Time for Munster to keep it tight

It's still funny to think that had Munster lost their last, academic pool game in Padova they would have been playing Ulster in Ravenhill last night. Then again, given they haven't won in Belfast for two decades they're probably better off going to Colomiers.

In any case, that commanding win in Padova at least removed a considerable monkey from Munster's back, for it would have been too much psychological baggage to carry into this European Cup quarter-final without an away win in the competition.

True, Munster (like the other Irish provinces) have never won a European Cup tie in France - losing to Castres (12-19), Toulouse (19-60), Bourgoin (6-21) and Perpignan (24-41).

By any criteria, Colomiers have to be ranked right up with that lot. They reached the semi-finals of the French championship last season, only losing by 15-13 to Perpignan, and won the European Shield with a 100 per cent record over nine games, culminating in a semi-final win over Stade Francais and a 43-5 rout of Agen in the final.

They are, of course, a different proposition at their home of Stade Selery - effectively a suburb of Toulouse - where they have won all eight of their European ties, and they anticipate a crowd of 12,000 for tomorrow's game.

It is of some relief to learn that one of the perennial thorns in Irish sides, Jean-Luc Sadourny, is still on the comeback trail after injury.

Another key man, their captain Fabien Galthie, is sidelined for three weeks with a broken hand. However, they have a full-strength side to pick from. Their one remaining international is the hooker Marc dal Maso.

Much of Colomiers' play goes through their number eight Stephane Peysson and the flankers Bernard de Giusti and Patrick Tabacco. Between them, they've scored eight of Colomiers' 22 tries in the competition to date.

"They were always very comfortable. They did the business quickly, scoring points, and always stayed at least 10 points ahead. I'm sure when they play in a European competition they play at another level, so I didn't pay too much heed to their overall performance," Declan Kidney observed when watching them beat Racing Club by 35-20 last week.

"They play a wider game and they play a lot off their back-row. They also scored three tries off catch and drives in the line-outs."

That was Colomiers' third game in successive weeks (the previous week they lost away to Perigeux) since the break after the pool stages, whereas Munster have been inactive colletively and only came together again this week.

Kidney accepts that this places Munster at a further disadvantage, on top of which half his pack were on the receiving end of the midweek thumping from the Springboks last Tuesday week and then had to regroup for Shannon's heavy opening day defeat to Ballymena last Saturday.

Having carefully ensured that Munster peaked for the culmination of the interprovincal and the pool stages - indeed, none of the provinces peaked better - Kidney has effectively been left to pick up the pieces.

The intervening wounds have had a tangible impact as well, with his three first-choice wingers sidelined. Thus, having finally hit on a settled team when using only 20 players in the previous seven starting line-ups, Kidney has been obliged to give a Munster debut to the strong Sunday's Well winger John O'Neill (making him their 37th player of the season) while playing the Young Munster centre Michael Lynch at left-wing - which, it has to be said, was not a glorious success when last tried in Ravenhill last season.

For Munster to put it up to Colomiers they must emulate Ireland in Stade de France last season and keep things nice and tight and quiet in the opening quarter. If they can grab a couple of scoring opportunities in that period so much the better.

For that to happen, they'll need to learn the lessons of their game in Perpignan when almost blown off the pitch in the first quarter. They must somehow keep possession and not give the ball away cheaply.

Although Colomiers have had an undistinguished season so far, it's still a very tall order. While it would be no surprise to see Munster being competitive, the dice does seem to have been loaded against them.

Match Facts

European Cup (quarter-final, tomorrow): Colomiers v Munster, Stade Selery, (kick-off 3.00 local time, 2.00 Irish).

COLOMIERS: D Skrela; B Lhande, M Carre, S Roque, M Biboulet; L Labit, S Milhas; S Delpuech, M dal Maso, S Graou, J-M Lorenzi, G Moro, B de Giusti, S Peysson, P Tabacco.

MUNSTER: B Roche; J O'Neill, K Keane, R Ellison, M Lynch; B Everitt, P Stringer; P Clohessy, M McDermott, J Hayes, M Galwey (capt), M O'Driscoll, D Corkery, A Foley, E Halvey.

Referee: N Whitehouse (Wales).