Coughlan appeals to ‘exiles’ for support

James Coughlan is hoping Munster’s exiles in Dublin will give them the edge over Leinster at Aviva Stadium tomorrow night.

Coughlan believes that could work in Munster’s favour in a sell-out Aviva as his side attempts to overtake arch-rivals Leinster and jump back into pole position in the Pro12.

“We have a special group of supporters,” said Coughlan (pictured). “As the recession has kicked in, there’s probably more culchies living in Dublin, which would mean it’s probably easier for them to get to a match in the Aviva than to hit the road and come down to Thomond or to Cork, so it’s a big night for them.

“When you go away, you’re always shocked by them. You wonder how the hell did they get the tickets. In Clermont last year, it’s like there’s as many from Munster as anywhere.

“Saturday night will be no different. It’s great that the opportunity is there for the men and women in Dublin who have had to go for work or whatever reason it is, to get an opportunity to see us.”

He’s determined that Munster won’t lose their focus after suggestions of national selection bias in favour of Leinster players.

“Not at all. The local derby is always special, regardless of whether it’s Leinster, Ulster or Connacht. They’re always big games. You want to play against the best, test yourself against the best and, to be fair to Leinster, they have proved over the last few years that they’re probably the best around. It’s up to us to rectify that and that’s the build up for the week.

“Supporters can get caught up in these things but being professional means you focus on your own job. I’m sure they’re on a high, the lads that were involved, but so are we Paulie [O’Connell] was captain, Peter [O’Mahony] had an unbelievable series, man of the match in one and Conor [Murray] is probably the best scrum-half in the world right now.

“Naturally we would like to have more guys up there but the only way that will change is if we win these big games, so that’s our focus. If we get caught up in the individual contests, we’ll lose focus of what we’re supposed to be doing. Maybe in the past we have been guilty of that a small bit, getting caught up in trying to prove somebody else wrong. We’re simply looking at where we can exploit them the same way as they will be looking at areas where they can exploit us.

“It’s going to be a battle of attrition and sometimes on these occasions it’s the best defence wins so it’s about not making mistakes and keeping them under pressure, trying to keep the penalty count down because both sides have kickers who’ll knock them over.”

- Musgrave Park will be renamed Irish Independent Park in a reputed €1m naming rights deal. The agreement comes into effect next season and will last for 10 years. Munster Rugby chief executive Garrett Fitzgerald said the sale of the naming rights will allow for improvements to the ground: “Cork is a vital element of Munster Rugby’s success and we are happy that Irish Independent Park will be central to rugby development in the region.”