McGahan: ‘There is no doubt we can kick on from here’

MUNSTER coach Tony McGahan is confident his side will be stronger in the second phase of the season which begins with the away Magners League tie against the Ospreys on December 5.


Munster take a break from competitive action for five weeks as the autumn internationals take centre stage.
Declan Kidney’s Ireland face Australia, Fiji and South Africa on November 15, 21 and 28 respectively, with preparations for those games beginning with a week-long training camp in Limerick this week.
In the absence of Munster’s frontline and A internationals in the coming weeks Munster coach McGahan will concentrate on working with the remaining squad members.
The Munster A side will also play two games in the British and Irish Cup later this month, away to Coventry at the Butts Stadium on Friday, November 20, followed by a home tie against Bristol in Nenagh a week later (7.30pm).
As part of their build-up for the British and Irish Cup, the Munster A side will face their Ulster counterparts in an inter-provincial series at Musgrave Park in Cork this Friday afternoon (2pm).
When Munster’s internationals return to the squad at the end of the month, they will turn their focus to a programme of three key fixtures, the away Magners League tie against the Ospreys, followed by crucial back-to-back Heineken Cup meetings with Perpignan.
Coach McGahan said: “There is no doubt we can kick on from here. We thought after the Treviso match that we were close to being back on track.
“Then an insipid performance against Edinburgh put us back a couple of steps.
“But the players responded very well against Ulster and we have come out with an ok result.
“We knew this part of the season, phase one, was going to be our most difficult.
“You had the return of the Lions and a number of camps were scheduled in the programme.
“You had a number of players coming back from the international window as well.
“We picked up a lot of injuries to a lot of players who form the nucleus of the side.
“At the back end of the pre-season the guys were gone for five or six weeks, so to try and amalgamate them in with the Lions, with the international guys and the other distractions.
“We knew if we could get through this period we would certainly be a lot stronger going into phase two and through phase three.
“We certainly don’t know what is going to occur in the autumn internationals with regard to injury and form, but what we need to do now is work hard with the players we have under our control and make sure when the international players return that there is a strong base there.
“We thought we did that well last season, so it is a challenge for all the management and for all the players left here to continue to raise the standards, so when the other players return we can hit the ground running.”

Colm Kinsella