MUNSTER V OSPREYS:MUNSTER COULD hardly be better set. They go into an 11th successive Euro quarter-final on the back of six successive wins, top of the Magners League, having supplied the bulk of the squad to Ireland's most rewarding campaign in over six decades, more or less at full-strength and at a ground where they have lost only once in 33 Heineken Cup ties.
Yet, there will be a frisson of nerves as well as heightened expectation for tomorrow’s lunchtime kick-off, not to mention a whiff or cordite.
As Anthony Foley has put it, the Ospreys will be travelling over in “the long grass”. Out of the EDF Cup, third in the Magners League behind the two Irish provinces, this probably represents the Ospreys’ last shot at silverware after the disappointment of losing the Six Nations title decider.
Sure, they have their injury woes, as Lee Byrne yesterday joined Gavin Henson, Jonathan Thomas and Duncan Jones on their casualty list. But they’re not the biggest spending region in Wales for nothing, and any team with Mike Phillips, James Hook, Shane Williams and Tommy Bowe is not lacking gamebreakers. And don’t forget a pack of six Welsh internationals and two All Blacks.
“They can play with a great offloading and a great passing game,” concedes Munster coach Tony McGahan. “They have the strength up front, and in midfield runners to play the game in different ways.”
The threat from the 10-12-13 axis will place particular attention on the alertness of Lifeimi Mafi and Keith Earls.
Bowe has impressed at centre this season, but will be wearing the number 15 jersey for only the second time. Ronan O’Gara looks sure to test him, and you’d imagine Paul Warwick would have a more developed kicking game.
But Bowe has played there occasionally for Ulster, and cut his teeth there in a brilliant under-age career, while the outside three intermingle so much nowadays that it’s not the radical switch it might have been before.
McGahan has, not surprisingly, opted to recall Denis Leamy ahead of Niall Ronan. “Niall has done very well and it was a tough decision to make, but Denis is a quality player also and we just thought he’d give us the physicality we’re expecting early on.
“The biggest thing for us is to continue in the vein that we’ve been playing and also just show a real intensity that the occasion demands. We’ve a very experienced group of players and they certainly know the realms of where they’re at, especially looking back on the disappointments of the ’06-07 season, so we’ve really got to lay down a marker early on with the physicality aspect.”
A source of concern is the referee Wayne Barnes. The young English official certainly appeared to be inconsistent in his 15-5 penalty count in that Six Nations shoot-out in the Millennium Stadium. This also brought to mind the heavy penalty counts against Munster in their pool games at home to Montauban and away to Clermont, when Barnes was especially strict on Munster’s recycling in attack.
Munster are, of course, no angels, and Donncha O’Callaghan would need to be on his best behaviour after seemingly incurring Barnes’ displeasure three weeks ago. And the Ospreys are particularly adept at employing blockers or blocking the end of the lineout to create gaps for Hook at the tail or Phillips through the middle.
There remains the residue of bad blood arising from the team’s pool meetings four seasons ago as well as regular meetings in the Magners League.
Admittedly, much of that was fostered by the provocative Lyn Jones, whereas his successor, Sean Holley, is not so inclined.
With the possible exception of Toulouse, the Ospreys are probably the most dangerous floaters Munster could have welcomed to Limerick at this stage of the tournament.
Given any kind of early encouragement, such as a try, it would imbue a group of players not exactly of the shy, retiring type with the confidence that they could pull off arguably the most prized scalp European rugby can currently offer.
Paul O’Connell, David Wallace, Alan Quinlan and co, as McGahan admits, need to put down a marker early on. The earlier those totems start rumbling the quicker Munster and the crowd get into the game.
Yet, when push comes to shove, you’d have to imagine that Munster would be streetwise enough and have the leadership throughout the team to come up with the right plays, to lift their game when required and to reward the kind of sustained bouts of intensity and pressure they invariably produce where it matters most – on the scoreboard.
Previous meetings:(2004-05): Ospreys 18 Munster 20; Munster 20 Ospreys 10.
Results so far: Munster: 19-17 v Montauban (h); 24-16 v Sale (a); 19-25 v Clermont (a); 23-13 v Clermont (h); 37-14 v Sale (h); 39-13 v Montauban (a). Ospreys: 6-12 v Leicester (a); 15-9 v Perpignan (h); 68-8 v Treviso (h); 36-16 v Treviso (a); 15-17 v Perpignan (a); 15-9 v Leicester (h).
Leading try scorers:Munster: David Wallace 3. Ospreys: Tommy Bowe 4.
Leading points scorers:Munster: Ronan O'Gara 63. Ospreys: James Hook 50.
Forecast:Munster to win.
