Solomons on alert for backlash

Edinburgh head coach Alan Solomons has warned his in-form players to beware a backlash from a revenge-seeking Munster side in tomorrow’s Heineken Cup Pool 6 finale at Thomond Park (12.45pm).

The Scottish side produced one of the shocks of the competition in round one last October when they made light of their dismal early-season league form to beat Munster 29-23 at Murrayfield.

The defeat stung Rob Penney’s side into a nine-match unbeaten run in all competitions and has seen Munster qualify for the Heineken Cup quarter-finals with a week to spare following a 20-7 win at Gloucester last weekend.

Solomons has overseen an upturn from the game on and while RaboDirect PRO12 form has improved, back to back European wins over Gloucester and Perpignan have seen his side move into second place behind Munster in Pool 6 with a victory in Limerick tomorrow securing them a place in the Amlin Challenge Cup quarter-finals.

“Munster are one of the top teams in Europe and have been for some time. They have a tremendous tradition and heritage; they are notoriously difficult to beat in Limerick and are fighting to secure a home quarter-final. The challenges don’t get much bigger than that,” said Solomons, who yesterday named an unchanged matchday 23 from the 26-17 win over Perpignan last week.

“In round one we showed that we had advanced enough as a team to win against a top side but, rest assured, Munster will be keen to set the record straight, I have no doubt about that.

“The important thing for us is that, since then, we have continued to improve as a team and are looking forward to this challenge. This is going to be a very tough, demanding fixture and we are going to need the same again from all 23 in this match.”

Munster head coach Penney has made just one change to his team from their victory at Gloucester last weekend, rotating his tighthead props by starting Stephen Archer with BJ Botha moving the to the bench.

Despite recognising the fit-again Simon Zebo’s need for more game time to earn a place in Joe Schmidt’s Ireland squad for the RBS 6 Nations, the wing must settle for a place among the replacements for the second week in a row having returned after 12 weeks out with a cracked bone in his foot suffered in that round-one loss at Murrayfield.

Another casualty from that day, Paddy Butler, is primed for his return to European action after dislocating his thumb in Edinburgh and he replaces CJ Stander on an otherwise unchanged bench with the South Africa dropping down to the Munster A team for today’s British & Irish Cup trip to Stirling in Scotland.