RUGBY EUROPEAN CUP SARACENS v MUNSTER:DECLAN KIDNEY likes to put a different spin on popular conceptions and, to this end, invariably kicks off Heineken Cup week with a little variation on statistics which generally escapes people.

It's his way of keeping the assembled media humble and also, as Jerry Flannery later conceded, his way of highlighting the challenge ahead.

Utter respect for opponents, as well as this competition, is one of the basic tenets of Munster's approach. Thus when asked to go along with the vast majority of the rugby public who would expect Munster to beat a "middle-of-the-road" English Premiership team, Kidney saw it coming a mile away. He is far too wise to give any cause for Munster complacency or extra bait for opponents, all the more so in front of an Anglo-Irish audience.

"All I know is that we've never, ever beaten an English side in either the semi-final or the final of this competition," he retorted.

True enough, Munster lost the finals of 2000 and 2002 to Northampton and Leicester, as well as the 2004 semi-final to Wasps. He added that Northampton were "supposedly fighting relegation" and Saracens were a top four Premiership side last season, "and when you're playing a side coached by Alan Gaffney, you'd want to be a very silly man to think this is going to be anything other than a cup final."

Kidney might also have added that of their previous six semi-finals, Munster have lost three of them. When also prompted to go along with the popular theory that Munster were better served by meeting Saracens rather than their quarter-final victims in Sunday's Heineken Cup semi-final in Coventry, Kidney revealed another sage in their group, Anthony Foley, had forecast a Saracens win on the premise that Alan Gaffney would learn plenty from their EDF Cup semi-final thrashing by the Ospreys two weeks earlier.

"I wouldn't say we were that surprised," said Kidney, who maintained that the 30-3 EDF semi-final scoreline was misleading while, as for their quarter-final revenge, Kidney observed: "There's not many teams that would have lived with them in the quarter-final. I'm glad we didn't play them that day because they were right on the line with everything. The Ospreys didn't get a spare yard. Saracens cut down that space from the word go, they were patient, they were very disciplined on the day, took their penalties and twice didn't get the TMOs call so could have won by more."

Kidney described the Saracens scrum as a machine, with Flannery revealing that Paul McCarthy described it as the toughest scrum of any opposition he'd analysed in his time as Munster's scrum coach. Kidney also pointed out that Saracens bench maintains this impetus for 80 minutes, while he also highlighted their counter-attacking and rucking.

On the anniversary of Munster's semi-final win over Leinster in that mother of all Irish provincial derbies two years ago, Kidney yesterday named a 29-man squad for this Sunday's semi-final against Saracens in Coventry.

All 29 were granted some game time in Munster's last two Magners League games, along with three others who didn't make the cut; most notably Brian Carney, whose star has fallen sharply since being taken to the World Cup as a non-playing squad member, Jeremy Manning and John O'Sullivan. And it was a significant boost that they eked out a gritty 9-8 win over the Ospreys last Saturday.

For this stage in the season, Munster seem in remarkably good health, with little or no injury concerns. Both Ronan O'Gara and Paul O'Connell completed both sessions without any bother while Tomás O'Leary sat out yesterday afternoon's session as a precautionary measure due to a "slight twinge" in his hamstring as the rest of the probable line-up went through their paces.

This being Heineken Cup week, the extra edge in training showed in a sharp session, and though the call at scrumhalf must still be tight, the likelihood would seem to be that the Munster brains trust will opt for the original starting XV chosen for the quarter-final win away to Gloucester - in other words the only change from the team that kicked off in Kingsholm three weeks ago seeing the reinstatement of Marcus Horan at loose-head, with Tony Buckley reverting to the bench.

Reflecting on both the previous two epics with Saracens in 1999-2000 and Gaffney's time with Munster, Kidney exuded respect both for the club and his counterpart. "First and foremost Alan is a very nice man," said Kidney, describing him as an excellent technical coach and guaranteeing that whatever else there will be a shake of hands when it's all over.

Expecting "a great atmosphere" Kidney vowed that he and his team would enjoy the day. Asked how confident he is, needless to say he ventured that "I'm not inclined to think like that. I've a huge amount of confidence in the players that I'm working with to go out and play. I'm absolutely delighted to be there, and that's the bit I'm going to remember, so when I wake up on Sunday morning and the nerves kick in you just say 'well, isn't it great to be here'. That's sport. If you look forward to it you've a chance of playing well and if you play well then you'll take what goes with it."

Though there are tickets still floating around, suggesting that some Munster fans are perhaps gearing up for the final, Munster have sold over 10,000, and so there might well be 15-20,000 of the Red Army in attendance at the Ricoh Arena.

With John Mitchell again underlining the timing isn't right for him to throw his hat into the ring, the likelihood is that Kidney's appointment as Irish coach will be confirmed next week, with only the logistics of when he takes over to be finalised depending on whether or not Munster progress.

MUNSTER (squad v Saracens):
Forwards:M Horan, F Pucciariello, J Hayes, T Buckley,F Sheahan, J Flannery, P O'Connell, D O'Callaghan, M O'Driscoll, D Ryan, D Wallace, A Quinlan, D Leamy, A Foley, N Ronan.
Backs:P Stringer, T O'Leary, R O'Gara, P Warwick, I Dowling, D Howlett, A Horgan, R Tipoki, K Lewis, L Mafi, B Murphy, K Earls, D Hurley, S Payne.