Coughlan: Munster facing ‘dogfight’

RABODIRECT PRO12: Munster v Leinster

There is a lot of excitement about this game, not least about the return of Brian O’Driscoll to the Leinster fold and the possibility that he might have to slug out with Paul O’Connell for the Lions captaincy in front of Warren Gatland.

But in a week when sentiment appears to have gone out of the Munster window — Peter Stringer also moved to Bath — Horan could have at least expected to be named on the bench for tonight’s clash at Thomond Park.

When Rob Penney announced the team to play Leinster yesterday; it didn’t include Horan but the most promising of young prop forwards, James Cronin, was in the list of reserves. Maybe Cronin could have waited for his chance, while Horan deserved more to round off a remarkable career.

Penney has made four changes from the team that defeated Harlequins in the crucial game last week. Ian Keatley gets the nod ahead of Ronan O’Gara, Donncha O’Callaghan takes over from Donnacha Ryan and Damien Varley is in for Mike Sherry and Stephen Archer for BJ Botha.

O’Driscoll, meanwhile, will make his first Leinster appearance since the European victory over Exeter and will partner last week’s man of the match, Gordon D’Arcy, at centre for the trip to Limerick.

Fergus McFadden picked up a slight calf strain in last Friday’s clash against Wasps but should be available for the away trip to Zebre next weekend alongside Jonathan Sexton who will be given an extra week to fully recover from his foot injury.

Ian Madigan’s 28-point haul last weekend took him past the 300-point career mark (306 points to date) and he has now scored 202 points in his 26 appearances so far this season.

Heineken Cup quarter final win or not, Munster won’t have had time to savour the joy of last week’s victory. Leinster, anytime, is just about as big a challenge as it gets, according to James Coughlan.

The Munster number eight said it would undoubtedly be a “dogfight”, insisting Heineken and Amlin Cup success would be set aside.

“Absolutely. They certainly won’t be thinking about the Amlin and we won’t be thinking about the Heineken, this is about Munster and Leinster,” said Coughlan.

“They are going on two fronts, in the semi-final of the Amlin and looking for a home semi-final in the Rabo. They have quality throughout the team so it is going to be a massive challenge for us.”

Although Coughlan accepted that coming down from a win was better than coming down off a defeat, and that video analysis was less tortuous this week than the previous (after being beaten 51-24 by Glasgow), he accepts that faults will always be highlighted.

“If you ever think you did nothing wrong, you would be sorely mistaken,” he said.

“Leinster will look at the video and see opportunities, the same way we will look at their video from Wasps and see where we think we can get breaks and look for scores. The focus is definitely still there on both sides.”

Although the rivalry is intense, Coughlan respects Leinster, the way they play and what they have achieved.

“Yeah, they do everything well, they have quality throughout the team, they can attack from anywhere, they can run all over you, we are going to have to be at our best to try and trip them.

“They beat us in the Aviva and they beat us down here (in Munster) the last time we played. It doesn’t sit well with us.

“There are fellas fighting for jerseys at this time of the year, whether it is a green or a red one.

“We have got to be putting our best foot forward on every front and Leinster will be thinking the exact same.

“They will be looking to show what they can do, regardless of the competition.

“These are always going to be the fights where you want to be able to look the fella in the eye after the game and think ‘did I win or did he win?’

“These are the kind of things that go through your mind.”