Wood buttresses hardy Munster pack

Munster have unveiled their opening hand for the Inter-provincial Championship, at home to Leinster at Temple Hill on Saturday, and a strikingly hardy, grizzled looking pack it is, too.

Keith Wood returns to the fold for the first time in five years, and remarkably makes only his fourth appearance for his native province, alongside old sidekick Peter Clohessy, while the experienced 31-year-old former Wallaby John Langford partners Mick Galwey (chosen as captain for the fourth successive year by the players themselves) in a wily tight five.

Similarly, David Corkery (who has fended off Alan Quinlan for the blind-side role) and Anthony Foley have been around the block a few times while in the absence of Eddie Halvey, David Wallace finally gets his chance on the open side.

Behind that experienced pack, the Irish incumbent Tom Tierney unsurprisingly begins as first-choice from Munster's plethora of promising scrum-halves, and partners Ronan O'Gara. Both 22-year-olds came on a ton in the latter stages of last season and, in Tierney's case, over the summer. Coach Declan Kidney admits he has high hopes for this pair.

Aside from the departed Barry Everitt, there are a few notable faces missing in the three-quarters. Rhys Ellison, recently married in the Cook Islands, is not expected to play this season, on top of which Killian Keane is still sidelined by the knee injury which threatened his participation in last season's AIL final. Mike Mullins, declared fit despite a knee injury, is the hoped-for, tailor-made replacement for Ellison, while John Kelly switches from the wing to partner him.

All told, amid the sea of change within all the provinces, the inter-provincial holders are perhaps the most settled, although Halvey and Ellison in particular were key components. "There is a lot of bodies there that we didn't have last season," admits Kidney.

Of the aforementioned duo, Kidney said: "Eddie is not taking his contract because he got an offer of a job which he decided to take. He won't be able to make all the sessions like he has before but I'm delighted that he will be able to play when and if required. He offers us a lot of strengths which are unique to him, such as defensively on line-outs and his experience. But David Wallace has been waiting for this chance for a few years now and deserves it."

Ellison missed a huge chunk of last season, and Munster sorely missed that midfield `get-out' clause. The Kiwi had the ability to take the ball up the middle and invariably recycled it, while he also shored up things defensively in his own inimitable style. Significantly, though, they had turned the corner and launched their end-of-season run of just two defeats in 10 games before Ellison returned for the last five of them.

Kidney is hopeful that Mullins is cut from similar cloth, and also hopes that "Cian Mahony would have learnt from playing under Rhys for the last two years. Mick Lynch came over to Wales with us and he also did well, so we have options there."

Mahony is typical of "a lot of younger guys who took on the winning habit at club level towards the end of last season" and the coach contentedly lists the dozen contracted players aged 22 or younger who should now be a year older and a year wiser.

An interesting newcomer in the squad is the Midleton out-half Jason Holland, who played for Taranaki last year in New Zealand's NPC semi-finals. He has played for the New Zealand Universities and was on the reserve list for a Super 12 contract.

Another is the twice-capped Australian lock Langford. Given Mick O'Driscoll's elevation to the Munster side last season coincided with their impressive final eight game run-in, it could be argued that Langford's arrival might curb the development of O'Driscoll and Donnacha O'Call aghan.

However, Kidney defends his decision thus: "If Mick Galwey were injured I couldn't go into a European Cup tie with the two youngsters. I believe that Mick O'Driscoll, Donnacha O'Call aghan and Paul O'Connell will be the Munster second-rows in the coming years but I also believe that they can develop by learning off guys like Langford as much as being pitched into every game."

Kidney hopes he has the material to reach their base targets of qualifying for next season's European Cup by finishing in the top two of the inter-provincials, and emerge from their Euro group into the knock-out stages for the second year running.

Interestingly, he thinks one challenge is as difficult as the other. "I would consider the inter-pros to be as tough as our European Cup pool."

He believes Munster have a stronger squad. Offsetting the loss of lynchpins such as Halvey and Ellison has to be the arrival of Wood. His infectious enthusiasm has already rubbed off, according to Kidney. It's a major boon for Garryowen and the Irish domestic game as well, although the player himself seems to be playing down his homecoming.

Explaining that his year's "leave of absence" from Harlequins made "complete sense for all the parties involved," Wood said: "I had two huge reasons for coming back, neither of which was financial to be honest. I wanted to concentrate solely on the World Cup, and thereafter on Ireland, Munster and Garryowen. I only played for seven minutes in the last World Cup (before his shoulder went) and so I want to make a good go of it this time."

"I also wanted to get fitter, or I mean by that get better rested. Apart from injuries I've toured for virtually the whole decade. This move gives me a chance to recharge my batteries."

His goals are, simply, "to pick up some silverware. When I was here I won two league medals and a Cup medal with Garryowen, and a championship with Munster. I'd like to get along those lines again."

As for Munster's current crop, Wood observes: "It's very hard to say because I've only been with them for the last week and a half. There's a lot of talent there, and experience too, and they seem quite willing to move the ball, which is marvellous. I think we can do some serious damage."

Munster (v Leinster, Temple Hill, Saturday, 6.30): D Crotty; J O'Neill, J Kelly, M Mullins, A Horgan; R O'Gara, T Tierney; P Clohessy, K Wood, J Hayes, M Galwey (capt), J Langford, D Corkery, A Foley, D Wallace. Replacements: M Lynch, J Holland, B O'Meara, A Quinlan, S Leahy, F Sheehan, M Horan.