Confident Kelly is hungrier than ever

JOHN KELLY had every reason to feel gutted when he lost his place on the Irish team to meet Wales in Cardiff recently.

Disappointment was heaped on disappointment when he was excluded from the 22 players involved in the Grant Slam decider against England.

Disappointed? Yes. Confidence shattered? No.

Kelly takes a philosophical view: "When you get an opportunity all you can do is your best to take it. If it's not happening then you have to sit back, be patient and wait for another.

"In a perverse sort of way, being left out of the 22 for the English match has made me more hungry than ever. Once I knew I wasn't involved at Lansdowne Road, I was able to focus completely on Munster. At this stage, at any rate, that's a positive to come out of it."

Kelly is conscious this could be the last big game of the season but he doesn't want it to end even though he and the other top players have faced huge demands over a long period of time.

"All players get tired from time to time, but when new challenges crop up and this is one of those you tend to get carried along in a wave of new enthusiasm."

Although reluctant to look back on last year's final defeat to Leicester, Kelly said it was sometimes beneficial to do so.

"It shouldn't be done in a negative fashion, in the sense of looking for revenge or anything, just to try to take the positives out of a defeat.

"There is no doubt individual players and teams as a whole can learn from losing. I think that in the case of the final, rather than having lost it, we were beaten. There is a subtle difference."

He believes that, so far, the squad has achieved a lot of what they set out to accomplish.

"I think it was a magnificent effort from the entire squad in the Celtic League. The internationals were not available for some of those games yet the only defeat in the competition was away to Ulster. The disappointments, I suppose, were the defeats away to Gloucester, particularly, and also to Perpignan.

"But I think you have to take a lot of things into consideration in assessing our Heineken Cup run. For a start, I believe it was the most difficult group of all. When you think that a side like Gloucester, who have had a hugely successful season in England, are gone out, then it is possible to put things in perspective.

"I remember thinking about the group when it was announced and the first thing to strike me was that there were three teams involved who nearly always win their home games."

Now that Munster are in the knock-out stages, courtesy of their sensational 33-6 victory over Gloucester, Kelly believes they should look on the bright side of life, look to the Celtic League victory and that win over the English cup champions.

"Sure, we will have to assess the two defeats away in England and France and take whatever we can from them.

"But we have to focus in on our strengths as well, on the ability to meet stiff challenges and win big games."

But, come 4pm on Sunday, the only thing that will matter is what happens on the pitch and Leicester's Martin Johnson and his team are looking forward to further European glory after already becoming the first team to lift the Heineken Cup twice.

Their sights are firmly set on completing the hat-trick and Johnson said: "We have had a great time in Europe and it's just nice to have another go at it."

England prop Graham Rowntree, who injured his knee in the victory in Dublin, and centre Ollie Smith, who is expected to be out for a further fortnight, will both miss the match.

But centre Rod Kafer and England lock Ben Kay have shaken off injuries and utility man Austin Healey is raring to go in his second match after four months on the sidelines with an Achilles' problem.

Leicester have no other worries but Dean Richards, their director of coaching, will wait until today's noon deadline before announcing his side.

Coach Dean Richards expects Munster to provide a far different challenge than they did when Leicester beat them 15-9 to lift the trophy for the second time in last year's final.

"They have changed, some of the old boys have gone and they have some great youngsters who have come into the side and that has in some ways strengthened them.

"They have a great enthusiasm and passion which no one can dampen in any way, shape or form," said Richards.

But he added: "We are starting to get guys back from injury and it gives us a far more balanced side than we have had for a while. There are a lot of factors which will have an affect on this game."