Gaffney wary of Munster’s ‘cutting edge’

ALAN GAFFNEY might be going ‘home’, but he doesn’t expect to feel at ease in Thomond Park on Friday night.

Times have changed for the former Munster coach who now acts in a consultancy capacity with Leinster and he will be in Limerick hoping to undo Munster’s 100% home record this season.

But Gaffney, well aware of Munster’s proud tradition at Thomond Park, wasn’t brimming with confidence yesterday, admitting Leinster would have to show a marked improvement from last week’s fortuitous last minute victory over Connacht.

Leinster will be boosted by the return of Gordon D’Arcy, Cian Healy and Jamie Heaslip, while Scotland lock Nathan Hines is also named in an extended squad which will be reduced tomorrow.

There is still no sign of Irish captain Brian O’Driscoll, who now hopes to mark his return in the following week’s Heineken Cup clash against Clermont Auvergne. But Leinster will hardly be lacking in experience..

Rob Kearney, a try-scorer in the 17-14 victory over Connacht, is one of 12 Ireland internationals in the squad which also includes the vastly experienced Isa Nacewa, CJ van der Linde and Stan Wright.

Said Gaffney: “There’s no doubting that we didn’t reach the standards that we demand of ourselves against Connacht. Credit to them, they played particularly well and having analysed their recent performances it was probably the best I’ve seen them play over the last few months.

“Even though we scored a good try where Rob (Kearney) made a good line break, we didn’t get an awful lot going in terms of our attack so that’s an area that we need to improve upon this week.

“The players themselves weren’t happy with how things went, so we will just have to take the positives from Saturday’s game and approach this weekend’s challenge in an equally positive manner as we welcome back a few more players into training.”

One would expect Gaffney to have words of praise for his former club and he said: “Munster played some excellent rugby at times in their win over a Glasgow side last weekend that included a significant number of the players who defeated Ireland the previous week.

“That result was no mean feat and we know how strong Munster are – right across the paddock. The tradition of them having a strong pack is well documented, but they also have a real cutting edge in their backline.

“Irrespective of the various combinations that they go with, they will pose a real attacking threat.

“Their wingers work hard off the ball and they have a lot of power up front. These are areas that we will need to be vigilant about this week.

“Leinster-Munster games are regarded as one of the biggest games of the season. While there may be a perception that both sides may have one eye on the Heineken Cup quarter-finals next week, our main focus is on what happens in Limerick on Friday night. One thing you can guarantee is that neither sets of players will hold back,” he said.

Over 4,000 Leinster supporters are expected to make the trip down to Limerick and Gaffney is delighted, noting their contribution in the last couple of seasons particularly.

“We have great respect for what the supporters give us and to know that there are going to be several thousand of them in Limerick is absolutely fantastic,’’ he said.

“It is a tough time financially to be a supporter and the players never take that for granted. Maybe we wouldn’t have seen those kind of numbers a few years ago. But the players revel in that kind of commitment because they know that in these tough economic times things aren’t easy and every time they pull on a blue shirt they want to repay that.’’

Leinster (squad):

FORWARDS: L Cullen (captain), J Fogarty, C Healy, J Heaslip, N Hines, B Jackman, S Jennings, Stephen Keogh, M O’Kelly, M Ross, R Ruddock, P Ryan, D Toner, CJ van der Linde, S Wright.

BACKS: S Berne, A Conway, G D’Arcy, G Dempsey, R Kearney, Simon Keogh, F McFadden, I Nacewa, P O’Donohoe, E O’Malley, E Reddan, J Sexton.

Referee: A Small (RFU)