Relishing the challenge

NO matter what the sport, you often wonder how people who have been teammates on countless occasions are suddenly able to play against each other in a different competition.

This applies very much on Sunday, when it’s more or less a case of the Irish pack and half-backs of recent Triple Crown fame taking on the Leinster three-quarter line in the Heineken Cup semi-final at Lansdowne Road.

With one or two interlopers such as Malcolm O’Kelly in the Leinster second-row, that’s very much how things stand; for instance Munster flanker David Wallace goes head to head with Keith Gleeson, probably his main challenger for the Ireland number seven shirt after a series of outstanding recent performances for Leinster.

“It’s a professional job and all our careers we have to play against guys we may have been training with the previous weekend and you do your job as professionally as you can,” says Wallace.

“At this level, there is always competition for places and it could come around to that on Sunday. Obviously Keith is playing very well, as are a lot of other guys who are close to the Irish team, so you can’t afford any slip-ups. The season has gone great for me so far, what with getting back on the national side and winning a Triple Crown. The previous couple of seasons with injury and loss of form weren’t so good so it’s terrific now to be in a team playing Leinster in a European semi-final.”

One of Wally’s chief tasks on Sunday will be to try and reduce as much as possible the potential impact of Felipe Contepomi, Leinster’s talented Argentine out-half. He readily accepts that Contepomi “is a very good ball carrier and you need to have three sets of eyes on him at all times. But the important thing is we don’t do anything different, we just stick to the systems and our patterns we have in place. We must concentrate on what we know is right and not change anything for any specific player”.

South African-born full-back Shaun Payne smiled at the memories of his games for the Natal Sharks against the Cats in the then Super 12 and reflected on the rivalry.

“First and foremost, I think the rivalry you refer to is greater here than in South Africa,” he declared.

“You might have played in front of more spectators out there but I just think the build-up here is a lot more intense. The relationship between fans and players here is far closer than anything I’ve ever experienced in South Africa. They have a lot more fairweather supporters.

“I’ve been here three seasons and the level of support for Munster has been outstanding. My first real appreciation of it was in Thomond and then the semi-final against Wasps. That was a level above anything I’d ever experienced. I know the atmosphere is going to be fantastic. There were 60,000 at Kings Park, Durban, for the Sharks game against the Cats but this will be even more intense.

“It’s been well documented how good the Leinster back line is but it’s a one-off game and I don’t think you can bring any precedents into the equation. I don’t particularly like this part of the week. Everybody is a bit tense and the nerves are there. Personally I can’t wait to get out on the field, because I don’t like the build-up on a week like this.”

As for the atmosphere in Munster during the week, Payne says that “everyone is a supporter, everyone wants to talk rugby. I really enjoy that and it’s great craic. I live in Ballina/Killaloe whereas Anthony (Foley) lives across the river and there’s a fair bit of banter between the two.”

Jim Williams, the great Australian wing-forward and a huge favourite of Munster fans, recounts how “there’s no comparison playing in a Super 12 final in 2001 in front of 35,000 and the following season being a part of the Leicester final in the Millennium Stadium in front of 75,000. The support over here is just phenomenal, especially in the relationship between the supporters and the players. That’s something very special and the guys really do appreciate the support.

“Every match for me has been hard to watch from the sideline. But I made a conscious decision to finish playing and there was an opportunity to stay and coach. As I’ve always said, it’s not hard to coach guys who are really motivated and willing to learn. It’s probably the best environment to be coaching in. It’s about getting the player in the right condition, getting the training right, the attitude right and I’ve been working hard on that.”

Williams, now a member of the Munster coaching set-up, notes that Paul O’Connell and Donncha O’Callaghan were just arriving on the scene when he first got here and to see how they have become international and world-class players is particularly gratifying for him. His views on the way activity is split between Limerick and Cork have been well documented.

“That’s the way Munster works,” he shrugs. “It’s always been that way, so we just get on with it. We try and organise the pre-season, the weeks, the months the best we can so the players are in the right frame of mind and have the right kind of preparation.”