McGahan set to plan without O’Connell
He is back in training earlier than expected following an ankle injury sustained against Leinster almost four weeks ago, but he is not in the squad named to prepare for Saturday’s game.
Munster coach Tony McGahan has all but ruled out his captain, although his absence from the squad announced yesterday would not necessarily preclude him from being involved if there was further progress over the next couple of days.
“He has been partaking in some sort of running for the last two weeks but there is a difference between jogging and being able to compete at full speed,” said McGahan.
McGahan yesterday named four other second row forwards in his squad, with Donncha O’Callaghan and Mick O’Driscoll being joined by Ian Nagle and Donncha Ryan, whose ability to operate in two areas of the forward pack offers the coach a significant choice.
The coach said Ryan had a “stormer” as a back rower in Munster’s victory over the Ospreys at the Walker Stadium last weekend.
“He put down a marker, he was tremendous. It was certainly his best game at six for us — especially defensively, he has worked really hard at that aspect of his game over the last short period of time and he was very effective in that, in the way he approached, started and finished the game,” said McGahan.
Meanwhile the unfortunate Tomás O’Leary has struggled with back and eye injuries over the last couple of months and while O’Connell would be an automatic selection once he returns to fitness, O’Leary will find it very difficult to break back into the match-day squad given the form of both Conor Murray and Peter Stringer, respectively.
Although Munster go into this game off the back of eight consecutive victories, and some memorable away wins as well, McGahan views this match as a potential banana skin.
Of Harlequins he said: “They’re a side that are coming here with a lot of ambition. We forget that they were in the quarter-final of the Heineken Cup two years ago, and missed out on the semis by just one point. They have been there or thereabouts, and certainly evolved their game to a high-paced attack game, with strong centres, a very clever nine and 10.
“They’ve got a very strong scrum. Playing in the English Premiership week-in week-out certainly brings that hardness to them. They have competed well in all the games they have played. I don’t think they have been beaten by a big score in any of their losses this year, so their set-piece serves them well.”
Undoubtedly, the set piece is an area of concern for McGahan and last week’s concession of a penalty try to the Ospreys will merely highlight the necessity to stand up and be counted, particularly in front of Romain Poite, the French referee, with whom they have had a strained relationship in the past.
Defence is another area in which McGahan has been working hard on since that memorable quarter-final victory over Brive three weeks ago. Although it was a game for the purists, McGahan would have preferred Munster hadn’t conceded four tries in a nine try thriller.
It got better after that in the wins over Llanelli and the Ospreys but McGahan has noted a weakness and admitted it was a bad day at the office.
Ultimately, a strong defence is crucial, he believes: “Defence is the cornerstone of any successful team. It’s the cornerstone of any successful finals campaign. It’s the cornerstone of picking up silverware. We’re certainly well aware of that.”
J. Murphy, F. Jones, D Hurley, D Howlett, K. Earls, S. Tuitupou, L. Mafi, P. Warwick, R. O’Gara, P. Stringer, C. Murray; M. Horan, W du Preez, J. Hayes, T. Buckley, S. Archer, D. Varley, M. Sherry, D. O’Callaghan, M. O’Driscoll, D. Ryan, I. Nagle, T. O’Donnell, D. Wallace, N. Ronan, J. Coughlan, D. Leamy.
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