Rugby European CupAnthony Foley looks like being ruled out of Munster's next Heineken European Cup adventure, against Bourgoin at their Thomond Park bearpit on Saturday evening, although the extent of the damage to his shoulder will not be fully known until today.
The 32-year-old, who has missed only one of Munster's 78 matches in the history of the competition, had his left shoulder in a sling after the Leicester game on Sunday and Declan Kidney looked concerned about the extent of the injury. "I'm not sure yet but his shoulder does seem to be a bit sore and he's not comfortable with it."
Foley, Munster's leading try scorer in the competition with a remarkable 22, went for a scan yesterday and will visit a specialist today. In the event that he is ruled out, the likelihood is the Munster backrow will start against Bourgoin as it finished in Leicester on Sunday, with Denis Leamy moving to number eight and Alan Quinlan coming in at six.
Australian openside Timmy McGann would look the likeliest to move in to the replacements' bench, but given the gargantuan size of the Bourgoin pack, it could be that the Munster brains trust will bring in another summer recruit, Welsh lock Chris Wyatt, given Mick O'Driscoll can also cover number eight, while John O'Sullivan's backrow versatility would also come into the equation.
Otherwise, the team and squad are likely to be unchanged.
Kidney, typically, brought a note of caution to the post-match euphoria following on Munster's epic 21-19 win, and the man who brought his tournament tally to 775 points with arguably the best three-pointer he's ever kicked right at the death (and he's nervelessly slotted many of them) readily concurred.
"We have been struggling in our domestic league so this was a good kick-start to our European Cup campaign," said Ronan O'Gara. "There were some great scenes in Cardiff last May when we won the European Cup, but this is a new competition now. We have to be careful against Bourgoin next weekend because they were beaten at home by Cardiff Blues and they will be looking to make up for that."
Previous October defeats in the opening rounds away to Harlequins, Gloucester and Sale in previous seasons, allied to poor Magners Celtic League form, made this victory all the sweeter for Munster, whose captain, Paul O'Connell, said: "Winning on the road is one of the hardest things you can do in this tournament. And going to Welford Road, one of the hardest venues to visit in Europe, and getting a victory is unbelievably satisfying," said O'Connell.
"Our form coming into the game hadn't been great, but our work-rate had been good. We are still a long way off our best. We are into new territory this season. Having won the European Cup we now have to figure out a different motivation. We are finding our feet and the win at Leicester was part of that experience."
Andy Goode generously hailed O'Gara's kick as typical of "one of the best kickers in the Northern Hemisphere", adding: "The weather conditions made it very soggy underfoot, but with an opportunity like that you know he's going to kick at least 90 per cent of them. I was willing him to miss, but deep down I thought he would kick it. He backed himself and it was a great kick."
In a weekend of notable landmarks, Malcolm O'Kelly became the 15th Irish player to play 50 times in the European Cup in Leinster's 37-20 win at home to Gloucester. "I was involved when Leinster were beaten by Cardiff in one of the semi-finals in the first season of the European Cup," he said, revealing his age, and tellingly reminded us: "We had what was considered to be a good crowd of 7,350 on that day, whereas there were more than 22,000 at Lansdowne for our opening pool match this season. The European Cup has grown and everyone seems to be backing it these days. It is the biggest tournament in the Northern Hemisphere and everyone wants to play in the competition and win it.
"Rugby has developed hugely in Ireland as a result of the cup and it has improved the standard of the game across Europe. I played for a while in England at London Irish and it takes you time to realise that the players in the top flight over there are only human. By having regular contact with teams and players from England and France we have been able to see them for what they are and match their standards."
With O'Gara's comments having prompted so much umbrage and humbug, Celtic League organisers couldn't help glowing (and hopefully haven't tempted fate) in the aftermath of a seven from eight haul in the first round, including a four-nil clean sweep over their English brethren.
Director of Celtic Rugby, David Jordan, said "The results from the first round of the European competitions have been very encouraging with some highly significant victories. All Magners Celtic League teams came away with something from their matches this weekend."
