McGahan hails ruthless work ethic

TONY McGAHAN has a ringside seat to Munster’s phenomenal work ethic and he believes there’s only one word for it: “unmatched”.

“I think they’re always ruthless,” he said. “I’m lucky to see them every day in training. They have a competitive streak, a drive, an ambition to be as successful as they can. It’s unmatched. With the experience and age profile of the players, they realise they need to make the most of every opportunity and they’re certainly doing that at the moment.”

He added: “I’m delighted for the players. They’ve put in a lot of work this year – week 42 of the competition – and to be still going strong is a testament to them and all the hard work they’ve put in.”

As complete a European performance as Munster have put in? “In my time here, yes,” McGahan acknowledged. “I thought there were some excellent parts of play in terms of how we’re trying to develop the game, our attacking game and our passing skills were in evidence, they were excellent.

“We’re very lucky that we have some excellent leaders. They’re selfless people and they’ve been together for a while. We have competition for places and our (Ireland’s) form in the Six Nations was excellent, that was key; the squad carried on in the Magners League and laid the platform for the rest to come in.”

Testimony to the truth of what the coach was saying is that while Munster’s nine Grand Slam-winning heroes all played superbly yesterday, when it came to the man-of-the- match award there wouldn’t have been a murmur of complaint if it had gone to any of the six who were left behind to man the pumps for Munster in the Magners League. Though they didn’t get on the scoresheet, wingers Ian Dowling and Doug Howlett were totally secure in defence, powerful and threatening in attack; outside centre Keith Earls confirmed his Lions credentials with a two-try performance, Alan Quinlan was absolutely immense in the backrow, while Lifeimi Mafi – well, what can you say? Even his coach was almost lost for words: “He’s played some tremendous games — that was top drawer. He’s getting better and better. Lifeimi is a tremendous role model, just as Rua (Tipoki) has been, and with Doug there as well, it’s great for someone like Keith to be exposed to that professionalism. The way Lifeimi as a young guy has developed his game, his leadership and his communication, the way he plays off the ball and puts in the hard work — he certainly deserves the performance that he put in today.”

As for full-back Paul Warwick, the man who won the official award... “Last year he played some very good rugby,” said McGahan. “This year he’s been growing in confidence and I think being in the first XV has helped that. He’s playing rugby as good as he has ever played.”

There was one big name, a guy who had been much discussed and much analysed in the lead-up to this game, his possible influence much feared, who turned out to be something of an irrelevance – referee Wayne Barnes. In the early going, when the match was still a contest, he didn’t much endear himself to the Munster supporters, but as the match wore on and Munster wore down an increasingly less committed Ospreys, his overbearing presence became less and less of a factor. “Well, the result speaks volumes,” was McGahan’s comment, when asked about the referee – “We got the result and that’s all that matters.”

Next up now, the magnificent prospect of Munster-Leinster in Croke Park, and Tony McGahan has been in the country long enough to appreciate the significance of that. “It’s a massive achievement and certainly a once-off opportunity isn’t it? For us to be involved as a province, to be able to play such an important game in such an historic venue is a tremendous achievement and one that we’ll really look forward to and cherish.”

Another Bank Holiday weekend, Saturday May 2nd, another huge Heineken Cup occasion for the nation — bring it on!