O’Callaghan: It’s only half-time

THE Ospreys have been warned not to underestimate what’s coming their way at the Liberty Stadium tomorrow, even allowing for the absence of Munster’s talisman Paul O’Connell.

Donncha O’Callaghan will be missing his second row partner again – O’Connell has been banned for four weeks to January 10 – but the seasoned second rower won’t be in the least bit troubled at packing down again with his less experienced international colleague Mick O’Driscoll.

Indeed, O’Callaghan this week pointed out that O’Driscoll is one of a few players in the squad who unwinds spending hours analysing how the provincial side can get better!

Undoubtedly, the coaching team will have detailed video evidence of what it’s going to take for Munster to come up trumps away from home this weekend. But O’Callaghan insisted that O’Driscoll would have a huge say in how to go about beating the ever improving Welsh outfit.

“We have two guys in particular who are fairly crazy about the line outs, Micko and Paulie, and they’ll go through all the footage to see if anything needs to be fixed, or to study things that might have been picked up by the cameras that we will have to deal with.

“We go through a lot of line out plays; in general we probably have a library of 80 line-out calls, but the lads will only pick those they feel are right for this game. They do that very well; I spend a bit of time on the computers but these guys are crazy for going through every move and trying to work out how and why the ball can be won in different areas.

“Then you have Quinny (Alan Quinlan) who is experienced in this area as well; it’s a part of the game we’ve always been keen to work on, it’s probably going back to when John Langford came in to ensure that our line-out worked and fired well,” said O’Callaghan.

Anyone worried about Munster’s failure to hammer the Ospreys last week should think again, said O’Callaghan, who added that he was satisfied with the win and not worried that it wasn’t a bonus point advantage.

“The win? Spot on, it was the result we needed at home and that’s all we were looking for against a very good team. Actually, we were delighted with it; with 20 minutes to go at Thomond Park, you’re always thinking whether you can get a little bit more (like a bonus point win) but then with Paulie being sent off we had to refocus and just get across the line.

“We feel in this group that only one team will get out of it, so it’s about winning your home games and looking to go on the road and do something special; we’re exactly where we thought we would be, we’re where we thought this group would fold out and we’re exactly where we love being.

“The supporters, again, were brilliant. With a 1 o’clock Sunday kick off there could have been a terrible atmosphere but it was incredible; I think the pressure they put the referee and touch-judges under was incredible.

“People go on about the 16th man, well it was exactly that on Sunday and we’re grateful.”

He also noted that the Ospreys now look to be a very different side from even a couple of years ago.

“Yeah, they’re far more galvanised, they have quality players and now play very much as a team, as a quality team, so there has been a major move upwards for them.”

But O’Callaghan’s focus is on himself and within the Munster camp, acknowledging that these back-to-back fixtures don’t allow for too much assessment of the opposition.

“It’s probably what makes this round (4) of the European Cup special. There is the little bit of edge to it; there will be afters from last week and it really is only half time. We’ve had our 80 minutes at home and now have to do it away as well.”

Munster’s experience of tackling and sometimes beating the biggest and best of Europe’s clubs away from home could, however, stand to them.

“No doubt, it was a relief to get the home leg of this out of the way because, essentially, you have to win at home; you don’t have a hope of advancing otherwise.

“That’s done now and it’s time to refocus to see what we can get. We have to pick up a result (away) at some stage and this is it; like the last ten minutes last week it is really backs to the wall stuff, we simply have to get a result (away) in the next few weeks. Better to start now, so we’ll see how we go Saturday.”