Warwick set to miss battle of Clermont

THERE was a time when the loss of one or two key players would have been a devastating blow to Munster.

Not so any longer. When the team to tackle Clermont Auvergne in the third series of Heineken Cup matches at the Stade Marcel Michelin on Sunday is announced at lunchtime today, it’s unlikely there will be a place in the starting line-up for Paul Warwick, one of the stars of the away European victory over Sale Sharks and an inspirational figure in the narrow defeat by the All Blacks last month.

Rua Tipoki, the New Zealand centre ruled out by a knee injury, is replaced in the centre by Barry Murphy and the other change behind the scrum from the Sale game sees Keith Earls come in for Warwick at full-back. In the pack, Niall Ronan makes his first Heineken Cup start, with David Wallace moving to number eight.

“It’s always a blow when you lose a quality player such as Rua,” acknowledged coach Tony McGahan last night. “He has made a great mark on our side in both defence and attack and certainly off the field. But we’ve always spoken about creating depth here. We’ve got a few options we can turn to so we’ll look closely and make the appropriate decision from there.

“Each game presents its own challenges. The All Blacks game from a motivational point of view had all the ingredients for the players to be able to perform. It was a one-off opportunity. It had its own emotions: crowd, All Blacks, being at home, 30 years. Llanelli was another game for four points in the Magners League, not that we took it any way lightly.”

While Warwick’s likely omission is largely attributable to the depth in strength the coach refers to, there will be many prepared to quibble with the call. The drop goals the talented Aussie landed against both Sale and the All Blacks were invaluable while his all-round contribution was also of the highest quality.

It is, of course, good to see players picked on form and Barry Murphy, the only man to score a try against the All Blacks on their grand slam tour, had to come into the reckoning. Likewise, Keith Earls is performing so well this campaign that he now has two Irish caps and his attacking instincts could play a very significant part in the outcome of Sunday’s game.

While Warwick has been suffering from a cut hand, that had nothing to do with the decision and he will be on the bench on Sunday. The squad worked out again in Cork yesterday and when McGahan was subsequently asked if he was confident about the outcome of Sunday’s clash, he promptly replied: “Without a doubt.”

The bonus point Munster eked out of last year’s game in Clermont was to prove crucial in sending them through to the knockout stages and McGahan believes that experience can be of considerable benefit on this occasion.

“We learned a tremendous amount about ourselves that day with regard to playing away from home and controlling things and making sure we had a good tempo,” he reasoned.

“This game is very similar. You always put a lot of time into the ERC form of a side and Sale certainly showed a lot of patience that day in Clermont when they won and took a bonus point as well. They played good field position, controlled the ball very well and the four tries they scored were from Clermont mistakes”.

When McGahan speaks of learning a lesson from last season’s game he is, of course, referring to Munster’s potentially fatal slow start. They were 23-6 down last year before battling back to 23-19 by the final whistle and claiming a precious bonus point. A repeat is hardly on the cards.

“We were pushing the play too much, especially in the first 25 minutes, and the phase count was about 10 to one so this time we need to make sure we have good control and start well and set out our stall early on,” McGahan warned.

“We got a result last week even if we weren’t delighted with the second half performance but this has been a good training week. Clermont will be desperate to make up for the home loss early on and Sale are up for it, too, so the next two weekends will give us a very clear indication of where the pool is going. Clermont have been playing brilliant rugby over the past two years and have absolutely nailed sides. They know where they sit in the group and how the result this weekend will determine whether they’re in control of the group.”