A barometer of Munster's worsening form in five games this season is the decision by the selectors to reshuffle their side radically for Sunday's opening European Cup tie away to Harlequins. Anthony Foley and David Wallace are among the casualties in a team showing six changes in personnel and two positional switches from that which lost tamely to Ulster. In addition to the back-row men, hooker Paul Cunningham, scrum-half Stephen McIvor and centre Sean McCahill are dropped, while Dolphin's Conor Mahony is unavailable due to exams. In come the regular Leinster hooker of last season Mark McDermott, Shannon flanker Alan Quinlan and the Sunday's Well number eight Greg Tuohy, along with Brian O'Meara at scrum-half, the recently signed Kiwi centre Rhys Ellison and Sunday's Well winger John Lacey.
Michael Lynch reverts to his customary position in the centre, while Anthony Horgan switches to the left wing to accommodate the inclusion of Lacey. Shane Leahy is included after the IRFU suspended him for a week in the light of his sending-off against Ulster, thus making him available on Sunday. Munster have left a vacancy at loose-head pending fitness checks on the injured duo of Gavin Walsh and Noel Healy, while in addition to Mahony, Killian Keane was not considered yet after completing his first match of the season in Saturday's A defeat of Ulster.
The promotion of several A players is a reflection of their all-conquering, free-scoring collective form, as well as the general fatigue and staleness which have afflicted so many of the Irish-based Development tourists of last summer - Wallace and Foley among them.
"In our view, they're tired," explained team manager Jerry Holland. "I wouldn't say they need a rest, but they're not playing to form at the moment and we have to recognise the guys who are in form at the moment. The two guys coming into the back row are in form and it's a simple recognition of that."
Holland admitted that those on the punishing five-week Development tour of New Zealand and Western Samoa "did not have enough of a break. Our tour of Scotland was fairly exacting as well. The body can only take so much, but the mind also needs to rest. But a two-week rest is not on now."
In hindsight then, was it a mistake to only give the aforementioned tourists a break of just one week before starting pre-season training with their provinces? "Hindsight is a great thing. But from our point of view they were anxious and happy to become involved."
Future international potential though he undoubtedly is, setbacks like this one for Wallace are understandable. "They're two good players, and they're too good to be left out once they play to the standard they set themselves."
Holland readily accepted that Munster "haven't played the way we wanted to play" in the interprovincial series. What Munster hope to serve up at the Stoop on Sunday is "a different blend. But it's the same game plan. Nothing's going to change in that respect.
"The players have been working very hard without getting our just reward. We're not looking to play seven-a-side against Harlequins. But the general skill level has been very poor, with regard to fairly standard, straightforward stuff.
"You can bring in all sorts of criticisms against referees but what the fellas have shown in the last three weeks is not doing them justice. The annoying thing is that we could have changed things a couple of weeks ago in the hope that fellas would click into form, but they haven't."
Holland conceded that such a revamped side is not the ideal way to be going into their toughest game of the season so far. "You'd like to be going in with a settled side but then again you might be deceiving yourself."
If the truth be told, Munster's error-strewn defeat by Ulster reaffirmed some of the impressions generated by a distinctly patchy injury-time win against Leinster the week beforehand. Nor did failure to win the title by a mere penalty or drop goal (even Ulster's one that didn't clear their crossbar) mask these flaws.
"I don't think it would have made any difference to us if we had won the championship," said Holland. "I think we would have been making these changes anyway."
The three-quarter line, especially, hasn't punched holes in the opposition defence or created space out wide. Aside from adding pace to the flanks, Munster look to have improved their midfield options with the inclusion of the 31-year-old Ellison at inside centre a week-and-a-half, and one A game, after his arrival.
Prior to coaching and playing in Japan last year, he certainly boasts an impressive cv, having come through the NZ ranks in representing their schools, under-17, Universities and under-21 sides, as well as playing over 60 games for Otago and over 90 for Waikato. Ellison also represented the New Zealand Maoris 33 times, and had three All Black trials in 1988, '93 and '94.
New Zealand winger Jonah Lomu will begin his comeback after a severe kidney ailment by playing in a festival game in 10 days' time. Lomu, who in January was given only a 50-50 chance of making a full recovery, will turn out for his Weymouth club on September 14th.
Lomu's manager, Phil KingsleyJones, said there had been hopes that the hefty winger might have been able to play in an invitation match this weekend. But, on the advice of All Black doctor John Mayhew and fitness trainer Martin Toomey, Lomu's return has been delayed a week.
"He's been training with the doc and Martin," Kingsley-Jones said. "He's coming along very nicely and working back to fitness, but he's not quite ready yet. We're hoping now for Sunday week."
If he comes through the game in good shape, there is a chance he will return to his Counties Manukau team for their National provincial championship match against Otago the following weekend.
