Bradley brings out the big guns
Whereas Bradley is putting out the strongest Connacht side at his disposal, making just a single change from that which defeated Bourgoin in the quarter-final of the Amlin Challenge Cup last week, the Munster line-up contains only three of those who conquered Northampton in the Heineken Cup. Paul Warwick, James Coughlan and Mick O’Driscoll, who captains the side, have been retained. If sections of Connacht’s burgeoning support base and perhaps even members of the squad itself feel they are being treated with less than the respect to which they feel they are entitled, it would be hard to blame them.
While it appears that McGahan’s hands were tied to a certain extent by injuries to Doug Howlett, Ian Dowling, Keith Earls, Jean de Villiers, Barry Murphy and Paul O’Connell, several others have been rested with next week’s game against the Ospreys, followed by the Heineken semi-final against Biarritz, in mind. Given that a four-point dividend from the game is essential to maintain Munster’s drive for a place in the play-off stages, this is definitely a risky course of action against a pumped-up home side with a massive incentive of its own to claim the spoils.
“There are three games left in the competition and we can’t afford to be dropping any points at this stage,” agreed Munster manager Shaun Payne last night. “It’s Connacht at the Sportsground. Every year it’s a very close game and obviously we came a cropper last year. If you look at their recent form, they’ve been outstanding and the best I’ve seen them play since I’ve been here. I thought they were excellent against Leinster away and deserved to win that game and they did brilliantly to come through last weekend so this is a huge task.”
Obviously, it’s an even bigger task than ever considering the chosen side. But Payne sought understanding when pointing out: “We won the game last weekend so we’ve a semi-final coming up and whatever happens after that. There are vital league games to follow this and obviously with a challenge like this, the temptation is to pick your frontline team. But we have to take cognisance of what lies ahead and plan accordingly. Every single game at this stage of the competition is vital but this one is first and it is a question of balancing the books.”
The Munster back division includes three players, Simon Zebo (Cork Con), Danny Barnes (Dolphin) and Declan Cusack (Thomond) making their first senior appearances. Michael Bradley, though, has stayed faithful to his more experience contingent, preferring Bernie Upton ahead of Michael McCarthy in the second row.
Clearly he can’t wait for the action to begin: “You judge yourself by the Ulster, Leinster and Munster matches. The most important thing is that there is a lot of confidence and there is good reason for that. It’s mainly due to the fact that the side is maturing and taking responsibility. That’s what happens when sides evolve.”
Connacht’s aim in the Magners is to overtake Ulster in the table and so claim the third Irish spot in the Heineken Cup. They trailed the northern province by four points before their away game at Glasgow yesterday with Bradley pointing out: “Ulster will have played two matches before we play Munster, so down the way we know what requirements are necessary and whether it’s possible or not to catch them. That will probably have a bearing on the approach. But when we talk about playing Munster or Leinster at home, these matches in themselves are massive for us and there will be no issue in terms of motivation.”
Munster’s only defeat in the last 32 games between the teams came by a 12-6 margin in their most recent clash in Galway on December 28, 2008. They fielded a below strength side on that occasion and paid the price. The only defeat suffered by Connacht in their last five games was by a desperately unlucky 14-17 to league leaders Leinster at the RDS three weeks ago and they have not lost at home since going down to Ulster by 30-6 last September. The Sportsground will certainly be buzzing and this inexperienced Munster team can expect a very warm greeting on and off the pitch.
They will also have the positive words of Michael Bradley ringing in their ears: “We go into the match with confidence in that we have an effective game plan that can beat Munster. It is exciting times for Connacht Rugby.
“We have not got this far in recent history [in Europe), we have a home semi-final which is fantastic, the crowd was excellent and we are looking forward to Munster which is the target at the moment.”
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