Holland, Leamy back for Munster

MUNSTER coach Alan Gaffney has two lists of names written on a notice board at his Thomond Park office to remind him of the current predicament he finds himself in.

To the left are 11 names of players currently on a World Cup voyage with Ireland in Australia. Alongside is a list of 14 injured people contributing to Gaffney’s current crisis.

“I could live without the guys on the left for the Celtic League at least. The problem is on the right. It makes it very difficult.”

Gaffney, though, will have Jason Holland and Denis Leamy back in action for Glasgow’s visit to Musgrave Park tomorrow night and he said: “The problem has been that when certain guys came back, others went down. Injuries have caused us endless problems all season.

“We’re thankful for small mercies at this stage and that’s not derogatory to any of the players who’ve been there. It’s just we need all of the experience we can get. It’s a big plus for us going into this game.”

The main surprise in selection would appear to be the placing of Stephen Keogh in the second row alongside Trevor Hogan, but Gaffney believes it was an option he had to look at.

“It’s not the ideal position for Stephen but he has played there before. Having played Glasgow and lost to them in the Celtic Cup, we anticipate we will need aggressive mobile forwards to take them on. Both Stephen and Denis fall into that category.

“The big problem we had on the last occasion is Glasgow have an absolutely huge pack. We have a big enough set of forwards but won’t match them for height or weight.

"We will have to make up for that physical difficulty with mobility. If we can hold our own in the set pieces, which we did not do in Glasgow, I think we could even have an edge over them.

“The set pieces could have a pretty huge influence on this game because they’re a huge side that’s not mobile. We’ve got a smaller pack but we’re very mobile. It certainly will make for an interesting tussle.”

Four changes in personnel have been made from the team beaten in Newport last week.

Holland comes in for Conrad O’Sullivan, Martin McPhail returns for the injured Shaun Payne, Frankie Roche gets the vote ahead of Jody Danaher and Leamy’s return forces Donal Sheehan out, although Keogh is his direct replacement in the second row.

MUNSTER: D Crotty, M McPhail, M Mullins, J Holland, M Lawlor, J Staunton, E Reddan; S Kerr, A Long, F Roche, T Hogan, S Keogh, D Leamy, J Williams - captain, D Wallace. Replacements: E McGovern, J Blaney, D Sheehan, C McMahon, F Murphy, C O’Sullivan, C Casey.