Gaffney gives Munster a taste of Perpignan cauldron of hate
Coach Alan Gaffney has been to the French venue and is fully aware of the kind of hostile atmosphere that will prevail there come kick-off on
Saturday Yesterday's noise didn't seem like a whole lot in the empty Limerick ground but Gaffney explained: "Jerry Holland and I went over earlier in the year and I've got to say, it's a pretty intimidating place.
"The noise factor is huge and what we had today was only a slight percentage of what you will hear during the match. It will be difficult to hear the calls, difficult to pass things on.
"They're very volatile, very passionate about what they do. Nothing I've experienced compares with the crowd at Perpignan."
As expected, the injured Anthony Horgan and Paul O'Connell are replaced in the Munster team by Mossy Lawlor and Mick O'Driscoll. Munster legend Mick Galwey returns to the bench. The 36-year-old led Munster in every single Heineken Cup match from 1995/96 up to this season. That made for a total of 45 games, which increased to 47 when he lined out against Gloucester and Perpignan in the current campaign before being omitted for the two games against Viadana.
"There is no doubt Paul O'Connell is a class player," said Gaffney. "What he has done over the past three weeks after coming back from a long-term injury has been quite outstanding. He has been one of our class players but when you've got Gaillimh and Mick O'Driscoll on the bench, things can't be too bad.
"Micko didn't want to suffer last week by being left out of the 22 but I'm sure he will stand up this week and show us what he is made of.
"We pick a side based on who we are playing and who we think is best suited for that game. This week we believe we need a line-out that's going to be very effective and Micko probably steps up in front of Gaillimh in that regard. He's more athletic in the air.
Gaffney dismissed suggestions that O'Driscoll was omitted last week so as to give him a kick in the backside: "Absolutely not, we just thought Gaillimh was the best option against Ulster for a variety of reasons. Whether we were right or wrong, I thought he played very well for the 20 minutes he spent on the pitch.
"For the try he scored out on the wing, he was the one who stole the ball four phases earlier, so it wasn't just a case of hanging out there. This week Micko gets his chance and I'm very pleased for him."
In spite of their commendable record away to French teams in recent years, Munster fully appreciate the difficulty of the task awaiting them on Saturday.
Perpignan's recent home win over Gloucester has clearly exercised the mind of skipper Jim Williams: "They led by something like 31-9 with 20 minutes to go so they are clearly going to be a very difficult side to beat on their own ground.
"It's a mad rugby area from what I understand but Munster are accustomed to going away and playing difficult games like this so I have full confidence that we will put in a very good performance.
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