Ian Keatley: ‘We’re not going to go out and out-muscle a team like Toulon’

Ian Keatley sees the visit of Toulon to Thomond Park not only for the huge challenge it is for Munster but also as a massive opportunity for a young side eager to stake its own place in the province’s rich European heritage.

Both the quality of a Toulon side that ruthlessly dispatched French league rivals Clermont Auvergne 49-0 last Sunday and a Munster injury list that has reduced the backline to its bare bones defy the bookmakers odds which make the Irish side favourites to succeed in Saturday’s Champions Cup quarter-final, however much the Thomond Park factor plays into their thinking.

Keatley, who turns 31 on Sunday, has played in two European semi-finals and two PRO12 finals during his seven seasons at Munster but such is Toulon’s apparent upper hand that the fly-half believes victory this weekend would surpass anything this team has achieved in recent years.