RUGBY MAGNERS LEAGUE:AFTER THE ravages of last season, when the likes of Paul O'Connell, Jerry Flannery and Denis Leamy were confined to less than 10 appearances and a host of others were also sidelined at critical intervals along the way, Munster could have been forgiven for thinking they could begin this season with a relatively clean bill of health. Some chance.
Their frontliners are being released back to them bit by bit, and for this Friday’s trip to Edinburgh they will have Ronan O’Gara, Tomás O’Leary and Donncha O’Callaghan all in the squad and likely to be amongst the replacements. Even so, the notion of being anywhere close to full-strength remains fanciful.
The other remaining member of their test contingent, David Wallace, is unlikely to make it back this week as he is troubled by a back strain, but ought hopefully to return next week for the game against the Ospreys at Thomond Park. While Leamy has returned – and must seem like a new signing – O’Connell and Flannery remain sidelined, the former most likely until December.
In addition to their absent captain, Flannery, Keith Earls, Lifeimi Mafi and Barry Murphy were confined to non-contact sessions with the Munster fitness staff yesterday.
Flannery, who probably should have been given a lengthier off-season rather than be taken on tour last summer after being restricted to six matches with a combination of niggles, has overcome his calf injury, but he is now troubled by a hamstring strain which will likely delay his return to full training until next week.
Similarly, Murphy’s ankle injury has cleared but he too has a hamstring strain, while there is still no timescale on a return for Earls, who will undergo a further scan on the badly sprained and swollen ankle he sustained in training a fortnight ago.
“We’ll have a clearer indication then but at this stage it doesn’t like a long eight- to 10-weeker, it’s more of a three- or four-weeker I’d say,” said Tony McGahan yesterday, which would just about put Earls back in the frame for the Heineken Cup.
Mafi is expected to be in contention for the Ospreys game, with McGahan hoping he will be back in contact training next week.
The others ruled out for this weekend’s trip to Edinburgh are prop Dave Ryan (quad strain), Tom Gleeson (groin), Declan Cusack (groin), while James Coughlan took a bang to his shoulder in the pre-season friendly against Leicester Tigers and may resume full training next week.
At least the return of O’Gara, O’Leary and O’Callaghan should give the squad a lift on the back of last Saturday’s hard-earned bonus point win over Aironi, though the task for the Munster Brains Trust will be to selectively manage their game time in accordance with the Ireland management’s wishes while also achieving some kind of settled combinations in readiness for the Heineken Cup. Oh yes, and also keep results going well over the first five league matches.
Last season, Munster only won twice in eight away games in the Magners League, and against the bottom two, beating the Scarlets 22-20 in September (their last League win outside Ireland) and Connacht in April.
“We were very poor last year in our travelling form in the Magners League,” admitted McGahan.
“We gave up a lot of games by less than seven points, so we really need to make a mark this weekend and rediscover that competitive streak in us away from home and dealing with the obstacles that face you on away trips.”
Very often, admittedly, they can be obstacles outside a team’s control, such as the officiating, but five of those defeats on the road were indeed by five points or less. Yet in the Heineken Cup Munster achieved a bonus point defeat in Northampton followed by ultra clinical bonus point wins away to both Perpignan and Treviso.
This would seem to suggest the heightened pressure and sense of occasion whetted their collective appetite more than a comparatively mundane Friday or Saturday night in the League.
“The best sides show a strong mental state to be able to get up for any game regardless of who you’re playing, where you’re playing, what competition you’re in and where you are in the season,” said McGahan. “So that’s a real mental aim, to have a really strong attitude and have a really strong physical presence away from home because the competition has really evolved over the five years that I’ve been here.”
Six home wins out of six on the opening weekend underlines the challenge, although giving some credence to his team being more of a big occasion side, the Munster coach admitted: “The key is starting well. We were guilty of being slow out of the blocks and then chasing games, which also changes your game approach.”
A relatively deserted Murrayfield on a Friday night is a case in point, although until the 12-7 defeat there last October with two-thirds of the side that had played the previous fortnight in the Heineken Cup, Munster had won five on the spin in the Scottish capital.
“We watched their game against Cardiff and they had a great home record in their push for a semi-final place last season. They have a good, strong forward pack and (Mike) Blair is a huge player for them,” said McGahan in pinpointing the scrumhalf.
“He creates great options for them in attack and covers so well in defence, and obviously (Chris) Paterson at the back with his goal-kicking and field kicking makes them a difficult side to play against in a vast arena such as Murrayfield.”
It’s also a double-edged sword, for emphasising the scale of the challenge facing Munster is the knowledge that the Scots will be one of six sides at home this week who are all seeking to bounce back from defeats.
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