O’Connell focused despite great expectations

THERE is a train of thought that Munster need only turn up and topple another French club at Thomond Park tomorrow but given the strong possibility that ASM Clermont Auvergne will field their strongest available XV, it’s unlikely to be a Munster cakewalk inside their favourite ground.

ASM aren’t about to roll over á la Bourgoin or Castres.

Last season ASM did themselves and the competition no favours by sending a make-shift side to Limerick, a judgement by their coach Vern Cotter that ultimately crippled the club’s chances of qualifying for the knock-out stages of the Heineken Cup for the first time in its history.