Kilcoyne reveals Reds braced for backlash

HEINEKEN CUP POOL 6:

The Irish province visits Kingsholm this weekend for a must-win Heineken Cup clash against a confidence-sapped side whose scrum was obliterated last Saturday by Saracens in a 29-8 away win that has led to much soul-searching in Gloucester this week.

That will manifest itself, expects Ireland loosehead prop Kilcoyne, in a much-improved effort from the Cherry and Whites, who also expect to be boosted by the return of first-choice tighthead Rupert Harden.

“I certainly wouldn’t be feeling their pain because I know they are notgoing to be the same Gloucester pack that played that week,” Kilcoyne said.

“I am sure they are feeling a bit embarrassed by that loss at home.

“They are going to be doing everything in their power to remedy that, so in terms of their scrum, I can guarantee you they are going to be doing a lot of live scrummaging this week and it will be an area they will be putting a lot of focus on and making sure it is right this week for a home game.

“When you get a bad beating like that it hurts, it hurts the squad. You have contracts on the line. You have players’ positions on the line. Any team who are steeped in tradition and a proud side like Gloucester are, they are going to come out all guns blazing and making sure they are going to be put in the performance they need to this weekend.”

In contrast to Gloucester’s scrummaging woes, Munster’s pack has been in flying form. Its scrum and lineout maul have been the foundations for success when other facets of the province’s game have been misfiring.

Yet Kilcoyne is not getting carried away by the rave reviews and the 25-year-old has not forgotten the tougher times tomorrow’s opponents are experiencing now.

“Underage, I think every prop goes through that at some stage. I remember an ‘A’ game over in Bristol a couple of years ago where we were fairly under the pump. It is not a good place to be. They are strong characters within this squad that have a good mental toughness, good seasoned campaigners like BJ [Botha], Paulie [O’Connell] who mentally will never falter. But physically that can happen.

“Paul Mac [McCarthy] was the scrum coach at the time [of the Bristol game]. We just sat down and came up with a remedy for it. You would be surprised that small adjustments to key areas can make a huge difference the following week. It was more of atechnical thing that day.

“So it can be physical, but certainly if a team is on top mentally it gets into fella’s heads. Gloucester have their tighthead back this week. I think he will make a big difference. Any side like Gloucester who are a proud and forward-orientated side will be putting massive emphasis on their scrum.

“That challenge will be for us as well. We will be making sure we can do everything within our power to create a lot of problems and headaches for them up front.”

Last Friday at Ravenhill saw Ulster bring an end to Munster’s nine-match winning run but the pack ensured it was a close-run thing, Kilcoyne one of two try scorers off rolling mauls with referee Alain Rolland not giving a third that would have put a very different complexion on the final five minutes had it been awarded.

Still, Kilcoyne is not expecting to catch Gloucester unawares with the tactic.

“I definitely think Gloucester will be wise to it. Any team doing match analysis after that game will see that we got two scores off the maul and a third that was disallowed or whatever,” he said. “We do live mauling every [week]. Axel [Foley] and Rob [Penney] put huge emphasis on our scrum and our maul and lineout. It is the foundation of what Munster is built on. To get tries against Ulster on the back of it was great... It is an area Gloucester will target and try and eliminate for us.”

Penney likely to stick with Keatley

Munster head coach Rob Penney is likely to resist the clamour for JJ Hanrahan’s inclusion as starting fly-half when he names his team for tomorrow evening’s Heineken Cup trip to Gloucester.

With Hanrahan, 21, grabbing the headlines for his last-minute, match-winning try heroics in the Pool 6 clash with Perpignan in December and first-choice out-half Ian Keatley producing a below-par performance last weekend at Ulster, the calls for the inexperienced Kerryman’s selection at Kingsholm have been growing.

Yet Penney seems set to keep faith with Keatley in this latest must-win European encounter and will look to his No.10 to benefit from the presence of Ireland and Lions scrum-half Conor Murray, who is expected to return from a knee injury.

Also set to resume action following fitness issues are wing Keith Earls and inside centre James Downey. However, Simon Zebo may have to settle for a place on the bench as he is eased back into the fray after a 12-week absence due to a cracked bone in his foot, with Johne Murphy looking set to start on the left wing.

In the forwards, Damien Varley is set to bring his experience to hooker after a foot injury last week, although Duncan Casey, impressive as his replacement at Ravenhill, could yet start with third-choice Niall Scannell’s omission from the Munster A team to play Nottingham tonight pointing to ongoing concern about Varley’s fitness.

With the last remaining tickets for Kingsholm snapped up yesterday morning, tomorrow’s game is a 16,121 sell-out, despite Gloucester’s miserable start to the New Year with a 29-8 drubbing at home to Saracens last Saturday.

Scrum-half Dan Robson and former Leinster Academy and Connacht wing Shane Monahan look set to be rewarded for their impacts off the bench in that defeat with the former looking set to replace Jimmy Cowan.

There are also injury doubts surrounding rising centre star Henry Trinder and England No.8 Ben Morgan, who suffered an abductor injury last week. It is expected, though, that Gloucester boss Nigel Davies will name both Morgan and flanker Sione Kalamafoni, who is available after recovering from the leg injury he ~suffered against Edinburgh in round four.

MUNSTER (possible): F Jones; K Earls, C Laulala, J Downey, J Murphy; I Keatley, C Murray; D Kilcoyne, D Varley, BJ Botha; D O’Callaghan, P O’Connell; P O’Mahony — captain, T O’Donnell, J Coughlan