Munster must maintain focus

As with Leinster, Munster have had to fit in Christmas and an Ireland training session in the run-up to their Celtic League match with Connacht in Athlone today.

Alan Gaffney's frustration over his side's broken preparation will not have been eased by losing 12 of his possible starting 15 to Eddie O'Sullivan's get-together but his annoyance also shows Munster are refusing to take Connacht for granted. The table shows that Michael Bradley's team are significantly more than just a creditable side as they lead his old province by two points.

Connacht's clutch of injury worries have cleared up. Importantly, Bradley can name Mark McHugh at full back and Andrew Farley in the second row, while Mike Walls starts at scrumhalf and in the front row prop Peter Bracken returns.

Munster will also have an eye on their Heineken European Cup match against Gloucester next week and John Hayes's absence from the front row, due to an injury picked up against Treviso, could be a selection decision with next weekend in mind. Scottish prop Gordon McIlwham comes into the front row to complete a still familiar looking pack.

Marcus Horan and Frankie Sheahan figure there too with the two young stars, Donncha O'Callaghan and Paul O'Connell, remaining in the second row. Jim Williams, David Wallace and Anthony Foley in the back row complete Munster's frighteningly strong looking front unit. With the return of Anthony Horgan to the wing, Gaffney has opted to move Shaun Payne to full back at the expense of Jeremy Staunton.

Few spectators at Dubarry Park will give Connacht much chance of winning but even the doubters among them will have followed the province's progress this season waiting for the big fall. It hasn't come.

Players like John O'Sullivan and Paul Neville have been impressive in the back row throughout the campaign but it is hard to look beyond Munster dominating the key areas of the pack, both in the loose and set-pieces. O'Callaghan and O'Connell, apart from being savagely efficient around the park, have also cleaned out lineouts on a regular basis.

Connacht must also provide for Munster's gritty application in matches. Their ability to control and grind out wins in marginal games was again illustrated in France against Bourgoin in December. Playing in freezing fog and with the home team shaping the game into a one-score finish, Munster maintained discipline under pressure.

If Connacht were to win the match with their engaging competitiveness, the long-range boot of McHugh, who can launch assaults from patches of green well inside his own half while Eric Elwood picks off the shorter kicks, and the punching runs from their forwards, then something would be surely askew.

The development province beating regular European Cup contenders would suggest, despite the captain's run being Munster's only real preparation this week, something is wrong in the system. As good as Connacht's achievements have been in the competition, beating Munster a week before a pivotal European Cup game is probably setting the bar to high, even for a side that likes to surprise.

CONNACHT: M McHugh; M Mostyn, D Yapp, T Allnutt, C McPhillips; E Elwood, M Walls; D McFarland, B Jackman, A Clarke, D Browne, A Farley, M Swift, P Neville, J O'Sullivan. Replacements: J Fogarty, P Bracken, M McCarthy, M Lacey, C O'Loughlin, D Hewitt, T Robinson.

MUNSTER: S Payne; J Kelly, M Mullins, R Henderson, A Horgan; R O'Gara, P Stringer; M Horan, F Sheahan, G McIlwham, D O'Callaghan, P O'Connell, J Williams, D Wallace, A Foley. Replacements: J Blaney, S Kerr, S Keogh, D Pusey, E Reddan, J Staunton, J Holland.

Referee: A Rolland.