Munster must rejig as Leinster look to strengths

MAGNERS LEAGUE:THOSE UGLY beasts of the frontrow grow more valuable with each year, such is the high rate of attrition in the grunt and grind department. And whereas Leinster approach Saturday's Magners League summit meeting in Ravenhill in relatively rude health, Munster are down to the bare bones.

After a first sighting since an abortive seven-minute cameo against Ulster at the RDS last March when coming on for the last quarter in Brive, CJ van der Linde may even be in line for his first start since limping off 18 minutes into last January’s Heineken Cup match at Twickenham against Wasps. But, while Michael Cheika was again able to name all four first-choice props in his expanded squad yesterday, Tony McGahan is without his leading quartet of behemoths for Friday’s visit to Edinburgh.

As expected, Marcus Horan and Tony Buckley were not named in a 26-man squad. The extent of Horan’s absence due to illness has still to be determined pending further tests this week, but Buckley’s strained calf muscle will sideline him for two to four weeks.

With Jerry Flannery and John Hayes also sidelined, Munster are thus without their Grand Slam-winning frontrow and their main tighthead back-up. Hence their Academy prop Stephen Archer, a former Ireland Under-20 international, is included, and is likely to be named on the bench as back-up to Julien Brugnaut and Darragh Hurley – with the latter obliged to start his first match of the season in a less familiar tighthead role.

Felix Jones, Nick Williams and Donnacha Ryan have also been added to the squad who were on duty in the weekend win over Treviso, but although Doug Howlett has been named, his strained hamstring means he is unlikely to feature. Ian Dowling looks the natural replacement and Munster might also look to rejig their backrow, with Niall Ronan coming into the equation. Otherwise, with injuries and delayed returns having effectively accounted for Ireland’s Rugby World Cup 2011 player programme in this first phase of the season, changes are liable to be kept to a minimum.

“We’ve only had full selection for two weeks, against Northampton and last week, so to defer from that would be going against what we’re trying to do,” said McGahan yesterday. “The team will be as close as possible to last weekend’s team to give us some continuity, which we haven’t had all season. Even against Treviso, we lost Flah (Flannery) in the week of the match, and then Marcus after 15 minutes, Doug before half-time and Tony at the start of the second half.

“If we could somehow be good enough to beat Edinburgh and Ulster in the next two weeks, with the way fixtures are over the next couple of rounds, we’d be right up there. To be leading our Heineken Cup pool and be in the top three or four of the Magners League at the end of the first phase would be an excellent achievement in the circumstances.”

The Ronan O’Gara-Jean de Villiers-Lifeimi Mafi 10-12-13 axis hasn’t gelled yet, and the more game time they have together the better their understanding.

Leinster have named Shane Jennings in their 28-man squad, pending a possible appeal tomorrow, and have added Stephen Keogh, Chris Keane, Fergus McFadden and Girvan Dempsey to the squad on duty in Brive. While lauding the players’ “great strength of character and resolve to bounce back from the London Irish defeat”, Leinster’s consultant coach Alan Gaffney said, “though we perhaps weren’t as clinical as we would have liked to be in the closing quarter, we got the win and it sets us up when the next rounds of the Heineken Cup come in December”.

With the likes of Luke Fitzgerald, Jamie Heaslip, Brian O’Driscoll, Rob Kearney, Eoin Reddan and Gordon D’Arcy having only started four or less games to date for what is also a trial for the November Tests – the Paddy Wallace-D’Arcy head-to-head being a prime case in point – Gaffney intimated Leinster will name a strong side for this game.

“There will be some tough selections in both the backs and forwards this week, which is good because it breeds competition in training. It was encouraging for . . . Kev (McLaughlin) to perform as he did coming off the bench, while it was also good for CJ (van der Linde) to get some game time because he’s a world class player who can make a big impact for us.”

While pointing to Leinster’s good recent record in Ravenhill, where they have lost just once on their past seven visits, Gaffney accepted: “It is a difficult place to play and it is an even tougher place to win.”

As an aside, speculation Isa Nacewa could return to Fijian colours next month – prompted by their new technical director Mike Brewer – is simply a non-runner.

LEINSTER SQUAD (v Ulster) – Forwards: Leo Cullen, John Fogarty, Cian Healy, Jamie Heaslip, Nathan Hines, Bernard Jackman, Shane Jennings, Stephen Keogh, Ronan McCormack, Kevin McLaughlin, Malcolm O’Kelly, Seán O’Brien, Mike Ross, Devin Toner, CJ van der Linde. Backs: Shaun Berne, Gordon D’Arcy, Girvan Dempsey, Luke Fitzgerald, Shane Horgan, Chris Keane, Rob Kearney, Simon Keogh, Fergus McFadden, Isa Nacewa, Brian O’Driscoll, Eoin Reddan, Jonathan Sexton.

MUNSTER SQUAD (v Edinburgh): Felix Jones, Keith Earls, Doug Howlett, Denis Hurley, Ian Dowling, Jean de Villiers, Lifeimi Mafi, Paul Warwick, Ronan O’Gara, Peter Stringer, Tomas O’Leary, Nick Williams, David Wallace, Niall Ronan, Denis Leamy, Alan Quinlan, Mick O’Driscoll, Donnacha Ryan, Donncha O’Callaghan, Paul O’Connell, Damian Varley, Denis Fogarty, AN Other, Stephen Archer, Julien Brugnaut, Darragh Hurley.