Keatley ready to kick up a storm

Ian Keatley is under no illusions of the task ahead in his first Heineken Cup start at out-half in Thomond Park tomorrow afternoon.

Coach Rob Penney has laid it on the line: “The area that let us down against Racing last week was our kicking and our ability to get the ball in the right spots.”

In the enforced absence of Ronan O’Gara, a master of the kicking art, the onus is on Keatley to settle down and set the tone from the outset.

He’ll be under a lot of pressure to find the corners as well as launching the Garryowens in the manner of his illustrious predecessor and the 25-year-old Dublin man is relishing the baptism of fire but admitted: “It’s my first Heineken Cup start in the No 10 position so I’d say I will be nervous. If it means a lot to you, you’re going to be nervous, and it means a lot to me. This is where I want to be, where I want to get to – to play in the Heineken Cup at No 10.”

Keatley’s move to out-half paves the way for Denis Hurley to return at full-back with Felix Jones back on the bench after his latest recovery from serious injury. The other changes in the side are at hooker, where Mike Sherry is preferred to Damien Varley, and in the second-row where Donncha O’Callaghan takes over from Billy Holland. Niall Ronan has yet to fully prove his fitness so Shaun Dougall continues on the open side flank for his first taste of Heineken Cup action at Thomond Park.

“I’ve heard so much about the atmosphere there on these occasions,” Dougall said. “The lads have told me it’s hairs on the back of the neck kind of stuff. Edinburgh had a bit of a loss against Saracens and I’m sure they’ll be firing on all cylinders to prove a point. But for us it will be nice just to be at home again after being on the road for three weeks.”

Edinburgh coach Michael Bradley, a man well versed in Munster and Thomond Park, enters the game without his out-half and captain Greig Laidlaw because of a shoulder injury. He is replaced by Gregor Hunter and there are four other alterations from the side that crashed 45-0 at home against Saracens last week. Scottish prop Geoff Cross starts at tight head, Fiji captain Netani Talei comes in at number eight which means a switch to the open for in-form Stuart McInally while there are starts at full-back and centre for Greg Tonks and Ben Artiga.

“There’s no doubt that this is a massive game for us, but it’s also a big chance for us to get our European Cup campaign moving and challenge the teams in this group,” says Bradley. “Thomond Park is a fortress, steeped in Heineken Cup history. The fans and the players will be fired up for this, so we’ll need to front up to the physical aspects from the outset. We have to impose our game plan and not be dictated to by the Munster players and a Thomond Park crowd that will be desperate for a home win.”

Edinburgh, who have never won a Heineken Cup game in Ireland, have returned almost their entire allocation of 5,000 tickets, an obvious source of disappointment to the players and management.

After last week’s hiding by Saracens and the fact that they languish fourth from the bottom of the Rabo table with just two win from six outings, they will need a massive change in fortune and attitude.

Neil Back, Munster’s old friend from his days at Leicester Tigers, is Michael Bradley’s assistant coach and has been trying to drill into his players the kind of attitude that made him one of the game’s finest open side wing-forwards even though he lacked most of the essential physical attributes for success in the modern game.

“The winning mentality is everything,” stresses Back. “We’ve got to build a more ruthless squad that is smart under pressure and makes good decisions under pressure. Thus far this season we’ve tried a number of miracle passes. That is not winning football.”

As if to remind us of the day in Cardiff in 2002 that the infamous “hand of Back” deprived Munster of potential victory in the Heineken final, he went so far as to state: “We’ve got to build pressure, not just on the opposition but also on the referee to give you decisions and not the other way around.”

Accordingly, tomorrow’s referee, the experienced Wayne Barnes of England, will need to be at his most vigilant!

Edinburgh’s recent form has completely belied their achievement in reaching the semi-final last season and those anticipating a stroll in the park and a guaranteed bonus point for Munster may well be disappointed. They shouldn’t forget that the home side has lost three in a row as well and came up well short of the desired standard in Paris last week. If they don’t step up quite appreciably, they may well struggle to depart even with the basic four point requirement.