Leamy ready to lead from the front against Ospreys

WITH Paul O’Connell out until Christmas, stand-in captain Denis Leamy has overseen four decent Munster displays, an early defeat by Leicester Tigers and a hat-trick of victories over Gloucester, Aironi and Edinburgh.

But now Leamy is preparing for his biggest test, the visit of champions Ospreys to Thomond Park tomorrow (8pm).

Leamy is enjoying his new role, describing it as: “Something different, although I wouldn’t be the most vocal of guys. It’s not about talking for me, it’s about action and work rate. We’ve two good league wins and hopefully we can get another one in front of the crowd in Limerick.”

Leamy has had to balance leadership with concentrating on his own game now he is back from long-term injury. “I suppose captaincy has been nothing different than I expected; we’re trying to make sure we’re not an easy team to play against. In any event, there are so many leaders in this team, so many players with huge experience that really it’s pretty easy to captain them; there are lads there who have done it all.”

Of his fitness, he added: “It’s coming, I feel I’m improving the whole time and last week I just felt there was a lot more in my legs, I felt a lot fitter and that I was getting to the pitch of the game. I would hope there is more to come. Certainly, in the first couple of weeks I felt a bit heavy-legged, but last week was more positive and hopefully I’ll improve.”

The game with Ospreys is significant for more than the fact Munster have a score to settle from Thomond Park last season. It’s the first of four games, two in the Magners League and two in the Heineken Cup, between the clubs this season. In order to assess their chances, Leamy pointed to Munster’s display in the narrow win at Edinburgh last week.

“There were a few things wrong, a clean-out missing, or where someone ran a line wrongly; we should have maybe passed sometimes when we ran, maybe should have held on to the ball when we passed.

“We were very close to breaking them down (more often) but some small things just went wrong to stop us doing that. But there are positives to take from that game although we must take it up a level again.”

Meanwhile, Ireland’s Gordon D’Arcy, Rob Kearney and Eoin Reddan start for Leinster for the first time this season in tomorrow’s Magners League clash against Benetton Treviso at the Stadio di Monigo (kick-off 7.05pm local time, 6.05pm Irish time, live on TG4). Also included is Isa Nacewa, who scored 19 points in the 34-23 win over Cardiff Blues last week.

In the pack, Cian Healy comes into the front row to partner John Fogarty and Mike Ross, while Rhys Ruddock forms a back-row partnership with Sean O’Brien and skipper Shane Jennings.

Having gained points from their first two Magners matches, Connacht are now looking to maintain thatmomentum when they face Glasgow in Firhill this evening (7.30).

It’s their second successive away

fixture and Connacht will be desperate to get some dividend, having suffered a 35-33 injury-time loss to Scarlets last week.

Coach Eric Elwood is satisfied with the six-point return from their opening matches but they have not beaten Glasgow away since a 30-19 win at Hughenden in 2003 and he believes that any return of points will be hard-earned.

* Ireland’s rugby players could be drawn into a World Cup scheduling drama with pool opponents USA in New Zealand next September 11.

The battle for bragging rights between past and present Ireland coaches Eddie O’Sullivan and Declan Kidney will pale into insignificance due to the date, the 10th anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon.

New Zealand police are planning heightened security for the game in New Plymouth. World Cup police operations head, Superintendent Grant O’Fee, would not give specific details on the extra measures but said: “We’re planning for things that almost certainly aren’t going to happen, but we would be remiss if we didn’t.”