Best yet to come from Cullen, insists Gaffney

MUNSTER coach Alan Gaffney believes the very best is to come from star signing Christian Cullen.

The coach hopes the former All Black produces something special this weekend but will put no pressure on him to light up Saturday's Heineken Cup quarter-final against Stade Français.

Since Cullen's arrival four months ago, his playing time has been limited because of injury, but there were glimpses of his brilliance in Munster's Celtic League game against Celtic Warriors at Sardis Road last Friday.

"Last week we got an idea of his capabilities. The line he took for a try by Mike Mullins was just superb. It didn't look special at first glance but it was.

"Things are going to happen for Christian. He has been playing for the All Blacks and Wellington for a long, long time, and it's a question of getting used to the players he lines out with.

"He does things on the pitch that the ordinary supporter mightn't even spot but they are picked up on closer examination.

"He runs lines that maybe we're not taking advantage of. That's no slur on the other players, it's a question of getting used to patterns and maximising opportunities that might arise as a result. It's all about time and the longer we're together as a team the better it will get. He will react to the good things the guys do and the guys will find it easier to react to him.

"We have a lot of skilful players and it's a question of putting the pieces together and building up an understanding."

Gaffney would prefer to have had his players together for an extra game prior to this European test but is still thankful he has a relatively full squad from which to choose.

"Having the international guys back training for the last week or so has been great. They add a lot of spice, a lot of craic.

"They give the whole squad an extra bit of edge even though they know they've got to do the hard yards in training the same as everyone else."

"Some of the guys were missing for the Celtic League game last weekend, but while I would have liked Peter (Stringer) and Ronan (O'Gara) to get a match, they have enough experience together to slot straight back in.

"The patterns and structures are much the same all season and these guys, all of them, are well capable of slotting back into the system immediately.

"Stade Français are in pretty much the same position as us with a lot of guys in the French side. They probably had a little better preparation in that they had a full strength side last week."

"The last two days have been particularly good. Our guys know how and what is required to win, which is more important.

"We've taken a good look at the way State Français play although they will obviously have one or two things up their sleeve as they prepare for this game.

"They are capable of changing their style, like the way they took on Ulster in round five and Leicester in round six. They play the squad, they play the team and their coach Nick Mallett does an awful lot of homework on the opposition."

Gaffney has prepared for the possibility of defeat but prefers not to dwell on that.

"The situation is that we're going out to win. We want to stay in this competition for as long as possible. We want to win it outright. That's been the goal from the start of the season and nothing has changed.

"Of course you give consideration to being beaten because we're playing a quality side. There's pressure on the players from outside sources and the players put pressure on themselves. We know it's not going to be handed to us on a plate just by turning up, but we still won't have any negative thoughts.

"It's not in the nature of this squad to be like that. We know it's going to be very difficult and we know there is a chance of losing, but that's the same for any game you play at this level."

And now the good news on Ronan O'Gara. While he has restricted himself on his kicking game in training, there is no doubt that he is up for this game, as related by Gaffney yesterday.

"Ronan did a full contact session on Monday, a session when the players beat the absolute crap out of each other. In the circumstances, he could have stayed out of it but he wanted to be involved and he didn't hold back."