Keane makes way for Holland

As expected the Munster team to play Toulouse in Saturday's European Cup semi-final in Bordeaux shows just one change from the side which accounted for Stade Francais in the last eight. Jason Holland, their Kiwi centre, returns in place of Killian Keane after missing the quarter-final due to the sudden death of his girlfriend's father.

Although Declan Kidney read out the starting line-up in rapid quick time - and presumably picking it didn't take a whole lot longer - the selection process and its fallout for individual players remains the least enjoyable aspect of the Munster coach's job.

The demoted Keane played well against Stade, too, and has maintained that form for Garryowen while Holland has been sidelined.

Also, Eddie Halvey having underlined his rejuvenation by leading Shannon from the front to go with his obvious line-out ability, unsurprisingly ensured he held onto his new blind-side flanker's role.

"Killian played so well the last day and Jason's circumstances were so unfortunate that it was a very difficult call," said Kidney. "All the other ones, even though it's a match further on, weren't that bit easier. Eddie (Halvey) got the shot the last time over Alan (Quinlan) - he did well, but Alan is training well too. It wasn't as straightforward as picking the same bunch again. The quality of the subs is too high just to say that the team has won and then to pick it again."

The replacements won't be finalised until tomorrow, pending tests on a variety of bumps and bruises to the likes of Anthony Horgan, John Kelly and Anthony Foley, who was sidelined from training yesterday with a back strain picked up Monday, but all are expected to come through including David Wallace, whose scars from the 17 stitches he sustained from the Garryowen-Dungannon game last Saturday week have healed pretty well.

Whereas Toulouse have remained together for the intervening fortnight since the quarterfinals, beating Auch and La Rochelle without difficulty, Munster's players have had alternate agendas. Kidney reckons that his squad have had one hour's practice in two sessions in that time, allowing for warm-ups.

"That's the system," said Kidney, phlegmatically playing down his dissatisfaction with it but not his worries for the players. "My main concern would be the demands put on the players. We have an excellent resource and we just have to be careful we look after it, so we've tried to bring in as much stock as possible to recover from last week as well as preparing for this week."

Despite all of that, the squad has regrouped seamlessly this week, and summer having arrived bang on the cue of May Day, the Munster management noted with some irony that this has even assisted the acclimatisation process for their arrival in Bordeaux today direct from Shannon by private charter.

Manager Brian O'Brien went further in noting that light rain was forecast for the Bordeaux region on Saturday, prompting the notion that the French might like a venue switch to Thomond Park.

An estimated 2,000 are reckoned to be flying over from Ireland - including six charters from Munster - with the unknown numbers from elsewhere in Europe bringing support to a hoped for 3,000 or so. This prompted O'Brien, in typically idiosyncratic mood yesterday, to observe, "the ticket situation for this match is very good. If you want 100 tickets we can give you 100 tickets. The problem is getting somebody to fly the plane."

A measure of local interest was that an estimated 1,000 - mostly schoolchildren - attended Tuesday evening's open session in Thomond Park - more than attended some Munster home inter-provincials last season, noted one wag.

"We wouldn't be going if we didn't think we could win," said Kidney. "We owe it to the people who are supporting us and we'll do what we've done in every match this season - we'll go and give it our best shot."

"Yeah definitely," interjected Mick Galwey. "The players are very focused. We know it's going to be our biggest game of the season, we also know there's a lot of goodwill and we know that we're going to have to play better than we've done all season. It's exciting times."

Never slow in missing a chance to re-invoke the spirit of 1978, the Munster squad last night attended a play which recounts that year's landmark win over the All Blacks, namely Alone It Stands, at the Belltable Theatre. All the while yesterday there were formal congratulations to O'Brien, with Kidney adding the rider that he had received verbal confirmation from the Irish manager-elect that "he will release the Munster players should we get to the final" a day before Ireland play the Barbarians on May 28th. "Under duress," added O'Brien.

In a slightly premature farewell shot, O'Brien concluded proceedings thus: "I would just like to say that it saddens me to leave the ship. I'm not leaving a sinking ship, I can tell you that, and hopefully it will keep afloat for a long time, with or without me, and these guys are well able to cope without a manager."

Messages of goodwill, etc, can be sent to the Munster squad at the Hotel Sofitel Aquitania, fax no: 0033556696600 or email: HO699@accor-hotels.com or the Munster Branch fax: 021-501381.

The Team

Munster (v Toulouse): D Crotty; J Kelly, M Mullins, J Holland, A Horgan; R O'Gara, P Stringer; P Clohessy, K Wood, J Hayes, M Galwey (capt), J Langford, E Halvey, A Foley, D Wallace.