Rugby:THE HOLIDAY programme of derbies was diluted by last week's Irish training camp, by the player welfare programme and by the desire of the provinces to rest weary bodies at the mid-way point of the season.
But most of the big guns are being wheeled out for this weekend’s Magners League action, not least with one eye on the finale to the pool stages of the Heineken Cup.
Munster, who will hold an open training session at Thomond Park tomorrow (11.15am), welcome back Ronan O’Gara, Donncha O’Callaghan, John Hayes, David Wallace and Johne Murphy for Saturday’s visit of the Glasgow Warriors to Musgrave Park in advance of the season-defining trek to Toulon on Sunday week.
Ideally, they would have liked Paul O’Connell to be returning from suspension, but with the Lions captain in full training there must be every chance he will return straight to the starting line-up against Toulon.
Ulster coach Brian McLaughlin, following his decision to rest many of his front-liners from one or both of the holiday 30-13 and 35-10 defeats to Leinster and Munster, has recalled a dozen players to the squad who were on duty in Limerick last Saturday for Friday’s game at home to Treviso, a week before playing host to Biarritz in their crunch clash.
McLaughlin will hope Andrew Trimble, the fit-again Stephen Ferris and Ian Humphreys (who missed both holiday fixtures) will be suitably refreshed and recharged, along with the South African contingent of Ruan Pienaar, BJ Botha, Johann Muller and Pedrie Wannenburg, who were afforded last week off.
Dan Tuohy, Nevin Spence and Adam D’Arcy, impressive in the wins over Bath, also return, as do Nigel Brady and Niall O’Connor.
Likewise, Leinster look set to name a strong squad today for the marquee meeting with the Ospreys at the RDS on Friday night, with a number of players who were unavailable for the festive fixtures due to the player welfare programme – including Gordon D’Arcy, Cian Healy, Jamie Heaslip and Jonathan Sexton – returning, alongside Luke Fitzgerald, who has stepped up his rehabilitation from injury.
Last season’s 17-12 final defeat at the end of May, which was affected by injuries and the hangover from their semi-final win over Munster a week previously, appears to rankle more than November’s 19-15 loss to the same opposition at the Liberty Stadium.
“The whole year’s work was lost in one 80-minute game,” admitted forwards coach Jonno Gibbes.
“I guess that is frustrating. We didn’t perform the way you need to win a Grand Final and obviously (that was) massively disappointing for the lads after what they put into it.”
The Ospreys’ recent Heineken Cup win over Munster also showed “they have grown and developed and can withstand a bit of pressure” according to Gibbes.
“They were also able to get back into the game through the scrum, which seems to have grown another arm and a leg. They seem to have gained real confidence out of it. I’ve certainly taken a clear interest in that.”
Recalling also how the Ospreys scored a penalty try off their scrum in the November meeting, Gibbes added: “I would hope a few lessons have been learned.
“We have had a nice little bit of growth with our scrum this year but every game is a little bit different. They could come with different tactics. The ref could interpret things a little bit differently.
“We need to be adaptable, but, make no bones about it, we need to be bloody focused or we could get embarrassed at home, which wouldn’t be nice.”
