Coach McGahan keeps the faith
Donnacha Ryan is the only enforced change having injured a hamstring after coming on as a replacement in last Sunday’s defeat at Toulon, which ended the province’s hopes of reaching the Heineken Cup semi-finals for a 13th year in a row.
The other two to miss out at Thomond Park this weekend are Billy Holland and Tommy O’Donnell, neither of whom made the bench at Stade Mayol. Both back-row forwards have been named in the Munster A squad for tonight’s British & Irish Cup tie against Esher at Garryowen’s Dooradoyle ground.
Denis Hurley will be among the players retained yet he missed out on selection last weekend in France and he is regarding tomorrow’s game as the starting point for the campaign as Munster bid to move quickly past the pain of Heineken Cup elimination.
Dropped from the Toulon matchday squad last Sunday after a decent run in the team, the Munster wing was close enough to the action at Stade Mayol as a travelling alternate and in-game water carrier to share the disappointment of a chastening defeat at the hands of Joe Van Niekerk and left foot of Jonny Wilkinson.
“I was doing water; that was the little involvement I had,” Hurley said. “I was very disappointed, for myself personally because I was in a reasonably good vein of form, but selection didn’t go my way at all.
“The day that was in it, you feel helpless enough. On the day, Toulon snubbed us. They didn’t give us much opportunity to do what we can do, and looking on from the sidelines, you feel helpless.”
Hurley, though, is ready to move on and as far as he and the other Munster players are concerned, tomorrow’s final Heineken Cup game at home to London Irish marks a new dawn.
“We have to address certain areas and the way we played at the weekend, there is no question about that, but it’s about reacting positively this weekend and showing that we are an outfit who don’t sit back and take what happens.
“We are going forward from here. It’s not an ending point, it’s a starting point for the rest of the season for us.”
Hurley insisted that reports of Munster’s demise had been exaggerated and pointed to the incentive of a place in the Amlin Challenge Cup last eight that a victory over the Exiles at Thomond Park tomorrow would bring.
“The season is definitely not over,” he said. “Little snippets I’ve been hearing from the papers, all it is, is doom and gloom. But the season is far from over for Munster.
“All right, we’ve had a massive record of 12 years making it out of the pool stages, but we still have the opportunity to make it into the quarter-final of the Challenge Cup.
“We’re top of the league in the Magners (League), we still have a lot to play for and there will be lads pushing for spots in the squad. There are going to be guys putting displays on to try and make Irish (national squad) level, so it’s far from the doom and gloom it’s being made out.”
The Munster wing reiterated his belief that the Challenge Cup was a viable target for the province.
“If there is silverware, we’re definitely interested. Even (Wednesday) morning when we were talking before training, that is exactly what we are aiming for and it’s something we are looking forward to. It’s still European rugby and there are some quality teams left in the Challenge Cup.
“It’s still European rugby and that’s where we want to be. It’s a very disappointing week after not making it into the quarter-finals of the Heineken, but to have those extra games at European level, it will give other guys an opportunity at that level. It’s very important we make it through.”
Hurley, called up to the Irish Wolfhounds squad on Wednesday for A internationals against Scotland and Wales in the coming weeks, admitted that the Munster players would be under particular scrutiny this week following the Toulon game but there would no extra incentive needed to produce a big performance.
“We have such a massive home record in the Heineken Cup that that is something we are looking to protect this weekend. I don’t think there is any question of our enthusiasm for this game.
“There are going to be a lot of questions about whether we show up on Saturday. But from our point of view and whoever is taking that field, we have something to prove again, that we are not a team who lie down and take what comes.”
W Du Preez, Darragh Hurley, T Buckley, J Hayes, M Sherry, D Varley, D O’Callaghan, P O’Connell, M O’Driscoll, I Nagle, N Ronan, J Coughlan, D Wallace, D Leamy; T O’Leary, P Stringer, S Deasy, R O’Gara, J Murphy, S Tuitupou, T Gleeson, K Earls, L Mafi, Denis Hurley, D Howlett, P Warwick.
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