Lawlor gets nod as head injury rules Henderson out
Henderson failed to recover from a head injury sustained in the Celtic League clash with Leinster last week and Mossie Lawlor has been named in his place. Lawlor starts on the right wing while Shaun Payne moves to centre where he will partner Mike Mullins.
Paul Burke is named at out-half, as Ronan O’Gara recovers from a broken bone in his hand sustained at Musgrave Park on Saturday night.
Coach Alan Gaffney is remaining cautious despite the province’s perfect record in this competition at Thomond Park - which will be packed to the rafters again tonight.
“It is absolutely critical that we win this,” he said after noting the struggle that took place in edging out the Ospreys 20-18 at The Gnoll back in October.
“If we don’t win this one we could be in all sorts of trouble - we could find ourselves going from top to third in Pool 4 and that would leave us having to go to Twickenham to play Harlequins in the final round with someone else in the driving seat,” he said.
“We must make maximum use of our final home game and our fantastic support. The fans were brilliant against Castres Olympique and I am sure they will do the same for the visit of the Ospreys.
“However, we know it is down to us to do the job out on the pitch and we will have to play well to get the result.
“I was extremely happy with the performance against Castres but we will have to go up another gear from that against the Ospreys. They are a hard-headed bunch with plenty of experience in their squad and they will come over here believing they can win.
“We know they will try and dismiss the Thomond Park factor to keep their qualification hopes alive. It was a very close game between us in Round 2 and, with players like Gavin Henson in their side, you have to be alert for every second of the game,” said Gaffney.
“The Ospreys have been scoring some very good tries this season and the one started by Shane Williams and finished off by Barry Williams recently against Llanelli Scarlets was quite outstanding. They have got a very strong pack of forwards and an attacking back line but this is a match we simply have to win.”
The Ospreys are one point ahead of their Irish hosts in the Celtic League. However, they have lost two of the three matches between the two teams this season.
The Ospreys must win to stay in the hunt for a quarter-final spot and to do that they will have to become the first team to win at Thomond Park since the tournament began.
And Ospreys coach Lyn Jones knows exactly how big this game is to the regional outfit.
“This is the biggest game in our short history. We are expecting a tough match but preparations have gone well with two big wins over the Blues and the Scarlets over the Christmas period. We are fortunate to be able to pick from virtually a full strength squad as we will need to be at our best against a fine Munster side.
“We recognise that we have an opportunity to get a result and it is great to still be in with a chance of qualifying.
“People are now starting to take us seriously. It has been a lot of hard work but our players know that they are able to compete with sides such as Munster.
“Being the Heineken Cup I expect this will be an even higher intensity fixture than the one a few weeks ago but it is the perfect test if we are to judge where we are.
“There is no doubt that we are competitive in the Celtic League, but fixtures do not get any bigger than Munster at a packed Thomond Park. This is what every player and coach strives for, and we have got it here,” said an excited Ospreys coach.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
