Penney expects ding dong battle for No 10

Munster coach Rob Penney is looking forward to a major battle in the race to succeed Ronan O’Gara as the director of on-field operations.

Ian Keatley is in pole position but Penney expects young JJ Hanrahan to make a bold bid to become first choice No 10, and the coach has promised to give him an opportunity to do so during the season.

Describing O’Gara as “irreplaceable”, Penney nevertheless expressed confidence that Keatley would make his own mark, having produced a succession of impressive performances last season.

The Kiwi coach said of Keatley yesterday: “You underestimate how good Ian is; he played in two Heineken Cup matches last year and did a great job, JJ has come through the Irish U20s and did exceedingly well in South Africa.

“Now they’ve got to step out of the shadows, Ronan is irreplaceable, we’re not looking to replace him, we’re looking to have two new people in the 10 jersey and they’ve got to put their own stamp and mark on the game now.

“Nobody here is fretting about Ronan moving on because we can’t afford to do that, we will just embrace the guys that have stepped into his very large shoes and support them 100% so they can be who they need to be.”

Notwithstanding Hanrahan’s undoubted talent, the coach has Keatley as his first choice for now: “It would be fair to say that Ian has got the inside running given his performances last year and the growth he showed.

“His performances this year would indicate he has stepped up another level again which is wonderful for him, for the province and hopefully for Irish rugby; JJ is going to have the blow torch on him and the hotter it gets hopefully the better Keats gets as well to keep JJ at bay.”

Munster face into their opening RaboDirect Pro12 challenge this Saturday at Musgrave Park against Edinburgh and Penney is aware the province must be far more consistent than last season when they failed to qualify for the knockout stages.

Quoted at 9/1 for the title, Penney believes that’s a good bet. He promised the squad had designs on the title and wouldn’t settle for second best.

“I have a lot of faith in this group, a tremendous group, and you need things to go for you at times.

“However, I think we’ll be there when the whips are cracking at the end of the season.”

Munster’s South African prop star BJ Botha will be out for at least four weeks following confirmation he sustained grade two medial ligament damage in last week’s pre-season win over London Irish.

Botha could miss two Rabo games as well as the province’s opening two Heineken Cup matches, depending on his recovery time.