Munster set to unveil new forward

MUNSTER hope to add a new second-row to their squad by the end of this week, to add to the three new signings they have already secured for the coming season.

Although unwilling to mention any names, coach Alan Gaffney said last night that the new player he hopes to unveil "will not be a household name, but has been playing a very high brand of rugby."

The new player will join international out-half Paul Burke (ex Harlequins), centre James Storey (ex Neath-Swansea Ospreys) and prop Mike Storey (ex New Zealand), in the panel sooner rather than later.

"We hope to advance the second-row situation by the end of the week. We've been looking around both the Northern and Southern hemispheres for someone suitable and I think we've finally got one. We had hoped to make the announcement today, but unfortunately that's not been possible," Gaffney commented.

However, he revealed that aside from new playing and backroom staff, revised training schedules and increased competition for places in the side, will be the main features of Munster's push for Heineken Cup glory in the coming season.

"We've done a lot of re-evaluation over the off season and we think we have changed things so that we can be a lot more effective throughout the coming season than we were last time," the coach said.

One of the main changes in terms of the team's preparations was that players would now be overnighting in either Limerick or Cork to give the coaching staff more time with them.

Up to now the Limerick-based players travelled to Cork and vice-versa on a daily basis for training sessions during the week, but now they would stay the night in whichever of the two cities the training sessions were taking place to allow the coaching staff more time with them.

Gaffney also revealed that he hoped to have much greater competition for places within the squad and highlighted the situation in the back row where the likes of Jim Williams, Anthony Foley, Alan Quinlan, Denis Leamy, Simon Keogh and David Wallace would all be competing for starting places.

"Having Denis Leamy back is great news for me, but he knows and the international boys know that they'll all be fighting for their place and just because they are on the Irish squad does not guarantee them a starting berth."

He also revealed that Christian Cullen, having enjoyed the first pre-season training of his entire career, was in top form and was once more the player "we all know and love because he's got his body right and is ready for action."

During his career in New Zealand, Cullen's playing commitments had meant that he had never gone through a full pre-season training regime before now, Gaffney said.

Of his new signings, he said he was delighted by Paul Burke's attitude as the player was not willing to play second-fiddle to established out-half Ronan O'Gara and wanted to fight for a place on the team.

"He's not here to play second string and that's the attitude I wanted. If he didn't have that attitude, then you wouldn't want him anyway."

Gaffney predicted that James and Mike Storey - who are not related - would both have an impact on the team this coming season.

"James is a player we identified as being a danger to us when we played the Ospreys and he can play inside or outside centre. As for Mike, we spent a lot of time scouring the world for an Irish-qualified tight-head prop and we finally found one," he said.