European Cup: Munster the masters of Cup progress

The Heineken Cup will claim its annual round of high-profile casualties before the knockout stages begin next January, with four English challengers and French champions Toulouse among those likely to make an early exit.

Munster though, just march on and on.

When it comes to European rugby’s big guns, Munster are right up there, boasting an envious tournament record over the past two seasons.

Their last 20 Heineken Cup games have produced 16 victories, an 80% success rate containing such notable scalps as Toulouse, Stade Francais, Bath and Biarritz.

Beaten finalists in season 1999/2000 and semi-finalists last term, Munster currently top their qualifying group with three wins from three starts, including priceless away triumphs at Harlequins and Bridgend.

Victory over Bridgend in tomorrow’s return fixture would keep them firmly on course to reach the quarter-finals for a fourth consecutive campaign.

Not even Heineken Cup holders Leicester, who will set a new tournament record of 10 successive wins if they beat Perpignan this weekend, can match such consistency.

Munster’s marvellous blend of warhorse figures like Mick Galwey and Peter Clohessy, together with thrilling young talent such as David Wallace and Ronan O’Gara, has proved an irresistable combination.

Their achievements might still be largely unheralded in some parts, but the Munster machine has no intention of grinding to a halt even though Heineken Cup standards are rising all the time.

"The quality of matches in the Heineken Cup is getting better and better," said Munster coach Declan Kidney, who piloted his team to the 2000 European final and last season’s semi-finals, when they were pipped by a point against Stade Francais.

"There is more familiarity between teams now, and that has brought the scorelines down. It is a much tighter competition these days, which is why I am so pleased that we toughed it out at Bridgend last week."

Munster’s 16-12 Brewery Field triumph means that home wins against the same opponents, then Harlequins when the competition resumes after Christmas, should be enough for them to progress.

They could though, still need to defeat Castres at Stade Pierre-Antoine in terms of topping the group and guaranteeing themselves a home quarter-final tie.

"I think we are getting better as a team," warned Kidney. "It is such a long season, that it is sometimes difficult to see an improvement game by game, but we are definitely improving.

"I was absolutely delighted with our win at Bridgend, because we hadn’t been together for three weeks and there were a lot of tired bodies following Ireland’s Six Nations matches on successive weekends against Wales and England.

"We’ve now got to win all three of our remaining games to be certain of qualifying for the quarter-finals. That’s the aim, but we know that Bridgend will be a tough nut to crack on Saturday."

Lions centre Rob Henderson makes Munster’s matchday squad for the first time this term after recovering from knee surgery carried out following his exploits in Australia this summer.

"Rob has made a good recovery," Kidney said. "He is very eager to get back and get involved."

Kidney has made one change from the Bridgend game last week, replacing lock Mick O’Driscoll with Paul O’Connell, while flanker Wallace will undergo late fitness checks on a bruised shoulder.