Biarritz task to break the Payne barrier

IN the midst of all the doom and gloom, Shaun Payne provides a chink of light as Munster face hot favourites Biarritz in the Heineken Cup quarter-final in San Sebastian on Sunday.

He takes over the full-back responsibilities from All Black legend Christian Cullen, but it’s a confident Payne who jumps into the firing line in the absence of Cullen, Ronan O’Gara and Brian Lima, who have all crashed out of the equation with injuries.

It has been a bad few weeks in that sense for Munster, who must take on the might of in-form Biarritz.