Gaffney rues agonies of squad selection

PLEASING and fulfilling as it undoubtedly is to be coach of a squad as magnificent as Munster’s, there are aspects of Alan Gaffney’s job which he could do without — such as having to tell players they aren’t required for a match as big as Saturday’s Heineken European Cup semi-final against Toulouse at the Stadium de Toulouse.

Yesterday, Gaffney announced the panel of 24 from which the side will be finally announced shortly after noon tomorrow, with the virtual certainty there won't be any change from that which so impressively accounted for cup holders Leicester in the quarter-finals.

"We again had to leave Mossie Lawler out of the 24 which is disappointing because he has played all bar one or two games for us this season," said Gaffney.

"He's not the only one. We've have had a very good squad, one that's served us well throughout the season and it's tough that we can't take them all with us. On the credit side, we have no injury problems. Everybody trained well and we're going over there with a clean bill of health."

Because Munster achieved what many people believed was the impossible beating the champions in their own back yard a fortnight ago there is a suggestion they should be ranked as favourites on Saturday.

Such thinking is, of course, nonsense given that Stade Toulousain, one of the finest clubs in the world, are providing the opposition once again on home territory.

This is the 50th game in the Heineken Cup between Irish and French sides and the full record is: played 49, Irish wins 27, French wins 21, one draw. And the fact that Munster have won 13 of their 20 meetings with Gallic opposition should be a morale booster this time round but nothing more than that.

"We will treat Toulouse with the respect they deserve as one of the premier sides in Europe," mused Gaffney, before adding with a little smile, "but then again, so are we.

"We are playing them on their own dunghill and expect a very difficult match.

"Nevertheless, we're going over there with a great deal of confidence and if we play to our potential, to our ability, we will give it a good shot."

Munster followers have nothing but the fondest memories of the most recent meeting of the sides. The 2000 semi-final in Bordeaux remains, I believe, the team's greatest achievement, beating Toulouse in scorching sunshine and against all the odds by 31-25.

The memory of that result should be a source of inspiration, and it certainly will be for hooker Frankie Sheahan who kick-started his representative career that afternoon.

"I saw Woody (Keith Wood) going down just before half time and we went into the tunnel and I wasn't sure what was going on," he recalled.

"Five minutes later I was told I was starting and things went all right for me and we won. It was the first time I got a bit of a break. I think it was my fourth successive year warming the bench after Terry Kingston, Mark McDermott and Woody, so it was the turning point of my career. A very nice one."

Coach Gaffney, of course, wasn't around the scene in those days and while he agrees that the players may have talked about that occasion among themselves, he insists it isn't a major factor where this game is concerned.

"We approached the game a fortnight ago without talking about last year's final result," he claimed. "It may have been in the back of the players' minds but it was never addressed in the three weeks leading up to Leicester.

"We've just got to go out and get the process right, we've got to get what we want to do right. Whether Toulouse want to linger on something that happened back in 2000, it's not something that we are doing.

"More difficult than Leicester? Yeah, it's challenge after challenge. I personally think it probably is, but it's one we're well up for.

"They're unlikely to be as strong as Leicester up front but they've got the Gallic flair, a lot of gas out wide, a lot of creative players. They play a brand of football that can border on the miraculous.

"They are so unpredictable in what they do and if they are allowed to get on the front foot are very difficult to contain. We know we can match them. We've got to attack them, we can't allow them to bring the game to us. We must be on the front foot."

MUNSTER SQUAD: D Crotty, J Staunton, J Kelly, M Mullins, R Henderson, J Holland, A Horgan, R O'Gara, P Stringer, D Malone, M Horan, S Kerr, F Sheahan, J Blaney, J Hayes, D O'Callaghan, M O'Driscoll, P O'Connell, M Galwey, A Quinlan, E Halvey, D Leamy, A Foley, J Williams, captain.