Leamy keeps Reds off ref’s radar
With an invaluable, pool-defining Heineken Cup Pool Three away win on Munster’s Christmas list, and Ospreys fighting to keep their European campaign alive, McGahan will need his players to defend as admirably as they did in Limerick last week, before and after O’Connell’s 69th-minute dismissal for striking visiting number eight Jonathan Thomas with an instinctive swing of the right arm.
The Welsh region were kept to one try in a 22-16 defeat and that came courtesy of a long and loose pass from Munster’s Sam Tuitupou, intercepted and then ruthlessly punished by Tommy Bowe.
Though still without the offensive flair of injured Wales backs Shane Williams and Lee Byrne, one can expect a very different, more attack-minded game plan from Ospreys director of rugby Scott Johnson and head coach Sean Holley now they are back on undersoil heated home turf.
A state of the art pitch conditioning system at the Liberty Stadium comprising more than 30 kilometres of piping and temperature sensors will ensure the heavy snow that has fallen since yesterday will not turn the Ospreys’ wished-for “Blackout” at their impressive arena into a whiteout today. Munster, on the other hand, will need to take the heat out of a re-jigged Ospreys backline if they are to make the most of the ball they get hold of during what promises to be an intriguing encounter. While McGahan’s one change to his squad for the rematch, replacing the suspended O’Connell on the bench with Donnacha Ryan, is enforced, Johnson’s sole switch is by choice and affects his whole unit of backs.
Mike Phillips, a livewire for Ospreys in Limerick at scrum-half, continues his partnership with fly-half Dan Biggar while James Hook continues at inside centre following an indifferent performance at 12 last Sunday.
Instead, Johnson has decided that Andrew Bishop’s poor game alongside Hook in midfield last week has made him the fall guy for defeat.
The Welsh international’s demotion to the bench, costing Tom Prydie his place among the replacements, is the only change in starting personnel from last Sunday’s game but that has resulted in Ireland’s Bowe moving off the wing to outside centre with Nikki Walker, not in last weekend’s squad, parachuted into the side and starting at number 14.
McGahan has wisely played down the appointment of French referee Romain Poite as a significant factor for today’s match but his officiating will be crucial and potentially costly for either side given his handling of last week’s testy battle between Northampton Saints and Cardiff, when he sin-binned five players.
The scrum proved a contentious area at Thomond Park with Christophe Berdos issuing a yellow card to Ospreys loosehead prop Paul James for collapsing a scrum. It was an action that led to Munster taking full advantage of their numerical superiority, scoring two match-deciding tries in James’s absence.
Speaking about Monsieur Berdos this week, Munster captain Denis Leamy, who called for cool heads today, said: “I think it’s important that we don’t frustrate referees and get too much in their face. I think with guys who possibly don’t understand his language — obviously it’s his second language — it’s not too good to get confrontational with him. I think it’s important that we allow the ref to make his decisions and respect his decisions, and just go from there.”
Of Poite, Leamy took a leaf out of his coach’s book when he added: “I don’t think it’s an issue. I don’t think it’s a feeling within the squad. It’s certainly something we haven’t discussed.
“We were told that Mr Poite would be the referee and I don’t think there were any eyebrows raised. There wasn’t an issue made of it, it’s just something that you get on with, as we do every week. You just take the referee for who he is and try to play him as best you can.”
Notably, two of Poite’s yellow cards in the Saints-Blues game were scrum-related while there were also numerous penalties at the set-piece. Both Poite and an unchanged Ospreys pack, still bitter from James’ yellow carding, will ensure a further examination of the Munster forwards, while former Wales captain Ryan Jones once again starts in the second row alongside Alun Wyn Jones and wins his 100th cap for Ospreys.
Yet if Munster can carry the momentum of their morale-boosting, backs-to-the wall defensive stand over the final 10 minutes of last Sunday’s encounter into today’s, and keep their concentration and discipline during what could be a torrid 80 minutes of rugby, they should be set fair to continue their Heineken Cup dominance over the Welshmen.
Four wins in four meetings, one of them away in the pre-Liberty days at St Helen’s, has seen Munster outscore the Ospreys 83-37 and 10-2 in tries. Today’s game may well see a closing of those margins but Munster have been steeled for a long, hard but ultimately successful visit to south Wales.
THE Ospreys haveconfirmed today’s Heineken Cup tie against Munster has survived the big freeze in Wales.
A club statement read: “Please be aware that despite the snowfall in south Wales on Friday the Heineken Cup game against Munster on Saturday afternoon is set to go ahead as scheduled. The undersoil heating has ensured that the Liberty Stadium surface remains playable.”
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
