Formidable task for Munster

EUROPEAN CHALLENGE CUP:ASM Clermont v Munster

OUT OF little acorns and all that. Never have Munster garnered a more precious point than on their trek to the furnace that was the Stade Marcel Michelin last January, when Rua Tipoki's ability to position his body underneath Elvis Vermeulen may have ultimately prevented them going 27-3 down. Even Munster might have found no way back from there.

In the event, Tipoki and Lifeimi Mafi led the second-half charge which earned a bonus point, without which the knock-out stages and all that followed in the final last May in Cardiff simply wouldn't have been possible.

As brilliant as Clermont were for much of that day, Munster helped them along with a rash of early turnovers and missed touches, which presumably will be the abiding lesson from the video session earlier in the week.

Returning for another Sunday 4pm kick off (local time) with an English referee, Munster can ill-afford such laxity tomorrow.

Tipoki, alas, is missing, as are Jerry Flannery and Denis Leamy, but Barry Murphy, Frankie Sheahan and Niall Ronan ought to be buoyed by their efforts on that memorable night in Thomond Park against New Zealand.

The net result is Munster show eight changes from the team that started here last January, with only Doug Howlett and Ronan O'Gara surviving in the backline.

The bold selection of Keith Earls at fullback rather than Paul Warwick, and Barry Murphy in midfield with Mafi, looks a statement of intent, and rather than engage in a counter-kicking game Munster are seemingly intent on utilising Earls's footwork to hit the line and to play with the depth and width they've shown for much of this year.

Clermont, even without their suspended Fijian flyer Napoilioni Nalaga, can still pick a thrilling, all-French international back three so this could be one of the weekend's most daringly fluid encounters.

Munster have also been far more consistent this year than their hosts, who appear to be still suffering from the hangover of their defeat to Toulouse in last June's epic Top 14 decider; their ninth final defeat out of nine.

Clermont also show six changes from last January's line-up; five of them in the pack, with previous stalwarts such as Alexandre Audebert and Vermeulen relegated to the bench. They sit sixth domestically, after six wins and six defeats, albeit still only five points off the top four. However, Vern Cotter has clearly targeted this game, and recalls 10 players who were missing from last week's defeat at Mont de Marsan.

His view is that after losing at home to Sale, Munster's subsequent win in Edgeley Park has "done us a favour". Tomorrow's outcome is liable to have further repercussions, for Cotter has intimated that as a second home defeat would extinguish their interest in qualifying from the shark-infested pool one, they may send over the kitchen staff and espoirs to Limerick next weekend.

For all Clermont's travails this season on the road, where they've won just twice in seven attempts, their home record still contains a fine array of scalps: 16-6 v Toulouse, 32-6 v Biarritz, 22-6 v Stade Français and 29-9 v Bourgoin.

They remain a big-game team, especially at home, where they have won 40 of their last 43 games, and there'll be a distinct whiff of cordite in the air. This is set fair to be one of the highlights of the season and were Munster to prevail, it would rank with any of their epic Heineken Cup wins.

ASM CLERMONT AUVERGNE:A Floch; A Rougerie [capt], B Baby, S Bai, J Malzieu; B James, P Mignoni; T Domingo, M Ledesma, D Zirakashvili, J Pierre, L Jacquet, J Cudmore, A Lapandry, J Bonnaire. Replacements: M Lozupone, L Emmanuelli, A Audebert, E Vermeulen, J Senio, P Garcia, G Esterhuizen.

MUNSTER:K Earls; D Howlett, B Murphy, L Mafi, I Dowling; R O'Gara, T O'Leary; M Horan, F Sheahan, J Hayes, D O'Callaghan, P O'Connell [capt], A Quinlan, N Ronan, D Wallace. Replacements: D Fogarty, T Buckley, D Ryan, J Coughlan, P Stringer, P Warwick, J Manning.

Referee:Wayne Barnes (England)

Previous meetings: (07-08) Munster 33 Clermont 13; Clermont 26 Munster 19.

Results so far:Clermont - 15-32 v Sale (h); 24-19 v Montauban (a); Munster - 19-17 v Montauban (h); 24-16 v Sale (a).

Leading try scorers:Clermont: Napolioni Nalaga 2, Alexandre Audebert 1; Munster: _ Barry Murphy, Paul Warwick, David Wallace 1 each. Betting (Paddy Powers): 4/6 Clermont, 20/1 Draw, 5/4 Munster. Handicap betting (10/11 Clermont -3, 10/11 Munster + 3pts).

Forecast:Munster to win.