Fired up for Scarlets showdown

VETERANS of the trade like Peter Stringer have never lacked motivation when it comes to Heineken Cup day and that remains very much the same as Munster go into battle against the Llanelli Scarlets at Stradey Park this evening.

Having lost their two games to date, the Scarlets are probably already doomed in terms of reaching the quarter-finals of the competition and it will be very much the same for Munster if they don’t leave west Wales with at least four points. Furthermore, with several of their players, including Stringer, under extreme pressure for their Irish team places, there is even more at stake than usual.

There could be no better arena or any more significant occasion for Stringer to prove a point to Irish coach Eddie O’Sullivan, who dropped him from the team in the course of the World Cup. However, the scrumhalf insists that, for now, he is concentrating on the match itself and nothing more.