Munster wary of derby pitfalls

MUNSTER will be hoping to put a miserable week on and off the pitch behind them when they play Connacht in the Magners League at the Galway Sportsground this evening (kick-off 6.10pm).

They currently head the table with 36 points from their 10 outings and with Connacht in second-last spot and without a win in their last five competitive matches, Tony McGahan’s side should have little difficulty in maintaining their position.

But these are trying times for the Munster squad for whom little has gone right of late. Furthermore, they travel to the none-too-hospitable Galway venue without a number of front-line internationals who are being rested under the IRFU Player Welfare Programme and, of course, the suspended Paul O’Connell.