Wood believes Ulster and Munster can turn form around to book spots in Pro12 final

Don’t rule out the possibility Munster and Ulster will upset calculations when it comes to this weekend’s RaboDirect Pro12 semi-finals in Glasgow and Dublin.

That’s the advice of legendary Ireland and Lions hooker Keith Wood, who yesterday took time off from organising the 2014 Sports Tourism European Summit in Thomond Park to look at two fascinating ties.

“We’re at the point where there is a general sense of regret none of the teams got to the end game in the Heineken Cup,” he said.

“There has also been a legacy of injury that has put the teams under a little bit of pressure and also the fact the last few games were dead rubbers causing the action to be a bit flat. Now they are not.

“They’re two cup finals effectively and that’s the way the teams will go out and play and win the game. UIster have a huge amount to play and I think it depends on some of the injuries. They have guys training but you don’t really know until you see the team sheet. I played with an injury or two but, you know, I think it depends on the injury.”

As a former Munster player now resident in Killaloe in proximity to incoming head coach and close friend Anthony Foley, Wood was bitterly disappointed at how poorly the side performed against a second string Ulster side.

“For me, the most frustrating aspect of it was the inability to pass the ball properly,” he declared. “I’ve been frustrated the last couple of years with the passing style. You could hear it all over the television of the crowd at the number of balls that were thrown on the ground. Even if I don’t like the style we’ve been playing, that was just a matter of attitude last week. I don’t think their heads were in it.

“There were too many players of quality there that were passing the ball onto the ground and that means their heads weren’t right for the game. And if they said they were, then I’d be even more worried. But, look, I think the attitude will be fundamentally different and if you have a strong defensive line and play well enough, it can be done.

“Glasgow are willing to have an old fling and have players of quality so it’s very hard to say who will win.

“You could well have a Munster-Ulster final here in Thomond Park in two weeks’ time. The one thing I would say for Munster is they have the capacity to put the bad day out of their mind and play properly.”

Wood was speaking at yesterday’s 2014 Sport Tourism European Summit, which his company W2 Consulting ran in the highly appropriate surroundings of Thomond Park. He was delighted by the presence of 240 delegates from Ireland and abroad who listened to a series of presentations from a quorum of noted speakers including Martin Sneddon, chief executive of New Zealand Rugby World Cup 2011, who was adamant in advising Ireland to go full speed to bring the 2023 championship to this country.

“Just go for it,” he insisted, “it’s a wonderful opportunity.”

Wood was in full agreement, while gratified at the presence of so many delegates for the first conference of this kind anywhere in the world.

“We as a country have to be innovative,” he stressed. “If we’re not, we’ll get left behind. There is an appetite that has gone further up the government’s agenda in term of sports tourism. They want this to work. As the world went into recession over the last six or seven years, sports tourism numbers and income went up, whereas traditional income went down. That is the trend and we want to be at the front of it.

“Two or three years ago, Northampton brought more than 3,000 supporters and a big chunk of them stayed for five days because they had been at a previous game and they loved the experience in Thomond Park and wanted to see more.”