Munster host Connacht at Thomond Park

TEAM manager Shaun Payne is confident Munster can manage their playing resources successfully over the remainder of the season to ensure the province continues its strong bid for both Magners League and Heineken Cup honours - table-toppers Munster return to Magners League action this Saturday night at Thomond Park when Connacht visit Limerick for a crucial sell-out round 15 tie (7.30pm).
Leaders Munster, already odds-on favourites to win the competition, will be hoping to avenge their shock defeat at the hands of Michael Bradley’s Connacht when the sides met at the Sportsground in Galway at Christmas - Ian Keatley landed four penalty goals for the home side to give them their first win over Munster in 12 seasons and their first home success over their Irish rivals in 29 years.
Munster currently enjoy a seven-point lead over Leinster at the top of the Magners League with just four series of games remaining.
The Munster management team is likely to make several changes from the side which demolished the Ospreys in the Heineken Cup.
Munster team manager Shaun Payne said the management of playing resources over the coming weeks would be critical as the province aims to complete a famous double: “There has been a lot of rugby for the Grand Slam guys. And it is not just the physical aspect of that, there is the mental side too. You are getting up and getting down the whole time for these really, really important games. It is every bit as mentally tiring as it is physically. I think we have managed to manage that very well this season.
“We have the Connacht game coming up. That is huge for us given our position in the Magners League.
“We will manage the squad. We have a squad which is fully capable - you saw that in the All Blacks game. We have a minimal amount of injuries. There is plenty of scope.”
Munster’s victory over the Ospreys was their eighth straight success in all competitions. The Magners League leaders will be out to improve on their losing record against Irish provinces in the league this season.
Munster have lost three of their five fixtures against the Irish provinces.

Tony McGahan
Munster coach Tony McGahan said they would decide how much game time players get between now and the end of the season on ‘a case by case basis’: “We wanted to be competing well on all fronts and the next two games in the Magners is very important. But we only have to look at our training and the players in their last two outings have been very fresh and played with a lot of intensity so that’s down to great work from our S & C (strength and conditioning) department. We need to keep continuing to look at that and make sure the players are looking forward to playing a game at the weekend.
“We’ve put forward many times that we have a huge depth in our squad and certainly we’ve looked to make sure that players are well rested. They’ve come back off a lot of rugby; they’ve had a lot of high intensity rugby and we want them looking forward to the weekend.
“We need to make decisions on how many games they play and keep monitoring them. It will be case by case with each player and we’ll address that during the week.”
Connacht, who exited the European Challenge Cup at the hands of Northampton Saints at Franklin’s Gardens last weekend, did secure an impressive 39-17 victory at home to the Dragons last time out in the Magners League. It was the western province’s first bonus-point success in the league since January 2007.
Connacht have won just once on the road in the Magners League since September 2006, an 13-11 victory away to the Dragons 12 months ago.
Connacht are set to have two Limerick-born players in their squad, dynamic hooker Sean Cronin and centre Keith Matthews, who impressed in their victory over Munster earlier in the season.

Colm Kinsella