Fit Munster squad should make it a happy ending for Gaffney

RONAN O’GARA will be back, the walking wounded should all be fit and well so everything points to a happy ending to his three year innings as Munster coach for Alan Gaffney.

Llanelli Scarlets provide the Celtic Cup final opposition at Lansdowne Road on Saturday next. Three days later, Gaffney will be on board an aircraft that will deposit him back in his native Sydney some time on Wednesday.

Fast forward to the following Friday and he will be already at his desk to start the next phase of his career as assistant coach to Eddie Jones and the Australian national side.

Gaffney may have been a busy man as he plied his trade between Limerick and Cork for the past few years, but there will be no let-up for him as the Wallabies next match is against Samoa on June 11 followed within the following six weeks or so by an outing against Italy, as many as four against South Africa and two against the All Blacks. They then take a breather for a short while before building up to the autumn visit to Europe where they meet England, Ireland and Wales in successive weeks.

For now, though, Gaffney has his sights set on ending the season and his term as Munster coach with victory over the Scarlets in Saturday’s Celtic Cup final. Nothing less will satisfy his players as they focus on sending Alan on his way with some silverware. Accordingly, there will be absolutely nothing experimental about the side.

Ronan O’Gara was very close to being selected against Leinster and the coach has no doubt as to availability for Saturday.

“He will play”, Gaffney stated while paying due tribute to the role played by Paul Burke in the absence of O’Gara who badly needs some game time in the build-up to the Lions tour.

And the good news is that the many who picked up knocks in the fine win over Leinster on Sunday should all be fighting fit by the 5.30 kick-off time. John Hayes had to depart with an elbow injury before the finish but the pain had dissipated within an hour of the finish and a scan yesterday confirmed there was no serious damage.

Peter Stringer took a couple of knocks to the head, once when manhandled by Shane Byrne, who was lucky to avoid a visit to the bin, and later when David Holwell’s cumbersome challenge with his knee earned him a rather harsh red card courtesy of Welsh touch judge Richard Hughes.

“He was fine in the dressing room afterwards and there was never any question of concussion”, said Gaffney. “He was totally compus mentus and never away with the fairies. Rob Henderson took a knock on the bicep and was fearful that it was a recurrence of the injury that sidelined him earlier in the season but again that was not the case. Shaun Payne took a knock on the hand early on but played away for seventy minutes and we’re confident he’ll be okay. John Kelly took a laceration to the face and while we’re awaiting news of a scan, he looks all set as well.

“It was a very tough game and I thought it was played in a good spirit. There was a bit of pushing and shoving but nothing serious and it was a good one to win because Leinster are a fine side. I didn’t see the David Holwell incident but no damage was done and there was no malice in anything that might have happened. It’s a great pity that his time here should have ended in this way and I hope they’ll leave it at that and take no further action.”