Munster send out their big artillery

RUGBY Munster v Ospreys:THE STANDOUT match of the Magners League penultimate round is this meeting of third v second, which is liable to go a long way toward determining the composition of the top-four play-offs.

It almost amounts to a shoot-out for home advantage in the semi-finals, and accordingly the big boys have come out to play.

While Paul O’Connell and Keith Earls remain sidelined and a cause for concern ahead of next weekend’s Heineken Cup semi-final, Ronan O’Gara, Tomás O’Leary and the rest of the big guns are back for a game that is also the second part of a double header, as it will be preceded by the Munster A v Ulster A British and Irish Cup semi-final.

Having been vindicated in resting many of his frontliners for last week’s morale-boosting win in Galway (a result which was further franked by Leinster’s defeat there on Wednesday), all told Tony McGahan makes 10 changes from that team. As well as the half-backs, Jean de Villiers and Lifeimi Mafi return in a restructured backline, with Paul Warwick reverting to fullback and Scott Deasy and Tom Gleeson shifting to the wings.

The Marcus Horan-Jerry Flannery-John Hayes frontrow is re-united, while Donncha O’Callaghan, Alan Quinlan and David Wallace are also restored.

Tony Buckley has failed to recover from a knee injury picked up in the game against Connacht. One of last Sunday’s debutants, Simon Zebo, is named on the bench alongside Denis Hurley whose return from injury compensates for the continuing absence of Ian Dowling.

Effectively therefore, it is the Munster Heineken Cup quarter-final team save for O’Connell, Earls and Dowling. As statements of their strength in depth go, it’s quite impressive, and aside from sharpening their claws for the trek to San Sebastian against Biarritz tomorrow week it also demonstrates Munster’s desire to maintain their assault on an historic double.

All that said and done, this is obviously a game the Ospreys will be targeting as well, all the more so since their involvement in Europe was ended by Biarritz. They showed plenty of spirit as well as flair in the Estadio Anoeta, and to front up in beating the Ospreys two nights later and then taking a bonus point from the RDS within a further three days, underlines their intent on obtaining something tangible from their season by winning this trophy.

“We are at the make-or-break stage of the season now,” commented their head coach Seán Holley. “The boys fronted up well last week, to play three games in such a short space of time. You could argue that we should have got three wins, but that wasn’t to be.”

Munster’s 16-15 defeat to Leinster here three weeks ago remains their only home defeat of the season and their only loss in their last five games, and Munster haven’t lost two successive home games in the Magners League since season 2003/04.

That was also the last season that the Ospreys completed a double over Munster and they have lost on all four of their previous visits to Thomond Park, where no Welsh team has won since the Dragons did so in March 2004.

The Ospreys have often flattered to deceive in the past, but there looks to be real intent about them going into this fixture. Munster at Thomond Park remain a prized scalp as well as a box they have yet to tick, and as any taxi driver in Limerick will tell you, Munster rarely perform well the week before playing in the Heineken Cup. But, after the A boys put it up to them last Sunday, maybe it’s time they bucked that trend.

MUNSTER: P Warwick; T Gleeson, L Mafi, J De Villiers, S Deasy; R O'Gara capt, T O'Leary; M Horan, J Flannery, J Hayes; D O'Callaghan, M O'Driscoll; A Quinlan, D Wallace, J Coughlan. Replacements: D Varley, J Brugnaut, B Holland, N Ronan, P Stringer, D Hurley, S Zebo.

OSPREYS: L Byrne; T Bowe, A Bishop, J Hook, S Williams; D Biggar, M Phillips; P James, H Bennett, A Jones, I Gough, J Thomas, J Collins, M Holah, R Jones (capt). Replacements: E Shervington, R Bevington, A Wyn Jones, F Tiatia, J Nutbrown, S Parker, N Walker.

Referee: Neil Paterson(SRU).

Forecast: Munster to win.