RUGBY:DOUG HOWLETT yesterday offered a remarkable tribute to his time with Munster. New Zealand's record try scorer in Test rugby, 49 in 62 matches, has been a hugely popular and respected figure in the Irish province since his arrival in 2008 and it appears the admiration is reciprocated.
In an interview ahead of the resumption of the Heineken Cup Howlett declared: “I look back on that day at the Millennium Stadium (Munster’s victory over Toulouse in the 2008 Heineken Cup final) as the highlight of my career because, although being capped by New Zealand and playing for the All Blacks was fantastic, this was special.
“That Heineken Cup final against Toulouse was a great event in a great tournament. The 2011 final will again be in Cardiff but we are not looking that far ahead – we know we have our work cut out just to get out of the Pool. I am really loving my time in Ireland with Munster. I cannot say enough good things about what a wonderful team they are to be involved with and what a tremendous experience and honour it has been captaining such a great team,” a reference to leading the team during the November Test window.
On Sunday Howlett will be an important character in the Munster team that host the Ospreys at Thomond Park, the first of two successive matches between the teams that will have a major bearing on the outcome of the pool. The New Zealander anticipates a combative afternoon, with a couple of countrymen and former All Black team-mates in Ospreys duo Jerry Collins and Marty Holah. “I have played a fair few games both with and against Jerry and Marty and it is clear to everyone they have had a huge effect on the Ospreys. They are fantastic players and it is certainly no surprise to me that they are doing so well at the Ospreys.
“Collectively the Ospreys have one of the best squads in Europe . . . I guess their greatest strength is the core group of players who have played in a lot of Tests together and when they come back from international duty and impose themselves at club level it is those periods of time together that really works for them.
“We know we are in for two huge matches and we are really going to have to be at the top of our game, home and away. In my short experience in the Heineken Cup these back-to-back games can either break you or make you.”
Munster coach Tony McGahan will announce an extended squad for that match tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Bath centre Olly Barkley, who travels to Ravenhill to face Ulster on Saturday, knows whoever manages to gain an edge over the back-to-back matches between the teams will emerge as the main rival to Biarritz.
“We have to win all our games now. We lost a home game (to Biarritz) and history shows if you win your home games and pick up some points away from home, you’re likely to go through. We’ve lost that first home game and we need to pull a win out of the bag away from home to claw that back before nailing our home games.
“These next two games will decide whether (it is) us or Ulster will challenge Biarritz to go through. So this game is like a semi-final for us . . . If we lose at Ravenhill it will make life incredibly hard for ourselves. We’ve already made things tough but that would make it a really uphill task. Ulster are a very dangerous side who are capable of an awful lot of things with the players they have so it will be a huge task for us.
“Playing a team one week after the other can be an advantage but if they get some momentum up on you in the first game, it makes life very hard – it’s not easy going there, the crowd are pretty loud and it can get pretty cold there.”
Ulster coach Brian McLaughlin will announce his squad tomorrow and is hoping secondrow Johan Muller has recovered from a neck injury.
