Keith wrote: ↑January 29th, 2023, 6:37 pm
munster#1 wrote: ↑January 28th, 2023, 11:40 pm
During the week I said that this game was a potential banana skin for Munster, and after only a few minutes it looked like it was going to be.
Munster went into the game with one of the best defences in the league and Europe, yet gave away a fairly rare TBP.
Treviso play a very exciting brand of rugby, and despite missing a good number of players, the drop in quality was not very obvious.
Munster played well, and managed to stick with the game, but on 60 mins the game could have shifted either way.
There were some big moments from Hodnett, Daly, JOS and Healy which drove Munster on and allowed them to close out the game.
Hodnett deserves a very special mention. Ireland have not produced a large number of traditional openides, but Hodnett is looks like he has all of the attributes to become a very good 7.
IMO,
despite being a big fan of JOD, the best backrow available to Munster right now is POM, Hodnett and Coombes.
Before I get the usual abuse, I am not saying that Hodnett should be starting for Ireland, but I do believe that he is not far from putting his name into the equation for Irish squads.
Munster took a much needed 5 points. They will need to collect a couple more before they head to SA, but right now they are in a good place.
That's a big fall from grace from the once "best backrow in Ireland"
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
Ah no, Hodnett looked like a star in the making from when he played in that Ireland u20 squad and he's looked really good for Munster whenever he's been on the field. I rate him highly, but In terms of the Irish squad he now faces stiff competition from Will Connors who is back from injury and his impact in defence was as prominent as ever, coming off the bench against Cardiff.
It’s a funny one with Hodnett. A friend of mine is involved with the underage system, and has worked with all of the recent academy graduates.
He has some glowing reports on some others, but when I asked him about Hodnett a couple of years ago, he said that he probably won’t make it due to his attitude.
He was either completely wrong, or Hodnett has turned a corner, because his work rate is very good, and his continual improvement suggests that he is putting in the graft in training.
The backrow is a seriously congested area at the moment, so if it’s not Connors he’s fighting it out with, it will be one of many others.
What Hodnett gives you is a horses for course’s ability in selection, and if his current trajectory continues he’ll be difficult to ignore.
However, he’ll probably have to establish himself as a first choice player before becoming a regular in the Ireland squads.
Just because a post upsets you, that doesn’t mean that it is wrong. People have different views in all aspects of life, this is a key ingredient to an interesting conversation.