glasgow, supported the Warriors, blew up Murrayfield, took a dump on my front lawn, outlawed Innis & Gunn, reinstated Mike Walker as Everton managed, installed Alex Salmond as Prime Minister of an independent Scotland, Tommy Sheridan as Justice Minister and put George Galloway in charge of foreign policy, forced me to work in private practice again and made me go to Celtic Park every Saturday......I would still vote for her ahead of Trump.

I looked at the news today and had a pang of horror when I realised (I try to forget) that he stands every chance of winning.

Without wishing to go too off topic, the news in the UK is filtered through an ultra left wing media. So even sane things like protecting your own country's border is seen by them as being racist and they get especially angry when its - god forbid - a white man doing it.

Well, I don't think any amount of filtering would make The Donald look like anything other than a narcissistic ego-maniac with a very short attention span and a penchant for lying.  

And by that do you mean other politicians are not like that? At least he is honest about it!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doAw7H2Ar5M

I leave you all alone for a few hours and this is what happens!!

RDW_Scotland wrote:I leave you all alone for a few hours and this is what happens!!

Give me a minute and I'll offer an opinion that this Haulocaust thingy was probably greatly exaggerated.

If it even did happen at all.

You were meant to be the one looking after them!

George Carlin wrote:

RDW_Scotland wrote:I leave you all alone for a few hours and this is what happens!!

Give me a minute and I'll offer an opinion that this Haulocaust thingy was probably greatly exaggerated.

If it even did happen at all.

I see the conversation died after this comment so assuming that Mossad have got you now.

On the match what side are Munster expected to pick? Who is missing?

George Carlin wrote:

RDW_Scotland wrote:I leave you all alone for a few hours and this is what happens!!

Give me a minute and I'll offer an opinion that this Haulocaust thingy was probably greatly exaggerated.

If it even did happen at all.

Ah ha! I had wondered if I knew a Corbyn supporter......

Solomons has done a lot of rotation - looks like he's written of this game. Pack looks interesting back that backline really isn't ideal

Good to see hoyland and CDP back from injury

But we're going to get stuffed

Rotation! Players getting dropped for having poor games!

What is going on Edinburgh fans, we are not used to this?

I'm not convinced by Dean at 12, but quite happy to see a bit of rotation. That said, Kinghorn starting ahead of Bryce would have been better.

funnyExiledScot wrote:I'm not convinced by Dean.

Save yourself a bit of typing next time FES!

This has the makings of a Solly masterstroke, Edinburgh to win by 100, clear as day!

Edinburgh Rugby Head Coach Alan Solomons has named seven personnel changes to his starting side to face Munster in tomorrow’s Guinness PRO12 clash at Thomond Park (kick-off 3pm) – live on Sky Sports.

Cornell Du Preez returns to the starting line-up

Three changes come in the backline, as try-scorer against Scarlets and Leinster, Michael Allen, moves from wing to centre with Damien Hoyland – who returns from a groin injury to make his first appearance of the season – starting in the number 14 jersey.

Allen is joined in the centre by Chris Dean, who comes in for the injured Phil Burleigh (shoulder).

Sam Hidalgo-Clyne is set to wear the number nine jersey for the first time this season in place of the injured Nathan Fowles (leg).

The remaining four changes in the pack will see Kevin Bryce makes his first Edinburgh Rugby start at tighthead prop, while Stuart McInally is named at hooker and captain of the side.

Fraser McKenzie comes in at lock in place of the rested Grant Gilchrist while Cornell Du Preez makes his first start of the season at number eight.

Glenn Bryce and Tom Brown retain their starting jerseys to join Hoyland in the back-three, while Dean and Allen are set to play outside of the half-back partnership of Duncan Weir and Hidalgo-Clyne.

Rory Sutherland packs down in the loosehead prop berth alongside McInally and Bryce, while McKenzie is in the boilerroom with Ben Toolis.

Last week’s try-scorers, Magnus Bradbury and Hamish Watson, start at blindside and openside flanker respectively, with Du Preez at the tail of the scrum.

On the bench, six players not included in last week’s match-day squad will feature for the outing against Munster.

Neil Cochrane, Jack Cosgrove, Lewis Carmichael – who will make his Edinburgh Rugby debut if called upon from the bench – and John Hardie are all brought in as forward replacements – the latter having recovered from a head knock sustained against Scarlets – while Sean Kennedy and Rory Scholes are also included as back replacements.

Head Coach Alan Solomons said:

“Saturday presents a huge challenge to the team in which a number of players will get their first starts.”

Players unavailable due to injury: Simon Berghan (foot), Anton Bresler (groin), Phil Burleigh (shoulder), Alasdair Dickinson (hamstring), Nathan Fowles (leg), Will Helu (hamstring), Nasi Manu (ribs), Sasa Tofilau (concussion), Jason Tovey (wrist).

Players not considered: Ross Ford, Grant Gilchrist, Viliame Mata, WP Nel, Junior Rasolea, Jamie Ritchie



Edinburgh Rugby team to play Munster in the Guinness PRO12 at Thomond Park, Limerick tomorrow (Saturday 24 September, kick-off 3pm) – live on Sky Sports

15. Glenn Bryce

14. Damien Hoyland
13. Michael Allen
12. Chris Dean
11. Tom Brown

10. Duncan Weir
9. Sam Hidalgo-Clyne

1. Rory Sutherland
2. Stuart McInally CAPTAIN
3. Kevin Bryce
4. Fraser McKenzie
5. Ben Toolis
6. Magnus Bradbury
7. Hamish Watson
8. Cornell Du Preez

Substitutes

16. Neil Cochrane
17. Jack Cosgrove
18. Allan Dell
19. Lewis Carmichael
20. John Hardie
21. Sean Kennedy
22. Blair Kinghorn
23. Rory Scholes

Well things were tough enough if we had picked our best squad, so as we haven't I think it will be fairly close by halftime but Munster will run in comfortable winners in the end with a BP.

RDW_Scotland wrote:Well things were tough enough if we had picked our best squad, so as we haven't I think it will be fairly close by halftime but Munster will run in comfortable winners in the end with a BP.

I'd have preferred Ford on the bench but I'm happy that Rambo's starting.  Center pairing could be due to the defensive disaster of last week. Still can't quite see what the point in Bryce 15 is.

It's not exactly lambs to the slaughter but I've a feeling Solomons has a pre-prepared excuse that mentions something about "continuity" and "experience". The first choice 15 will be flogged from next week to the end of the season.

I'm just amazed he's actually rested players - suggests he's targeting a floundering Connacht Away next week too.

Big test for Kevin Bryce at tighthead!