1 my arse.

Yeah.
Afoa, Best, Muller, Bowe, Trimble, Payne, Pienaar, Henry, Ferris, Wallace, Gilroy, Court, Tuohy, Wilson etc all are all worse than their Munster opposition.

Do you know what starter means? It isn't a complicated word.

The Canterbury team that went away and beat Anscombe's Auckland team had 1 Crusaders 1st XV starter in it - it also had one Highlanders starter.

Correspondingly, the Auckland team had 6.

I wonder who to believe? The Kiwis who have watched his teams play over the last 4 years & say he's a good coach?

Or Willie Falloon???

6 Blues starters really?

All I can see is a pile of Blues squad players.

Yeah.
Afoa, Best, Muller, Bowe, Trimble, Payne, Pienaar, Henry, Ferris, Wallace, Gilroy, Court, Tuohy, Wilson etc all are all worse than their Munster opposition.

Munster are the 3rd province in Irish rugby, the currently do not have the talent in their 1st XV to be better than Ulster next season.

Sorry for breaking the news.

I just find it hard to beleive that Munster fans think Penny can turn Butler in Keiran Reid and turn Keatley into a better player than Slade.

You're trying much too hard Willie.
Look at the ladyboys, smug, silent and considerably more confident themselves.
You jumping all over MF's and Munster threads here betrays your fear that this good time won't last.

Go on Big Al!!!!

I reckon Rob Penney would kick the shit out of Mark Anscombe in a fight. He'd probably finish a crossword long before him, too.

Lets not get carried away here lads. These are still Kiwis we're talking about here.

Utterly baffling appointment, in my view. But what do I know?

Good news for Leinster.

Someone who could not get a Super Rugby contract gets the Munster job.

munster will be the 3rd province in ireland for the foreseeable future

Almost as good, in a different context, as Brian Kerr's.

I don't normally browse p.ie but I was bored and had a look.
Look at what I found in their sports forum.

I don't think it all that bad Penney going to Munster, I know he had a lot of success with Canterbury in ITM and apparently is a very good coach at that level. It will only give him more experience at coaching different types of players and will round out his apprenticeship a bit more. I also say same about players that head overseas because they can't quite make it in NZ, good to see there somewhere else they can go to get experience. If Penney is as good as some think (and I have no reason to believe he isn't), he will still progress through ranks ok. I actually would prefer to see Schmidt and Cotter being tempted back to do a S15 team, as I think they both have a lot to offer.

Just listened to the Off the Ball podcast, Shaggy going on about how good a coach ROG would make again.

For all his limitations offensively, most of them were physical, the fact it is the 3rd or 4th time I've heard Horgan make the same point indicates there probably is some ability there (unless it is a massive long-con type troll).

He needs to start in the AIL though, and I'm not sure he'd have the patience for that.

Just listened to the Off the Ball podcast, Shaggy going on about how good a coach ROG would make again.

For all his limitations offensively, most of them were physical, the fact it is the 3rd or 4th time I've heard Horgan make the same point indicates there probably is some ability there (unless it is a massive long-con type troll).

He needs to start in the AIL though, and I'm not sure he'd have the patience for that.

He'd give the best press conference since Kevin Keegan back in the day. Hopefully with tears.

No he wouldn't, he'd take the Axel role, work with the academy to A side to full side. If he wants it I say he'd have the patience (you don't get that good at kicking without patience).

I don't think the AIL is a route for Irish coaches any more.

I think I'd prefer him at a different province then. And that goes for any of the Leinster lads looking at coaching as well. I think there is too much of a comfort basket otherwise.

That isn't actually a bad idea. Having a kind of job share of first/second year coaches would allow experiences of different environments and get people working with those they don't have relationships, but guys would realistically have to move, and that isn't an option for most family men in their mid to late 30s.

It is a problem we have though. There are only 4 head coaching jobs and a maximum of 16 specialist coaching jobs underneath that, and seeing as the AIL really does seem out (I imagine only really exceptional people will be promoted out of it, and even then, to an assistant coaching role at absolute best) the entry route really does have to be at academy/A level with the provinces.

"Far too much bad blood and negative feelings amongst the Irish rugby public when it comes to ROG"

and what exactly does what the fucking public think have anything to do with someone coaching?

"Far too much bad blood and negative feelings amongst the Irish rugby public when it comes to ROG"

and what exactly does what the fucking public think have anything to do with someone coaching?

Also, away from the message boards on internet land, and away from 16 year old fans, I'm not so sure there's much bad blood out there.

I've said it before, I think he'd be fantastic on TV. Every statement would be self-serving admittedly, but a bit like how Keane has been going on ITV, he'd tell it like it is and have no qualms about pissing people off.

MUNSTER chief executive Fitzgerald said the fact three of the provinces will next season have foreign coaches in charge was an indicator of the way professional sport has gone rather than a reflection on the quality of Irish candidates.

Fitzgerald said New Zealander Rob Penney, who was this week named ahead of former Munster captain and current forwards coach Anthony Foley as the successor to Tony McGahan, was the best man for the job at this point.

“Professional rugby today is a business and you normally try to get the best people to run your business.

“I think part of developing as a head coach at international level nowadays, people need to work overseas and get experience. We have the reverse example of that now with Mickey Bradley and Mark McCall, who have gone elsewhere and had great experience.

“I’m sure the people in the Southern Hemisphere look the same way, and I don’t think it’s a reflection on Irish coaches. The difficulty Irish coaches have is that there’s only one employer in Ireland as a professional coach. And I suppose the risk level is a lot higher if there’s only one employer.

“We have a lot of excellent coaches in Ireland that would succeed at professional level if they could get sufficient experience but the way the marketplace and industry is I think they’ve got to go abroad to get experience. They’ve got to manage and survive on their own as well. But also some would come through the system naturally as well but I don’t think it’s any bad reflection on where things are in Ireland.”

Fitzgerald said Penney was anxious that Foley would remain as forwards coach.

“On the second interview he (Penney) openly stated that in the event of him being successful, he would definitely want Anthony Foley to stay as his forwards coach,” said Fitzgerald, who said Foley still has a lot to offer Munster.

Their will be more departures from the Munster set-up as Fitzgerald yesterday confirmed team manager Shaun Payne and backs coach Jason Holland were moving on at the end of the season.

Fitzgerald said that he would be working with Penney in the coming weeks to find replacements and he hoped to have these appointments in place by the time the new coach arrives in July.
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Just listened to the Off the Ball podcast, Shaggy going on about how good a coach ROG would make again.

For all his limitations offensively, most of them were physical, the fact it is the 3rd or 4th time I've heard Horgan make the same point indicates there probably is some ability there (unless it is a massive long-con type troll).

When there was a bit more space and he was a bit younger with a nippier pass ROG ran our backline very well. There's still glimpses of it at Pro12 level and against weak HEC sides. I could well believe he'd be a decent coach.

Also, no idea what DD is talking about. 'Bad blood'? Wtf?