Munster bring back the big guns to face bogey side Cardiff
Munster coach Tony McGahan has selected a totally new front row from the one that started against Newport Gwent Dragons last week, with Jerry Flannery in for Frankie Sheahan and Tony Buckley moving to loose head prop in place of Marcus Horan. Hayes is in for Federico Pucciariello.
McGahan has actually made nine changes from last week’s starting side and it’s a sign of the good times that four of the returnees, Hayes, Paul O’Connell, Ronan O’Gara and Peter Stringer, are four of the most capped international players in the world.
The others coming in to the starting side are Denis Hurley, Rua Tipoki, Buckley, Justin Melck and Neil Ronan.
Also back in the frame is Alan Quinlan who has overcome a groin injury to take his place in the squad of 22. He has been promised game time tonight and will surely get at least half a game.
Explaining the changes, McGahan said: “Its just the start of a long season and we couldn’t expect the same players to play every minute of every game.
“In the pre-season games we tried different combinations and we’re confident that we can make these changes pretty seamlessly to get the best out of our squad over the course of the season.”
Quinlan is itching to get a run having had to nurse his groin strain carefully over the last six weeks.
He explained: “Early in the pre-season, it flared up a bit and I decided after medical advice to tread carefully. I adapted a different approach to the pre-season but it paid dividends and I’ve been back running without any problems for the last four weeks.
Quinlan is determined that this will be another memorable season in the Munster camp and noted the different mindset this year after winning the Heineken Cup last season.
“There’s a totally different mood in the camp from the time after we won it back in 2006. We were disappointing in 2007 and were disappointed with ourselves; we’re determined not to let the same thing happen this season.
“Right from the time we won the trophy, the mood changed; guys have put in a phenomenal effort to up the anti because we realise that we can’t stand still.
“It’s very early days yet, but the start has been pretty impressive. We know there are teams waiting out there to beat us; they’ll raise their game to play us so we have to raise the bar too.”
Munster were disappointed at last year’s Magners League showing and particularly the outcome of a few key games.
“Our squad was disrupted quite a bit last season but that’s still not a valid excuse. It’s no longer good enough for us to be competing; we want to be up there with a real chance of winning the competition. It has been positive so far, but we have to continue in this mood and this type of form,” he added.
Cardiff will relish the prospects of taking on Munster tonight, knowing that they have a decent record in Cork.
While Cardiff coach David Young has seen star flanker Martyn Williams ruled out with an ankle ligament injury, it’s a pretty strong Blues side.
Cardiff have won the last four Magners League encounters with Munster and the last two in Cork, so they won’t be in any way intimidated by either the opposition or the vociferous home supporters.
Cardiff will look to kicking “machine” Ben Blair, half backs Ceri Sweeney and Jason Spice, as well as forwards Paul Tito, Gethin Jenkins and Maama Molitika to put it up to Munster, who expect a vigorous challenge.
Team manager Shaun Payne was delighted at last week’s seven try victory over Gwent Dragons, but warned: “This week will be totally different. Quite honestly, I was disappointed with the Dragons, but Cardiff will be a different proposition. They have strengths in many areas of the team and their record against us is, well, quite impressive.
It’s an opportunity for us to see how far we’ve progressed these past few weeks, because undoubtedly the opposition is going to get tougher from here on.”
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