Wallace and Mafi set for their first starts

RUGBY:PARTIALLY OFFSETTING the triple whammy of injuries they suffered in overcoming the Ospreys at Thomond Park last Saturday, Munster are able to welcome back some of their frontliners for Friday's trek to Glasgow.

In particular, two of their prime strike runners, David Wallace and Lifemi Mafi, are included in the 27-man squad for the game and are in line for their seasonal reappearances.

Wallace’s return has been delayed by back problems but the 63-times capped, 34-year-old Irish and Lions flanker again took a full part in training yesterday and looks set to make his 178th appearance for his province.

Mafi marked his return to action after a shoulder operation at the end of last season by scoring a virtuoso try in Munster A’s 30-3 win over the Ulster Ravens in Nenagh last Friday.

In the long-term absence of Felix Jones, Ian Dowling (who needs to see another specialist to see if, as feared, his hip bone has been fractured) and Denis Fogarty, Tony McGahan has added seven players to last Saturday’s match-day squad against the Ospreys.

In addition to Wallace and Mafi, Denis Leamy (sore ribs) and Mick O’Driscoll (back spasm) return from injury, Denis Hurley, Scott Deasy and, in the continuing absence of Jerry Flannery as well as Paul O’Connell and Keith Earls, the 22-year-old Academy hooker Mike Sherry has been named as back-up to Damien Varley.

The Ard Scoil Rís and Garryowen product has played once in the league before, as a replacement against Edinburgh last December.

All of the named squad trained at Munster’s University of Limerick base yesterday except for John Hayes, though his back pain is not expected to preclude his involvement in Glasgow.

“No matter how disappointed the injuries are for the management, it’s minuscule compared to the disappointment felt by the lads on the sidelines; Dowls, Felix and Denis,” commented Munster team manager Shaun Payne yesterday.

“It’s part and parcel of the game now, you’re not going to go through a season without injuries, but we do have a lot of players coming through and a lot of players coming back to fill the gaps. We’ve also used a lot of development and Academy players this season and they’ve stepped up to the plate, and put their hands up.”

Munster are sitting pretty atop the table with three wins from three and according to manager Shaun Payne it is the way the squad have accumulated results which has been the most pleasing aspect of their start to the season.

“We set our stall out on a good start to the season and the win against the Ospreys was another step along the way. It’s not so much the performance that has been exciting as the progress. The set-piece is an area that we had worked on and though it still needs work, it’s certainly coming right.”

While delighted with the way Munster won and retained possession, as well as field position, for much of the 80 minutes against the league champions, Payne admitted: “The Ospreys defence was outstanding and it took us a long time to break them down, but that was evident in the amount of penalties which they conceded that we took points off.”

“However, in terms of the two meetings in the Heineken Cup in December, that will have no bearing at all,” added Payne, agreeing with Ospreys’ head coach Sean Holley. “What this month is about is the Magners League and the games that are immediately before us. We’re happy with three from three and happy with how we’re playing at the minute.”

Munster have lost on five of their last treks to Firhill and Payne conceded: “Our record there is dismal, but at the start of the season one of the goals we set was to improve our away record. We started that in Edinburgh and we’re hoping to continue that in Glasgow.

“It’s a place we’ve always had difficulty in getting a result,” added Payne, who also acknowledged that Munster will probably face a “backlash” in light of Glasgow’s 19-17 defeat at home to Connacht last weekend, having beaten Leinster 22-19 in the opening round. “It’s a big game, but more in terms of our goals than anything else.”

Argentine lock Esteban Lozada and once-capped Scottish flanker Ross Rennie return to the Edinburgh line-up for their game at home to Leinster, with captain Roddy Grant switching to number eight in an otherwise unchanged team, while international flanker Alan MacDonald may be involved.

MUNSTER(squad v Glasgow): P Warwick, D Barnes, D Hurley, D Howlett, J Murphy, L Mafi, S Tuitupou, S Deasy, R OGara, P Stringer, T OLeary, M Horan, W du Preez, J Hayes, T Buckley, M Sherry, D Varley, M ODriscoll, D Ryan, D OCallaghan, B Holland, A Quinlan, P OMahony, D Wallace, J Coughlan, N Ronan, D Leamy

EDINBURGH(v Leinster): C Paterson; M Robertson, B Cairns, A Grove, T Visser; P Godman, M Blair; A Jacobsen, R Ford, G Cross, E Lozada, S MacLeod, S Newlands, R Rennie, R Grant (capt). Replacements: A Kelly, K Traynor, J Gilding, C Hamilton, A MacDonald or D Denton, G Laidlaw, D Blair, J Houston.