Preparing for a new Challenge

ISSUES unlikely to arise in Thomond Park today. No 1: extreme dehydration.

Munster second row Mick O’Driscoll outlines, in his laid-back way, the challenges of playing in the kind of heat that can dissolve half-a-stone of body weight.

“I lost 4kg in the Brive game, but you’re taking water on during the game as well. You lose it over two hours, so it’s not sudden, and you wouldn’t be conscious of it or anything. It’s not a massive factor. That said, fellas were wrecked after the Brive game. I’d have played in those conditions a lot when I played in France, but the issue isn’t so much the heat as not being used to it.