Quinlan gets down to business

ALAN Quinlan was back in his natural habitat for the past couple of days.

Having cajoled his Munster colleagues to hold their post-November camp at Ballykisteen Hotel and Golf resort near Limerick Junction just a few hundred yards down the road from where he was born, he was always going to enjoy the occasion. While there was the usual banter, this was serious business and seems to have worked extremely well.

With fellow-Tipperary man Denis Leamy laid low by an ankle injury, Quinlan’s influence is sure to be even more important as the team heads into vital games in the Magners League against the Ospreys at Liberty Stadium on Saturday and the back-to-back Heineken Cup matches against Perpignan over the following two weekends.