McGahan: Munster mindset is still positive
The skipper travelled to Merseyside to have his troubled groin injury assessed but there was no dream return for the Irish international ahead of this weekend’s trip to Spain.
“It wasn’t Rafa Benitez,” quipped coach Tony McGahan when questioned about their trip to England.
“We were trying to get to the bottom of things, to get some clarity,.
“We have tried a lot of different remedies and hope we might have a handle on it now but time this season is running out and we’ll have to wait and see whether he gets back. Hopefully that will be next week. It’s a very mysterious symptom and that’s been the problem. And, no, there’s no question of a misdiagnosis.”
The good news is that Doug Howlett, Keith Earls, Ian Dowling and Nick Williams got through yesterday’s session and all will be available when the team is finalised tomorrow.
O’Connell hasn’t played since Ireland’s final game in the Six Nations on March 20th and Munster chiefs had planned accordingly and worked on a worst case scenario..
As Jean de Villiers pointed out last night, “nobody is irreplaceable”, and with the admirable Mick O’Driscoll on had to take over from the captain, there clearly remains a very positive mindset in the camp ahead of their mission at Estadio Anoeta.
“It’s been an ongoing saga since the Six Nations concluded and we’ve tried a number of different remedies and recommendations but at this stage, he was too far gone,” McGahan continued.
“I said after the Ospreys game on Saturday that the biggest priority for Paul was that he should be able to train. So we trained yesterday afternoon and again this morning and he couldn’t partake in either.
“It’s in the realms of uncertainty now but when you’re out for that length of time, he really has to train and tick any available boxes. Next week’s game (against Cardiff Blues in the Magners League) is on a Sunday and as we don’t train again until Wednesday after the weekend, that being the case, he might have a chance.”
While there still seems to be a degree of uncertainty as to what the problem might actually be, McGahan believes the symptom is known as Osteitis Pubis, a medical condition prevalent among footballers, runners and other athletes, particularly Australian Rules footballers.
Indeed, it is so prevalent within the latter sport that the AFL having taken steps to reduce the incidence of the problem. They are recommending that the clubs restrict the amount of gym work and, ominously, they also warn that if not treated early and correctly, it can mean the end of a sports career or give rise to an uncertain future.
While O’Connell’s experience and inspirational qualities will surely be missed on Sunday, McGahan is adamant that the replacements and plans they have in place will adequately meet the challenge.
“Paul hasn’t played with us since Treviso away in January and it’s been a fair block of time since he has been anywhere near us on a training pitch,” he stressed.
“Mike O’Driscoll and Billy Holland have played there and we’re comfortable with that. It’s been the case for us more than three months and it’s well ingrained in us. Mike played all the pool games for us in 2007/’08 to get us to the final series and is a very experienced campaigner.”
McGahan is anxious that Munster begin well on Saturday, especially because the French team invariably go all out for a positive start, and no matter what the temperatures may be liking – and he’s hopeful that they will remain in the mid teens – they have taken all necessary precautions.
But what about the Biarritz flyer, Tadukzwa Ngwenya, who skinned no less than Springbok superstar Bryan Habana in the 2007 World Cup and more recently, Shane Williams in the Heineken Cup win over the Ospreys?
“They really try to get him into the game,” McGahan acknowledged. “He took the opportunity against the Ospreys very well and I think they will again try to get him involved, especially from long range.
“He’ll be very important to their game plan. We’ve looked at every part of their game and individuals and possible matches that we can come up against, especially from the set piece through the back lines and whether there are opportunities to take advantage of. The Top 14 in France has been very competitive and they fell only a game short to miss the play-offs. They were always on the cusp of the leading six but now all their attention is on the Heineken Cup. “We’re expecting nothing but the best from them.”
While McGahan admitted to disappointment at his team’s defeat by the Ospreys last week, he is happy with the response of the players and has become accustomed to losing matches on the week before Heineken Cup games.
He also looks to the Red Army – reportedly set to turn up in their thousands in San Sebastian – to lift team spirits even further. “That spurs you on to know that you’re not just playing for yourself but for a group of people and what Munster stands for and that’s very important to us.”
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