Munster's most important player - The physio

IF CLARE hurling was haunted by the curse of Biddy Earley for years, one wonders what external forces are contriving to deprive Munster of European Cup success.

The build-up to the quarter and semi-finals against Perpignan and Leinster were overshadowed by late injury scares to Ronan O’Gara and Peter Stringer. Events of the past week have left Munster with serious question marks over several players in the run-in to Cardiff.

Since last Friday, the Munster squad has set up base camp in south Wales for their Celtic league games against the Ospreys and Llanelli Scarlets. For the interested Welsh observers, it must have resembled a scene from ‘MASH’ given the amount of injured bodies on the treatment table.

Meanwhile, in glorious sunshine, Biarritz continue their build up to the final with mixed results. Having destroyed local rivals Bayonne last Saturday week, they suffered a shock 26-20 defeat against basement side Pau on Saturday. However, on closer examination the result was more understandable given that Biarritz rested all their front line players against a side striving to fend off relegation. The bonus point achieved in defeat was sufficient to keep Biarritz at the top of the French championship table. With one home game remaining against Montpellier next weekend, Biarritz are in the enviable position of being able to select from a full strength squad.

Their chances were also boosted with the news last Friday that the citing of hooker Benoit August was dismissed on a technicality. While the ERC was left with serious egg on its face for failing to implement their own regulations (whereby the match commissioner and referee cannot come from the same country), it was likely that August would have escaped punishment in any case.

While the alleged incident against Bath’s Danny Grewcock looked compelling on first viewing, the difficulty in cases such as this is proving intent. When Grewcock wrote a letter confirming that, in his view the incident was completely accidental, it was unlikely that August would have been subjected to any period of suspension.

On the assumption that Biarritz coach Patrick Lagisquet won’t lose too much sleep over last weekend’s defeat, so far their build up to the final could not be better. This is in marked contrast to the agonising Declan Kidney faces over the next week.

Marcus Horan’s absence from the side that played Llanelli last night means that should he be selected for the final, he will not have played since the Perpignan clash seven weeks earlier. Further injuries to Frankie Roche and Tony Buckley mean that Munster are down to the bare minimum in terms of front row cover.

While there will be a major sigh of relief that Paul O Connell’s ankle injury, sustained against the Ospreys last Friday, will not keep him out of the final there is still a major concern over the availability of John Kelly.

After the Leinster game, I suggested that a health warning should accompany the outside centre position after a succession of injuries to Barry Murphy, John Kelly and Rob Henderson forced Tomas O’ Leary to play out of position. Since then the situation has reached farcical proportions.

Mike Mullins and Jeremy Manning occupied the position against Borders and both suffered injuries with scrum half Frank Murphy finishing the game in midfield. Against the Ospreys, Christian Cullen was handed the No 13 jersey and when he retired injured his replacement Gary Connolly lasted all of two minutes before departing without ever touching the ball.

Denis Leamy shifted from the back row to become the ninth player to fill the position in the last three games. One wonders how Mossy Lawlor felt when asked to play in the centre last night.

Munster’s hopes of finally securing the Heineken Cup could now rest on the medical team currently working with Kelly. His presence in midfield, particularly in the light of the catastrophic injury list, is crucial. While Biarritz played a very one dimensional game in the knock-out phases against Sale and Bath, they are now playing a totally different type of game in the French Championship. Adverse weather and a win at all cost mentality restricted their ambition in the semi-final. Should Lagisquet decide to empower the likes of Damien Traille, Philippe Bidabe and Sereli Bobo with a licence to run they could cause havoc in Cardiff against an inexperienced midfield.

Up front the Biarritz pack will be confident of their ability to match Munster’s much-vaunted eight. That said their fixtures in the build up to the final against Bayonne, Pau and Montpellier have pitted them against sides severely lacking in power up front. In such circumstances teams often develop bad habits. The most interesting sound bite to emerge from the Biarritz camp over the past few days is, despite their position at the top of the domestic league, their total focus is on winning the Heineken Cup. This is a serious statement of intent given the folklore surrounding French championship success.

Biarritz won the championship outright in 2002 and regained the trophy last season. As a result European success and the financial rewards that result are now focusing their minds to a far greater degree.

With no game next weekend, everyone within the Munster camp can now focus solely on the Cardiff challenge. The feelgood factor that surrounded the victory over Leinster is now but a distant memory. Reality has dawned for many that victory over Biarritz will require a performance equal to the very best that Anthony Foley’s men have produced at any stage over the past eight years.