Munster maintain double dream

MUNSTER’S double dream is still very much alive as Tony McGahan’s men soared seven points clear at the top of the Magners League table with a convincing 22-5 victory over old rivals Leinster at Thomond Park on Saturday night - The hugely impressive Keith Earls and replacement Denis Fogarty bagged a brace of second half tries as Munster easily claimed the bragging rights before a capacity 26,000 attendance.


Munster coach McGahan will have been further pleased by the impressive return from injury of winger Ian Dowling - the 26-year-old had been sidelined since January.
Back-row forward Denis Leamy, who missed Saturday’s game due to a shoulder injury, is still in contention for a starting place in Sunday’s mammoth Heineken Cup quarter-final clash with the Ospreys at Thomond Park (kick-off 1pm), however centre Rua Tipoki will not be available for selection.
Ronan O’Gara, who kicked 12 points in Saturday night’s victory, said the squad’s goal was to win both the Magners League and Heineken Cup trophy: “The ambition within this team is to try and win both trophies. For the first time in a while Munster have made a really strong challenge in the Magners League.
“Tony (McGahan) has been really effective in the squads he has picked and he picked sides to win every game. Everyone has bought into that. There is strong competition for places and obviously the European Cup speaks for itself. We are trying to maintain a double campaign.”
Munster coach McGahan agreed that try-scorer Keith Earls had the ability to excite the crowd when in possession which few players possess: “There are not many players who have that ability. You can feel the anticipation and the crowd rise the very second the ball is going out there. Very few players have that.
“We are lucky Keith has it and we are very pleased with his performances this season.”
McGahan said he had watched part of the Ospreys game with Ulster in the Magners League on Friday night at Ravenhill, but had learned little from it. However he is expecting the Welsh side to prove formidable opponents in Sunday’s Heineken Cup quarter-final clash at Thomond Park.
“I saw a little bit of the Ospreys v Ulster game, but it was a wasted 35 minutes, really,” McGahan revealed.
“It was not a good game to watch.
“The Ospreys are a quality outfit and they have been for quite some time. They have been building a good squad down there. They are well organised and they have some real world class players who can attack. They are also very solid defensively.
“The game with Ulster will mean nothing. Then you look into the conditions and other things. We are expecting a very good Ospreys side to come here and that is all we are concerning ourselves with.”
Meanwhile Wasps Limerick-born scrum-half Eoin Reddan is again being tipped for a move to Leinster in the summer. Twenty-eight-year-old Reddan has made close on 130 appearances and scored 16 tries since joining the Guinness Premiership side from Munster at the start of the 2005-06 season.
Closer to home Young Munster’s prospects of playing in Division One of the All-Ireland League next season received a major blow on Saturday when the side suffered a disappointing 11-9 defeat to St. Mary’s College at Clifford Park.

Colm Kinsella