Gaffney hoping for a French win
The Munster coach and his players will be more than interested in the result coming through from the crucial Perpignan v Gloucester clash for obvious reasons.
Yesterday, Gaffney insisted he is hoping for a French win to boost Munster's pool qualification chances.
Gaffney teased out the permutations of Pool 2 and was left wondering whether it was more beneficial for Gloucester to streak ahead and wrap up the pool winners's qualification place or for Perpignan to peg the English side back and leave Munster with a decent chance of topping the section.
"I think at the end of the day that we must believe we can win the pool and earn automatic qualification for the quarter finals. We have to approach things that way, because I don't think we can leave anything to chance. You always have to believe in your own capabilities.
"Our aim is to win the section and we certainly haven't given up on that. To do so, however, we have to win all our remaining games. We have to be aggressive in our thinking." Munster make just one change from the team that hammered Viadana 64-0 at Musgrave Park last Friday.
John Kelly returns after injury to replace Mossie Lawlor on the right wing and Gaffney conceded it was a tough call to make. "John is a great player with international experience and he has made a good recovery from his knee injury. One would have to feel sorry for Mossie though, because he has been involved in just about all the good things this side has produced this season. He has scored six tries from seven competitive outings and that impressed me greatly."
The words of comfort went further: "I think Mossie has a great future and it could be as a winger or a centre. He has been working very hard to put a bit of beef on himself and, if he needs a little bit more bulk for the centre, he has everything going for him. There are absolutely no doubts about his skill." On the basis of last week's result against the Italians, the assumption is that Munster will romp to another easy victory. But Gaffney yesterday cautioned against being over confident. "There are examples of big turnarounds that we should remember in the history of this competition. For instance, Toulouse put more than 100 points on Ebbw Vale a couple of years ago and lost the return fixture in Wales. "Viadana showed nothing in Cork but we also have to respect the fact that they have scored seven tries in their opening couple of games, five of them against Gloucester. If they are capable of scoring as many tries against such opposition, then it would be very silly indeed to assume it will be easy. We have seen three videos of Viadana in action and they are more impressive than they looked last week.
"The fact that they are playing at home will present them as a different threat. We have some problems of our own to address and I am sure that they will feel they are capable of a major improvement. We haven't set any specific targets for try scoring or points totals. Our aim is to go out there to win, show a bit of patience and then hope that things happen for us."
Last week, Viadana complained bitterly about Welsh referee Hugh Watkins. This game will be handled by Scotsman Andy Ireland, who is known for his dominant personality on the pitch, and Gaffney has taken extra steps to ensure Munster can cope with his style of refereeing. "We do know that he is a stickler for discipline and he is not the kind of person to be questioned about his decisions. We will have to come to terms with that and make sure that we keep our discipline throughout the game.
The Munster side leave for Italy on Friday by special charter and will return to Ireland shortly after the conclusion of the game which has a 5 pm (Irish time) start. That is to facilitate a number of players who have been included in the Irish squad for a week long training camp to take place in Lanzarote starting on Sunday.
MUNSTER: J. Staunton (Garryowen), J. Kelly (Cork Constitution), M. Mullins (Young Munster), J. Holland (Midleton), A. Horgan (Cork Constitution), R. O'Gara (Cork Constitution), P. Stringer (Shannon), M. Horan (Shannon), F. Sheahan (Cork Constitution), J. Hayes (Shannon), P. O'Connell (Young Munster), J. Williams (Cork Constitution captain; A. Foley (Shannon), A. Quinlan (Shannon).
Replacements. M. Lawlor (Shannon), E. Halvey (Shannon)/D. Leamy (UCC), M. Prendergast (Young Munster), K. Keane (Garryowen), M. O'Driscoll (Cork Constitution), S. Kerr (Garryowen).
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