McGahan says pressure is on for a home win

THOMOND PARK cannot help but stir memories and while Ospreys at least have a good one to recall, the sight of Paul O’Connell warming up for action tomorrow may well remind the Welshmen of a darker hour in Limerick.

Sat, 11 Dec, 2010 - 00:00

Heineken Cup Pool 3 Munster v Ospreys, tomorrow 3pm (Thomond Park) Simon Lewis

Heineken Cup action returns to Limerick tomorrow (1pm) when Munster will bid to extend their lead atop Pool Three against an Ospreys side buoyed by a 15-11 Magners League win at the stadium last season. That can be easily offset by a 43-9 humiliation by Munster when the Welsh region were dismissed from Europe at the quarter-final stage in 2009. O’Connell got on the scoresheet that day and after nine months out through injury, the Munster captain returns to the European arena.

There are four Munster changes, one of them positional, from the side that defeated Toulon in a barnstorming performance in round two. Johne Murphy switches from inside centre to the wing berth held by Denis Hurley that day as Sam Tuitupou, who was suspended, returns at No.12.

At scrum-half, Tomás O’Leary gets the nod over Peter Stringer while in the pack James Coughlan comes in at blindside flanker for Alan Quinlan. Quinlan could yet win his 206th cap from a bench that not only boasts O’Connell and Stringer but also John Hayes and Lifeimi Mafi - a quintet that claim almost 800 Munster caps between them.

“It’s most important to get the first result right,” McGahan said of the double-header. “We’re at home first up so there’s a lot of pressure on us. You have to make sure you win your games at home and don’t have to chase up points. If we can get a result this week, we can turn up the heat on them next week.”

Both camps have played down past glories, with McGahan dismissing the memory of his team’s quarter-final win as irrelevant now.

“That was a couple of years ago and the two sides have moved on since. It’s there, but we certainly won’t use it as a reference point good or bad. What they do is down to their own motivational tools I guess.

“They’ve beat us in Thomond Park and that’s our reference point. They won in Ireland last year, winning the Magners final by beating Leinster, so they’ll travel with no fear. We have to be in a good frame of mind.”

Ospreys forwards coach Jonathan Humphreys concurred on two counts: Ospreys are in strong spirits and past encounters don’t mean anything.

“We're going into this game in pretty good shape,” he said. “There’s a good mood around the place at the moment. Selection has been very difficult, which is always a good sign.

“Our squad is very experienced, players have experienced winning Grand Slams, playing in front of big crowds, and as we saw last season they have the know-how to go to places like Munster and win games. We certainly won't be focusing on games that have been and gone. This is about Sunday; it’s a whole new ball game.”

All Blacks flanker Marty Holah is available after winning his appeal against a two-week ban, but Ospreys also have a back division chock full of experience despite the absence through injury of Lee Byrne and Shane Williams. Dan Biggar, who kicked all the points in that win at Thomond last April, is a rising star at fly-half and lines up outside Wales scrum-half Mike Phillips, with Ireland’s Tommy Bowe on the wing and the mercurial James Hook at 12.

The pack is no less impressive with an all-Welsh international front five, featuring Ryan Jones and captain Alun Wyn Jones in the second row and another up and coming Wales star Jonathan Thomas at No.8. Yet Ospreys head coach Shaun Holley spoke earlier in the week of a need to find an extra 10 per cent in his side’s game in order to match Munster.

“We all realise we need to continue improving,” Humphreys added. “We need to be more clinical and get the finer details right. We had a good win against Edinburgh last week that made it four successive wins, but we know that there is definitely room for improvement. We'll be working hard to find that extra 10 per cent, but one thing we do know for sure is that it's going to be a real test for us.”

With Munster at nearly full strength and a wealth of experience in reserve at Thomond Park, an extra 10 per cent might not quite be enough.

Picture: DEADLY DUO: Doug Howlett and Keith Earls training ahead of Munster’s Heineken Cup clash with Ospreys. Brian Lawless/Sportsfile

Rewards for a head start

TONY McGahan’s point about the importance of winning the first game of a double-header games is borne out by Munster’s record in the home and away series at the centre of the group schedule.

Since the back-to-back games in rounds four and five of the group stage were introduced in 1999-2000, neither Leinster nor Munster have lost both matches and both have completed a win double seven times in 11 seasons. On the occasions Munster lost the first game away, not only did the Red Machine win the return leg but did not lose again in that season’s group, progressing from it for the past 12 seasons all told. Ominously, Leinster’s sole home defeat, to Sale in 2003/04, saw the province fail to progress to the knockout stages.

So while both provinces’ success in this part of the group stage has contributed to their strength in the competition, the pitfalls of failure here are easily identifiable.

MUNSTER

Home first

00/01 v Bath Win-Lose

02/03 v Viadana Win-Win

09/10 v Perpignan Win-Win

Away first

99/00 v Colomiers Win-Win

01/02 v Bridgend Win-Win

03/04 v Gloucester Lose-Win

04/05 v Castres Lose-Win

05/06 v Newport Gwent Dragons Win-Win

06/07 v Cardiff Blues Win-Win