Munster in dark about O'Leary's plans

OUT OF favour Irish scrumhalf Tomás O’Leary has not spoken to his Munster coach Tony McGahan about a proposed move to France.

McGahan said he was unaware of any such move by the 28-year-old who was surprisingly left out of the World Cup squad and who has lost his Munster place to Conor Murray.

McGahan confirmed that O’Leary was out of contract at the end of the season, but did not know where it had emanated from that he might move to France.

“I haven’t spoken to him directly . . . These things certainly come out at times, they have come out in the last few years from different players, where they come from and where they are sourced from, I don’t know,” said McGahan.

The Munster coach said the sole focus at the moment is defeating Ospreys at the Liberty Stadium, especially as they were turned over by the Welsh in Thomond Park a few weeks ago. He was unwilling to talk about the back-to-back Heineken Cup games against Scarlets which follow.

“We lost the game at home and we don’t like losing at home. We need to take three points back this week that we lost,” he said.

One man who is looking forward to the Ospreys test – and just about every other game he plays – is Donncha Ryan, who feels his game has improved enormously from the experience of playing in the World Cup.

He is hoping for an early birthday present, as he is 28 next week, when they head to Wales on a revenge mission this weekend. The Nenagh native is now just eight games away from his 100th in a Munster jersey.

“I’m just mad to play ball and . . . I think I’m playing pretty well over the last 18 months. I had a great season last year from the Magners League and into this year, so obviously trying to keep that form going . . . is a massive thing in any player’s career.

“It has been a good few months, a great few months I suppose. In August getting a few starts for Ireland was a massive achievement for my career and then getting selected for the World Cup was a massive plus for me.

“It was great, and it was nice to get a few runs over there without trying to be a passenger. It was great to perform on the biggest stage in the world and coming home then I’ve put in some good performances for Munster and trying to keep that going is the main challenge I have,” said Ryan. The Shannon clubman said staying in the side was the biggest battle and he paid tribute to McGahan for giving him his opportunity.

“Obviously, it’s up to you to repay the faith he has given you. It’s kind of a cliché, but he’s put his neck on the line for you and you’re massively motivated. You’re kind of waiting in the wings there for ages, you’re kind of foaming at the mouth to get in there and you’ve just got to back up the work you’ve done. Have faith in yourself, I suppose.”