Galwey in charge for Ulster clash
Galwey relinquished the role this season after six years at the helm and was succeeded by Australian back rower Jim Williams.
However, the Aussie is now ruled out with a knee injury and Galwey once more steps into the breach.
Unbeaten Munster will utilise the talents of Donnacha O’Callaghan to fill the gap created by Williams. O’Callaghan plays on the flank and Eddie Halvey moves to number eight.
Another change in the Munster pack sees Marcus Horan returning to the front row after missing the Swansea game due to international commitments. Gaffney has selected Frank Sheahan, although the coach will have to wait and see if he is required for Irish duty.
He believes, however, that O'Callaghan could be an outstanding number six player in the future, notwithstanding his already well-documented prowess in the second row.
“He has all the natural attributes to be an outstanding six. I don’t think it needs to be said what sort of a task we face. It’s never easy to get anything out of Ravenhill and we can expect a capacity crowd to get right behind Ulster. They have the Indian sign over us this past while and it’s a game they know they must win. So all in all, I’d say we’re right up against it.”
Leinster coach Matt Williams will emphasise the necessity to finish off chances when his side take on the Scottish Borders at Galashiels tomorrow evening (7.30).
Williams was unhappy with Leinster’s finishing strokes when they lost to Cardiff last weekend.
This trip to Scotland could represent Leinster’s last chance of making the last eight of the Celtic League and he knows the champions live on borrowed time.
“We made nine clean breaks against Cardiff but scored just the one try. Cardiff, on the other hand, made one clean break and they crossed our line three times. The other two tries were from different moves and rolling mauls.
“It’s something we have to work on. You cannot go into games and expect to win unless you put some of the created chances away. Another worry for the Leinster coach is the fact that these two crucial games were lost on foot of having a player sent to the sin bin.
“It was particularly evident against Cardiff. We lost Niall Treston and Cardiff scored 18 points in that ten minute period.
“Gordon (D’Arcy) was yellow carded in the Glasgow match and we also paid for that. We cannot expect to win matches away from home with 14 players.”
Meanwhile, the Leinster squad for the Heineken Cup has been announced and both John McWeeney and Simon Keogh will be the two most disappointed players. McWeeney was probably the victim of Christian Warner’s arrival from overseas but there were no other major surprises.
LEINSTER: C Warner, J McWeeney, K Lewis, S Horgan, G D’Arcy, A Dunne, B O’Meara, E Byrne, P Smyth (captain), N Treston, B Gissing, A Kearney, D Dillon, V Costello, L Toland. Replacements: P Coyle, G Hickie, A McCullen, S Jennings, S Keogh, M Leek/G Brown, D Quinlan.
*Not considered due to injury: N Spooner, E Miller, B Willis, P McKenna and B O’Riordan.
On International duty: G Dempsey, B O’Driscoll, D Hickie, R Corrigan, S Byrne, P Wallace, L Cullen, M O’Kelly and K Gleeson.
MUNSTER: J Staunton, D Crotty, M Mullins, J Holland, M Lawlor, K Keane, M Prendergast, M Horan, F Sheahan, R Laffan, M Galwey (captain), M O’Driscoll, D O’Callaghan, E Halvey, D Leamy. Replacements: J Blaney/J Fogarty, S Kerr, T Hogan, C McMahon, D Malone, C Mahony, C Huppert.
LEINSTER HEINEKEN CUP SQUAD: E Byrne, S Byrne, R Corrigan, V Costello, L Cullen, G D’Arcy, G Dempsey, D Dillon, A Dunne, B Gissing, K Gleeson, D Hickie, S Horgan, A Kearney, A Magro, A McCullen, P McKenna, E Miller, B O’Driscoll, M O’Kelly, B O’Meara, B O’Riordan, D Quinlan, P Smyth, N Spooner, L Toland, N Treston, P Wallace, C Warner, B Willis. Additional front row forwards: D Blaney, P Coyle, J Lyne, G Hickie.
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