O’Connell set for Munster recall
O’Connell has been dogged by a back injury for the past three months but following a run out with the province’s A side last Friday, both player and medical staff are satisfied the worst is behind the skipper.
Said O’Connell: “I feel good. I’m back into the swing of things after a frustrating time. It’s never easy having to watch from the sideline and seeing things unfold that you have no control over.
“The A game last week (against Ulster A) was really beneficial. I felt grand afterwards and there has been no adverse reaction since then. I hope to get some game time against Edinburgh and that the progress continues,” he said.
O’Connell joins Irish international colleagues Peter Stringer, Mick O’Driscoll and Tony Buckley in the squad announced by coach Declan Kidney yesterday. Alan Quinlan, and long-term injury concerns Ian Dowling and John O’Sullivan are also named for the trip to Scotland.
Said Kidney: “At this stage of the competition, going into the second half of our programme, it’s all to play for and every result counts.
“We have a game in hand, but we’re some points adrift of Leinster at the top. If they win this weekend, and if we lose, we could be 12 points adrift. “That would be a huge gap to fill and it’s points on the board that counts, not games in hand,” he said.
The Munster coach had no hesitation in recalling O’Sullivan and Dowling, albeit to a squad of 26. O’Sullivan has been laid low for just about six months since sustaining a knee ligament tear against the USA in August, while Dowling strained his ligaments against Connacht on December 27 in Cork. Kidney was particularly impressed with the single-minded way the flanker set about his rehabilitation.
“We call it ‘RICE’ — resting, icing, compressing and elevation. It’s particularly important that players suffering from such injuries go about looking after themselves in a thoroughly professional manner in the first 48 hours. I’m not on the medical side but effectively it means doing exactly what the guys are told to do; it means icing the injury for 15 minutes and then resting (sleep) for 75 minutes.
“It’s a tough regime to follow, but it has obviously worked for the likes of John and Ian, who clearly followed instructions before doing everything right to get back to full fitness after that,” said the coach.
Denis Hurley, S Payne, D Howlett, B Carney, I Dowling, K Lewis, R Tipoki, L Mafi, J Manning, P Warwick, G Hurley, P Stringer, T O’Leary, Darragh Hurley, F Pucciariello, T Buckley, F Sheahan, D Fogarty, D Ryan, P O’Connell, M O’Driscoll, A Quinlan, J Coughlan, N Ronan, A Foley, J O’Sullivan.
Backs: M Bartholomeusz; S Danielli, B Cunningham, M McCrea, T Bowe, P Steinmetz, N O’Connor, P Wallace, D Humphreys, P Marshall, I Boss (captain).
Forwards: J Fitzpatrick; B Young, D Fitzpatrick, R Best, N Brady, J Harrison, R Caldwell, C Del Fava, M McCullough, N Best, K Dawson, S Ferris.
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