McGahan keen for fast start to stay one step ahead of Ulster

FANS anticipating a leisurely New Year’s Day amble to Thomond Park for this evening’s Magners League clash between Munster and Ulster should consider quickening their step.

For the way both camps are talking, a fast-starting, head-on collision is on the cards and anyone left behind will have a struggle to catch up.

These interprovincial rivals both face speedy turnarounds following Monday night matches, Munster squeaking past Connacht in Galway and Ulster getting hammered at home by Leinster. And such is the nature of professional rugby at this time of year that both squads’ Irish international forwards and scrum-halves have spent much of the intervening period squeezing in an Ireland training camp.